Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
183 IV. The House of Flavia and Judaism. I. The Invasion of the West by the East. Rome was not able to enjoy its power, at its peak, with a joyful heart. In the rising and setting of the sun, there were images of terror and danger that it did not feel capable of facing … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – IV. The House of Flavia and Judaism”
11 I. Seneca’s Religious Foundation. Before we begin, we will present the reader with the dismissive judgments passed by a newer school of history on Stoicism, the starting point of Seneca, for examination. 1. Recent judgments on Stoicism. One of the signs of the impending imperialism that dominates our present time is a fraction of … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – I. Seneca’s Religious Foundation”
Continuing in this post with my outline of Celine-Marie Pascale’s article The Weaponization of Language. This post addresses her section on a favourite topic of mine, one that I’ve posted many times about, Propaganda. I’ve fleshed out some of Pascale’s points by going back to her citations and quoting directly from them. (Other links point … Continue reading “The Weaponization of Language (Part 3) – Propaganda”
It has been a trying couple of weeks for Saudi Arabia. First, a tweet from an account associated with the Saudi government appeared to threaten Canada with a 9/11-style attack if they continued to “stick their nose where it doesn’t belong.” . . . . . And then, not long afterwards, the Saudi government beheaded and crucified … Continue reading “Masters of Propaganda — tutors of Saudi Arabia, alumni include Hitler”
Are any readers old enough to recall Vance Packard’s The Hidden Persuaders? I see Amazon sells a reissued 2007 edition of it. My copy was already old, published 1960, when I first read it. Hidden Persuaders was my introduction to the way the science of psychology was used by the marketing industry to influence potential … Continue reading “Democracy, data and dirty tricks —”
An interesting article appears in the current issue of Translational Issues in Psychological Science: it describes research (based on analysis of inaugural addresses, presidential documents, State of the Union Addresses, and general election debates) into the level of analytical thinking among United States presidents from Washington to Trump. (H/T Alternet) The article, The exception or the rule: … Continue reading “The Decline in Analytic Thinking among U.S. Presidents and the Rise of Propaganda”
Previous two posts: (1) Propaganda in Modern Democracies and (2) “America, the most propagandised of all nations” —oo0oo— It began with the emergence of modern democracy. Historians have labeled the few decades prior to World War 1 the Age of Progress (compare the Gilded Age in the US). Business interests boomed and so did working … Continue reading “How Propaganda Subverted Democracy – the Beginning”