• apology extractor
    Featured

    The Apology Extractor: What Robots Can Teach Us

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    Fembot 281 is completing her morning routine oiling the toast and scrambling the egg signals when Manbot 281 comes rocketing down the stairs, steam pouring from his auditory capacitors. Manbot, his nano screen flashing red and blue alternately:  Fembottoms, where did you put my ignition module ring? Fembot turns, her antennae waving: I haven’t seen it, Manbot. Manbot points his metallic digitalis at her:  I know you had it last!  You are always messing with my stuff.  Can’t you just leave things where they are?  Dang, Fembottoms. Fembot spends a moment contemplating the layout of the dwelling unit and glides…

  • laziness
    Laziness - Original Sin

    Laziness Three Ways and How to Move Forward

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    First up. Could laziness be the original sin? A lot of theories surround what exactly constitutes original sin. Those in the literary fields usually attribute the original sin to the discovery of sexuality, pointing to the serpent as a phallic symbol, but then, those in literary fields usually think everything is Freudian. More ancient commentary on original sin tends towards the idea of concupiscence. That word means lust or desire, encompassing the literary idea and adding a generalized greed for power, knowledge,  wealth, or whatever. However, as I amble along Scott Peck’s classic, The Road Less Travelled, I recently came…

  • appeasement
    Appeasement - Idols

    The Religion of Appeasement: God as Idol

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    Generally, when we seek to appease someone, we turn them into an idol. One of the misconceptions we have about idols is the assumption that we love our idols. And we love some of them, I’m sure. The love of money is a common one. But the other common denominator in idolatry is fear. Proverbs says Appease an angry man and you will do it again. How common is it for us to get caught up in a cycle of appeasement? I think it starts in childhood in many families. If the child transgresses (a not uncommon occurrence) and parents…