Podcast Benomtad

Is there a religious revival in America?  We used data from Pew to answer this question, and we talk about cultural malaise and how religion falls on deaf ears, and how it may speak to us again.
 
Chapters:
 
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Meditation & Contemplation
10:09 Key Questions about the Religious Revival
12:46 Religious Decline Has Stopped
15:40 Why are People Turning Away from Religion?
24:34 Traditional vs Liberal Mass
28:23 There’s No Such Thing as Dragons
32:23 Narrow Philosophy
35:42 Strange Philosophies in Our Time
37:21 Where is Our Agora?
42:50 The Need for Community and Meaning
49:15 Why I Started this Podcast 
50:52 A New Religious Way Out of Our Zombie Life
 
(From a discussion on Religious Revival and Renewal)
 
See this doc for description ideas: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ek66Ru4HpNJtYQWP6crrus5-Z_x-3aBKV5RnD7lGcE0/edit?tab=t.0
 
Pew Article: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/12/08/religion-holds-steady-in-america/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
 
Richard Reeves’ Post:
​​https://x.com/RichardvReeves/status/2002400790208463046?s=20
 
AP Article about Modern Orthodoxy:
https://apnews.com/article/young-converts-online-eastern-orthodoxy-eef496dcd83a061d90a0b7aba33b6113
 
Thank you for watching!  I love and have faith in dialogue.  Please leave a suggestion for new guests, topics, or this conversation.  How I can expand this Open Minded Thought and Discussion?  And if you’re interested, please check out the following:
 
The full video episode:
 
Audio episode:
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.

The Carnation is the Prince: The carnation the heroine burns at the beginning of the story IS the prince at the end.  He requires her to speak, but she freezes up, so he has to go into a stone... So she has to go through trials until she can freely express.  But he is always there when she is ready to speak.
 
(Discussion on “The Carnation Youth;” A Clip from the Episode “Perfectionism, Tragedy, and Creative Blocks”)
 
Thank you for watching!  I love and have faith in dialogue.  Please leave a suggestion for new guests, topics, or this conversation.  How I can expand this Open Minded Thought and Discussion?  And if you’re interested, please check out the following:
 
The full video episode:
https://youtu.be/8_o0x6Z7ixc
 
Audio episode:
https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/perfectionism-tragedy-and-creative-blocks/?token=6f91a2f5ea7cd671ae5de554c8681a61
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
“The Carnation Youth” full text:
https://archive.org/details/talesofenchantme00eell/page/22/mode/2up
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.

The Echo of Orpheus: Narcissus' repulse of Echo reminds me of another vain god, Orpheus, master of music.  Both end up being served by poetic justice.
 
We see perfectionism in this, and in the refusal to join in, to dance in life, leads to destruction.
 
(A Clip from the Episode “The Myth of Narcissus: Seeing Only Oneself”)
 
Thank you for watching!  Please check out:
 
Audio episode:
https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/the-myth-of-narcissus-seeing-only-oneself/
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.
Narcissus Flower Photo Photo by Kier in Sight Archives on Unsplash

We read and discuss the Spanish Folktale “The Carnation Youth,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragedy both in life and in “The Great Gatsby,” and Ian’s struggles with the creative writing process.  
 
Chapters:
 
00:00 Introduction
00:12 Reading of “The Carnation Youth”
10:05 Letting the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good
14:25 Why Does She Burn the Carnation in the Fire?
24:33 The Carnation is the Prince
29:10 The Carnation Girl’s Second Chances
33:10 Creation & the Erotic
39:13 Why Are You So Afraid?
49:01 Trust, Do What You’re Supposed to Do…
51:56 Meeting the Impossible Challenge
55:53 Stoic Gods
59:11 F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tragic Life
1:07:05 The Great Jay Gatsby and Hope
1:18:08 Renewal in Death of Tragedies
1:24:59 Attraction to Tragedy
1:30:28 Stoic Framing and Feeling Out of Joint
1:36:18 My Creative Struggle May be Misapprehended
1:41:46 Talking About the Creative Struggle
 
Thank you for watching!  Please check out:
 
The full video episode:
https://youtu.be/8_o0x6Z7ixc
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
“The Carnation Youth” full text:
https://archive.org/details/talesofenchantme00eell/page/22/mode/2up
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.
 
