Religion & Politics of Religion – Page 8

2011/06/022011/06/03

Review: To Save America Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine

4 Star, America (Founders, Current Situation), Budget Process & Politics, Congress (Failure, Reform), Corruption, Country/Regional, Crime (Government), Culture, Research, Economics, Environment (Solutions), Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Impeachment & Treason, Justice (Failure, Reform), Misinformation & Propaganda, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Priorities, Public Administration, Religion & Politics of Religion, Science & Politics of Science, Threats (Emerging & Perennial)

Newt Gingrich and *many* other contributors.

Hyperbole Squared, Disingenious, Mostly Theater, June 2, 2011

I happen to like Newt Gingrich, but no one has held him accountable on matters of truth for decades. When I was elected Virtual President at the Huffington Post (search for Robert David Steele), Newt was my choice for Vice President for Global Engagement. He is easily the most educated and thoughtful/philosophical leaders we have, apart from Dennis Kucinich (better on facts) and Ron Paul (better on the Constitution and common sense). I suppose you could add Mike Bloomberg (my choice for Vice President for Education Intelligence, & Research). In short, no Coalition Cabinet can be complete without Newt Gingrich. He might even make a good president if he would stop talking and learn to integrate the thoughts of others from across all 64 parties, not just the right wing of the same bird that has been pooping on America since Newt destroyed Speaker Wright (see The Ambition and the Power: The Fall of Jim Wright : A True Story of Washington). That was also the end of bi-partisanship and the beginning of the end of the Republic, now a neo-fascist corporate state.

Continue reading “Review: To Save America Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine”

2011/06/012011/06/01

Review: Taliban — The Unknown Enemy

5 Star, Country/Regional, Culture, Research, Insurgency & Revolution, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Religion & Politics of Religion, Threats (Emerging & Perennial), Voices Lost (Indigenous, Gender, Poor, Marginalized)

James Fergusson

5.0 out of 5 stars Chuck Leddy at Boston Globe Does Detailed Review, June 1, 2011

By Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) – See all my reviews

I wish I had the time and money to buy and read this book, but I don't. However, in posting a forward by Chuck Spinney (1980's whistle-blower on Pentagon fraud, waste, and abuse) at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog, I linked to the Amazon Page and saw the gap here. Below are just two paragraphs from a great review by Chuck Leddy at the Boston Globe search for it, it is worth it:

EXTRACT 1: But what these Western reports never quite explained, Fergusson notes, is how the Taliban brought law (however harsh) and order to a nation that had rarely seen either. Today, Fergusson reports, the Taliban are riding a growing wave of anti-Americanism and anti-corruption sentiment triggered by both US military operations and strong support for Karzai, who is considered unusually corrupt by the standards of a country where governmental corruption is the norm.

EXTRACT 2: One disillusioned local official tells Fergusson, “Warlordism and insecurity have returned, and the people are fed up. They are ready to welcome the Taliban back again.” Indeed, the Taliban are coming back just when the Obama administration has reduced US forces in Afghanistan. Fergusson makes clear the differences between the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Many of those inside the Taliban told Fergusson that they would welcome an agreement with Washington that would swap the exclusion of Al Qaeda from Afghanistan for an American pullout and foreign aid.

To complement this “third hand” appreciation, here is one book that I consider a six star and beyond on Afghanistan, and that I have read and reviewed–it cuts to the heart of all that the USA does NOT do:

Surrender to Kindness: One Man's Epic Journey for Love and Peace

AA Mind the Gap — Vote and/or Comment on Review

2011/05/172011/05/17

Review (Guest): Idiot America — How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free

5 Star, America (Founders, Current Situation), Complexity & Catastrophe, Consciousness & Social IQ, Country/Regional, Culture, Research, Education (General), Intelligence (Public), Misinformation & Propaganda, Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Politics of Religion, Science & Politics of Science

Vote and/or Comment on Review

Charles Pierce

5.0 out of 5 stars It's True: We See This Everyday, July 2, 2009

By K. Johnson (US/Asia) – See all my reviews

“Idiot America” is great, informative book about concepts we see everyday. Also, many of the 1-star reviews are likely biased because of some of the political and religious topics noted. I think this book is definitely a full, 5-star book.

The Following comments aren't meant to be particularly negative towards the United States and the concepts in this book aren't exclusive to the USA. The concepts in “idiot America” exist all over the entire world. “Idiot America” is a superbly covered account of something that's very prevalent in the US.

Charles Pierce provides the history of “cranks” (con artists and showmen) from the founding of the nation to current examples today in contemporary America. I focused on TV and Radio because of it's widespread impact on the populace today (even in the age of the growing Internet, which is becoming dominant). Much of TV and Talk Radio promote misinformation based on emotion, histrionics, shock, being loud, and over-the-top attempts to get ratings.

The author notes “The 3 Great Premises: and applies them to many instances in this book:

1. Any theory is valid if it moves units (rating, and making money).
2. Anything can be true if it is said loudly enough.
3. Fact is what enough people believe (the Truth is what you believe).

