Enantiodromia.
From An Islamophobe To A Muslim: Arnoud Van Doorn,
Ex- Leading Member In Far-Right Dutch Politician Geert Wilders’ Party,
Accepts Islam - Carbonated.TV:
OMG. And it's not from The Onion.
It's a shame we don't have an apostate policy like The Religion of Peace.
Shall we call this Amsterdam Syndrome? (HT to Kathy Shaidle).
Is Ex Cathedra next?
'via Blog this'
PS. For you Biblically Challenged types, St Paul began his career as Saul of Tarsus, actively persecuting the followers of Jesus, then had his famous conversion experience on the road to Damascus and became Paul, the great apostle and fashioner of Christianity.
6 comments:
And if the trend of behavior in converts to Islam continues, he will throw himself whole-heartedly into jihadism. And don't worry, I doubt you will be converting to Islam any time soon. Still, I never thought I would stop being Catholic two months ago, so who knows. :)
If you convert to anything, I can see you as a Mormon. I just hope you don't have an attachment to alcohol, nicotine, or caffeine. No tea would be awful.
-Sean
Mormon? Nah. It's a fascinating mythology, but on the ground, way too group oriented and controlling, to say nothing of beyond heterosexual: the real secret to salvation is marriage and children. And my idea of civilization is a cigar and brandy. Coffee in the morning is the Eighth Sacrament for me. Plus, Mormons are really nice people. I wouldn't fit in :)
My alternative has been Gnosticism. Much more my style.
I thought you had kinda rejected Gnosticism as well. Some elements of it certainly have a strong appeal, in terms of human nature. Catholicism's insistence of innate goodness that was later corrupted seems a little off to me. The idea that we were created with the capacity for good and evil right of the bat seems much more plausible.
Of course, that appeals to my idea that God is some sort of author who merely records the actions of the characters he created, rather than causing them to occur. Tolkien seemed to favor a similar idea in the Silmarillion, that after the Dagor Dagorath, the Battle of Battles, all souls would be gathered and explained their role in the great story of history. Tolkien's analogy of history as one big story has always been appealing to me.
-Sean
"And if the trend of behavior in converts to Islam continues, he will throw himself whole-heartedly into jihadism."
Who's to say he might not have secretly converted _because_ of jihadism? I sometimes wake up in the morn, and find myself thinking "Where are _my_ war-captives? Where's my war-booty? Where are my sex-slaves? I haven't even blown up one thing! What kind of life is this?"
I would probably skip marrying six-year olds, tho.
--Nathan
Sean -- I remember some Jewish saying from somewhere (possibly Hassidic) "The reason God created people is because He loves stories."
--Nathan
Nathan, God-as-Storyteller is the most appropriate image in my mind. The priests did talk about God writing in the Book of Life. It remains to be seen if God is J.R.R. Tolkien, working towards an eventual happy ending when the situation looks blackest, or if He is G.R.R. Martin, writing a world the operates ruthlessly by the rule of drama.
...
Please God, be Tolkien. My life expectancy would be so much better.
-Sean
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