On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 18:05:27 -0400 Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Could you give a bibliographical reference (and link) for this piece? > > At 12:30 PM 7/31/2006 -0400, robert montgomery wrote: > >The spirit of Spinoza > > > >By Cornel West | July 28, 2006
And just to shore up your faith in the Catholic Church, a priest wrote the following letter in response to West's piece: www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2006/07/31/s pinozas_no_model_for_mideast/ Spinoza's no model for Mideast July 31, 2006 CORNEL WEST (``The spirit of Spinoza," op-ed, July 28) notes with regret the recent 350th anniversary of the excommunication of Baruch Spinoza from the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam, and infers that the thought of Spinoza would be helpful in dealing with contemporary problems, especially the Arab-Israeli conflicts in the Middle East. Actually, a ``resurrection" of Spinozism might be the very last thing we need. Spinoza was the father of the deconstructive historical-critical method of reading texts, especially the Bible, thereby pulling the philosophical rug out from beneath the previously coherent Judeo-Christian/ Greco-Roman Western culture. If he begat the suspicious, cynical historical-critical method, then he is the grandfather of the so-called Enlightenment, great-grandfather of the French Revolution, and great-great grandfather of the godless, decayed hypersecularism in which we now wallow. It is no wonder that Islamic fundamentalists do not wish this same poison to infect their faith-filled world. The wise elders of Spinoza's home community knew him best, and prophetically foresaw the devastation his thought would wreak. REV. JOSEPH M. HENNESSEY Billerica _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list [email protected] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
