Karen Armstrong, "Does God Have a Future?" and:

• Jon Krakauer, "Selection from Into the Wild"
• Martha Nussbaum, "Women and Cultural Universals"
  

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Armstrong and Krakauer: Spirituality in the 21st Century

At one point in Into the Wild, Krakauer describes McCandless as a "pilgrim," and elsewhere as somone who "possessed grand--some would say grandiose--spiritual ambitions." With Karen Armstrong in mind, would you argue that McCandless is evidence that God has a future in the 21st century? Or is McCandless proof that the mysticism Armstrong admires is ultimately destructive? Is anything to be gained by following the path that McCandless went down?

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Nussbaum and Armstrong: Religion and the Central Human Functional Capabilities

In "Women and Cultural Universals," Nussbaum claims that "a life that lacks any one" of the ten attributes that she has labled "Central Human Functional Capabilities," "no matter what else it has, will fall short of being a good human life." Does Nussbaum's argument require that one create the kind of relationship to a personal God that Armstrong describes? Is it necessary or merely optional that one have a relationship with God or some other spiritual being to live what Nussbaum calls "the good life"? Does God have a future in the world that Nussbaum is arguing for?

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