Re: [tips] Palestinian and Islamic tipsters
On Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:19:45 -0700, Michael Sylvester Ph.D. wrote: >On Monday, August 24, 2009 10:23 AM, Mike Palij wrote: >>On Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:14:22 -0700, Michael Sylvester, Ph.D. wrote: >>> HAPPY HOLY RAMADAN >>[I admit] to being somewhat puzzled when I hear people saying things >>like "Happy Ramadan" (Dr. Sylvester just being a convenient example) >>because it is as peculiar as wishing Christians "Happy Lent". One >>description of Ramadan is provided by Wikipedia (standard disclaimer >>apply): > >Your analogies are way off base. Analogies? What on earth are you talking about? There are historical connections among the Abrahamic religions that tie them together, involving common beliefs and practices. See the Wikipedia enty for more on this point (standard disclaimers apply): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions Fasting, ritual purity, and other forms of self-denial are practices that many religions advocate (well, okay, maybe not those that came into existence in the 20th century). How these practices are interpreted has to be made relative to the religious dogma provided by the religion. >Fasting,denial,self-mortification,community sharing can all be >construed as forms practices that can lead to happiness. Given your self-provided history of involvement in Catholicism, I take this statement to mean that you are an advocate of the "mortification of the flesh", perhaps as described on Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortification_in_Roman_Catholic_teaching I assume that you engage in practices like those of the Saints, such as: |Doctor of the Church, St. Catherine of Siena (died 1380), was |a tertiary Dominican who lived at home rather than in a convent, |and who practiced austerities which a prioress would probably |not have permitted. She is notable for fasting and subsisting for |long periods of time on nothing but the Blessed Sacrament. St. Catherine |of Siena wore sackcloth and scourged herself three times daily in imitation |of St. Dominic. Lest one thinks of these as practices that are long abandoned, there are several sections relevant to the present day: |20th-century Catholic documents | |Recent theology affirms the practice of mortification. The catechism of |the Catholic Church states: "The way of perfection passes by way of |the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. |Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually |lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes" (n. 2015). |Pope Paul VI also stated: |"The necessity of mortification of the flesh stands clearly revealed |if we consider the fragility of our nature, in which, since Adam's sin, |flesh and spirit have contrasting desires. This exercise of bodily |mortification - far removed from any form of stoicism - does |not imply a condemnation of the flesh which the Son of God deigned |to assume. On the contrary, mortification aims at the 'liberation' of man." Indeed, there can be joy in suffering which you obviously refer to: |Joy in suffering | |Saint Paul speaks of joy in suffering in the Letter to the Colossians: |"I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake". He had found a source of |joy in overcoming the sense of the uselessness of suffering. And the words from our current pontiff: |The teaching of Benedict XVI | |Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who later became Benedict XVI told |Peter Seewald in God and the world: | |"When we know that the way of love - this exodus, this going |out of oneself - is the true way by which man becomes human, |then we also understand that suffering is the process through which |we mature. **Anyone who has inwardly accepted suffering becomes |more mature and more understanding of others, becomes more |human.** Anyone who has consistently avoided suffering does not |understand other people; he becomes hard and selfish. Love itself |is a passion, something we endure. In love I experience first a |happiness, a general feeling of happiness. Yet, on the other hand, |I am taken out of my comfortable tranquility and have to let myself |be reshaped. If we say that suffering is the inner side of love, we |then also understand by it is so important to learn how to suffer - |and why, conversely, the avoidance of suffering renders someone |unfit to cope with life." | |... |Cardinal Ratzinger states that pain, the very product of evil and |sin, is used by God to negate evil and sin. He states that by freely |suffering the pains that went with his passion and death on the cross, |the Jesus fully reveals his love, making up for Adam's and mankind's |sin, and makes man grow into maturity. Strange, I never thought of you as a fan of Pope Benedict XVI. >Read Marcus Aurelius. I have. Please cite the edition you're referring to and the pages. I have his "Meditations" (1964), the Maxwell Staniforth translation published by Penguin Classics handy. But note that Aurelius only pr
Re: [tips] Palestinian and Islamic tipsters
On 24 August 2009 Michael Sylvester wrote: Fasting, denial, self-mortification, community sharing can all be construed as forms practices that can lead to happiness. Read Marcus Aurelius. I've dipped into Marcus Aurelius's *Meditations* on numerous occasions, and have just checked the Introduction discussing his ideas and practices, and can find nothing about fasting and self-mortification, etc, as means to happiness. Just for once, Michael, could we have a citation, otherwise I shall have to assume that you have mistaken Marcus Aurelius for someone else - an early (or not so early) Christian perhaps. Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London http://www.esterson.org --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
Re: [tips] Palestinian and Islamic tipsters