There are many examples in this book. Here are just a few:

Continue reading “Review (Guest): Idiot America — How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free”

2011/04/072011/04/07

Review: The Beginning of All Things–Science and Religion

5 Star, Consciousness & Social IQ, Cosmos & Destiny, Culture, Research, Information Society, Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Philosophy, Religion & Politics of Religion, Science & Politics of Science, True Cost & Toxicity, Truth & Reconciliation

cover beginning of all things — Amazon Page

Hans Kung

Deeper and more Complex of Three Books on Same Topic

April 7, 2011

I tend to read in threes, and this is the deeper and more complex of the three. The first, the one I gave 6+ stars to for its simplicity and coherence, was God and Science: Coming Full Circle?. The second–and also recommended as the second to buy and read if you do two– was Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions About God, Science, and Belief. The latter, by John Polkinghorne, perhaps the most prolific and qualified of authors on the subject of science and religion, is with Hans Kung a Nobel-level contributor.

My reading of this book certainly benefited from the reading of the other two first. This is more of a graduate-level book, and the references to many other authors and works “in passing,” as if one were already familiar with them, makes this book one best appreciated by those who have invested time in the topic and the related writings by others.

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2011/04/072011/04/07

Review: Questions of Truth–Fifty-one Responses to Questions About God, Science, and Belief

John C. Polkinghorne and Nicholas Beale

Key Contribution at a Very Good Time

April 7, 2011

This is one of three books that I selected to explore the science versus religion or science with religion reflections. Although I awarded the six star ranking to the shortest of three, God and Science: Coming Full Circle?, it must be acknowledged that John Polkinghorne, co author of this book, and Hans Kung, author of the third book I chose, The Beginning of All Things: Science and Religion are Nobel-level pioneers on the topics of God's existence and the complementarity of science and religion.

In general all three of the books slam Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion, which my own review found to be sophmoric, but I was too quick to accept God and reject religion. The three books together make a very persuasive case for the value of the spiritual, which I have always accepted, and also for religion as organized emphathy, which I now see as a spectacular offset for uncaring governments and corporations, if, if, if inter-faith collaboration can recognize that secular corruption is the obstacle to creating a prosperous world at peace [see my letter to the Pope at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog, or tiny URL Assisi-Intelligence.

2011/04/072011/04/07

Review: God and Science–Coming Full Circle

6 Star Top 10%, Complexity & Resilience, Consciousness & Social IQ, Cosmos & Destiny, Culture, Research, Information Society, Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Philosophy, Religion & Politics of Religion, Science & Politics of Science, Survival & Sustainment, True Cost & Toxicity, Truth & Reconciliation, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

James F. Molben

6 Stars Plus for SImplicity, Coherence, & Importance

April 7, 2011

I tend to read in threes, and read this book together with Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions About God, Science, and Belief and The Beginning of All Things: Science and Religion. The three books complement each other very nicely, and if you can afford the time and money, all three are recommended. Of the three, this is the six plus, with the other two being solid fives, but with the added comment that Questions of Truth is easily the second recommended book, and for the more general audience, while Beginning of All Things is more of a graduate review. It must be said that John Polkinghorne and Hans Kung are Nobel-level pioneers on this topic, and hence I must emphasize that while their intellects and total published contributions in the aggregate are six plus in every way, in this instance, this particular book by James Molben won by a solid head and neck.

The discussion of science and religion as NOT being in conflict, and as both being complementary and both sharing a focus on finding the truth, has been given recent impetus by Pope Benedict XVI, who has appointed a Protestant to head the Science Academy of the Catholic Church; sponsored an inter-faith summit at Assisi in October 2011 that we hope will focus on the reality that secular corruption and indemnification from the truth are what create war and poverty; and made direct statements to the effect that there is no conflict religion and science, and both strive toward the same end, the truth. As I like to say, the truth at any cost lowers all other costs, it is high time We the People demanded the truth, and nothing but the truth, from what I call the eight tribes of intelligence (academic, civil society including labor and religion), commerce, government, law enforcement, media, military, and non-government/non-profit).

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2011/03/222011/03/22

Reference: Religion, Science, & Philosophy

11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Ethics, Religion & Politics of Religion, Science & Politics of Science

IO Cube Clean — Click on Image to Enlarge

2012 is a year of awakening, and a year of convergence. Inspired by two books by Capt Doug Johnston, USN (Ret), Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft (1995) and Faith-Based Diplomacy–Trumping Realpolitik (2003), our collective concept of public intelligence has treated faith as essential and integral to the advanced Information Operations (IO) Cube.

Ref A: Albert Einstein Four Essays on Religion and Science (1930-1948)

Web Stack

Phi Beta Iota: Integrity is the core concept. religions that demand absolute obedience to dogma are just as bad as sciences that fabricate results, or politicians that lie. Just as we have found that there is no conflict between the intelligence profession and the craft of politics provided they both keep their integrity, so also do we believe it possible for religions and the sciences to be brought together by the humanities (philosophy et al) in order to achieve integral consciousness as individuals, as communities, and as a species.

Selected Books on Religion & Science, Religion & Philosophy

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