(WR) Getting Clear on Who Jesus Was

In preparation for Tuesday's class, it will be very useful to articulate for yourself, in your own words, answers to two questions:
1) What does Crossan mean when he describes Jesus' "kingdom of God" as a present, sapiential, peasant eschatology?
2) Fleshing out question 1, what are the key points of Jesus' message (Crossan enumerates them in chapter 3)?

(EE) A very (un)Cool Tool

Check out this global temperature map:  http://warmingworld.newscientistapps.com/

(EE) Modestly Good News

Here are some grounds for hope on the emissions front: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/21742-beyond-keystone-xl-eight-reasons-for-optimism-on-climate-change

(EE) Supply Side Ostritch-ism

In this morning's Berkshire Eagle, local conservative commentator Matt Kinnaman manages to applaud the recent rise of domestically sourced carbon fuels without even mentioning the local pollution or downwind (and global) consequences. This is an astonishing accomplishment -- not merely climate-change denial but something perhaps more pervasive -- a glimpse into a very particular, carefully constricted view of the world as revealing as Mitt Romney's "47%" comments during the last presidential election. That was a leaked private comment, however; Kinnaman published this under his own name:  http://www.berkshireeagle.com/opinion/ci_25090444/matt-kinnaman-embrace-carbon-embrace-life?IADID=Search-www.berkshireeagle.com-www.berkshireeagle.com

(EE) Sentience and Sensibility

I see from the comments on Sebastian's blog that the position for which I (with David Johnson) argued in S&S is coming in for discussion. I had hoped to avoid this, really, since the thing was written by Silliman 3.1 over a decade ago, and I don't even have an operating system capable of running that program anymore. It would be like trying to read a Windows 95 document on a new Mac OS.

In a nutshell (or just a nut; hold the shell) I was there attempting to develop a perspective from which we could understand ourselves as having obligations toward other living things and ecosystems as robust as Rolston and Naess require, without abandoning the insight and practical usefulness of a sentientist ethical foundation. I honestly have no idea whether I succeeded, either analytically or rhetorically, as I find it pretty painful to read my own publications. But if I become convinced that we really need to have that conversation, perhaps I'll extract something from the appendix of the book to discuss in class.

(WR) Some thoughts on detachment

It is important to look at what the Gita says, not only about detachment as such, but about what the text calls a spiritually advanced (or illumined) person is like. For instance, there is much talk about love, compassion, and friendship in a sattvic person that we must somehow reconcile with the specific passages about detachment.

But looking at those passages, too, we find some nuance: specifically, Krishna recommends not detachment simpliciter, but specifically detachment from the results of action. It is possible, then, to be deeply immersed in and passionate about your work, for example, to attend to it closely and fully engage with it, while not obsessing about its success, reward, or other extrinsic value. Paradoxically, this would probably fit the text's notion of detachment.

Here's an example: as a teacher, it is easy to fall into despair about whether I am reaching my students. I can get depressed, frustrated, angry, and generally cantankerous if I fixate on outcomes. This is comprehensively unpleasant for all concerned. But if I'm passionate about the material and the learning itself -- as well as connecting with, liking, and respecting the students regardless of whether they seem to be trying or making headway -- I can find joy and satisfaction in the very struggle. I suspect if I stay detached in this way from the (meager) fruits of teaching, I can be much more effective in the long run.
 
So detachment is not withdrawal and disengagement from others or our work, as you might at first imagine, but rather a way to free ourselves from emotional turmoil so as to think and act clearly and with well-considered purpose.

(EE) Pipeline Politics

Some people treat environmental ethics as distinct from environmental politics, but as Aristotle clearly understood, politics is ethics writ large. Especially now that the human environmental footprint is global, resulting from aggregate and not just individual actions, a crucial sphere of ethical action must be at a governmental and even international scale. Here’s today’s news on the XL pipeline, with a headline that we can only read as either disheartening or provocative: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/us/politics/report-may-ease-way-to-approval-of-keystone-pipeline.html?hp&_r=0