Civilization is the vital force in human history; culture is that inert mass of institutions and organizations which accumulate around and tend to drag down the advance of life;

Civilization is Giordano Bruno facing death by fire; culture is the Cardinal Bellarmino, after ten years of inquisition, sending Bruno to the stake in the Campo di Fiori;

Civilization is mutual aid and self defense; culture is the judge, the lawbook and the forces of Law & Ordure;

Civilization is uprising, insurrection, revolution; culture is the war of state against state, or of machines against people, as in Hungary and Vietnam;

Civilization is tolerance, detachment and humor, or passion, anger, revenge; culture is the entrance examination, the gas chamber, the doctoral dissertation and the electric chair;

Civilization is a youth with a Molotov cocktail in his hand; culture is the Soviet tank or the L.A. cop that guns him down;

Civilization is the wild river; culture, 592,000 tons of cement;

Civilization flows; culture thickens and coagulates, like tired, sick, stifled blood.

edward abbey – desert solitaire

Mathematics, art, poetry and music are forms of communication that resonate harmoniously across cultures.

these are what we should amplify, and rejoice in – the things which affirm our common humanity. mathematics is, unfortunately. a rather unpopular subject – i have always felt that there is a conspiracy to deprive the majority of the insight and intellectual joy which even a little knowledge of mathematics can bring. but there are other things that are more accessible – much as i deprecate its ludicrous over-commercialisation, sport can serve as a unifying influence. so also cuisine. so, likewise, parenting.

it might be interesting, and perhaps even useful, to attempt a more comprehensive list.

thank you Somoe – (as always) your post combines gentleness with intellectual resilience and every sentence is sane and humane. whatever shabby virtue my illiterate ramblings may occasionally manifest, that graceful balance is far beyond my most optimistic aspirations.

Spiritual gnosis is beyond the petty distinctions that religions fall prey to, the rights and wrongs, arguments regarding what is truly of God and the ‘usandthemism’ (great new wordism) . Mathematics, art, poetry and music are forms of communication that resonate harmoniously across cultures. Healing humanity from the twisted up state it has been screwed into will take much creativity but from what i see there is plenty of will for it. Exercising a co-creative approach seems to me the best way to channel higher forces and create a better reality.

I really appreciate the wisdom in your posts, they truly are a joy to the mind furnished as they are in such refinement of language – it has been said that you seek the most perfect choice of words to convey your meaning (and i heartily concur).

The cartoon of sufi and salafi was very funny, reminded me of some comment threads/articles from the beforetime (before the schisming of KA and LS)

There is some division as to whether it should be regarded as a parody religion, and if so to what degree.Discordians use subversive humor to spread their philosophy and to prevent their beliefs from becoming dogmatic. It is difficult to estimate the number of Discordians because they are not required to hold Discordianism as their only belief system,and because there is an encouragement to form schisms and cabals.

at a formal level it follows a very fundamental principle of organic life – bifurcation.

however for a growing tree two sub-branches from the same stem branch are still parts of the same organism.

when a religious or political organisation splits the first thing is an exaggerated inflammation of external difference. but in the consolidation phase you get mutual hostility, denigration and disavowal which tend to be very long-lasting.

Jonathan Swift satirised the exaggeration of petty contrasts:

Traditionally, Lilliputians broke boiled eggs on the larger end; a few generations ago, an Emperor of Lilliput, the Present Emperor’s great-grandfather, had decreed that all eggs be broken on the smaller end after he cut himself breaking the egg on the larger end. The differences between Big-Endians (those who broke their eggs at the larger end) and Little-Endians had given rise to “six rebellions… wherein one Emperor lost his life, and another his crown”. The Lilliputian religion says an egg should be broken on the convenient end, which is now interpreted by the Lilliputians as the smaller end.

(wikipedia)

Make it then screenshot (varies depending what type of Computer and OS)

perhaps due to my own admitted mental peculiarities, i have from an early age found all dogma, conformism and coercion repugnant.

Indeed, same here.

and the blockquotes – just saw how to do that, useful feature for emphasis.