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authorMatěj Cepl <mcepl@cepl.eu>2021-03-08 00:10:04 +0100
committerMatěj Cepl <mcepl@cepl.eu>2021-03-08 00:10:04 +0100
commit088477a4d031bd59cf68ed5b3b5b93f8836b1cac (patch)
treebd27f8230e2a2cbd8fb2a22acb6f7139d63d67c8
parent47f454ee691bcfe35d19a14e729dd967c33e2394 (diff)
downloadblog-source-088477a4d031bd59cf68ed5b3b5b93f8836b1cac.tar.gz
On humanism
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-rw-r--r--faith/working-class-snape.rst27
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+On Humanism
+###########
+
+:date: 2021-03-07T22:00:24
+:category: faith
+:tags: Christianity,
+
+I have heard today yet another sermon where the preacher fought
+against the great of evil of humanism (fortunately, this was
+a tangential comment, the main point of sermon was something else
+and it was very good). It irked me again as it does anytime (most
+often) American protestant pastor fights against the evils of
+humanism. Two reasons:
+
+1. Calling humanism evil is just using wrong label, the label
+ which means a lot of very good things. Humanism_ was very
+ strange combination of things which very good and some which
+ were very bad, but making it sound all bad is just great
+ disservice to many things which I hold dear. Humanism means
+ the beginning of the rationalist tradition of modern Europe,
+ it means great movement *ad fontes* which gave us the modern
+ translations of Bible, modern Biblical hermeneutics,
+ Reformation, revival of the doctrine of the Incarnation, sons
+ of humanism were all great Reformers of the sixteenth century,
+ Martin Luther, Jean Calvin, Czech brethren, Jan Ámos Komenský.
+ Yes, it also meant an unsuccessful Florentine revival of the
+ Greek paganism, first weak attempts of atheism, but still
+ I don’t think it was that unequivocally bad.
+
+ Even if the author of such claim admits that it was just
+ a sloppy using of the term humanism for just its modern
+ version, still I am not persuaded I can take this modern
+ humanism as unequivocally evil. I gave today to my Mum as
+ a gift a book “Skoro modlitby” (Almost prayers), a collection
+ of quotations from the books of Karel Čapek, who is one of the
+ most fundamental representative of the Czech humanist
+ tradition (together with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, our first
+ President, whose one of the most fundamental books is “Ideály
+ humanitní” (Ideals of humanity)). Again, I am not completely
+ persuaded about this tradition, there is a lot on it, which is
+ not great, but older I am getting more I am returning to some
+ of its aspects: stress on “práce drobná” (small acts of work,
+ which is usually more important than a great showy
+ accomplishment), humility, patience with us and with others.
+ Again, I cannot say this humanism is the root of all evil of
+ the modern world.
+
+2. And yet, if we even mention that it is just a wrong label for
+ something which is truly evil, I still don’t know what we are
+ talking about. Whenever I ask what actually is that humanism,
+ which is so evil, I am pointed towards anthropocentrism and
+ statement by the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher
+ Protagoras that “Man is the measure of all things”. Wikipedia
+ claims that Plato interpreted it (in the Socratic dialogue
+ named after Protagoras himself) as there is no objective
+ truth.
+
+ First, I have no idea what does it have to do with Erasmus of
+ Rotterdam, Lorenzo Valla, or Karel Čapek.
+
+ Second, and what’s much more important, I still don’t
+ understand how the obscure Socratic dialogue has anything to
+ do with the pains of the current world, and especially what
+ should I do to overcome its ultra-evil influence. The word
+ “humanism” is so incredibly vague, that I really don’t know
+ what specifically I should be worried about, what should
+ I avoid. The term sounds more than useful label for something
+ specific as a shibolet, public declaration of membership in
+ the community, with no meaning whatsoever. “I am a good guy,
+ because I declare my opposition to humanism, whatever it
+ means”.
+
+ What exactly I am supposed to do, or not to do? Would that
+ preacher take the time and make one sermon specifically
+ explaining what exactly he/she means under this term?
+
+.. _Humanism:
+ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_humanism
diff --git a/faith/working-class-snape.rst b/faith/working-class-snape.rst
index 83e1802..570e70a 100644
--- a/faith/working-class-snape.rst
+++ b/faith/working-class-snape.rst
@@ -42,8 +42,22 @@ Severus and Lily because they got into very posh boarding school,
Petunia because of her marriage with a more-or-less successful
salesman (perhaps because of gratitude she was willing to stick
with him even if he was completely obnoxious and perhaps even
-abusive?). I found some_ threads_ which_ at least partially
-acknowledge this.
+abusive?).
+
+I found some_ threads_ which_ at least partially acknowledge
+this.
+
+---
+
+**{participants on the thread added other interesting references}**
+
+* “`Picketing For Peace by HissyTheDangerNoodle`_”
+ … working-class Snape decides to help his father during
+ nation-wide strikes of the Thatcherite era.
+
+* “`Curry Sauce, Scraps and a Smack by Jaxon`_”
+
+* “`A dealer, not a Death Eater by Jaxon`_”
.. _`All Our Kin: Snape and Evanses flight from the urban poverty of early 1980s`:
@@ -63,3 +77,12 @@ acknowledge this.
.. _which:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HPfanfiction/comments/eqrzg6/lf_tobias_snape_is_a_coal_miner/
+
+.. _`Picketing For Peace by HissyTheDangerNoodle`:
+ https://archiveofourown.org/works/13334973
+
+.. _`Curry Sauce, Scraps and a Smack by Jaxon`:
+ https://archiveofourown.org/works/12846999
+
+.. _`A dealer, not a Death Eater by Jaxon`:
+ https://archiveofourown.org/works/14046060