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Spiritual and Secular
Today only 55% of Australians describe themselves as religious or spiritual, but the most passionate advocates of Atheism are older males. Dr. Philip Hughes' recent review of Christian ministry in Australia, Shaping Australia's Spirituality, reveals the importance of values like compassion, and the decline of religion as a mark of identity. In New Zealand David Hines, a Methodist lay preacher, has written Jesus was a Psychologist, to help 'secular Christians' like himself.
[Music: Nick Cave, 'Into My Arms']
Rachael Kohn: Nick Cave isn't just reflecting a popular belief, he's considered one of the spiritual inspirations for some younger Australians who aren't looking to the Church for their religion.
Of course, that's not the whole story. There are people, and young ones, who are committed to the Church, only they believe it needs an overhaul. And then there are all kinds of people in between, in and out of the Church. To hear all about it, stay tuned, while Philip Hughes tells me what 25 years of research for the Christian Research Association says about Australian spirituality today. Dr. Philip Hughes is also currently an honorary research fellow at the Centre for Social Justice Research, and he has ministered both in the Baptist and the Uniting Churches.
And later we'll skip across the Tasman Sea and catch a glimpse of the spiritual scene in New Zealand, when I talk to David Hines. He's had an even more ecumenical career, including being an atheist. If you thought Jesus was the Son of God, think again. Hines reckons the son of a carpenter would've done better hanging out a shingle as a psychologist.
Before I speak to Philip Hughes, here's singer-songwriter Beth Nielson Chapman:
[Music: Beth Nielsen Chapman, 'My Religion']
Rachael Kohn: Philip Hughes welcome to The Spirit of Things.
Philip Hughes: Thank you.
Rachael Kohn: It's good to have you back on again. You've been researching Australia's religious profile for more than two decades now with a special focus on Christianity. Where would you put Australia compared to other historically Christian societies in the West?
Philip Hughes: Certainly I think that the Christian significance and Christian part of Australia's identity has been in decline for the last 40 years. Now approximately half of all Australians identify themselves as being Christian. I think there are certainly a lot of Christian faiths still very much influencing our education, influencing our social welfare, influencing our values, but it's become less explicit.
Rachael Kohn: Tom Frame has famously said that Australia is not a Christian country. Do you agree with his terminology or is it your observation more that Australians don't champion a strong national story that is Christian?
Philip Hughes: I certainly think that the national Australian identity is not explicitly Christian. On the other hand, the Christian faith is still a choice being made by large numbers of Australians. Certainly the historical influence is still there. It's also true that 60% of Australians still say religious faith influences my values, and for most people that's the Christian faith.
Rachael Kohn: What about Australians talking about their past? Are they uncomfortable talking about it as a Christian past, a country founded by Christians?
Philip Hughes: The historical thing I think is to some extent a referral to the nature of being Australian. We're much more comfortable now about talking about our convict past perhaps, and for many people of course it's our multicultural past, multicultural heritage rather than a specifically Christian heritage.
Rachael Kohn: So that's a more recent phenomenon though. I mean, when one goes back 200 years it's more British and Irish, Anglican and Catholic.
Philip Hughes: That's true, but then in the last generation we've had an enormous explosion of migration. We've got the situation now where half of all Australians are either first or second generation immigrants.
Rachael Kohn: And what about the Aboriginal component of Australian identity? Is there a bit of embarrassment around, say, the role of the Church in Aboriginal life?
Philip Hughes: Certainly that may be true for some people. I think there is a recognition amongst a lot of people that in some ways the Aboriginal spirituality fits this land better than some of the European forms of spirituality. In some ways that care for the land that worked well for 40,000 years, at least sustainably, has something in it that is of enduring value, whereas the European relationship to the land is leading to its destruction at the moment. I think there is a growing realisation and the environmental movement is pointing towards that.
Rachael Kohn: So the environmental movement is actually becoming a serious point of critique, I suppose, of the Christian past and present.
Philip Hughes: I think it certainly raises questions for the Christian faith, as it is applied within the Australian context, and for that matter within the global context too, yes. It's interesting that Christians sit right across the environmental spectrum, and some find within the Christian faith what will help them to relate to the environment, whereas others find there is very little there in that Christian heritage.
Rachael Kohn: Philip, you've done a lot of research surveys of Christianity in Australia, how people feel about their tradition, and you mentioned that people still think or link their values to their Christian past. How might they have expressed that to you?
Philip Hughes: Primarily in terms of family values, values of compassion and care, they are linked to the Christian faith. I think one of the major roles that the Christian faith continues to play within the Australian context is an affirmation of family life. It affirms family life through marriage, through the baptism of children and the incorporation of children into communities, it affirms it in the ways in which so much that goes on in the Church is family-centred, and I think that that's one of the major roles that it continues to carry in the Australian context.
Rachael Kohn: Do people identify fairness and a fair go with essentially a Christian attitude?
Philip Hughes: I think they do, and certainly in some of the Christian traditions there is a strong sense of social justice, and that strong sense of fairness. So that's there, and yet on the other hand I feel that for a lot of Australians the fair go can exist without the Christian roots.
Rachael Kohn: Is that a failure of communication on the part of Christians to actually say, hey, this is actually grounded in Christian teaching?
Philip Hughes: Maybe, maybe, but I think there is a mateship that has developed...to use what is perhaps a jaded word now...but developed within the Australian context, partly through war, partly through rural life and the isolation of people, the interdependence of people, that has come apart from the Christian faith and the roots of the Christian faith.
Rachael Kohn: Let me ask you specifically about belief in God. Demographically Australia is still predominantly Christian, but there seems to be a big drop in belief in God from 87% in 1970 to 48% today. But does that exclude belief in a higher power?
Philip Hughes: Higher power is over and above that, so yes, there are quite a lot of people who have dropped belief in a specific God but still believe there is something there. Part of what we're seeing is an increasing vagueness perhaps about the nature of spirituality. Because the links with the traditional roots have weakened, so also the understanding of those traditional concepts, such as God, have weakened.
Rachael Kohn: And even ideas about God; even though, for example, Christians would still believe in God, they may not believe in an interventionist God.
Philip Hughes: Exactly, and that's part of that ongoing change, yes.
Rachael Kohn: I note that only 9% of youths find meaning in religion. I don't know whether that's fairly normal for young people, but are they finding spiritual meaning elsewhere, such as popular music that has lots of references to spirituality?
Philip Hughes: I think they're finding it primarily in their relationships. Peer relationships, the family relationships are critical for their sense of identity and their sense of meaning. I think they find it to some extent in music, and certainly music is the major resource that they turn to when things aren't going well. So it may not necessarily provide them with their sense of who they are, but it certainly provides them with a means of dealing with the crises that occur from time to time.
Rachael Kohn: So just like in the old days when the Christians would turn to the psalms and the hymns to find comfort, perhaps young people today are finding it in the popular music.
Philip Hughes: Yes, I think that is true.
Rachael Kohn: Philip, you cite a study of 3,700 school students around Australia, of which 55% believe that 'life is only meaningful if you provide the meaning yourself'. However, the same study found that almost 80% of students found it hard to know what to believe about life. So it sounds like a bit of a recipe for confusion there.
Philip Hughes: I think that is right at the root of the problem, that's what our culture has brought us to, our post-traditional culture has told us in a sense that we can construct the world as we want to see it, we can believe what we want to believe about life. But what that means is that we've got to make up our own minds, and a lot of young people will say 'I haven't made up my mind, I really don't know what to believe about it'. There is this very open sense that perhaps life can be what we make it, but we're not sure how to make it.
Rachael Kohn: Indeed, it sounds like a lot of them agreed. One of the questions was 'Does your life have purpose?' and most of them said yes, it has purpose, but then found it difficult to actually explain what that purpose was.
Philip Hughes: Yes, and that is a reference, again, to the fact that they're not going to take a tradition as such and merely repeat the tradition in terms of finding that meaning. Rather it is going to be something that is constructed, but that's a lifelong process and is a very difficult process. My sense is that we are not necessarily preparing our young people well to even think about and make decisions about what life is all about.
Rachael Kohn: But isn't that because they think that life is all about lifestyle choices? I gather that religion is less about truth these days than it is about a lifestyle choice.
