Tag Archives: history

Where Have All the People Gone?

The average woman is having fewer kids today than her counterpart 50 years ago. Birth rates in about half the world’s nations are below replacement levels. I don’t think humanity is doomed, partly because folks in the other half are … Continue reading

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Power and Climate

Pope Francis told oil company executives what he thinks about clean energy, climate change and social justice. What he said reminded me of London’s pea soup fog, horses, smog and why we have environmental laws. I’ve seen several published reactions … 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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