A Christmas Carol Conversation

In what ways is our government religious? How does faith interact with our participation in politics? What does this mean for our ethics? This week on The Happy Cynics we discuss civil religion, and the implications a religious interpretation of politics has for our understanding of our world.

Why is American politics so obsessed with making America great again? What made America great in the first place? This week we discuss why we love being Americans, and how we can work together to protect and enhance our collective greatness.

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=343V0eRmMak

Content Warning: In this episode there are brief discussions of self-harm, racial injustice, police brutality, and violence. If these topics disturb you, please join us next week, but sit this one out.

On this week's episode we explore the myriad of issues surrounding gun violence in the United States, and strategies for mitigating that violence. While this may be a controversial topic, I hope you find that this episode helps you to think about these issues in a new way, while hearing the point of view of others more clearly.

How do we relate to our scriptures with maturity and intelligence? If these texts are not authoritative, what value do they have? This week on The Happy Cynics we explore how we relate to our traditional scriptures without the scaffolding of fundamentalism.

Why is it that so many people defer to ancient writings to solve life's most important questions? This week on the Happy Cynics we deconstruct textual fundamentalism, and explore its various flaws.

This week on the Happy Cynics, we discuss the behaviors of cult-like groups, and how to tell whether or not you belong to one. Whether or not your particular community checks all the boxes of a cult, any cult-like behavior is a red flag, and should be carefully examined.

Can commodities be art? Should art have to compete in the marketplace? All that and more on this week's episode of the Happy Cynics!

What is the purpose of the economy? Is our economy well-equipped to move goods and services where they are needed? This week on The Happy Cynics, we explore various economic models, and the ways we have been brainwashed to think about them. 

References

Smith, Adam. Wealth of Nations. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1991.

Marx, Karl. Capital. London: Electric Book Co., 2001.

Engels, Friedrich, and Edward B. Aveling. Socialism, Utopian and Scientific. Franklin Classics, an imprint of Creative Media Partners, 2022.

In what ways are we being programmed in our political thinking, and how can we break out of the mold of "acceptable ideas" in order to know the truth? This week on The Happy Cynics we push the political envelope and ask the tough questions about how we think and act as a political community.

References:

Beard, Charles A. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1948.

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492-2001. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2003.

Welcome to the first episode of The Deprogramming Project, a new series on The Happy Cynics! To kick us off we are discussing religious paradigms, how they effect our communities and the ways in which we interact with the world. Why is it that religion is so prevalent in human culture and society? How can we combat the ways in which religion brainwashes us and prevents us from seeing the world as it truly is?