Philip Hughes: Yes, and so there is a sense in which young people see it as being purely a personal choice, a personal preference. In fact of course the choices that they make make a great deal of difference to their lives and can give a sense of purpose or can lead them into contributing strongly to the community or not. But they certainly are very clear that whatever decisions are made, they will make them for themselves. If meaning and truth come from within the individual, then the ways in which religious organisations seek to work with young people must be very different, it must be a dialogical process, but it's not going to be a simple process of proclamation and people will respond positively.
Rachael Kohn: I wonder if the Church has relied too heavily on itself, the institution, the organisation, as being the exclusive way of sustaining Christian faith and life, and should consider itself as merely just one part of it or maybe even almost phased out, that Christian faith could be delivered and sustained in different ways.
Philip Hughes: I think that's very true and it's true at different levels. One of those levels is that in fact the Church has focused hugely on local-based communities, and for most young people, most people within the Australian context, local communities are not very important. A lot of our engagement with the wider world is in the form of mass engagement. Also our links being electronic now are not necessarily tied to location, so we in fact engage in a wide range of fragments of community across the globe. And therefore if we put all our eggs in the basket of the local community we will find that that won't be all that significant for a large number of people.
Rachael Kohn: It seems there is an interesting contrast there because on the one hand there is this push towards the virtual mass community, and on the other hand the values that young people are saying are important to them are relationships, are more personal familial perhaps, and that can't always happen in the best way on the internet.
Philip Hughes: No. Face-to-face relationships remain important, but that doesn't mean that therefore your community is the local community. I believe young people are very much aware of the fact that they must form their own community just as they must form their own views of the world, so they are very intentional about forming close relationships with each other, and those relationships often are maintained over a long period of time, irrespective of where people are located because they can happen or at least be reinforced by those electronic links.
Rachael Kohn: Dr Philip Hughes is my guest and he's a Uniting Church minister as well as one of the founders of the Christian Research Association. One of the recent reports he edited is 'Shaping Australia's Spirituality'. Later we'll find out if Jesus was really more concerned about your wellbeing and mental health than your salvation.
Philip, I wonder what you think the presence of more recent immigrant communities are having on long-term Christian communities here. Immigrant communities tend to have a stronger focus on the family, a stronger identity, traditional authority is more obvious in immigrant communities, whereas local Christian...long-term Australian Christian communities seem to be losing those values or those aspects to their religious life.
Philip Hughes: Yes, and in fact when you go to a lot of churches now they are full of immigrants who fit more easily into some of the traditional Christian structures than a lot of Anglo young people do. A lot of Pentecostal churches have attracted large numbers of Asian young people who I think respond readily to perhaps the forms of authority that are present within the Pentecostal churches, and do so more readily than Anglo young people. Yes, I think for a number of the nominations, quite a significant part of their future will lie with immigrant communities. One of the growing sectors of the Catholic Church is in fact the Vietnamese Catholic Church in Australia, and certainly within other denominations the same sorts of movements are happening.
Rachael Kohn: What about in other religions, such as Muslim communities here, the strong sense of authority there, the strong sense of identity there, and conservatism? Do you think that might prompt a reaction from Christian communities to also exhibit more openly a traditional Christian identity?
Philip Hughes: I think it does in some cases. I'm not sure the extent to which that is happening overall. One of the things that also came out of the most recent survey that I've been analysing was the fact that there are a lot of people also leaving some of the other religions, and while the media portrays Islam and some of the other religious groups as being very strong and vibrant, in fact they are losing people too. About 25% of all of those who'd identified themselves as growing up as the Islamic or Hindu or Buddhist in that survey had moved as adults, saying that they had no religion. So I think there is an influence not only from the immigrant groups but also from the Australian culture on the immigrant groups. Again, I think over generations they too will struggle to find ways of engaging young people.
Rachael Kohn: Your surveys have looked at church attendance but they have also gone beyond those traditional indicators of religiosity, and spirituality comes up increasingly in the last few years and in the last decade. But I guess with spirituality the difficulty is that there is a lot of talk about it but not necessarily a lot of follow-up, a lot of responsibility. Isn't that one of the difficulties of spirituality, that it's a feeling and not necessarily a set of duties and responsibilities that are necessary in order to experience it fully?
Philip Hughes: Yes, I think that's right. Spirituality is an indicator that people still feel that there is something more to life than the here and now. It's an indicator that for a lot of people the material side of life is only part of it. On the other hand, it is also an indicator of the fact that people don't feel that they can tie that spirituality down to a specific tradition or a specific community, that often it becomes therefore very personal and can take a great variety of forms. Without the sense of community, it's hard to maintain any sense of reciprocal obligations or even discipline has to come all from within rather than being mediated through community, and I think that's a great challenge for spirituality to maintain itself.
Rachael Kohn: And I guess that's why it's always exploratory, that it moves on and finds new ways and new frontiers perhaps. It's always in that kind of exploratory mode and I guess that's why programs like The Spirit of Things attract so many people who often call themselves nonreligious or even atheists, but who nonetheless feel compelled every week to hear the program because thinking about spiritual matters is important.
Philip Hughes: Yes, sure, and so the program can certainly provide a role there.
Rachael Kohn: Philip, one of the most popular views is that the downward trend in religious belief is being replaced by an upward trend in rationality and scientific thinking. Is this wishful thinking on the part of the secularists?
Philip Hughes: I think to a large extent it is. Certainly there are many concepts of luck, of fate and so on which don't fit into a real rational view of the world which remain right through the Australian context. The other thing is that I believe that the secular ways of thinking themselves have become a little weaker, a little more fluffy, not so clear cut as perhaps they were back in the '70s. It's interesting that a lot of the secular debate actually arises out of the rejection of religion that occurred in the '70s. I don't find so much militancy amongst younger people in that regard, they are far more easy-going about what you believe, it's up to you, whatever, rather than necessarily being specifically secular about it.
Rachael Kohn: So do you think that atheism here in Australia, represented by things such as the atheism conference, are going to be embraced with open arms, or are they going to be viewed sceptically?
Philip Hughes: I think they're going to be viewed sceptically by the majority of people. There will be some people who find a sense of meaning through them and through atheism and secularism, but the absence of religion and spirituality for a lot of people does not mean an embracing of secularism at all. What we actually find amongst about 27% to 30% of Australians is they will say 'I don't know what to believe'. They don't want to say that they don't believe in some form of higher being or God or whatever, they don't want to say on the other hand that they do. What secularism is there is often by default, it's what people fall into because they haven't made a decision to believe anything else, either secular or Christian, or for that matter any other religion.
Rachael Kohn: And have surveys perhaps unfairly categorised them as no belief or no religion when in fact people are more open to many possibilities?
Philip Hughes: Yes, I think that's right. If people are saying 'I don't believe in God', they're not necessarily cutting themselves off from all other possibilities. So many people will say, 'Well, sometimes I believe and sometimes I don't, I'm not sure what I think,' rather than wanting to be categorical about it, as many of the atheists are.
Rachael Kohn: Philip, can I ask you what you would project as the future of Australian society, say, in ten years? I know you're planning another survey of youth as you did five years ago on the generation Y cohort, what do you think you'll find?
Philip Hughes: I suspect that we will find an even greater proportion of young people saying that they're not really sure what to believe, that the major foci for life is not in fact a philosophy of life or a religious view but rather the everyday focus on relationships, the everyday focus on finding a sense of who they are within the context of perhaps a future career, of getting through education and so on. Certainly for a lot of people the everyday world dominates their thinking, but I suspect that at depth there may be a lot of younger people saying 'beyond that there may be something but I don't know'.
Rachael Kohn: Do you think in Australia Christianity could benefit from simply reorganising the churches, or do you think things would change if there were really powerful, charismatic Christian thinkers who were promoting Christian values and beliefs in a way that is really attractive? Do we have such people?
Philip Hughes: Certainly in specific locations you find people who gather around them a small group and so on. My sense is that for young people one of the big concerns about life is the environment, certainly in the surveys they say that that worries them significantly. One of the other major concerns is trying to find a balance between work and the rest of life and the relationships that are so important to them, and again many young people will say I don't want what I see in my parents, which is being dominated by work very often.
