Jun

2016

From grammar to God -- via personal pronouns

English grammar has three sets of personal pronouns.
First person: I, me, and mine.
Second person: You and yours.
Third person: He, she, and it; him, her; his, hers, and its. (No, not “it’s” -- that’s a contraction of “it is”.)

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Categories: Soft Edges

Tags: grammar, personal pronouns

26

Jun

2016

Good idea, but too little, for too few

Author: Jim Taylor

Every week, another deadline looms. Every week, I scan the news looking for something worthwhile to write about. There’s no lack of source material. Fires, accidents, murders, floods, crashes, sports winners, sports losers - the list is endless. And repetitive. How often can I condemn mass murders without plagiarizing myself? But now and then, something new comes along. This last week, it was the announcement that the federal and provincial finance ministers had agreed on improvements to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). I’m delighted that two levels of government managed to agree on anything. But I’m disappointed that the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse.

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Categories: Sharp Edges

Tags: CPP, OAS

22

Jun

2016

Delay the Pearly Gates; join a church

Author: Jim Taylor

Postpone eternal life as long as possible -- join a church!
That slogan sounds like a contradiction -- don’t churches extol the glories of eternal life?
In fact, dozens of demographic studies have found that people who attend church regularly tend to live longer than non-attenders. Now psychologist Jonathan Haidt has provided some rationale for this extended longevity.

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Categories: Soft Edges

Tags: pearly gates, church

19

Jun

2016

Preaching hate in Jesus’ name

Author: Jim Taylor

We made an odd couple, strolling down Toronto’s Yonge Street that hot summer evening. We chatted animatedly about Wittgenstein and Nietzsche, Hemingway and Atwood. We paused occasionally to observe the scantily clad bodies strolling along Yonge Street’s sidewalks. I admired the women; he, the men. He was gay. He posed no threat to me, nor I to him. Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old U.S.-born citizen of Afghan descent, didn’t share our tolerance. A week ago, he invaded a gay night club in Orlando, Florida, and started shooting.

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Categories: Sharp Edges

Tags: fundamentalism, preaching hatred

15

Jun

2016

Singing synchronizes body and breath

Author: Jim Taylor

Our congregation did a profoundly counter-cultural act last Sunday. We sang.
People don’t sing anymore. They plug loudspeakers into their ears. While they’re at work. Or out for a walk. While they lie on the beach, or commune with nature.

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Categories: Soft Edges

Tags: singing, body, breath

12

Jun

2016

A uniquely Canadian church has a birthday

Author: Jim Taylor

The United Church of Canada had its 91st birthday this last week. On June 10, 1925, the United Church of Canada came into being when 10,000 representatives of the Methodist, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches of Canada met in the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto for the inaugural meeting of a new denomination. As far as I can tell, it is the only Canadian church formed by an act of parliament -- the United Church of Canada Act, passed July 19, 1924, to come into effect June 10, 1925. Other churches have been incorporated, usually for the purpose of owning property without vesting it in individuals, but they already existed as churches connected to international denominations.

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Categories: Sharp Edges

Tags: United Church, birthday

5

Jun

2016

A highway is not just a bigger city street

Author: Jim Taylor

What’s a highway for, anyway? Let’s set aside all those arguments about whether or not we should be driving cars, which emit pollutants, which increase greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming, which lead to fires in northern Alberta, which reduces the supply of bitumen, which hinders our obsession with paving still more of the landscape for more highways. Let’s also set aside arguments about whether it’s better to ship goods by rail, which usually has a monopoly in a regional market, or by roads, which are available to all. No, let’s get back to the basic question -- what’s a highway for?

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Categories: Sharp Edges

Tags: highway, street

1

Jun

2016

The internalized ethics of Selfies

Author: Jim Taylor

Welcome to the “Selfie” society!
You know what Selfies are, of course. Pictures people take of themselves. Usually using cellphones, although apparently you can buy accessories that let you hold a regular camera way out front to click your own picture.
My granddaughter borrowed my iPad for about ten minutes. She took twelve pictures of herself. All the same.
Click. “This is me.”

Comments (0) Number of views (1122)

Categories: Soft Edges

Tags: ethics, selfies

Jim Taylor's Columns - 'Soft Edges' and 'Sharp Edges'

From grammar to God -- via personal pronouns

Good idea, but too little, for too few

Delay the Pearly Gates; join a church

Preaching hate in Jesus’ name

Singing synchronizes body and breath

A uniquely Canadian church has a birthday

A highway is not just a bigger city street

The internalized ethics of Selfies

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