Clip Intro Music “A Baroque Letter” - Aaron Kenny

This pool is a metaphor for the mind.  But there is a "healthy narcissism" that is developmentally-appropriate.
 
(A Clip from the Episode “The Myth of Narcissus: Seeing Only Oneself”)
 
Thank you for watching!  Please check out:
 
Audio episode:
https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/the-myth-of-narcissus-seeing-only-oneself/
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.
 
Clip Intro Music “A Baroque Letter” - Aaron Kenny

When you lack a feeling of substance, you need to be propped up by others.
 
(A Clip from the Episode “The Myth of Narcissus: Seeing Only Oneself”)
 
Thank you for watching!  Please check out:
 
Audio episode:
https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/the-myth-of-narcissus-seeing-only-oneself/
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.
 
Narcissus Flower Photo Photo by Kier in Sight Archives on Unsplash

Echo was cursed to only repeat what others had said, and fell in love with Narcissus, who shunned her.  She wasn’t the only one Narcissus treated coldly.  He found himself in a grove with a pool of water, and, falling deeply in love with what he saw when he bent over it, he was mesmerized until he died.
 
We discuss this myth, using Bulfinch’s version, and go on to discuss psychology, philosophy and spirituality against the background of Narcissus, his rejection of Echo, and being lost in the pool.
 
Chapters:
 
00:00 Introduction
10:25 The Pool
16:22 The Reflection of Narcissus’ Pool is What the Mind Sees
22:34 Narcissus Rejects Love for Another
27:30 Attachment Theory
36:40 Divorce
48:40 Rousseau & Amour-Propre
57:26 Why Narcissists Don’t Seek Help
1:07:45 Narcissism and the Ecological Crisis
1:08:45 Realizing True Nature and Narcissism
1:15:28 An Antidote to Ecocentrism
1:21:10 Vervaeke’s Narcissism: Unearned Positive Regard
1:30:34 Dialogue as Spiritual Practice
1:33:44 Echo’s Touch Repulses Narcissus
1:37:08 The Echo of Orpheus
1:42:30 On the Edge of Narcissus’ Pond
1:50:00 The Decline of Social Media: Cultivating the Mask
2:12:30 A Surge in the Need for Religion
2:18:02 Not Forcing the Religion
 
Thank you for watching!  Please check out:
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.

A father had seven sons, but no daughters, and wished for and finally got one.  His sons went to get water for the Christening, but dropped the bucket into it.  They did not know what to do, so they stayed out, and the father in his frustration wished them to become ravens, and so they did, and flew away.  Now the daughter grew to be healthy and beautiful, and did not know of her brothers.  But one day in town she heard others talking of them, and she felt guilty.  She decided to go out and find them, encountering bodies at the ends of the cosmos, sacrificing her finger in a glass mountain, and meeting a strange mountain creature.  But the ring she brought reminded them of their human lives, and with the help of the stars, the daughter is able to restore her family.  
 
Join us for a short meditation, the reading of this tale, and a discussion of it!  
 
Chapters:
 
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Short Breathing Meditation & Oasis Contemplation
08:08 Reading of “The Seven Ravens”
14:16 The Theme of Sacrifice in this Story
15:59 Pagan Worldview Seeping Through this Story
21:54 The Image of the Glass Mountain
24:22 The Wish in Folktales
25:35 The Celestial Symbols
28:04 The Theme of Sacrifice & Closing Thoughts
“The Seven Ravens,” trans. Lucas & illus. by Arthur Rackham:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Fairy_Tales_of_the_Brothers_Grimm_(Rackham)/The_Seven_Ravens
 
(A Clip from the Episode Grimm’s “The Seven Ravens:” Sacrifice for Family)
 
Thank you for watching!  Please check out:
 
The full video episode:
https://youtu.be/VVukeVNsl6A
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
Lumsden’s “Beauty and the Beast:” https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(Lumsden_and_Son)
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.
 
Clip Intro Music “A Baroque Letter” - Aaron Kenny

When you've  got your basic needs met, like the father does when he takes shelter in Beast's castle, one looks for transcendence, including beauty.
 
This is another story of the emptiness of the palace symbol.
 
(A Clip from the Episode “Beauty and the Beast: The Need for Beauty”)
 
Thank you for watching!  Please check out:
 
The full video episode:
https://youtu.be/G3AhWHN4Gyc?si=kJxXDtlQT7Q3rv0c
 
Audio episode:
https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/beauty-and-the-beast-the-need-for-beauty/
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
Lumsden’s “Beauty and the Beast:” https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(Lumsden_and_Son)
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.

