Pope Francis usually displays the right intuitions in matters theological and political. Recently, however, he committed a serious blunder in endorsing the idea, propagated by some Catholics, of changing a line in the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer’s contentious bit asks God to “lead us not into temptation”: “It is not a good translation because it… Continue reading Political Correctness Goes to the Vatican
Tag: Christianity
Slavoj Žižek on Peter Sloterdijk: The revolution does take place, just differently
Peter Sloterdijk is one of the most accurate diagnosticians of our time. In his work Rage and Time, from the distinction between Eros (desire, that is the desire to possess, that is the possession of objects) and Thymos (pride, that is giving-willing, that is recognition) he offers an alternative history of the West – that is, as… Continue reading Slavoj Žižek on Peter Sloterdijk: The revolution does take place, just differently
What does Europe want? Beyond the multiculturalist deadlock
Back in the 1930s, Hitler offered anti-Semitism as a narrative explanation for the troubles experienced by ordinary Germans – from unemployment to moral decay and social unrest. Simply evoking the “Jewish plot” made everything clear by way of providing a simple “cognitive mapping.” Does today’s hatred of multiculturalism and of the immigrant threat not function… Continue reading What does Europe want? Beyond the multiculturalist deadlock
If there is a God, then anything is permitted
Although the statement “If there is no God, everything is permitted” is widely attributed to Dostoyevsky’s [amazon asin=0140449248&text=The Brothers Karamazov] (Sartre was the first to do so in his [amazon asin=0671867806&text=Being and Nothingness]), he simply never said it. The closest one gets to this infamous aphorism are a hand-full of apoproximations, like Dmitri’s claim from his… Continue reading If there is a God, then anything is permitted
The only church that illuminates is a burning church
Why is theology emerging again as a point of reference for radical politics? It is emerging not in order to supply a divine “big other,” guaranteeing the final success of our endeavours, but, on the contrary, as a token of our radical freedom, with no big other to rely on. Fyodor Dostoevsky was aware of… Continue reading The only church that illuminates is a burning church
Anti-immigration politics: barbarism with a human face
Recent incidents – such as the expulsion of Roma, or Gypsies, from France, or the resurgence of nationalism and anti-immigration sentiment in Germany, or the massacre in Norway – have to be seen against the background of a long-term rearrangement of the political space in western and eastern Europe. Until recently, most European countries were… Continue reading Anti-immigration politics: barbarism with a human face
The Un-Shock Doctrine
The Left today faces the difficult task of emphasizing that we are dealing with political economy—that there is nothing “natural” in the present crisis, that the existing global economic system relies on a series of political decisions—while simultaneously acknowledging that, insofar as we remain within the capitalist system, violating its rules will indeed cause economic… Continue reading The Un-Shock Doctrine
Europe must move beyond mere tolerance
When, a decade ago, Slovenia was about to join the European Union, one of our Eurosceptics offered a sarcastic paraphrase of a Marx brothers joke about getting a lawyer: Do we, Slovenes, have troubles? Let us join the EU! We will have even more troubles, but we will have the EU to take care of… Continue reading Europe must move beyond mere tolerance
Barbarism With A Human Face
The recent expulsion oF illegal Roma (“Gypsies”) from France back to Romania sparked protests across Europe from both the liberal media and top politicians–and not only those on the Left. The expulsions, however, proceeded–and they are the tip of a much larger iceberg of European politics. Incidents like these have to be seen against the… Continue reading Barbarism With A Human Face
Best of 2010: Barbarism with a Human Face
A month ago, a book entitled [amazon asin=B004P1J6X2&text=Germany Does Away With Itself] by Thilo Sarrazin – a bank executive who was considered politically close to the Social Democrats – caused an uproar in Germany. Its thesis is that German nationhood is threatened because too many immigrants are allowed to maintain their cultural identity. Although the… Continue reading Best of 2010: Barbarism with a Human Face