My feeling is that if the Christian faith was seen to be addressing the basic issues that young people are concerned about, the issues of identity and of formation of relationships and so on too, then it may well become more meaningful. When you look around the world, there are many, many places where the Christian faith is vibrant, where it is growing, and in most of those places there is a strong sense that the Christian faith is actually providing something of the national identity and national story. Take a country like Croatia, for example, where church attendances have been rising, where there is a renewed enthusiasm about faith, part of that was the sense that the Christian faith was essential to being Croatian. You've got that in many, many places.
Rachael Kohn: But isn't a lot of that about adversity, about triumph after being oppressed, and isn't part of the problem of Australia and other countries in the West that we've got a flattening-out, an affluence, a happiness, 'who needs religion when I'm happy, and I have my pool and my car and my dog and my two kids', whatever, 'and a drink in my hand'.
Philip Hughes: Yes, sure. On the other hand, we know that 20% of young people say that they are hurting deep inside and there are...while on the surface so much in Australian culture is happy and there is so much that we can relax in and enjoy, life is not always that good, and there are some really deep problems I believe on our horizon that are concerning us deeply.
Rachael Kohn: I'll shortly be talking to David Hines who has decided that Jesus is actually a psychologist, and he [David] is in New Zealand, so I'd like to ask you finally what you think the prognosis of Christianity in New Zealand is. Are they further down the track of secularisation?
Philip Hughes: I haven't looked at the statistics just recently, but certainly they were somewhere between where Britain is and where Australia is, and they are all fairly close in terms of relatively small numbers of young people engaging in traditional Christian practices anyway.
Rachael Kohn: Well, we'll be looking forward to your survey of young people coming out soon, or at least you are commencing it soon, aren't you?
Philip Hughes: Yes, next year.
Rachael Kohn: Good. Philip Hughes, it's been great talking to you, thank you.
Philip Hughes: Thank you Rachael.
Rachael Kohn: The Reverend Dr Philip Hughes produced 'Shaping Australia's Spirituality: a Review of Christian Ministry in the Australian Context'. It's a fascinating summary of a huge of amount of research, and is a great stimulus for discussion and change. Coming up, was Jesus a psychologist?
For my next guest, psychology and religion are often different versions of the same thing. Meditation can help relieve tension and stress, while good advice on a difficult situation can encourage someone to be kind rather than cruel, and more accepting rather than angry.
David Hines, who runs a website called wesleyschair.com, holds the controversial view that Jesus was a psychologist not the son of God, a messiah come to save the world through his death.
He's a lay preacher in the Methodist Church in New Zealand, but David's had an interesting journey, and I wanted to speak to him about his book, Jesus Was a Psychologist. He's in Auckland.
Well, David Hines, welcome to The Spirit of Things.
David Hines: It's nice to be with you.
Rachael Kohn: David, you've had a very interesting career, being a pastor in both Evangelical and liberal churches, then becoming a Methodist, then an atheist, followed by being a lay preacher, and you're also a poet and journalist. But let me ask you about one of these. When did you become an atheist, and why did you continue in the ministry?
David Hines: I had left the ministry by that stage, I was a minister for ten years and then I became a journalist, and it was while I was a journalist that I decided to be an atheist. And it wasn't a very big switch because I had been a super-liberal Christian from when I was a kid, and when I was about 45 I thought the God that I've got is so wet and inconsistent, it is not worth calling him a god at all. But I still continued to be a lay preacher, and nobody minded, I was very surprised. When I got up one day and said I'd decided to be an atheist, I said this in a church service, nobody worried at all, they called together a discussion group so that everybody could discuss their weird ideas as well.
Rachael Kohn: What happened to your belief in God? Did God simply evaporate out of the picture, or did you change your perception of what God is?
David Hines: I was almost totally secular from a kid, when I was about eight years old I decided that I didn't believe in heaven and hell, I didn't believe in miracles, but I still thought God was active in the world in a secular sort of way, and I tried to figure out how he could do that. I was a minister at that stage, I was constantly asking questions; how does this work, what does it mean to have no afterlife? And my congregations were mostly very liberal and they enjoyed this kind of freethinking.
Rachael Kohn: So is it the case that you believe that God simply acts through human beings?
David Hines: Through the secular world in general. That was my belief at that stage. Now I would say he doesn't literally act at all. I say God for me now is like a piece of poetry, he doesn't do anything. We feel like saying thank you to the universe, so we call it a person. To me it's a bit of poetry now. So when I came back, I came back to this poetic idea of God.
Rachael Kohn: Having that view of God, was that really the basis or the genesis of your idea of Jesus being a psychologist?
David Hines: Indirectly, because I had always been looking for a secular idea of Jesus. I'd been following the quest for the historical Jesus and the Jesus seminar, I agreed with all of their work, and they were saying that Jesus was not the son of God, never claimed to be, wasn't raised from the dead, and I took it a notch further, I said, well, if he is a human teacher, what kind of teaching is it? And that's when I started comparing his parables with what modern psychologists are saying.
Rachael Kohn: Is just your congregation, or do you think there are enough people today like you who prefer to relate to Jesus as a man of exceptional insight into human affairs, rather than as a divine figure bringing salvation to the world?
David Hines: I would say that's been going on for about 300 years now. Albert Schweitzer, I think it was in 1906, was reviewing the quest of the historical Jesus and that had been going on a couple of hundred years before then. So liberal Christians have been heading this way since Copernicus I guess, they've been saying the old concept of God is a hindrance, it is not a help to us any more. So I'm part of a large slice of the Christian Church, I guess.
Rachael Kohn: Well, you certainly didn't throw out the New Testament, you've looked particularly at the parables, and I wonder why you think they are particularly authentic as sources of Jesus's thought.
David Hines: In 1986 I think it was, the Jesus Seminar printed their book called The Five Gospels, and they printed in red words that they thought were authentic, in pink words that they thought were approaching what Jesus actually said, and when you go through the Gospels, hardly any of it is in red. In fact in the gospel of John there's not a single red word in it, in other words they regard the gospel of John as total rubbish. But the parables of Jesus are amongst the strongest pieces of the words of Jesus. In other words, they are the most reliable according to this group of scholars.
Rachael Kohn: And I guess there were also scholars well before the time of the Jesus Seminar, such as Joachim Jeremias and CH Dodd, and you actually refer to both of them.
David Hines: They are two of my favourites, they are back in about the '40s and '50s think it was. They were honest men, but I still disagree with them, but they were honest students of the parables. So we work on from what they said.
Rachael Kohn: Let's get down to some examples of Jesus as a psychologist. You refer to Luke12:16-20, which tells of a rich man who wants to build a bigger barn. Ostensibly this is a caution to those who place great store in their wealth. How do you see it?
David Hines: To me, I look at the conversation that happened before that, and Jesus was talking to a crowd of people and there was a man in the crowd who said to Jesus, 'Will you come and order my brother to split the family inheritance fairly with me?' Jesus said to him, 'Why do you make me a judge and arbitrator of you?' So to me, his words 'I don't want to be a judge and arbitrator' were what psychologists did, the very same words were quoted by an American psychologist Aaron Beck who studied personality disorders. He said you cannot be a judge and be a helper at the same time because you undermine the person's confidence in themselves. So to my mind those words led into the parable, and the parable is about a rich man who says, 'I've got plenty of wealth laid aside for many years, so eat, drink and be merry.' And he couldn't eat, drink or be merry because he died the next day. To my mind that parable about this rich man dying was an oblique message back to that person who asked Jesus's advice, and Jesus refused to give him advice, but he gave him a parable which he could work on if you wanted to. And I think that's part of Jesus's approach, he didn't make people's minds up for them but gave the material that they could work on.
Rachael Kohn: So what's the lesson there, to simply be grateful for what you have and take things as they come?
David Hines: I think so in that particular case, yes. I think Jesus had lots of different psychological messages, but I think the one to this person was don't let your happiness depend on how rich you are, you may never get that wealth, or if you do get it you might lose it the next day.
Rachael Kohn: Let's consider the parable of the wheat seeds which are sown, but then the weeds grow up among the wheat. That's Matthew 13:24-30. In your view this is surprisingly about paranoia. How do you get from the wheat seeds and the weeds to paranoia?
David Hines: When I started studying the parables, I realised that the key to them was the feelings of the people in them and the strange behaviour of some people. So in that story, the farmer and his servants discover one day that there are weeds in their field and the servants say to him, 'An enemy must have come in overnight and done this.' To me that is about the maddest suggestion you could ever make. If I had weeds in my field, in no way would I think an enemy had come and sown it. So I'd say they're paranoid, so crazily suspicious of other people.