A rich merchant with three sons and three daughters– the eldest daughters hold out on marriage to a Duke or Earl, but the youngest, aptly-named Beauty, does so to stay with her father a few more years.  The merchant falls in his fortunes, and they have to move to the country.  The men apply themselves to husbandry and tillage, and Beauty to housework, but the eldest stay lazy.
 
One day, the merchant gets a letter about a ship arriving with effects of his and he sets off, asking his daughters what they would like.  The eldest ask for goods of luxury, but Beauty only for a simple rose.  When the merchant arrived at port, they went to law with him about the goods, and he left poor as before.
 
Glad, however, to return to his family, the merchant got lost in the woods as a storm brewed.  He spied a castle lit from top to bottom in the distance and took shelter there.  Strangely, the beautiful manor was unoccupied, although a large meal was set out.  He ate and eventually began to explore the house and its luxurious apartments.  Sleep overtook him in one of them.
 
In the morning he was delighted to see arbours outside, and went to them, dining on chocolate mysteriously set out for him on the way.  Remembering Beauty’s gift request, he took a rose, but then a ferocious beast appeared and set on him.  For his abuse of hospitality, he would die, but the merchant pleaded with the Beast, mentioning his daughters.  The Beast said to return with the daughter, who must willingly enter into marriage with him.  He was allowed to leave with a gold-laden chest.
 
Despondent, the merchant returned home.  The sisters blamed Beauty for her gift, and the brothers wanted to kill the beast.  However, the merchant knew they did not stand a chance, and Beauty would not hear of her father’s going back without her.
 
Beauty, despairing, was visited by a fine lady in her dreams the first night.  The lady said she was pleased with Beauty’s reasons for staying there, and that she would be rewarded.  Beauty lived at the castle, dining alone with beautiful music and books, and not seeing her suitor until he appeared at nine every night.  She was horrified by his appearance, but over time she began to have affection for  him, and to look forward to his visits.  She would not consent to his nuptial offer, however, and when she saw in a magic mirror that her father was sick with longing for her, she asked to return home for a week’s visit.  Beast consented, but warned her he might die of grief should she not return in time.  He gave her a ring to lay on her bedside before sleep.
 
Beauty woke up back at home, finding her sisters have been married off and her brothers gone to the army.  She is surprised at the trunk of clothes near her bed.  Her sisters came for a visit, but when the week was up they conspired and feigned tears to make her stay longer, thinking the beast would devour her in rage at her tardiness.  She consented, but worried after the Beast and one day dreamed of him sprawled out on the lawn.  After an additional week, she lay the ring at her bedside and was joyful to wake up in the palace.
 
She could not find the beast, however, and was despondent when she found him outside as in her dream.  She consented to marry him, and he became a handsome prince.  He’d been transformed by a fairy and was not allowed to tell the conditions of his liberation.  Beauty was overjoyed to find her family living in the castle, but her sisters were turned into stone for their envy and malice by the same lady who’d appeared to Beauty in her dreams.  
 
Please join us as we read and discuss this English translation of Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast,” a story about virtue and vice, just desserts, and judgment, and the transformative power of beauty.
 
Lumsden’s “Beauty and the Beast:” https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast_(Lumsden_and_Son)
00:00 Introduction
00:43 Brief Meditation
05:43 Reading of Lumsden’s 1820 version
39:28 Ideal Feminine Virtue
41:15 Class in this Story
42:30 The Youngest is Prettiest
44:18 Beauty is the Only Complete Person
46:15 Difference between this story and “Cupid and Psyche”
49:20 The Empty, Ugly Palace
57:14 Why are Beauty’s Sisters Transformed into Statues?
58:45 The Beast Lacks Wit
59:45 The Significance of the Rose
1:03:31 The Power of not Being Deceived by Appearances
 
The full video episode:
https://youtu.be/G3AhWHN4Gyc?si=kJxXDtlQT7Q3rv0c
 
Audio episode:
https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/a-fairy-tale-of-a-good-but-endangered-boy/
 
The Podcast Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T
 
The Episode Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn
 
For more in this podcast, please go to:
Podbean:
https://benomtad.podbean.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863
YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ
X:
https://x.com/Benomtad
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/benomtad
 
I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.