On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:11:03 -0330, Travis Edmunds <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >From: Warren Ockrassa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <[email protected]> > >To: Killer Bs Discussion <[email protected]> > >Subject: Re: Bill Moyers: There is no tomorrow > >Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 19:09:51 -0700 > > > >On Feb 1, 2005, at 3:48 PM, Deborah Harrell wrote: > > > >>I think another fear involved is that of feeling/being > >>inferior. I have no studies to back this, but the > >>sample of extremist fundamentalists I personally know > >>*definitely* feel insecure about their own worth. > > > >They're supposed to. They're supposed to remember all the time that they're > >unworthy, that it is through god's grace they're saved. Basically worthless > >pond scum. And you get to hear it from them too. "I was the absolute worst > >person ever until I got saved..." > > > >Their entire self-worth depends on this silly, painfully childish belief > >system being true. And if reality happens to suggest it's not, why, reality > >is clearly at fault. > > > >>What so puzzles me about those who need/demand > >>Absolute Certainty, is that my own faith - while it > >>_can_ be comforting - constantly challenges my > >>personal 'zone of comfort.' > > > >Interesting (I think) aside -- those who yert the most loudly about faith > >are usually the ones trying hardest to find *proof*. > > > >>It is a goad when I feel > >>complacent, a prickle when I become too smug...it > >>doesn't tell me that I am superior, but snaps that I > >>can be better than I am now. > > > >Hmm, too much humor to be Catholic. Too specific to be Unitarian. To > >accepting to be Muslim. So what's that leave? > > H E double hockey sticks? Reminds me of this very critical sermon which argues for a non-supernatural but demanding religious salvation story. Typical sermon for UU - not what you expect and demanding critical thinking from listeners.
http://austinuu.org/sermons/2004/2004-07-21-WhyUnitarianUniversalismisDying.html "What's worth believing?" "Are there profound truths about life that make demands on people of character whether we like it or not?" "What beliefs can be used to fashion admirable people?" and so on. In a sentence, the question was "Are there deep and abiding truths capable of sustaining honest spiritual quests without supernatural underpinnings?" ... And world religions all think it's hard â that there are hard demands, and that few make it: â Islam teaches the path as the razor edge of a sword stretched across an abyss. â Jesus talked about the narrow way that few entered. â Hinduism also speaks of the path as razor-edged, and has so many stories about how many lives you'd have to live, in order to get it right. â Buddhists teach how hard it is just to wake up, to outgrow the comforting illusions of "our kind of people." â And for Jews, the notion of being God's "chosen people" meant God demanded more of them than others, not that they were special. All the enduring religions of the world have been clear that the treasures of honest religion must be earned, and make the highest demands on us. That's how those traditions raise our sights to see and hear what Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature." -- Gary Denton Easter Lemming Liberal News Digest _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