And yet in that parable, the master doesn't say 'you're crazy', he plays along with their thoughts and says, 'Well, if there is an enemy who has done this, how can we handle it? Should we rip them out? Wouldn't we do more harm than good?' And this is the same advice that psychologists today give to people who have got paranoid personality disorder. They don't say 'you're crazy', they say, 'Well, okay, suppose the CIA is bugging your house. Does the CIA cause you a lot of trouble? Do you really need to do anything about it?' And that's the approach that Jesus took in that parable. The master doesn't say 'you're crazy to think of an enemy coming and putting weeds in your field', he is trying to calm it down, and that's exactly how Aaron Beck would treat a person with that personality disorder. So I think Jesus was being a psychologist in that case as well.
Rachael Kohn: I must say I like the neatness of your argument there. But hasn't this parable been interpreted traditionally as a reference to the last judgement?
David Hines: That's certainly one way you could interpret it. I must say that it fits in that case, both interpretations fit. But I would say if you look at the parables as a whole, many of them only cope with a psychological interpretation.
Rachael Kohn: David, in interpreting these parables, do you feel that your insights can be applied to the reading uniformly, or does one have to do constantly nuance the interpretations depending on who you're speaking to?
David Hines: I think it very much depends on the speaker. I think some of the parables of Jesus when you take them are saying live and let live, be more laid-back, others say be more aggressive, be more assertive. For instance, there is a parable about a widow who wanted to get her case heard by a judge and the judge kept putting her off, and she kept nagging and nagging at him and eventually he decides to hear her case. So there's an example of someone being extremely assertive. So I'd say different parables match different people.
Rachael Kohn: But David, isn't the value of the parable, at least as it's been read traditionally, that it stands for all time and for everyone? So, for example, the last judgement, which will decide between the wheat and the chaff, is something that is forever applicable.
David Hines: I think it probably applies forever to somebody, but I would say they are more like a prescription that a doctor gives you, but one prescription...they warn you not to give your medication to somebody else. Some people are too assertive and they need to be told to put the brakes on, consider other people's feelings, other people consider other people's feelings so much that they are just walked on, and somebody who is a battered wife, telling them to love their husband would be the very worst advice you could give them. So I think we need to be extremely selective and say does this really apply to me.
Rachael Kohn: That's David Hines and he's speaking to me from Auckland New Zealand, about the idea that Jesus really was a psychologist. Convinced yet?
Well, I guess in this particular reading of the parables, there is a tendency I see in your interpretations to sidestep some of the traditional apocalyptic kind of beliefs, such as the kingdom of God.
David Hines: I think the kingdom of God is almost a nonsense idea. In the time of Jesus there were half a dozen different ideas of the kingdom, and I think Jesus didn't really take any of them that seriously. In one version, the kingdom of God is a Jewish rebellion kicking out the Roman Empire, in another it means just people doing good, in another it means some sort of ideal community in the future. I don't think Jesus sided with any one of those. He refers to them and sometimes he did say the kingdom of God...I suspect he did say the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, but I don't think he stuck with any one idea of the kingdom.
Rachael Kohn: Do you think in New Zealand today many New Zealanders don't take the kingdom of God very seriously?
David Hines: It's interesting, I took a service about a month ago where I asked that very question, I said; what do the words 'the kingdom of God' mean to you? And some people said the kingdom of God means a kind of ideal society where poverty has ended, and this is a kingdom that they would bring in themselves, they didn't see God literally doing this. Other people thought that the kingdom of God is Jesus coming back at the end of the world. And I got about half a dozen different ideas of the kingdom before somebody said, 'Isn't the kingdom of God when you go to heaven and you die?' Now, that used to be taken as the meaning of it but the rest of that congregation, they'd split into about four different directions as to what they thought the kingdom meant. So I think it's an idea that people are very free and easy with these days.
Rachael Kohn: So what is your aim in this particular reading of the parables? Is it to get Christians to stop relying on God and rely on themselves?
David Hines: I think that is part of it, I think psychology is largely fixing yourself up. My main aim was just historical accuracy. I wanted to get to grips with what Jesus was really like. But having done that, I must say that many of the parables I find are helpful to different people. I'd say three or four of the parables have come to life for me since I started doing this, because I'd never looked at them as psychology, and once I saw they are, I could see that I do some of those things that he pointed out. So I think it is psychologically helpful, but I didn't get into it for that reason, I got into it just to try and get back to what Jesus was really like.
Rachael Kohn: Do you think many people though in seeing the parables as simply a more ancient way of doing psychology might today think that... why do religion at all, why go to Jesus at all when there are writers like M Scott Peck and others who do a contemporary psychology today that might be more relevant?
David Hines: I'd be inclined to go along with them, because when people go to the Christian Church they get bits of good psychology, but they also get bits of stuff that is not helpful, and even people who read the parables of Jesus, they are not obviously helpful. I think if I discovered, as I did discover in myself, that I had some of this attitude shown in the parable of the talents, of not using my talents, it wouldn't take you very far. The teaching of Jesus illustrates that there is a problem, it doesn't take you very far into solving it. So I think Christians need psychology more than psychologists need Christians. I think the psychology of Jesus only takes you partway there and that there are many other people today doing it better.
Rachael Kohn: We've certainly seen the way Buddhists in the West present their teachings of the Buddha as cognitive psychology essentially. How far do you think that works for Christian teachings?
David Hines: It works for Christians as well. There is a friend of mine who is a psychologist who said that she was concerned that in her own psychology people were using Buddhist meditation to help them cope with stress, and she said is this being disloyal to my Christianity? And I said no, Buddhism is to a very large extent psychology, and I always look forward to the day when people would say the same of Christianity and perhaps Buddhists would be picking bits out of the parables of Jesus. I think both religions have got a heavy dose of psychology in them.
Rachael Kohn: There's probably a general division of people who are the 'glass half full' and the 'glass half empty' people. I think I'm probably the 'glass half empty'. What would you say you are?
David Hines: I think I'm in a transition. I think I was basically a fairly negative, critical person for most of my life. I think I'm getting a little bit more laidback now, so I'm not as pessimistic as I used to be.
Rachael Kohn: You've seen this 'glass half full', 'glass half empty' kind of division as part of the message of the parable of the talents or money. How did you arrive at that interpretation? Can you explain it?
David Hines: To me the parable has got a master giving bags of gold to three of his servants as he goes on holiday and leaves them to do what they like with it. And that is, to my mind, a fairly good illustration of everyday life, that each of us has got talents, opportunities, situations, we can do what we like with them. And when you've got that kind of open situation, some people see it as a brilliant opportunity, they get excited about it and think I've got all this potential, all these things I can do, and they get excited about it. Other people, if you give them the same situation, the same skills, the same opportunities, they get negative about it, and the ones who have a negative assessment of what they've got, they end up making it even more negative. I think that's what the parable of the talents is saying.
Rachael Kohn: You mean the guy who was only given one talent and who buried it was exhibiting some kind of negativity or fear? Was he fearful of his master?
David Hines: He was, and Jesus in that particular case, and many others, actually voices that person's fear. The person is afraid to invest this bag of gold so he buries it in the ground, and then when his master comes back and is furious, the servant spills out what his anxiety was, he says, 'I knew you were a hard master, you get profit out of other people's work, and so I was scared.' And so the servant himself is a mouthpiece of negativity, 'I was afraid to use my opportunities,' and of course his very fear was what made it even worse.
Rachael Kohn: That's interesting because that particular parable has often been viewed as one of the justifications for investing money, but you see it as more investing in psychological health.
David Hines: I think both are true. It is actually a parable about making money, and so that is one of its possible meanings, but I would not limit it to that. It's also investing your talents, investing your relationships. If somebody has a negative attitude to their relationships, says, 'My children are hopeless, my children will never make anything of their lives,' that negative attitude to their children will end up in the children being disadvantaged. But it does apply to money as well; if you've got money and are scared to invest it, you're going to waste your money.
Rachael Kohn: David, if this is a viable way of reading the New Testament and particularly Jesus as a psychologist, is it also possibly the thin end of the wedge before people slip away from Christianity altogether? Or do you think that Jesus as a psychologist does have long-term appeal?
