Category Archives: Discursive Detours

A catch-all category

Apathy, Angst and Grenfell Tower

Opportunities for angst and anger abound. Just glance through the headlines. Take your pick from today’s top expert-endorsed, editor-approved crises — Climate change threatens our cities, the oceans and life itself. Well-intentioned efforts to stop climate change threaten our jobs … Continue reading

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Spiritualism, Attitudes

I’ve read that spiritualism and spiritism started in the 18th or 19th centuries. Folks who take one or both seriously seem to think spiritism isn’t spiritualism. How the ‘isms’ are different depends on who’s talking. Some say spiritualism is a … Continue reading

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Mediums

“Séances date back to the 1800s…. Spirits were manifested, tambourines flew, ectoplasm impossibly erupted from entranced mediums. Then, after forty years of this, rather embarrassed by what they’d started, one of the sisters, Margaret Fox, confessed that they were frauds. … Continue reading

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Homer, Hegel, History and Hope

Folks who saw virtue in unquestioning devotion to established values didn’t like the 1960s. No institution, custom or belief seemed safe from scrutiny. Even the idea of progress — a cherished heirloom from the Age of Enlightenment — was challenged, … Continue reading

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Ghosts?

Whether or not I believe in ghosts depends on what’s meant by “believe in” and “ghosts.” And how I see myself, for that matter. I’ll be talking about ghosts and why I think seances are a bad idea. Also, briefly, … Continue reading

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