- Original Message - From: "Mike Palij" To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" Cc: "Mike Palij" Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 10:23 AM Subject: re: [tips] Palestinian and Islamic tipsters On Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:14:22 -0700, Michael Sylvester, Ph.D. wrote: HAPPY HOLY RAMADAN to being somewhat puzzled when I hear people saying things like "Happy Ramadan" (Dr. Sylvester just being a convenient example) because it is as peculiar as wishing Christians "Happy Lent". One description of Ramadan is provided by Wikipedia (standard disclaimer apply): Your analogies are way off base.Fasting,denial,self-mortification,community sharing can all be construed as forms practices that can lead to happiness.Read Marcus Aurelius. By the way Lent is great.As an ex-Trappist novitiate at Gethsemani,Kentucky,the liturgy and the Greorian chants of that era was very uplifting. Michael Sylvester,PhD Daytona Beach,Florida --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
re: [tips] Palestinian and Islamic tipsters
On Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:14:22 -0700, Michael Sylvester, Ph.D. wrote: > HAPPY HOLY RAMADAN I admit to being somewhat puzzled when I hear people saying things like "Happy Ramadan" (Dr. Sylvester just being a convenient example) because it is as peculiar as wishing Christians "Happy Lent". One description of Ramadan is provided by Wikipedia (standard disclaimer apply): |Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان) (also written Ramazan, Ramzan, |Ramadhan, Ramdan, Ramadaan) is the ninth month of the |Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which |participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, |and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from |dawn until dusk [1] Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, |modesty and spirituality. Ramaḍān is a time to fast for the sake |of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramaḍān, |Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and |help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves |through self-restraint and good deeds. As compared to solar |calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving forward about |ten days each year. Ramadhan was the month in which the first |verses of the Qur'an were revealed[Qur'an 2:185] to the Prophet Muhammad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan As the Wikipedia entry notes, this fasting has similarities to activities in other religions: |God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) |upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to the |earliest hadith, this refers to the Jewish practice of fasting on |Yom Kippur.[3][4] Saying "Happy Ramadan" would be as strange as saying "Happy Yom Kippur" given that Yom Kippur involves the following: |General observances | |Leviticus 23:27 decrees that Yom Kippur is a strict day of rest |and of fasting. | |Five additional prohibitions are traditionally observed, as detailed |in the Jewish oral tradition (Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:1): | |Eating and drinking |Wearing leather shoes |Bathing/washing |Anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions |Sexual relations | |Total abstention from food and drink usually begins 30 minutes |before sundown (called tosefet Yom Kippur, lit. "Addition to |Yom Kippur"), and ends after nightfall the following day. Although |the fast is required of all healthy adults, it is waived in the case of |certain medical conditions. Virtually all Jewish holidays involve a |ritual feast, but since Yom Kippur involves fasting, Jewish law |requires one to eat a large and festive meal on the afternoon before |Yom Kippur, after the Mincha afternoon prayer. Wearing white |clothing is traditional to symbolize one’s purity on this day. Many |Orthodox men immerse themselves in a mikvah on the day before |Yom Kippur. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur (SDA) The Christian equivalent, as claimed in the Wikipedia entry, is: |In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Fast Day of the Exaltation |of the Holy Cross is observed on September 14 in the Julian Calendar, |roughly coinciding with Yom Kippur (which oscillates with respect |to the Julian and Gregorian Calendars). One Orthodox priest—Rev. |Patrick Reardon—argues that it is obviously derived from Yom Kippur, |and that everyone realizes this.[33] | |However, Yom Kippur is most comparable to the Christian holy |day of Good Friday. As Yom Kippur is seen as the day for atonement |of sins, so is Good Friday depicted as the event which Christ granted |humanity atonement through his death and resurrection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur And, of course, Good Friday, can be described in the following terms: |Good Friday, also called Holy Friday, Black Friday, or Great Friday, |is a holiday observed primarily by adherents to Christianity commemorating |the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed |during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding |Easter Sunday, and often coincides with the Jewish observance of Passover. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday Good Friday occurs in the context of Lent which: |Lent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year |leading up to Easter. | |The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through |prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration |during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the |events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration |of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent So, if one finds the acts of prayer, penitence, almsgiving, and self-denial to be joyous events instead of opportunities to engage in submission to a higher authority, a time for reflection on whether our behavior corresponds to a code that we claim to publicly proclaim (but probably observe more in its violation) then I think that "Happy Ramadan", "Happy Yom
[tips] Palestinian and Islamic tipsters
HAPPY HOLY RAMADAN GOD IS GREAT! Michael Sylvester,PhD Daytona Beach,Florida --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
