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J. Michael Jones

J. Michael Jones

By J. Michael Jones

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Postmodernism-The Parable of the Meteorite.

J. Michael JonesJan 13, 2023

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19:47
Preparing for the Post Christian World: Part II, A Re-look at the conversion of Constantine

Preparing for the Post Christian World: Part II, A Re-look at the conversion of Constantine

The key to having a positive view of the end of Christian culture, by Christians, is the ability to separate out 2000 years of Christian culture from the essence, which is only the historical Jesus.

Jun 09, 202308:23
Preparing for the Post-Christian World Requires a Paradigm Shift in Thinking

Preparing for the Post-Christian World Requires a Paradigm Shift in Thinking

For the non-Christian, the new post-Christian world is attractive. However, for the Christian, it appears dismal. Their reaction is either 1: Denial, 2 Confrontation (the culture wars), or 3) Compromise, "new age Christianity where all views are equal. However, the most healthy way for a Christian to enter this new reality, in my opinion, is by understanding the difference between Christian culture (95%) and simply following the historical Jesus, the former being extraneous.

Jun 09, 202329:27
The Onus of the Stiff Upper Lip

The Onus of the Stiff Upper Lip

How Christian culture and Western culture (so influenced by Christianity) is wrong on how we deal with pain, and alternative ways to think about it.

Apr 26, 202327:30
Feral Theophilia

Feral Theophilia

It is possible to love God and have a relationship with him without being part of any religious social group, church, or system of belief.

Mar 13, 202326:06
Postmodernism-The Parable of the Meteorite.

Postmodernism-The Parable of the Meteorite.

Borrowing from a philosophy textbook, I tell a metaphor of parable about a famous meteorite, which illustrates how postmodernism handles truth and why it is so attractive as a cultural construct.

Jan 13, 202319:47
The History of Postmodernity, Part B

The History of Postmodernity, Part B

This is the conclusion of my review ot the highlights of the history of postmodernity, starting with the Greeks to the present.

Jan 06, 202310:22
The Philosophical History of Postmodernity Part A

The Philosophical History of Postmodernity Part A

I want to take the listener on a journey through the highlights of the history of how we came to postmodernity in the west. It is a very simple explanation.

Jan 06, 202329:42
Searching for Truth in a Postmodern ("trans-rational") World: Part I

Searching for Truth in a Postmodern ("trans-rational") World: Part I

This is my first in a series of podcast looking at the history of and problems with finding truth in a postmodern world from a simple philosophical perspective. The postmodern world, including postmodern Christianity (aka "New Age Christianity") relegates reason or rationality to an inferior position, compared to the mystical or "spiritual" which brings temporary peace (social peace), but at a great cost in the future. For once the aspiration of objective truth is lost, eventually there is no basis for the more important areas of ethics and meaning. 

Jan 01, 202330:07
Religion Vs Science Part VII-B

Religion Vs Science Part VII-B

If you are a religious person and you are happy with your religion, this is not the pod cast for you. But if you are a religious and you feel conflicted between the dogmas of your religion and what science is telling you, you should listen.

Aug 01, 202217:37
Religion Vs Science Part VII-A

Religion Vs Science Part VII-A

If you are a religious person and you are happy with your religion, this is not the pod cast for you. But if you are a religious and you feel conflicted between the dogmas of your religion and what science is telling you, you should listen.

Aug 01, 202229:22
Science Vs Religion Part VI of VII

Science Vs Religion Part VI of VII

Previously I had focused on the philosophical, sociological and psychological issues involved with the conflict of science and religion. Today, as I wrap this conversation up, I focus on the more practical issues, between the first general dark ages and the new focal dark ages of the white evangelicals and other groups. I have one more pod cast on this topic before I put it to rest. 

Jul 27, 202230:08
The Opening Chapter of the Novel, The Stones of Yemen

The Opening Chapter of the Novel, The Stones of Yemen

This is the introduction and first chapter of my new novel, The Stones of Yemen. It is about an American medical worker (PA) in a refugee camp in war-torn Yemen, who stumbles into an international incident that only he can thwart. It is about love and loss, bereavement and hope. It straddles that conflict between the quest for peace in a world hungry for war.

Jul 26, 202243:46
Science Vs Religion Part V.

Science Vs Religion Part V.

This podcast is a summary of the points I was making in parts I - IV, as I prepare to finish this in the next podcast. It looks at the fundamentals of how we find truth. The purpose of science and the bias of social sub-culture groups, including religious groups.

Jul 19, 202220:11
What if Life has no "Purpose?"

What if Life has no "Purpose?"

