1. First off, an excellent essay on Apocalypticism over at The Chronicle looks at the psychology behind end-times expectations and fascinations. There’s something endearing about a professed “secularist” having both a real understanding of Christianity and a penchant for pointing out how secular humanists fall prey to the same end-of-history temptations as Christians do (read: […]
The “Me” Gospel: Killers and Chillers in the Workplace
The internet is still brimming with commentary on what “the good life” really means, a question which, in itself, may prove the point of The NY Times‘ recent must-read op-ed, “The Gospel According to ‘Me’”. In it Jamieson Webster and Simon Critchley, a psychoanalyst and a philosophy professor talk shop about today’s “church of self,” […]
Another Week Ends: Successful Blueprints, Redemptive Politicians, Don Draper’s Truth, Marital Advice, Humanist Blasphemy, Mavis Staples, Bono, and Dropping Keys
1. This is embarrassing to admit. As much as I love The Replacements, it is The Wilson Quarterly that has truly been rocking my world this past week. Two articles in particular, both from their Spring issue, are worth mentioning here. First, there’s Sarah Courteau’s “Feel Free to Help Yourself”, in which the author surveys […]
Another Week Ends: New Atheism and the Church, Jonah Lehrer on Redemption, Empathy with Batman, Wiman’s Incarnational Faith, End-of-School-Year Mothers, Billy Joel, and Eurovision
1. First off, Larry Taunton at The Atlantic has spent the last few years working through the whole “New Atheist” thing from the perspective of traditional Christianity, in particular listening (!) expansively to many committed, thought-through atheists. A nice round-up of his observations appeared this past week, with lots of food for thought, ht EB: Slowly, a […]
Neophilia: Why New Is Never Enough
NPR recently reviewed a writer who knows exactly why you continue to check Facebook every three minutes. The woman, Winifred Gallagher, has just written a book, New: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change, about the human propensity for all things new. More than it just being a symptom of modern consumerism, more than it […]
Never-Enoughs, Good-Enoughs and Self-Improvement Junkies
A revealing piece by Alina Tugend in The NY Times, “Self-Improvement, at the Risk of Self-Acceptance,” tracing our collective obsession with growth and self-help, and how the Occupy movement might signal a much-needed reaction against American aspiration imperatives. While the political/ideological ramifications of her observations are still very much up for debate – Lord knows […]
Spiritual Entropy, or: The Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Fallacy of Self-Help Christianity
We couldn’t be more excited to have another guest post from Michael Belote of Reboot Christianity. This time, he talks about “spiritual entropy” – the idea that our lives tend to become less organized or “together” as time goes on: Scientists have a crucial insight about the world when they talk about entropy, that is, […]
Self Help
Karen Salmansohn, 49, prominent author of self-help books for women with relationship and career problems, including Prince Harming Syndrome and How to Make Your Man Behave in 21 Days or Less Using the Secrets of Successful Dog Trainers, filed a lawsuit in March against cad Mitchell Leff.
Salmansohn said Leff had strung her along for months with promises of marriage and a baby, but abruptly cut off support when she became pregnant. Said Salmansohn, “I’m a self-help author, not a psychic.”
(HT to News of the Weird and the New York Post)
The Origins of Self-Help (no joke)
Yesterday my sister-in-law Bonnie informed me that the first ever self-help book was written in 1859 by a Scottish man named Samuel Smiles(!). It was titled “Self-Help”, and the first sentence was “Heaven helps those who help themselves”.
The rest, as they say, is history! Amazing…
