Word: paganism
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...particularly rationalist either, however, since scientific rationalism has as much trouble dealing with luck as theology does. The best it has to offer is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, which states that it is absolutely impossible to predict the exact behavior of atomic particles. Luck is a weird, pagan, primitive business. Or else, in modern dress, it is a frigidly heartless existentialism. In any case, whatever its occasionally whimsical moments, luck has a philosophically terrifying core...
...time to bear a truth. The uncustomary fact of defeat, however, was quickly buried, and Americans turned back to what they do best: helping themselves. They jogged, played tennis, meditated and nurtured a reverence for ecosystems. At times it seemed as if Judaeo-Christian civilization had been overrun by pagan-aerobic tribes...
...ruled by Herbert W. Armstrong, 88, self-styled "Chosen Apostle" of God, who is preparing the one true church for the imminent collapse of world order and Christ's return. Among other things, Armstrong denies the Trinity and insists that Christians should not celebrate Christmas or Easter (considered "pagan" holidays). He inspires fanatical loyalty among followers and fierce enmity among defectors, and deftly uses his radio-TV show, The World Tomorrow, and his monthly Plain Truth magazine to lure converts. Members contribute a tenth or more of their income, and with proceeds of $66 million a year the church...
...intended to visit a prison; the stop was deleted from his itinerary. He wanted to see a leper colony; instead, a small group of lepers will greet him in a Manila suburb. At the mountain resort of Baguio, John Paul will be entertained by a group of pagan tribespeople, sporting G strings and spears. The Catholic tribespeople, who usually wear Western clothing and eschew spears, will be relegated to the background...
...hope that Atahuallpa will be resurrected before his eyes. He is not. In Equus (1973), a boy blinds horses because he believes them to be gods who have witnessed his sinful transgressions. He duels with a psychoanalyst. Decrying his own dried-up rationality, the analyst envies the boy his pagan faith and passion. Sharing D.H. Lawrence's ideality of the "blood consciousness," Shaffer seems to agree with Freud that man's discontents are the high price of civilization...