Everyone seems to believe that life must have a purpose. What if that is not true. For the Christian, Rick Warren wrote a book about the "Purpose Driven Life." What if he was wrong? What if existence in the wonderful material world is simply God's gift for us to enjoy the way we want?

Jul 16, 202219:55
Religion Vs Science, Part IV A Continuing Coversation

Religion Vs Science, Part IV A Continuing Coversation

What role does bias play in finding truth?

Jul 02, 202219:55
Science Vs Religion Part III

Science Vs Religion Part III

A look at our personal epistemology, what methods we use to find truth about reality.

Jun 27, 202219:48
Religion Vs Science Part II

Religion Vs Science Part II

Science and Religion don't reside in different realms. They both must look at reality and asses the evidence. It is about epistemology. Science starts by removing biases to reach objective truth, while religion often imposes bias as the fundamental belief that must be adhered to before considering the evidence. The default position when you don't have the evidence, is to create conspiracy narratives or moral assignment to those who disagree with you. "They believe X (not because of their overwhelming evidence) because they are of the devil."

Jun 22, 202220:05
Religion Vs Science, Part I, Foundations

Religion Vs Science, Part I, Foundations

This is the first part of a three-part series exploring the unfortunate war between religion and science, but better terms would be between evidence-based truth vs subculture dogma-based "truth." The church in America is dying a rapid death and part of it has resulted from the church's loss of a concept of truth. The conservative side, white evangelicals, has sacrificed the aspiration of truth for power, on the left the progressives have sacrificed it for social peace.

Jun 15, 202219:57
Death and Dying, a Candid Conversation Part II

Death and Dying, a Candid Conversation Part II

Why grief and anguish over death is the most spiritual frame of mind.

Jun 09, 202218:16
On Death and Dying, a Candid Conversation

On Death and Dying, a Candid Conversation

Religion often does a great disservice to the mourning process. It is not he or she that is most spiritual that mourns the least, but just the opposite. Death is unnatural in the Christian philosophical framework and therefore is worthy of our deepest grief.

Jun 03, 202219:43
Mysticism Vs Mystery

Mysticism Vs Mystery

We are living in an age when mysticism is again vogue. It is not the first time, but it appears in a culture whenever there is a disillusionment with reason, as has been true since the ninetieth century. Religion is now defined by experience not by factual information. In our present times, there is a giving up of the aspiration for classical truth and a focus for many on emotional experiences defined as mystic. This podcast discusses the difference between mysticism, an experience driven by emotions, and mystery, an overwhelming puzzlement over reality driven by our observations of that reality, which may have emotional repercussions. 

May 15, 202229:58
I Think Therefore I Am ... Not Spiritual

I Think Therefore I Am ... Not Spiritual

Religion has always wrestled with faith vs reason. Christianity is no exception. This is a look at the consequences of divorcing reason from faith.

May 04, 202224:16
Do All Things Happen for a Reason?; the metaphysical cul-de-sac of determinism.

Do All Things Happen for a Reason?; the metaphysical cul-de-sac of determinism.

In my definition, fatalism is a locked-in meta narrative, or the big picture. Both religious people and atheist share that view. Determinism, on the other hand, is absolute control on a granular level, which is held by most religious people but only a few atheists. The religious person believes that the personal creator is deterministic (controlling all trivial events of our lives) because it proves him/her to be big. But I propose that it does the opposite. When we say that God must be in control of all events, then it is us defining God and putting him/her in a tin box. The more important reason that we believe in theistic-determinism, is that we are narcissistic, believing that God designs the entire cosmos around us. That even a flea can't jump on us unless God intended for it to. I believe a much healthier view is that God is so big that he/she does not fit in the clothes that we've tailored for him/her. That God does chose to let chance take its course. This is mostly true in Christianity, which has this cosmos as broken as one of its major tenets. In a broken cosmos, shit happens.

Apr 28, 202229:16
Finding God the Hard Way; A Descartian Odyssey

Finding God the Hard Way; A Descartian Odyssey

Most people choose to believe in God, or to not believe in God for the wrong reasons. Following social norms can find us personal peace for the moment but is dangerous philosophically. I describe my own journey from Appalachian bible belt to evangelicalism, to atheism and back to the Christian God.  

Apr 20, 202230:08
The Transexual - A philosophical perspective

The Transexual - A philosophical perspective

The white evangelical community has been at war (culture war) with the LGBTQ community for years, but the focus this year has turned to the "T" transexuals. I, as an ex-evangelical, want to make sense of the transexual from an objective and loving perspective, rather of one based on sub-culture (evangelical subculture) imposed morality.

Apr 03, 202229:32
True Spirituality

True Spirituality

What if everything we call "spiritual" is actually emotional? This podcast explores this possibility and meaning of it.

