(Published July 2020) "Politicians are trying to save yesterday's world with artificially created central bank money - and are thus missing the future." Gabor Steingart (4) In the wake of the corona crisis, all economic rules are being thrown overboard in Brussels, chaired by the German Chancellor, and all experience from [...]
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Religion and power
How long have religions existed? (Published 2019) No one can say how long religions have existed on earth. Some, like biologist Alister Hardy (1896-1985), see humans as "praying animals"[i] and assume that religions, or at least religiosity, existed as early as the Paleolithic. Burial rites of the Neanderthals 30,000 years ago can be interpreted religiously. [...]
The good old days When you get older and think back, you mainly remember good feelings and wonderful experiences. You were young, healthy and strong. The world was open to you and you felt up to any challenge. There was more humanity, e.g. camaraderie in the sports club instead of narcissism in the fitness center. Almost all athletes were [...]
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How much we overload our earth
Published in Grail World 64/2011 In Grail World, we have already reported on various approaches to calculating the Earth's carrying capacity: "How much humanity can the Earth take?"; "Why we are stumbling into the population trap"; "A devastating footprint" (all under "Ecology"). Regardless of which of the not uncontroversial calculation methods is used as a basis, the results invariably tend to be [...]
The good old days When you get older and think back, you mainly remember good feelings and wonderful experiences. You were young, healthy and strong. The world was open to you and you felt up to any challenge. There was more humanity, e.g. camaraderie in the sports club instead of narcissism in the fitness center. Almost all athletes were [...]
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The diesel dilemma
(Status 2018) When Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) submitted his fundamental patent on February 22nd, 1893, his goal was an internal combustion engine with optimal efficiency that should come as close as possible to the theoretical ideal (the Carnot process). The first prototype ran at Maschinenfabrik Augsburg (later MAN) in 1893, and after many improvements, the first practical model came in 1897. Now [...]
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Modern Atheism
(Published 2015) Atheism is "as old as human thought, as old as faith, and the conflict between the two is a constant feature of Western civilization" (2). In fact, doubts about religions existed in antiquity, and early philosophers, such as the pre-Socratic Xenophanes, expressed their reservations. (See box). At the same time [...]
"Should erroneous views of the origin of the world described in Genesis prevail, all divine promises would melt into nothing and our religion would lose its life." Reformed theologian Peter Martyr (Pietro Mariano) Vermigli (1499-1562). (1, S. 387). In modern times, at least since Copernicus (1473-1543), countless astronomical, biological, geographical discoveries shook the medieval worldview, [...]
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500 years of Reformation
October 31, 2017 The five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation brings a flood of events and publications about Martin Luther, his dispute with the pope, Protestant[1] theologies, and the history of Protestant[2] churches. We do not intend here to pay tribute to Luther's personality or to consider his worldview; many others have already done that at length. We [...]
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The oldest city in America?
About 200 km north of Lima, the capital of Peru, in a desert, there is an archaeological site that has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is Caral, the oldest city in the Americas. Its foundation dates back 5,000 years - and perhaps longer. Accordingly, this culture would be almost as old as the Egyptian (about 5,500 years) [...]