The Present, Awareness, Spirituality -vs- Religion...

In the interest of Reason...



… which is not to say there is no such thing as ethical spirituality.

Faith, believing in something for which there exists no direct proof, is indeed an INDIVIDUAL choice one makes. Or not.

Spirituality is enhanced when one is in the present, free from discursive thinking. Which is to say aware. Thinking is not being aware.

Religion, as it is generally understood and accepted in the west today turns ones focus away from being present and sets it squarely on what someone a couple millenniums ago (or longer) was hawking.




Comments

  1. BB-IdahoTue Dec 10, 09:45:00 AM EST

    Epistemology is the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion. We opine on the discovery of a tribe of very primitive pygmies who had no religion, no superstition (a peculiar rarity among our species)-their life requiring
    minds that focused on the critical need for food, lodging etc. Historians of early religion speculate that during the
    transition from the family and the 'old man' to larger societal units fear of the unknown led to speculative
    gods. The priest was born. ..and politics/religion was 'begat'. Religion had a long head start compared to
    science. Much has been written on science vs religion, but at its simplest, science is a methodology- a search
    for answers which meet the standards of cause and effect/repeatability/predictability. Some have observed that
    religion is an innate longing (the God gene, for example) that offers meaning to life. Clearly these are two
    different entities. Unfortunately they sometimes overlap (there is evidence that life began 3.5 billion years ago.
    It did not-it began when earth was created over 6 days 10,000 years ago-says so in Genesis.) etc.
    We note that among the thousand or so religions, each claims it is the only true one. Arguments occur among
    scientists as well until a hypothesis is either accepted or rejected. Religious dogma is much slower to change,
    if at all, and they argue that science keeps making mistakes (a favorite was the 19th century Piltdown Man hoax,
    which excited paleontologists for years until it was found that some fun-loving guy had buried human and ape
    bones near a dig). And so it goes. For me the importance of the argument is exemplified by my fellow kids in
    elementary school. The small town was dominated by two big Lutheran churches, half the kids attending each (I
    was an outsider-Episcopalian). In response to a Sunday school lecture, a rumor quickly spread among the kiddy
    theologians that church A said that dogs do not go to heaven. The pastor at church B announced that dogs certainly
    do go to heaven. The migration of little Lutherans to church B was astounding!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Les CarpenterWed Dec 11, 03:09:00 PM EST

    In response to a Sunday school lecture, a rumor quickly spread among the kiddy
    theologians that church A said that dogs do not go to heaven. The pastor at church B announced that dogs certainly
    do go to heaven. The migration of little Lutherans to church B was astounding!

    The majority of humans have a strong desire to live forever. In some form. Hence religion. Humans also are great followers of charismatic leaders (not all however) who are effective selling the hereafter. The desire for influence and power is what motivates any church.

    Science, one discipline of or another, has been responsible for most of the advancements (progress) of society. Both in the ancient and modern world. Religion on the other hand has been responsible for human torture, wars, death, discrimination, and more. Religion's strongest contributions to society are probably in regards to ethics and morality. Wait, maybe not so much.

    ReplyDelete

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