tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post112925238627442839..comments2024-03-24T11:30:08.199-07:00Comments on Can you believe?: Atlanta shortsJohan Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1129569096789706562005-10-17T10:11:00.000-07:002005-10-17T10:11:00.000-07:00A couple of follow on comments:- despite evidence ...A couple of follow on comments:<BR/><BR/>- despite evidence to the contrary, I do know how to spell "aggregation", I just don't like to do it too often.<BR/><BR/>- and on the personal nature of evil, I agree with you that there is both a supernatural and personal element to evil. But in the circles I frequent, this is usually the <I>only</I> accounting for evil, so I chose to address the other.<BR/><BR/>The problem in understanding evil is that it requires a sophisticated balance of several factors. The binary choice of "personal/supernatural" vs. "institutional/collective" misses the point and perhaps even misleads us.<BR/><BR/>It sounds like your talk/discussion did a good job of maintaining both of these sources of evil. We are foolish to ignore either. And even more foolish to insist it must be either.Bob Ramseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01195107133942667536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1129413731833545652005-10-15T15:02:00.000-07:002005-10-15T15:02:00.000-07:00Aj (and anyone else) -- who is writing on mysticis...Aj (and anyone else) -- who is writing on mysticism these days? (Maybe I'll answer my own question a bit later.)<BR/><BR/>Thanks, Bob. I find it personally hard to conclude that there is no supernatural element to evil, but I also find a lot of danger in emphasizing the supernatural.Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1129274014871600502005-10-14T00:13:00.000-07:002005-10-14T00:13:00.000-07:00Two comments:A friend of mine who grew up in Lenin...Two comments:<BR/><BR/>A friend of mine who grew up in Leningrad (as it was known at the time) tells this joke: What would be left if an earthquake struck Leningrad? St. Petersburg.<BR/><BR/>On evil: I'm glad for you citation of Walter Wink, and I think his diagnosis of evil best corresponds to what the Bible calls "the World". I especially like the specific quote in which evil exists as the "accumulation" of bad acts.<BR/><BR/>I think that both good and evil actions have a cumulative effect, and we make a great mistake when we view evil actions one at a time or in sequence, but not in aggrigation.Bob Ramseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01195107133942667536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-1129264192971821762005-10-13T21:29:00.000-07:002005-10-13T21:29:00.000-07:00Evelyn Underhill is one of my absolute favorite wr...Evelyn Underhill is one of my absolute favorite writers and a Christian mystic. Some of her writings really resonate with what I love about Quakerism.Aj Schwanzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09038745884456450797noreply@blogger.com