500,000258,051258,051 have signed already! Help us get to 500,000
In 48 hours, nearly half the British mass media could be bought by one of the world's worst media moguls.Rupert Murdoch has exploited his vast media empire to push war in Iraq, elect George W Bush, spread resentment of muslims and immigrants, and block global action on climate change. He undermines democratic government across the world by threatening elected leaders with vicious and often false media coverage unless they do his bidding.
Britain plays a key role in Europe and the world. If Murdoch has a lock on British media, he will use it to undermine UK, EU and UN support for human rights and democracy. The UK is up in arms over the Murdoch bid, and even the government, elected with Murdoch's help, is split down the middle as it makes a decision this week. Global solidarity bolstered Egypt's pro-democracy protesters -- it can help Britain's. Let's build an urgent global outcry to stop Rupert Murdoch. Sign the petition to Prime Minister Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Clegg!
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Avaaz - UK: STOP RUPERT MURDOCH - add your voice now!
Confused about what is spiritual, mystical or religious?
God, Religion, Mysticism and Professor John Hick; in praise of de-mystifying the mystical
A guy called John Hick provides us with three wonderful definitions of mystical experience. First there is his own which simply says;
” Mystical experience…..does not seem to me to be anything other than first-hand religious experience as such. This is, however, the core of religion…..…the explanatory function of religion is secondary and derivative.”
Hick however relies on Ninian Smart to make clear how mystical experience relates to the other aspects of religion;
Religion consists primarily in experiencing our life in its relation to the Transcendent and living on the basis of that experience….
…..in terms of Ninian Smart’s six-dimensional analysis – distinguishing the
ritual,
mythological,
doctrinal,
ethical,
social and
experiential dimensions of religion
– mysticism is a general name for religious experience together with part at least of the network of religious practices which support it.
Hick, John, (1981) Mystical Experience as Cognition in Understanding Mysticism, ed. Richard Woods, London: The Athlone PressHick provides us with two other definitions of mysticism;
…. Brother David (Steindl-Rast) defined mysticism as “experience of communion with the source of meaning“; and he stressed that all who worship, and indeed all who are conscious of the divine, are mystics. ….and Swami Prabuddhananda defined mysticism as ‘the realization of relationship between the individual soul and the infinite reality‘” P423
Source of meaning’ and ‘infinite reality’ are I suppose deliberately abstract and universal. I sense a correlation between anthropomorphic views of God and fundamentalist views – does anyone know of any relevant research?
Our unity, that is harmonization beyond diversity, must inevitably centre on
a) recognition of our oneness in our common humanity and
b) that which is universal.
These definitions take us to the heart of religion, to the realization that the ultimate is mystery and to the most universal and abstract.
If we need to personalize our belief it needs to be in terms of celebrating the diversity of our fellow human beings and in our loves for those that we can serve and take inspiration from.
When we personalize or anthropomorphise God we inevitably see God in our own image and since we all imagine differently we are tempted more and more into a ‘make-wrong’ frame of mind through which we reject others.
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All postings to this site relate to the central model in the PhD.
Summaries are HERE
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Protest the Tories Murdoch deal - 30,000 phone calls or emails to parliament already - add your voice - email or phone your MP right now!
It's your democracy - and it's being dismantled day by day!Wow - 30,000 UK messages and phone calls to Parliament today and momentum building with hours left to go. Send a message and forward this on! Here's the email --Dear friends across the UK,
In 24 hours, nearly half our commercial media could be owned by Rupert MurdochFor four decades hehas interfered with our democracy -- determining election results, bolstering politicians in exchange for influence, and smearing others who refuse his orders. But he may have finally gone too far -- with just 24 hours left before the decision, the coalition is still deeply divided on Murdoch's bid for BSkyB.The government is deciding right now whether Murdoch can gain control of one of Britain's largest news corporations.Let's tip the balance against Murdoch's attempt to tighten his grip on our media. Click to send an urgent message directly to key decision makers on the BSkyB bid and send this on to everyone -- let's flood our politicians with tens of thousands of messages telling them we want Murdoch’s hands off our democracy:Murdoch has used his vast media empire to push war in Iraq, elect George W Bush, and block global action on climate change, andif he wins this week in Britain he will use his networks here to undermine all the issues that we care about. He has manipulated US, British and Australian democracy for years, but now he wants more complete control. In the US, most of the likely Republican presidential candidates are actually paid employees of Murdoch! When his Fox News Network was shunned by Barack Obama as a mere propaganda mouthpiece, it spawned the far right "tea party"and broadcast constant, often hate-filled attacks against Obama and his healthcare and peace agenda -- resulting in a huge win for Republicans in the 2010 congressional elections.Murdoch media staff have trampled laws and standards when gathering news. SeveralNews Corporation executives approved phone hacking and, when a formal investigation began, they had regular secret meetings with senior police officers who then failed to investigate the full extent of the scandal. Our government should punish such an organisation, not allow it monopoly powers over our media. But if Rupert Murdoch is allowed to buy all of BSkyB this week, he will soon own half of our commercial newspapers and television. This should not be allowed in any democracy.We can turn the tide on this powerful threat to our democracy.In the end the News of the World phone hacking scandal forced David Cameron’s communications director to resign. And a mass outcry from Canadian Avaaz members recently prevented a Murdoch-style TV network from getting taxpayer funding and stopped the Canadian government from removing the journalistic standards that would prevent this new network from spreading lies to the public. The fight against Murdoch has just begun, but already we've begun to win. Let's do the same in Britain! Click below to send an urgent message and send this on to everyone:
In 48 hours, nearly half our mass media could be owned by Rupert Murdoch - phone or email your MP now
SEE -
The King's Speech - a whole bunch of stuff you didn't know
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Fred Halliday & commentators on Gadafy's Libya - 'a state of kleptocracy'
A state of misrule
There are many ways to enter the strange story of al-Jamahiriya ("the state of the masses"), whose originating event was marked on 1 September 2009 by a spectacular celebration in Tripoli filled with extravagant stage-management and kitsch special-effects. The event was seen in much of the world outside Libya against the background of the concurrent media and diplomatic controversy over the release from a Scottish jail on 20 August 2009 of the only person convicted of any part in the Pan-Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie in December 1998, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi (who, incidentally, belongs to an influential branch of the Magariha tribe, which links him to Major Jelloud). As a result, the experience of these four decades in Libya's history - and their impact on the Arab world and beyond - has been somewhat overshadowed. A pity, for these offer some sobering lessons in the politics of illusion.
Click on link to read full article and some excellent comments
