Miracles and Wonder by Elaine Pagels

Does the over explanation answer a question if it is not actually answering the question?

The idea of researching the Biblical accounts from a different point of view does the same. It never answers anything but just gives a new explanation for something which has already been there. It never gives one direction but obfuscate one thing after the other to keep it as opaque as possible.

This book does the same job. It quotes from different sources with varying explanations but always fall short of what it wants to establish.

It is difficult for an author to keep the things straight and say the things they want to say without committing to an idea. Without that its a lot of research which just enriches your vocabulary on the topic without any answers.

Love

Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng

The people are not same. They can be similar based on language, food preference, religion or any other factor but that a very broad specification of anything. We can make a lot of Venn diagrams to find the right view or to see the largest overlap to define a group but there is still a lot which falls out of any overlaps.

Hence, it is important to let the people be but that can be against the objective of the authorities. The similarity keeps a lot of things smooth but how far this can be pushed. In an era of consumerism where people don't agree on one shade of a colour, it is naturally not possible bring the uniformity to a desired degree of liking. Which is where the force, and other tools come into the picture which tries to build a narrative on the expanse of differences which make humans human.

The book has the story of different people who struggled to keep their identity in a great blender but most of them sound like a compromise or a lost cause in the end. This also raises the question that if we are all different we'll remain so, maybe on a different level irrespective of the leveller.

Peace