David Hines: I'm not sure. I see the barrier between Christian thinking and secular thinking as lowering for some people, not for everybody, but for myself, if the Church was to die away through lack of interest, I wouldn't feel that was the end of the world, I would want to go to some other group that cared and showed similar insight. And it's on the cards that that will happen, that the Church will be deserted by liberal people and will be left to more conservative people. I don't think that will be the end of the world, I hope it won't happen, but it doesn't worry me too much whether the Church continues to exist, so long as there are still people around who show constructive attitudes.
Rachael Kohn: So people won't need to find a pew but perhaps a couch, a psychoanalytic couch.
David Hines: And might be a help.
Rachael Kohn: Have any psychologists responded to your book, and particularly Christian psychologists I guess?
David Hines: There was a friend of mine who was a Christian psychologist and she responded to it favourably when I was first starting it. She read a few of the chapters and agreed with me that Jesus was a psychologist. I haven't heard any comment from Christian psychologists since I wrote it, it's only a couple of weeks ago that it went on the market. I've had positive feedback from one atheist who read it and loved it, so there are people who are not Christian at all who see merit in this kind of idea.
Rachael Kohn: Well, this may be the new Bible for the Christian atheist, if there is such an animal. I think that's what you called yourself at one point, didn't you?
David Hines: Yes, I was a Christian atheist for something like ten years.
Rachael Kohn: And what would you call yourself now?
David Hines: I think I call myself a secular Christian, which is what I called myself when I was in my teens. I've not been able to get a very consistent view of God, but I've still got a consistent view of where my life is heading and the kind of things I'd like to achieve.
Rachael Kohn: Can I ask you where you think Christianity in New Zealand is heading?
David Hines: I think it's heading much the same way as in other countries such as Australia and Britain in particular, where a lot of members are becoming more secular, but those who are becoming secular also to a large extent are drifting away from the Church. And I think on average the churches now would be a bit more conservative than they were 40 years ago. So I don't think liberal Christianity is doing very well, but I hope my effort and others like it will help it to get on track, help it to see its role as helping people cope with life better.
Rachael Kohn: It certainly is an interesting book as well as funny, those cartoons are quite good. David Hines, it's been great talking to you, thanks very much for being on The Spirit of Things.
David Hines: Thank you very much.
Rachael Kohn: David Hines' book was endorsed by Lloyd Geering, New Zealand's most liberal Christian and honorary fellow of the Jesus Seminar. And since that interview we've all heard the terrible news of the mine disaster in New Zealand. Our heart-felt thoughts are with all the grieving families.
You're with The Spirit of Things, produced by me and Geoff Wood, and with sound engineering by Luke Purse.
You can find all book and music details on the website, and while you're there, don't forget to click on to this week's program and then 'Add Your Comment' if you'd like to get into a conversation with other listeners about the current trends in Australian spirituality, and whether Jesus as a psychologist turns you on.
Next week, we're plunging into the world of music and theology. The lively and engaging pianist and theologian Jeremy Begbie is speaking on freedom; can we be free with God in our space. And that's from his 'Music, Modernity and God' lecture series. It's a cracker so don't miss it, next week on The Spirit of Things with me, Rachael Kohn.
- Rev. Dr Philip Hughes
- is the Senior Researcher at the Christian Research Association.He has worked for the CRA since it was established in 1985. He has post-graduate degrees in philosophy, education and theology. Philip is a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, although originally ordained in the Baptist Church, and is also employed by Edith Cowan University on projects on church and community, and insecurity and wellbeing.
- David Hines
- was a pastor in evangelical and liberal churches in New Zealand for 10 years and convened the Methodist Faith and Order committee. He was also a network chief reporter for Radio New Zealand. Later as an atheist, he continued to be a lay preacher and worked for the Catholic newspaper, Zealandia. He has studied cognitive therapy and New Testament eschatology and now continues to be a Methodist lay preacher. His book Jesus was a Psychologist was published in 2010.
- Title
- Jesus Was a Psychologist
- Author
- David Hines
- Publisher
- Xlibris Corporation
- Track
- Into My Arms
- Artist
- Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
- Album
- The Boatman's Call
- Composer:
- Nick Cave
- Description
- CD details: Mute TVD 93475 (RMD53475)
- Track
- My Religion (Sweet Love)/ Prayers of an Atheist
- Artist
- Beth Nielsen Chapman
- Album
- Prism
- Composer:
- Raddelloni, Chapman
- Description
- CD details: BNC Records Independent Release
- Track
- Losing My Religion
- Artist
- Album
- Out of Time
- Composer:
- Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe
- Description
- CD details: Warner Bros. 7599264962
Further Information
- Christian Research Association
- The Christian Research Association was formed in 1985 to serve the churches of Australia. Its task is to provide up-to-date and reliable information about religious faith and church life in Australia.
- Shaping Australia's Spirituality
- The national Roundtable on 'Shaping Australia's Spirituality' was held from Tuesday 31st August and Friday 3rd September 2010. Over the four days of conversations, close to 150 people participated. Each day explored different areas of mission and ministry, examining the Christian principles, and using contemporary research to reflect on the best ways to conduct mission and ministry in the Australian contemporary context. A book based on the conference is now available.
- Sermons for Planet Earth
- David Hines hosts this Christian website where you can find more information about his book, Jesus was a Psychologist.
- Presenter
- Rachael Kohn
- Producer
- Geoff Wood / Rachael Kohn
Comments (5)
RichardS :
03 Dec 2010 9:54:40am
Thanks for another very interesting programme, particlarly the chat with Phillip Hughes.His careful analysis of the contemporary state of Aussie spirituality and the decline of the church's influence seems to me to be pretty accurate.As a Christian myself I view the subjectivism of our burgeoning agnostic numbers with a heaviness of heart.It can only ever lead to a preoccupation with trivial pursuits:the gospel of me, and the concomitant rejection of Divine authority.Nothing new in that.
cass :
04 Dec 2010 5:01:00pm
I do think there is a need to be clear that many of the values identified as "christian" in the first interview, are actually enlightenment values, and many others are in fact "traditional" values found among all people from more traditional communities, regardless of religion.
As a non believer I find this misrepresentation of values as "christian" somewhat insulting.
The second interview was very interesting - a long time ago I thought of Jesus as someone who had a good understanding of human nature, and someone who, through story, conveyed fables that related to the human condition.
kevin wills :
04 Dec 2010 5:09:59pm
So 55% of australians are delusional, that's shocking. No wonder there is still so much fear and suffering in society.
Annie :
04 Dec 2010 9:53:06pm
I think the decline of the church's influence is due to the Church's neglect of the population. I was raised a Christian but tired of being told how wealthy we are. Certainly the Pastor & his wife were getting plump but had little concern for his "flock"!
& their support of the de-humanisation of Aboriginal Australians didn't help.
Sal :
07 Dec 2010 5:21:06pm
What is 'shocking' is Kev's lack of sophistication. Clearly neither a scientific nor a religious worldview guarantees humanitarian behaviour: we need look no farther than Josef Mengele's twin studies. (Yes, yes, I know, religious wars and all that -- but how many wars were not religious? This is just simplistic stuff trotted out in a knee-jerk way.) We need to get past this rigid way of thinking about others.


