Tag Archives: Puritanism

The attention age – secular sirens & salvation

[Draft 3-24-2025]

Pay attention!

You’re at a cocktail party … or maybe in a social setting with your family … your attention is selective – like moving a spotlight around a stage, or tuning between foreground & background channels. Did you notice the person dressed in a gorilla costume walk by in the distance? [4]

Others want your attention. Sirens are calling you.

You want attention. Thrive on such attention.

(quote)
… the ability to grab the attention of the consumer is more important than the actual product or service offered. … we will forever be invested in [hunger for] other people paying attention to us. – Chris Hayes [1]

Continue reading The attention age – secular sirens & salvation

Puritan praise & pride – a legacy of conflated piety

[Draft 11-7-2024]

We supposedly live in a secular society. And yet, sacred speech dominates our polarized politics. The righteous mind is alive and well. Private & public piety pervades our identities, our virtues and values. Dogma still divides. History has lessons which remain unheeded. Social media (and money) amplify an illusion of majority voice. We drift into a divide over the future of our democracy. The role of reason is in retreat.

Can heads, hearts, and hands find common ground to move forward?

Continue reading Puritan praise & pride – a legacy of conflated piety