Posted on

Who Is Jesus to You? Cecile Mentor Interviews the Christian Philosopher Andreas Saugstad

By Cecile Mentor in collaboration with Andreas Saugstad

Andreas Saugstad is a Norwegian thinker who connects Christian mysticism, everyday experience, and philosophy in a personal way. At the heart of his work is a deep trust in Jesus, who, he believes, brings calm, hope, and meaning into the struggles of life. He often writes about how philosophy can empower people, helping them to live a more authentic life and to find joy in thoughtful reflection. Saugstad also isn’t afraid to challenge postmodern ideas or hyper-capitalist culture, and he defends a social justice view of society that values dignity and compassion. This interview was conducted in Oslo, Norway, in January 2025, but the message is eternal and relevant to everyone, no matter where they live.

Continue reading → Who Is Jesus to You? Cecile Mentor Interviews the Christian Philosopher Andreas Saugstad

Posted on

Mel Gibson: Watch the Hands

On Saturday, August 29, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Mel Gibson walked out from behind a curtain to begin a retrospective Q&A at Fan Expo Canada, the sprawling annual gathering billed as Canada’s largest comics and gaming event and the third-largest pop culture draw in North America. An American Sign Language interpreter stood at the edge of the stage, doing the work that makes such an event available to Deaf attendees, work interpreters were doing at panels across the hall all weekend. As Gibson passed behind the interpreter, his hands went up in a burst of empty flapping, a second or three of imitation nonsense played for the crowd, and then he waved and took his seat to talk about his career. Fans had paid 275 dollars apiece for photographs and autographs. The clip of the flapping traveled across social media before the weekend closed, and by Monday he had issued a statement through the trades, blaming the disorientation of being pushed into a spotlight and apologizing to anyone who took offense.

Continue reading → Mel Gibson: Watch the Hands

Posted on

Your Mortgage Was Priced in Basel

Somewhere in America today a couple is signing a mortgage. Thirty years, a fixed rate, a kitchen table, a pen that suddenly weighs more than it should. They believe the number on the page came from their bank, or from the Federal Reserve, or from the mysterious weather system called the market. All three answers hold a piece of the truth, and all three leave out the room where a slice of that number was set: a round tower beside the railway tracks in Basel, Switzerland, owned by the central banks of the world, run by a staff most Americans will never hear named, and answerable to no voter on Earth.

Continue reading → Your Mortgage Was Priced in Basel

Posted on

The Name You Cannot Give Yourself

Every semester it happens by the second week. A student in ASL 1, bright and eager and already half in love with the language, waits until the room empties and asks me for a sign name. The asking is shy and confident at the same time, the way people ask for something they assume is a formality, a small ceremony the teacher performs on request, like handing back a quiz. I tell them no. Then I tell them why, and the why takes the rest of the semester, and if I teach it well, it takes the rest of their lives. I want to set the why down in one place, because the question deserves a fuller answer than a hallway can hold, and because the answer opens a door into how Deaf culture actually works, which is what my students came to learn whether they know it yet or not. Two notes on words before we start. Students usually say sign name; the scholarship says name sign; I answer to both terms and grant neither on request. And when I write Deaf with a capital D, I mean the culture: the language, the schools, the clubs, the families, the jokes, the weddings, the funerals, the whole inherited world of people who live in American Sign Language. Small-d deaf is an audiogram. Capital-D Deaf is a people. The name sign belongs to the people.

Continue reading → The Name You Cannot Give Yourself

Posted on

Outline of a Christian Political Philosophical Theology

I defend a position in political thought that I call Christian anarcho-socialist liberalism. The idea is to create a Christian political philosophical theology that integrates the best elements from socialism, liberalism and anarchism. The Christian Gospel is about far more than politics, and it must never be reduced to politics, though it does have many important political implications. When we combine the Bible, classical Christianity, political theory and postmodern thought, we can create a visionary and powerful Christian political philosophical theology. Christian-humanistic values and ideals must be implemented in postmodern society in the age of globalisation. I am convinced that we can combine a strong emphasis on religious liberty with a strong emphasis on social justice for the poor and the weak. What I present here is a vision and an outline of a Christian political philosophical theology. You might also say that I here present an approach to a postmodern political philosophical theology. My political thought is to a great extent inspired by thinkers such as Zygmunt Bauman, Noam Chomsky and Cornel West, but it also contains many original and dynamic dimensions that transcend these thinkers.

Continue reading → Outline of a Christian Political Philosophical Theology

Posted on

The Candlelit Lie: The Illuminati, the Masons, the Skull and Bones, and the Power That Hides Nothing

The word Illuminati arrives wrapped in candlelight and oath, conjuring a hidden council of masterminds who steer history from a chamber no camera has ever found. The image has held its grip for more than two centuries, and the grip tightens whenever the world feels ungovernable. A pandemic, a market crash, an election that smells stolen, a war that makes no sense to the people paying for it: each crisis sends a fresh wave of seekers hunting for the secret hand behind the curtain. The search flatters the seeker, because it promises that the chaos has an author, that the suffering was planned, and that a door exists somewhere with the guilty men sitting behind it. That promise is a lie, and the lie does real damage, since the energy poured into chasing phantoms gets stolen from the visible machinery that shapes an actual life.

Continue reading → The Candlelit Lie: The Illuminati, the Masons, the Skull and Bones, and the Power That Hides Nothing

Posted on

The Subtraction Economy

How they take more, give you less, and train you not to notice. Pour two fingers of the vodka you trusted ten years ago and you taste grain, cold, and a clean burn that meant something had been distilled with care. Pour the same brand today and you get water and a faint chemical ghost of that promise. The bottle looks identical and the price has climbed, while the liquid inside has been quietly reformulated down toward rotgut. A label held constant over a swapped recipe is the entire con, and the house is betting you will never run a blind taste test against a memory, because memory fades while the bottle on the shelf looks just like the one you loved.

Continue reading → The Subtraction Economy