Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2017 December 7

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December 7

Subscription based app for short classic sci-fi stories

I've been reading some of my dad's extensive collection of old sci-fi paperbacks, many of which are collections of short stories. They are mostly quite obscure by now (quite a few are books he stumbled upon in charity shops, decades ago) but they seem perfect for a "read a different 10 minute short story every day" app, probably with a subscription charge since they would still be copyrighted (mostly dating from the 1950s and 60s). Something like TED talks in the way that a new one would be presented every day, but still text based. Does anything like that already exist? I'm asking because I wonder if it's something I could try to make myself. I quite fancy the challenge of coding an app, and while I don't know anything about licencing yet, surely the worst a rightsholder could do is say no? I'd even type up the stories for them. 129.67.119.159 (talk) 01:26, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

'HOOKED' by Telepathic, Inc. is similar to your concept. It formats "short stories [in the] form of text message conversations. Instead of turning pages, you tap the screen to bring on the next message" —2606:A000:4C0C:E200:E0C2:7665:8339:5B1F (talk) 03:53, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

Just yahoo or google "sci-fi repository". --Kharon (talk) 22:39, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

Season of goodwill

The blurb for this book [1] says:

Religion for Atheists suggests that rather than mocking religions, agnostics and atheists should instead steal from them - because they're packed with good ideas on how we might live and arrange our societies. Blending deep respect with total impiety, de Botton (a non-believer himself) proposes that we should look to religions for insights into, among other concerns, how to:

Build a sense of community

Make our relationships last

Overcome feelings of envy and inadequacy

Escape the twenty-four-hour media world

Go travelling

Get more out of art, architecture and music

And create new businesses designed to address our emotional needs.

Is this completely new or has it been done before? Some Jews observe Christmas (e.g. they bring a Christmas tree into their homes) although for the ultra-observant when Christmas Day falls on Saturday (as last happened in 2010) it's just another sabbath. What about agnostics and atheists? Many non-believers attend choral evensong and Christmas services in cathedrals for the music. Most of the Christmas traditions have been imported from Germany. What did the Nazis think of Christmas? Did they go to church? We have Holidays in Nazi Germany and there's some information here:[2] and here:[3]. 92.27.49.50 (talk) 12:47, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

There is nothing new under the sun. The ethical movements or societies of the C19 borrowed plenty from the Christian churches around them: Sunday meetings, communal singing, activities for children, support for one another at life's crisis points. Secular humanism has some of its roots in the ethical movement, and the International Humanist and Ethical Union still exists. The Sunday Assembly, approaching its fifth anniversary, has for some years been meeting at Conway Hall; its founders were clear that they wanted to take what was good from religions - call it stealing or borrowing, as you wish. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 15:32, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

References

The link to the history of the South Place Ethical Society is interesting. Eldon Street and South Place run west from Liverpool Street Station. The church was built on the north side of Eldon Street. The northern boundary of the City of London ran down the middle of the road, but a few years ago the southern tip of the neighbouring borough of Hackney was transferred to the City. It thereby gained its first and only Roman Catholic church, and I can now see why. Auguste Comte proposed the building of atheist churches in France and the "Positivist calendar" to replace the Gregorian. This was shortly after the attempt to de-Christianise France and the introduction of the "French Revolutionary Calendar". None of these ideas caught on. 92.8.221.62 (talk) 18:29, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

Moorfields, being just outside the City, had its own flavour. From Finsbury Square: "It has also been <snip> the first home of the rabbinical seminary that became the London School of Jewish Studies (1855–81), of the Greek Orthodox church of Saint Sophia and of the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary Moorfields (1820–1900)." I think the London Institution might have had something to do with it too. The advantages of living on the edge. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 23:13, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

Wesley's Chapel is nearby, opposite Bunhill Fields, a burial ground that was never consecrated by the Church of England and was therefore the resting place of choice for Nonconformists and atheists. Alansplodge (talk) 10:38, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

• The OP may be interested in Unitarian Universalism, which as a religion doesn't even mandate a belief in God, merely a desire to aid congregants in a search for their own spiritual growth. UU grows out of a Christian tradition, but there are similar faiths which grew out of other traditions, i.e. Bahá'í Faith which grew out of Islam. Though unlike UU, Baha'i is expressly theistic, it still fits broadly into the Liberal religion end of the spectrum. --Jayron32 01:29, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

I didn't know that the Bahá'í Faith is an offshoot of Islam (like Yazidism). That would explain why it is proscribed in Persia. Wesley's Chapel is where Jimbo married, (with Tony Blair in attendance). On the other side of Bunhill Row from Bunhill Fields is Quaker Gardens, a short walk from Quaker Court, where the meeting is held. 82.13.208.70 (talk) 11:24, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

You can read about the historical connections between Baha'i and Islam at History of the Bahá'í Faith, you can see it's an offshoot of the Iranian Twelver Shi'a sect. --Jayron32 11:58, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Up to a point it seems to overlap with the concept of the Cultural Christian. Atheists, agnostics, and people of various religious beliefs who are not strictly Christian, but still adhere to Christian values and appreciate or support Christian culture. Dimadick (talk) 13:15, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Since the subject has come up, and since the OP cites a British author, Alain de Botton, it might be geographically more useful to point to British Unitarians. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 16:57, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Manchester College, Oxford is a Unitarian foundation and use of its chapel for Sunday Unitarian worship [4] is secured by Royal Charter. Unlike Ruskin College, however, it's part of the University and it recently changed its name to Harris Manchester College. There doesn't seem to be much commitment - there will be no service on Christmas Eve, while over at the Shrewsbury Unitarian Church would-be worshippers are informed:

"Please note our service on Sunday 10 December 2017 has been cancelled due to deteriorating weather."

Apparently there was a "brouhaha" last year about whether a Unitarian minister who described himself as "an atheist" could do "Thought for the Day" on the BBC on Boxing Day. 92.27.49.50 (talk) 12:55, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

You can find further information, including full references, at Andrew Pakula. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 18:04, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Newington Green is my local Unitarian church. It used to have a long banner outside reading "A Buddhist, a Jew and a Muslim went into a church ..." I never stopped to find out the punchline. 92.8.221.62 (talk) 21:04, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

See here. There is no punchline because it is not a joke. (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 21:20, 9 December 2017 (UTC)