Dream: the AssThe Torch Magazine

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The Torch Magazine,  The Journal and Magazine of the
International Association of Torch Clubs
For 82 Years
A Peer-Reviewed
Quality Controlled
Publication


ISSN  Print 0040-9440
ISSN Online 2330-9261


  Spring 2014
Volume 87, Issue 3



  Articles in the Spring 2014 Issue
  1. Origins of Chinese Philosophy
    by C. Walter Clark
      There is a myth that a single civilization under a single ruler existed in ancient China.  In fact there were many independent states and different schools of thought.  This paper will focus on four: Confucianism, Moism, Taoism, and Legalism, each with its own major figures.  
  2. An Extraordinary Woman and an Unlikely Anarchist: Emma Goldman, Leon Czolgosz and Anarchism in America
    by Rabbbi Johnathan Brown
      Following the Civil War two factors provided the conditions in which the philosophy of anarchism could flourish in the United States. First, the Industrial Revolution transformed villages into towns and towns into cities. Second, a continually increasing flow of immigrants from Europe fled oppressive conditions in their own countries to seek freedom in America, but was ill-prepared to find work here. This 'perfect storm' of human beings, some on the move from their lives on the farm into the towns and cities, and millions more coming over to America in search of a new start, also encouraged anarchism.  This article focuses on Emma Goldman and Leon Czolgosz.  Goldmann was a philosopher. Czolgosz assassinated President McKinley.
  3. The Pygmalion Effect and Public Administration
    by Walter Shendow
      A number of studies have examined self-fulfilling prophecies--the "Pygmalion effect."  External expectations, many studies have found, can have a positive, subconscious effect upon the performance of workers individually and collectively.  The effect can be seen also in government bureaucracies.   How effective leadership improved the performance of  workers at NASA and EPA are used as case studies of the Pygmalion effect.
  4. Why Christians Say That Jesus Was Both Human and Divine: The Council of Chalcedon and the Hypostatic Union
    by The Rev. Dr. Roland Zimany
      Christians believe that Jesus is the "Son of God," a simple phrase that opened a profound theological question early in the church's history.  "Son" suggests something human;  "God" refers to the divine.  So the question became, "How were divinity and humanity together in Jesus?"  It is a question that can still puzzle Christian believers.  In order to understand the "correct" answer to our question, we need to begin with the "wrong" answers, or heresies.  The intellectual value of heresy lies in its forcing us to clarify our thinking, to define that which is essential to our ideas.  In the fifth century, two opposing heresies were in broad circulation and demanded to be engaged.  One heresy was that Jesus was human, the other was that Jesus was primarily God.  Each had numerous sub points, which the council of Chalcedon was called to settle.  Three more modern approaches are also discussed.
  5. The Intimate Relationship between Art and Religion
    by Claudia Martin
      What do art and religion have in common? They both are creations of the unique human brain, a brain that can use the power of imagination to conceive of a past and a future, a brain able to invent multiple fantasy realities to supplement factual reality when reality eludes understanding or explanations. A brain, furthermore, that according to recent neurological research operates 90% on the subconscious level. Human value systems have their roots in our emotional brain centers; both art and religion are deeply tied in with the emotional centers of the human brain stem in their quest to find and express emotionally satisfactory explanations for human existence in this universe.  The relationships between art and religion are explored.
  6. Transient Global Amnesia and Alzheimer's Disease: A Personal Reflection
    by Rhonda Tillman
      We tend to take our mental abilities for granted. When we start to lose these abilities, we get a wake up call.  Fifteen years ago in my living room, I noticed an arrangement of fresh flowers. Puzzled, I asked my husband where these had come from. He said I should know they were sent during my recent stay in the hospital for an allergic reaction. A few more confused comments caused my husband to contact a physician. The next thing I remember was being in a hospital room with my husband and a neurologist. It apparently was late afternoon. I was asked if I knew Dr. C, my allergist. "Of course I do!" I quickly responded, and then went on to describe her. Thus ended my episode of Transient Global Amnesia or TGA, and I was free to go home.  Then my mother got Alzheimer's disease and the outcome was not the same.
  7. The Political Economy of Surplus People
    by Roland F. Moy
      In 2005, Citigroup circulated among its wealthier investors a brochure called "Plutonomy: Buying Luxury, Explaining Global Imbalances," which noted, "The World is divided into two blocs – the Plutonomy and the rest."   In other words, the rich could invest and live in their own economic world and essentially ignore the less fortunate. The less fortunate, however, cannot escape the negative consequences of economic transactions and political decisions influenced by the Plutonomy, which tend to produce numbers of people who are surplus to the economy. The continuing political debate about "marketplace freedom" versus "big government" tends to avoid the realities in which these ordinary people live their daily lives. The following analysis will attempt to address this shortcoming by reviewing several private sector behavior patterns that engage in amoral manipulation of ignorance and necessity for private profit.
  8. Sweden's Shattered Dream: The Assassination of Olof Palme and Contemporary Crime Novels
    by Elaine Kruse
      The Palme assassination in 1986 shook the Swedish self-image as a stable, prosperous and open society the world took it to be, and it took itself to be.  The murder was never solved.  Then in 2003 a possible future Prime Minister and friend of Palme was stabbed.  The police botched the investigation of Palme's murder, but Swedish crime writers since have had a field day exploring possible police and government involvement.  The image of "safe Sweden" has been shattered. A number of examples of Swedish crime fiction are provided as examples.


    ©2014 by the International Association of Torch Clubs


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