text: Home > Business BrandNews Tired of selfie cameras? These stylish phones were designed for all your needs Motorola Posted at Dec 06 2017 03:43 PM Share Save Facebook Twitter LinkedIn With the rise of various "selfie" brands, it has become extra challenging to choose a phone that can meet daily needs. Amid promises of ground-breaking technology is the question: Are phone users willing to pay for extra features that they will not really use in their daily lives? Considering that smartphones play a large role in users' lives, they have to be equipped with useful tools to make every day easier and less complicated. What should smart buyers look for when shopping for a mobile phone? Here are some key features to watch out for: 1. A decent camera Most people have social media accounts, and a large chunk of posts on these platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are photos. A functional smartphone that has a decent camera will allow you to take social media-ready pictures of your #OOTD, #FoodForTheDay, and other subjects when inspiration strikes. 2. A strong processor A state of the art camera does not mean much if the phone itself is always lagging. Smartphones must have strong processors that will enable users to multi-task, and make the most out of the phone's different features. No one wants a phone that can only handle one app at a time. 3. A reliable battery A reliable battery will spare mobile phone users from the hassle of lugging around weighty power banks. It will help them enjoy their phone's features without having to worry about battery life when traveling or partying with the gang. Packed with these essential features and backed by years of innovation, options for people looking to buy a new phone include Motorola's G series, which top up their functionality with reliable security features. The Moto G5S and the Moto G5S Plus feature Motorola's latest upgrades, including smarter software, better camera technology, and longer battery life--the key elements of a functional smartphone. The Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus also come with the size and precision-crafted look of premium phones with a polished all metal-unibody design, which goes very well with their spectacular 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch full-HD displays, respectively. When it comes to battery, both the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus house a 3000mAh all-day battery that holds enough power to last its users throughout the day. Both are also powered by a TurboPower™ charger that allows you to charge enough battery life in just 15 minutes. Ultimately, the the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus are backed by a 1.4GHz octa-core processor and Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 2.0GHz octa-core processor, respectively. These powerful processors enable users to run their favorite apps smoothly, watch videos with stutter-free playback, and browse the web at high speed. Both phones are also equipped with a fingerprint reader, that does everything from unlocking the phone to authorizing app logins and mobile payments. They also have Night Display and Quick Reply features, two new Moto experiences that are all part of the brand's effort toward a unique collection of meaningful software experiences. Rounding out its features, the Moto G5S is equipped with a high-resolution 16MP camera that features rapid focus technology, which allows users to instantly capture perfect moments. It also has a 5MP wide-angle front camera with an LED flash that allows beautiful selfies, day or night. The Moto G5S Plus, on the other hand, has dual 13MP rear cameras powered by a special photo enhancement software and selective focus for a blurred background effect. It also has an 8MP wide-angle front camera equipped with an LED flash and a new panoramic mode to capture even more background. For more information about Motorola's newest smartphone offerings, visit their official Facebook page. NOTE: BrandNews articles are promotional features from our sponsors and not news articles from our editorial staff. Share Save Facebook Share on Twitter LinkedIn Read More: Motorola Moto G5S Moto G5S Plus Life Advertorial mobile phone cellphone cameraphone selfie camera

subset: commoncrawl


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Product Highlights
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text:
The first match of the season was a non-conference against St. Paul Humboldt. The Polars were out-matched, losing 6-1.
The conference season began against arch-rival Henry. The Patriots attacked the Polars and were victorious again by a 6-1 score.
Two non-conference opponents, both who are in the new Region 5A which the Polars will also compete, were next. The Polars traveled
The team then traveled to Brooklyn
The Polars returned to conference play against the Teddies of Roosevelt. Roosevelt won 5-2.
South and Southwest were the next two opponents.
With the team having a 0-4 conference record, the next game was crucial. Edison also came into the match without a victory. North dominated the match with a 7-0 victory to stay out of the cellar.
The final conference match was against Washburn. The Millers defeated the Polars 5-2. The Conference season ended with a 1-5 record in 6th place.
The team, however, was not finished with their season. They ended the regular season with one more match against
The team finished team competition with a match against Breck in the first round of regions. Breck, the #1 seed, easily defeated the Polars, the #8 seed, 7-0 to end the year.
Individuals and doubles participated in the individual/doubles
The Polars ended the season with a 1-10 overall record.
1500 James Ave. North Minneapolis, MN 55411
Telephone: 612.668.1700 | Fax: 612.668.1770


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About Kamanjab
In the Namibian Kunene Region you'll find Kamanjab. It's here that travellers will find themselves with the opportunity to interact with people from a Himba tribe, pet a tame cheetah before a walk on the wilder side in Otjitotongwe Cheetah Farm, and will get to experience a special piece of Namibia.
This is the view that looks out over Kamanjab's Kunene Region.
Image by Tscherno
In Kamanjab you have the opportunity to spend some time with people from a Himba tribe.
Image by hobgadlng
A game drive into the Otjitotongwe Cheetah Farm gives you an opportunity to watch these usually hard-to-spot creatures.
Image by Overlanding Africa
The grand finale of a trip into the Otjitotongwe Cheetah Farm is the feeding session.
Image by Martijn Munneke
Tame cheetahs live just outside Otjitotongwe Cheetah Farm with the farm's owner.
Image by Martijn Munneke
Kamanjab offers a slice of magical Namibia. If given the opportunity to experience the area, I'd recommend you take it... with both hands.
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
The highlight of my trip had to be Gweru in Zimbabwe, it was my idea of paradise. So much to do there with the animals and the location of it was just beautiful!
— Anne B (27) from Ireland
The trip was great! A very relaxed ride in a mokoro, followed by camping in the Okavango Delta and watching the animals on the islands was awesome!
— Michael & Silke from Germany
I loved every millisecond of the entire trip... Guess what I did in Swakopmund? I skydived out of a plane - woohoo was that AWESOME :-)
— JoJo E (61) from Switzerland
Finally home and had a great time…. I loved the shark diving, Sossusvlei and Himba people. Saw Lions, a Leopard, Elephants, Giraffes, everything really! Thanks for…
— John E from Canada
I did not believe in god till i visited Chobe National Park.
— Juca from Uruguay
Do this on the Cape Town to Nairobi with Gorilla Trek.Tours with Gorilla Trekking in Uganda
Do this on the 14-day Kruger and Mozambique Safari.Tours with Kruger National Park Game Drive
Do this on the Best of South West Africa.Tours with Okavango Delta Mokoro Excursion
Do this on the Best of East Africa.Tours with Serengeti National Park Excursion
Do this on the Best of South West Africa.Tours with Victoria Falls Flight of Angels
Do this on the Best of South West Africa.Tours with White Water Rafting on the Zambezi River
Visit Etosha National Park on the Best of NamibiaTours through Etosha National Park
Visit Okavango Delta on the Best of South West AfricaTours through Okavango Delta
Visit Serengeti National Park on the Best of East AfricaTours through Serengeti National Park
Visit Victoria Falls on the Best of South West AfricaTours through Victoria Falls
Visit Zanzibar Island on the cape town to darTours through Zanzibar Island


text:
I cover this subject annually, and each year it seems to draw lots of appreciative emails in return.
All writers should freelance. It's a grand way to develop a platform as well as get paid. But we often don't know when to submit, or how many times is enough. We can become so wrapped up in waiting to hear back that we neglect pitching, too. So here's a plan to aid you in managing the freelance writing part of your career.
Keep 13 in Play is my tool. It consists of three spreadsheets (or just lists, if you like). In essence, you switch the same information around for the three lists, but you'll see why.
SHEET 1) – Date sent, name of article, name of publication, contact, follow-up date, notes
SHEET 2) – Name of article, name of publication, date, follow-up date, notes
SHEET 3) – Name of publication, name of articles, date, follow-up date, notes
Why the difference?
With Sheet 1, you keep up with your activity on a daily basis – measuring your work output and offering a sheet to be used for your income tax filing.
With Sheet 2, you keep up with where you continue to send any particular article. For instance, if it doesn't work for Magazine A, you sent it to Magazine B, and when you're rejected by Magazine B, you sent it to Magazine C. You monitor where an article is at any time.
With Sheet 3, you keep up with markets. This way you don't accidentally pitch the same piece to the same market. It also shows you over time the types of articles certain publications appreciate.
This system keeps you streamlined and organized, which should raise your acceptance rate. So what's the 13 mean? Frankly, you can pick whatever number you desire. I use 13 just so I can stare the unlucky number in the eye in defiance, but you can use 10, 25, or whatever you prefer. While those numbers seem high, they are not. You'll never be accepted for all 13 at once, but still, if you are, that's just plain marvelous.
Your goal is to perpetually keep 13 in play. Your number drop to 12 because of an acceptance or rejection? Stop and pitch to maintain that 13. Keep 13 queries in play . . . always. You'll soon learn to forget the list until someone responds, and then you instantly refill it to 13. It becomes all about the pitching, not the looking back and waiting for a reply.
~By C. Hope Clark, an author and editor at: http://www.fundsforwriters.com


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Pick Austria for inland delivery, Germany for delivery within the EU and USA for international delivery to calculate postage. Postage price includes registered and insurred shipping with tracking.
