Gnosticism covers a lot of ground, but way the Gnostics commonly believed that the body was merely a vessel for the soul
Exactly. The Church puts a ton of emphasis on the embodied nature of Christian life. That's why liturgy is so central.
Yeetus finitus
Yep. I read all six a few years ago. I may revisit some of them again pretty soon
Why is it otherwise pointless, in your opinion?
The caveat that must be made, perhaps, is that this is all in the order of grace, which is a free gift of God. So we don't receive power to exercise as we will in accordance with our sinful desires. Rather, God gives an abundance of grace to build on nature as we grow in union with him and align our wills with his.
Given that the human person is both soul and body, and that baptism and the other sacraments confer grace upon the whole person, it's reasonable to say there must be some effect upon our bodies as well as our souls.
The obvious example is the saints. My confirmation saint, Joseph of Copertino, when he had achieved a high degree of union with God, levitated during prayer and performed miracles of healing. And that's just one example of many throughout Church history.
Dune is an antidote to liquid modernity. It is a story about place, about history, about family, friendships, and tribe. It is the opposite of radical individualism and the promise of unlimited potential sold by the modern West. It is filled with reminders of the embedded nature of man. Maybe that's why it has become a classic, and maybe that's why it has proven so hard to adapt to the screen.
It's fascinating to me that, in a vast sci-fi universe, the whole story of Dune revolves around a single planet. There is a strong sense of place in Arrakis. The planet feels real, with it's beauties and it's dangers. There's a reminder there not to take home for granted, but to live deeply within it. Place is a part of us
The characters also stand out. The sage and rugged Stilgar, the valorous Duncan Idaho, the cunning Thufir Hawat, the warrior-poet Gurney Halleck
Embedded deep within the story is the age-old question of free will. Paul is hemmed in by both his past and his future, yet there is still room for freedom in that, somehow
I'm still trying to figure out what exactly it is, and why it fascinates me so
It's also said it's a warning against messiah figures, but it's more than that, too
It's often said the book deals with ecology as a major theme. That's true, but it's so much more than that, I think
I just finished my third read of the book
Dune (2021) has been living rent-free in my head.
I'm planning to watch the movie with a friend tomorrow. It'll be my fourth time
Sounds like you rate them low
The great challenge of political philosophy in the modern West is to create a democracy that isn't immediately taken over by bureaucracy.
Is that even possible on the scale of a country such as the United States?
Maybe, but it would require radical decentralization to even begin.
The mysterious implications of [embedding](https://hmpg.net/) links in text
If I may jump in this conversation, there are a few things worthy of note when shouting-out to Christians, , regarding our take on material goods.
On what a Catholic (christian par excellence) economic model should be like, I always suggest Chesterton's take on distributism:
https://www.chesterton.org/category/discover-chesterton/chestertons-selected-works/the-distributist/
nostr:npub1nf9vm6uhs4j7yaysmjn9eqlf7et5t6hvrkdqgpd995vcc9yfjyas0pxa3x who is already in it
1) Understand that it is fundamental to understand that Our Lord Jesus Christ was born in a manger, carried a heavy cross while suffering to purge our sufferings meanwhile showing us the way to follow Him. Until offering Himself in His greatest moment what allowed us to break free from death itself. His crucifixion is our reminder we die to beat death thanks to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
2) We shall remember Christianity has a tradition before the Bible itself, to which it is the compilation of revelations to be kept and followed since early ages bu Catholics and not to be tempered with. So we have 73 books of the Bible to take into consideration besides the tradition it is held by, which is safeguarded by our magisterium.
3) Any take you expect to have from certain groups supporting greed and hoarding of material goods will be confirmation bias to how greedy people live their lives. Those takes do exist and they are fruits from the theology of prosperity, which includes the infamous predestination as seen mainly amongst the calvinists, but at large by a great number of sects.
There is no problem with being rich. But there is with being a hoarder.
Usury is a sin. So-called christians who center they lives in hoarding material goods are usurers.
Be rich and use that as much as you can to support those in need. Not to exploit them.
That being said, Bitcoin is a tool. It is not an end in itself. We must use that tool to allow us to live like Our Lord Jesus Christ has deemed us to: love God in the person of thy neighbor.
The banking system as it is penalyzes people offering donations.
If we can not use Bitcoin to help those in need at any given time without being sued or overtaxed by the government, it is useless.
Everything we are meant to do with a tool must be seen under the light of accomplishing the works of mercy.
For the sake of the conversation, I would like to tag (some of which have already seen this):
nostr:npub1em5szycw2uemwgd0d3dq2ehf42wu7537aeem3ynusvnprw6e6vssyt4kul
nostr:npub1qfkcklnmes45z75y7y8dkud5yll8vp5eq5ysk9rmgqdxeasv8unsrfj6kq
nostr:npub1wqfzz2p880wq0tumuae9lfwyhs8uz35xd0kr34zrvrwyh3kvrzuskcqsyn
nostr:npub1wtuh24gpuxjyvnmjwlvxzg8k0elhasagfmmgz0x8vp4ltcy8ples54e7js
nostr:npub1ecdlntvjzexlyfale2egzvvncc8tgqsaxkl5hw7xlgjv2cxs705s9qs735
And because he was interested on Chesterton and some of his theories, I would like to invite nostr:npub1unsnfxtxsht58arcpq3d34rskx99zln79axv9v4awq5ar5sguv6qk68r2y in case he may find anything that interests him here.
For more on Distributism, see Hilaire Belloc's "Essay on the Restoration of Property"