Mar 26, 202227:41
The Theology of Cancer Part II (the meaning of suffering)

The Theology of Cancer Part II (the meaning of suffering)

This is the second part of my discussion of my own journey with cancer and finding a healthy philosophical understanding of its meaning to my life.

Mar 15, 202226:37
The Theology of Cancer (the meaning of suffering) Part I

The Theology of Cancer (the meaning of suffering) Part I

What happens when we are diagnosed with cancer? Where do we find meaning in that diagnosis. It is my opinion that we often come to the wrong conclusions, 1) God isn't real, 2) God is cruel, 3) God is dead, 4) God did this for a reason, 5) Satan did this to me, or 6) I'm being punished for something I did wrong. None of these are a healthy conclusion in my opinion. In this part I I tell of my story in being diagnosed with incurable cancer. In part II I discuss the possible philosophical meanings to this diagnosis and finding the one that I think is the healthiest one to have from  spiritual or emotional standpoint.

Mar 14, 202229:35
Possible Answers to Basic Philosophical Questions

Possible Answers to Basic Philosophical Questions

This is a summary lecture from the original lecture given by the late theologian/philosopher Francis Scaeffer in Switzerland in 1965. It basically looks at the simple options of the fundamental questions of philosophy. 

Mar 10, 202229:26
The Search for Truth (epistemology): A Neurologist's Perspective

The Search for Truth (epistemology): A Neurologist's Perspective

How do we find truth? A look at the process from the perspective of brain function.

Mar 03, 202228:13
Rational Christianity; An Introduction

Rational Christianity; An Introduction

This is the first in a series of talks about rational Christianity. For most people, they consider religion as an experience of faith and not subject to rationality or evidence. I believe that this is a faulty position that is built on a perversions of Platonic Dualism's metaphysical view. That the better view is that God created all the cosmos so that everything is important, the material and the unseen. Within the realm of the material are us humans with physical bodies and minds. Those minds function primarily on the collection of data points through our senses and the use of reason to find truth. We use reason in 99.99% of our everyday function, but only give it up in the most important areas of meaning, morals, and relationship with the creator and truth in general. That is a travesty. 

Feb 19, 202223:56
How Did We Get Here? A Brief Look at Truth in the Western World -- The Philosophical Perspective

How Did We Get Here? A Brief Look at Truth in the Western World -- The Philosophical Perspective

I do a very quick, drive-by look at how we have arrived at truth in the west, starting with the Greeks.

Feb 02, 202229:50
Pro-Choice Vs Pro-Life, Part V, the Idolatry of Pro-Life

Pro-Choice Vs Pro-Life, Part V, the Idolatry of Pro-Life

Last part of a five-part series on the issue of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice. This talk is about how Pro-Life has become idolatry and how we can really reduce abortions to zero if we wanted.

Jan 22, 202230:08
Abortion: Part IV: The idolatry of "Pro-Life," the Historical Perspective

Abortion: Part IV: The idolatry of "Pro-Life," the Historical Perspective

In this V of VI installment of Abortion: The Shallowness of Pro-Choice and the Idolatry of Pro-Life, I'm looking at Pro-Life conservative American Christians, which includes evangelicals and conservative Catholics. This group was the most loyal backers of Donald Trump, even more so than the white supremacists and the reason they give is "Because Trump is so Biblical." They mean Donald Trump is "Pro-Life." This pod-cast looks at the real issue of how "Pro-Life" has risen to the point of being idolatry because they choose a man who makes a laughing stock out of the entire Bible because he said he would support anti-abortion judges, ... but the Bible says nothing about abortion. A real Paradox. 

Jan 10, 202229:42
The Shallowness of "Pro-Choice" / The Idolatry of "Pro-Life" Part III

The Shallowness of "Pro-Choice" / The Idolatry of "Pro-Life" Part III

This is a podcast shadowing a series of articles posted on my blog at jmichaeljoneswriter.com. This series of articles discusses the topic of abortion, looking at the moral limits of both sides and how they could come together in peace to make unwanted pregnancies a thing of the past, rather than the primary fuel for a war of cultures.

Dec 30, 202123:48
Finding Humor in Tragedy; something funny happened on the way to getting incurable cancer.

Finding Humor in Tragedy; something funny happened on the way to getting incurable cancer.

I grew up in a family in Appalachia. My aunt Helen moved in with us when I was in grade school, and she was hilarious. But her life had been filled with tragedy and her humor was a way of coping. In 2019, after being very healthy, I was suddenly diagnosed with incurable cancer (multiple myeloma) and renal failure. Humor has been a way to see the absurdity of it all. I share two stories about the lighter side of dating.  Mike, The Hermit at Loch Eyre.

Dec 22, 202130:08