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On Sunday after Cooper had exhausted himself playing at the Long Beach Dog Zone, we left its sandy shores to visit another local attraction in the vicinity, the Queen Mary ocean liner.
Now permanently moored at the Long Beach Seaport, we drove over to the Queen Mary just as the sun was breaking through the thick morning marine layer.
This famous retired ocean liner sailed the North Atlantic from 1936 to 1967 and is now listed on the United States official National Register of Historic Places. Now the ship serves as a maritime museum and hotel in Long Beach, California.
The impressive ship was named after Queen Mary, the wife of King George V and retired from regular passenger service after completing 1,001 crossings of the Atlantic Ocean.
As we'd primarily visited the neighbourhood to give Cooper the opportunity to play on another dog beach, it seemed a shame not to take this advantage to visit this local landmark.
Not only is it a local tourist attraction, along with the nearby aquarium, but it's also been used as the location for many films and TV shows, including The Poseidon Adventure, Pearl Harbor, Being John Malkovich and Escape from L.A, to name but a few.
The 1,000-foot ship was bigger, faster and more powerful than the Titantic.
The luxury cruise liner's maiden voyage was on the 27th May 1936 and she hosted the world's rich and famous across the Atlantic.
In 1939 when World War II broke out, luxury travel ceased and the ship became a troopship that transported as many as 15,000 soldiers from Australia and New Zealand to the UK in a single voyage.
Joined by the Queen Elizabeth, these fast former ocean liners both became known as 'The Grey Ghost' for their grey wartime camouflage and elusiveness, their high speeds allowing them to outrun German U-Boats.
In addition to once being named a ghost, the Queen Mary is also rumoured to be haunted and operates daily themed ghost tours and has been the subject of many paranormal TV shows and magazines.
After the war the Queen Mary was refurbished and resumed its elegant transatlantic voyages in July 1947. Unfortunately during the following years the world moved on and due to age, lack of public interest and other outside factors, the ship was retired from service in 1967.
Today moored beside the former luxury ocean liner you'll also find a Russian Attack Submarine called 'Scorpion'.
This Foxtrot Class relic of the Cold War was built and commissioned by the Soviet Navy in 1972. Seventy-nine Foxtrot's were built and they were the second largest class of submarines ever built by them.
Scorpion was decommissioned in 1994 after a twenty-two year career and was bought from the Russian Navy in 1995 and displayed at The National Maritime Museum in Sydney, Australia for three years, until it found a new home in Long Beach.
I was quite surprised that there was all this on offer at the Long Beach seaport. With Cooper accompanying us, we didn't go inside to experience any ghost tours or the conditions of a real Russian Cold War submarine, but it was interesting to see their exteriors nonetheless.
He was far too interested in the local bird-life and was fascinated by this heron amongst other things.
And that was just another part of our on-going California adventure, I'm sure more excitement will follow...


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Preferably from a backup. If you don't have a backup, at least one company, Compunix, claims to have a product that will recover deleted files. More information is available at <http://www.compunix.com/>. From: firstname.lastname@example.com [Editor's note: this one appears to be for the really desperate ones, but it might be helpful if you really need it the most.] RECOVERING REMOVED FILES AND DIRECTORIES IN A FILESYSTEM If a file is Deleted from the system, the filesytem blocks composing that file still exist, but are no longer allocated. As long as no new files are created or existing files extended within the same filesystem, the blocks will remain untouched. It is possible to reallocate the blocks to the previous file using the "fsdb" command (filesystem debugger). MAKE A BACKUP OF THE ENTIRE FILESYSTEM BEFORE PERFORMING THESE STEPS!!! ELSE ( BANG !!!!! ). It is possible to send a mail for have some informations ... email@example.com Steps to recover a deleted file ------------------------------- 1) "ls -id {dir}" (where dir is directory where file resided) Record INODE number for next step. 2) Unmount the filesystem. 3) "fsdb /{Mountpoint}" or "fsdb /dev/{LVname}" (where Mountpoint is the filesystem mount point, and LVname is the logical volume name of the filesystem) 4) "{INODE}i" (where INODE is the inode number recorded in step 1) This will display the inode information for the directory. The field a0 contains the block number of the directory. The following steps assume only field a0 is used. If a value appears in a1, etc, it may be necessary to repeat steps #5 and #6 for each block until the file to be recovered is found. 5) "a0b" (moves to block pointed to by field "a0" of this inode) 6) "p128c" (prints 128 bytes of directory in character format) Look for missing filename. If not seen, repeat this step until filename is found. Record address where filename begins. Also record address where PRIOR filename begins. If filename does not appear, return to step #5, and selecting a1b, a2b, etc. Note that the address of the first field is shown to the far left. Increment the address by one for each position to the right, counting in octal. 7) "a0b" (moves to block pointed to by field "a0" of this inode) If the filename was found in block 1, use a1b instead, etc. 8) "p128e" (prints first 128 bytes in decimal word format) Find the address of the file to recover (as recorded in step 6) in the far left column. If address is not shown, repeat until found. 9) Record the address of the file which appeared immediately PRIOR to the file you want to recover. 10) Find the ADDRESS of the record LENGTH field for the file in step #9 assuming the following format: {ADDRESS}: x x x x x x x x x x ... | | | | |-------- filename ------| inode # --+----+ | | | +-- filename length record LENGTH --+ Note that the inode number may begin at any position on the line. Note also that each number represents two bytes, so the address of the LENGTH field will be `{ADDRESS} + (#hops * 2) + 1' 11) Starting with the first word of the inode number, count in OCTAL until you reach the inode number of the file to be restored, assuming each word is 2 bytes. 12) "0{ADDRESS}B={BYTES}" (where ADDRESS is the address of the record LENGTH field found in step #10, and BYTES is the number of bytes [octal] counted in step #11) 13) If the value found in the LENGTH field in step #10 is greater than 255, also type the following: "0{ADDRESS-1}B=0" (where ADDRESS-1 is one less than the ADDRESS recorded in step #10) This is necessary to clear out the first byte of the word. 14) "q" (quit fsdb) 15) "fsck {Mountpoint}" or "fsck /dev/{LVname}" This command will return errors for each recovered file asking if you wish to REMOVE the file. Answer "n" to all questions. For each file that is listed, record the associated INODE number. 16) "fsdb /{Mountpoint}" or "fsdb /dev/{LVname}" 17) {BLOCK}i.ln=1 (where BLOCK is the block number recoded in step #15) This will change the link count for the inode associated with the recovered file. Repeat this step for each file listed in step #15. 18) "q" (quit fsdb) 19) "fsck {Mountpoint}" or "fsck /dev/{LVname}" The REMOVE prompts should no longer appear. Answer "y" to all questions pertaining to fixing the block map, inode map, and/or superblock. 20) If the desired directory or file returns, send money to the author of this document.
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My name is Eva Gordon . Welcome to my parlor. I'm an author of paranormal romance/fantasy and steampunk novels. I'm also a Naturalist and aficionado of animal lore. I love talking about and interviewing fantastical creatures both imaginary and real. For more information on my novels, visit my website: www.ravenauthor.com
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Running in the Woods
I have been quiet of late. Like the wolf I crave my moments in the deep forest. So off I went to the Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Forest to roam in the woods.
My den or cabin stay in the Sierra. Every wolf needs a warm den for the night.
Like the wolf I enjoyed being on top of my mountain. Here I am on break from a hike to Mist Falls in Kings Canyon NP.
Like the wolf I love the aromatic scents and sounds of the forest.
Like the wolf I'm awed by the trees. Here I am hugging a Sequoia tree.
A break from technology gets you in touch with the spirit of nature and its grandeur.
The magic is everywhere.
Turn off the cell phone, computers, television, social networking and i-every things. Step outside and howl at the moon.
Posted by Bestiary Parlor: The Musings of a Zoologist Turned Author at 1:34 PM 8 comments:
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Kenilworth Runners' Connor Carson produced an excellent run to win the second race in the Tempo Winter Series, the Ilmington 10k.
Carson was second after negotiating the large climb from 3k to 6k, but managed to get ahead of Richard Shephard (Stratford AC) to win by 16 seconds in 36:29, with Shephard holding on for second.
Wayne Briggs was next to finish for Kenilworth in 11th position in 41:25.
Dave Pettifer was 41st and first V65 in 46:12, while Ian Baynes clipped four minutes off his personal best to come home 50th in 47:31.
The first three Kenilworth ladies grouped well, with Shanika Samarasekera (49:28), Stef Lunn (49:53) and Ros Brooks (50:41) finishing 9th, 11th and 15th females.
George Loveday was the first of four Leamington C&AC runners home in 40:28 for seventh.
Selected others (Kenilworth Runners unless stated): 34, Graham Garlick (Leamington C&AC, 45:30); 45, Richard Broadbent (46:48): 52, Marcel Genssen (Spa Striders, 47:39); 53, Andrew Higgins (Leamington C&AC , 47:44); 63, Duncan Loveday (Leamington C&AC, 48:45); 115, Emily Morris (52:29); 141, Simon Mottershead (55:36); 148, Debbie Streets (55:54); 165, Maria Koecher (Spa Striders, 56:52); 166, Sam Moffatt (56:55); 173, Tom Dable (57:23); 207, Pauline Dable (61:02); 237, Sarah Bradwell (63:08); 287, Trudie Udell (68:43); 311, Claire Way (72:48).
Kenilworth Runners' Stephen Page ran a new half-marathon personal best of 1:14:45 at the Conwy Half Marathon on Sunday to finish ninth in a particularly strong field.
Clubmate Martin Dorrill was 52nd in 84:58, with Frank Walsh completing his 20th half-marathon of 2015 in 1:57:30, two minutes faster than his time from last year.
Fifteen Leamington C & AC Young Athletes represented Warwickshire Schools at an Inter-County Cross County match at Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent.
Although this is traditionally a Midland Counties competition, Cumbria, Cheshire and Surrey also took part and ensured standards of performance were very high.
On a hilly, rainswept course the Leamington athletes ran very well in difficult conditions.
Jai Sispal, running his first race as a Leamington C&AC runner, ran a superb race in the minor boys' to finish a close fourth in 9:32.
In the minor girls' race, Leamington under-13s showed their strength in depth with four runners representing the county.
Emily Lovett was 26th in 10:22, Issy Fairhurst 35th in 10:36, Molly Minshull 42nd in 10:37 and Ana Lovett 52nd in 10:52.
In the junior girls' race, Larissa Hurt was 55th in 13:37, with twin sister Georgia close behind for 57th in 13.40.
Daniel Chahal was 63rd in the junior boys' race in 16:14 and in the inter girls' event, Molly Gibbins was 39th in 17:20.
Leamington's intermediate boys had six representatives, with Dan Wilkinson running strongly for 14th in 20:45.
Kieran Chahal (43rd in 22:09), Greg West (48th in 22:17) and Alex Ibbs (51st in 22:24) produced good packing, with Dominic Priest 71st in 23:21, just ahead of Toby Loveday, running his first race after breaking his wrist at the start of the season.


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Views on the West
Saturday 20 March designers Rajesh Dahiya and Annelys de Vet will give a workshop on semiotics and symbolism, in Zeebelt theatre. Students will be asked to design various alternative flags for Europe.
Europe as an abstract concept is hard to visualize from the inside. Outside the borders though it is often viewed as a single clear concept.
But does this perception reflect the reality? Who or what influences the perception of the whole? And can designers contribute to this?
This workshop is part of the festival 'Views on the West' where exhibitions, lectures and workshops will show how the East sees Europe.
Festival 'Views on the West'
Period: 17 - 21 March 2010
Location: DCR / Zeebelt,
De Constant Rebecqueplein 20A Den Haag
More information: www.zeebelt.nl


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Enjoy lightening fast internet speeds up to 50.0 Mbps where available.
No. Internet will work on an existing phone line without tying up your phone line.
No. Data and voice are transmitted at different frequencies. The voice frequency is so low it will not interfere with the Internet bandwidth.
A computer and a network interface card (NIC).
Please contact Customer Care at 336-879-5684 for more information concerning Internet modems or email email@example.com
A Network Interface Card enables your computer to transmit and receive high-speed data. There are many manufacturers of network interface cards, such as 3Com, Netgear, and Linksys. Network interface cards are also referred to as 10/100 ethernet adapters. often computers have a NIC built in.
Yes. Your residence or office must be within 18,000 feet of an RTMC Central Office.
You can contact Customer Care Representative at 336-879-5684.
For more information, please call our Customer Care Center at 336-879-5684, or e-mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
© 2015 Randolph Telephone. All rights reserved.
3733 Old Cox Road Asheboro, NC 27205 Phone: (336) 879-5684 or (336) 622-7900
Email: email@example.com


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We began 2011 by giving the inn a 'birthday party' in January complete with a ribbon cutting by the Mayor, the local Chamber of Commerce, and many friends to commemorate the James Harden and Pearl Howell House as a local landmark as well as to toast a century of tourism that started here when Pearl opened the doors of Windover to guests in the spring of 1911. We were thrilled that Carey Howell-Duss, the granddaughter of James and Pearl, was able to visit us from Florida and participate in the 'party' and most importantly, act as a historian by recounting stories of her growing up next door in the 1940's and 1950's and actually helping out at Windover when it got busy, not to mention giving up her bedroom to 'overflow' guests from Windover during the 'high season'! Also, Reimer and Judy Steffen, the second owners of this house from 1981 to 2004, were among the guests. They were the folks who 'saved' Windover from the wrecking ball by purchasing it from the son of James and Pearl literally days before it would have been demolished. Last but not least, Fay Clark, one of the employees who worked here for Pearl in the 1950's was in attendance. She had been one of Carey's babysitters, too. She is now in her 70's and lives nearby. It was fun to see Carey and Fay reconnect (check out the picture!) as they hadn't seen each other in many, many years!
The winter and early spring is typically a slower time here at the inn. But 2011 proved to be a lot busier than in the past. One reason was that the economy started to pick up a bit which was, hopefully, a good sign for all of us! We will continue to offer our 20% discounted pricing from January through March this coming year, too! And this will remain a tradition to welcome in future years as well.
It is still a well kept secret that some of the very best times to hike and sightsee in our area are during the winter and early spring. Without the heavy flora covering them, the vistas from local trails and roads are spectacular whereas these views are often hidden by thick growths of leaves and underbrush in the summer and early autumn. In early 2011 we had the opportunity to hike many nearby trails and were greeted by these stunning views found nowhere else in the country. There's also skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing at Cataloochee Resort only 25 minutes away. And it's nice just to kick back and relax here in the quiet (with perhaps the sight of a little snow dusting the mountains that ring our town) and then head into town for some shopping and a scrumptious meal at one of our fine restaurants. For a small town (less than 10,000) we think we have some of the best restaurants anywhere! In the past year alone, we have seen the addition of five excellent eateries in and around downtown Waynesville. It doesn't get any better than that!
This spring saw some changes both outside and inside at the inn. We removed the old white lattice fence from around our private pool area, and had it replaced with a Victorian-style black metal fence. It looks much more attractive, and it's easier to maintain! Also, inside we made changes to some of our rooms and suites to make them even more comfortable and inviting. We hope you agree!
During the summer months a project team from the NC Dept. of Transportation completed a pedestrian walkway on the portion of Old Hickory St. above us up to Brown Ave. This closed that portion of Old Hickory St. to vehicular traffic which had the effect of making us a cul de sac with the access road now being from Killian St. below the inn. This also caused us to get a new mailing address! So, we are now at 40 Old Hickory St. but we haven't moved an inch! So, when you visit us, make sure you follow the directions on our website because many GPS systems have not yet been updated with this road closure.
Finally, in the interest of 'continuous quality improvements' we just recently made some changes to our dining room by introducing new tables and chairs. They are more comfortable for guests and easier to maneuver around for Jen to serve everyone at breakfast. With the new table and chair configuration, we were able to open the door between the dining room and hallway (most of you probably didn't even know it was there!) to give this area a more spacious feel and to provide a better flow of guest 'traffic'.
Most importantly, in 2011 we had the great pleasure of welcoming many folks for the first time (and many of you for the second, third and fourth times… and beyond!) through our doors. One of the great perks of our jobs is meeting and getting to know so many wonderful people and welcoming them into our 'extended family'! We hope that you can visit us again (or for the first time!) in 2012. Until we meet again, Happy New Year!!