hi seekliberation, I very much enjoyed reading this. And though I don't agree with all of it, I agree with your main point which I hope I got right: that some liberals are moving away from religion and spirituality and that this is not good for either the spiritual or the material aspects of life.
It's quite a conundrum that you present because on one hand liberalism can be seen as an offshoot of communism which had from its inception Karl Marx' idea that religion is the opiate of the masses. But on the other hand the conservative elements of contemporary society often align with religious extremism or at least fundamentalism. And these groups are also close minded. Where is the middle way between these two? That middle way just might be the military and other groups who are mainly interested in what works. In the presence of religions that are corrupt and those that are extreme, hopefully a rational humanism will emerge that can provide moral guidelines resonant with highly developed people. I'm thinking of Maslow's high functioning types. ________________________________ From: seekliberation <seekliberat...@yahoo.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 4:21 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Is liberalism becoming anti-spirituality? After reading an article about California banning Yoga in schools, it made me think about liberalism in America and where it really stands on the subject of spirituality and development of consciousness. I always thought that of all states and all locations in America, the first one to welcome any form of Yoga, Meditation, and any other form of progressive teaching into its education or government programs, California would definitely be the first. The last element of our society that would promote such teachings would clearly be the ignorant, conservative, gun-toting military. Especially the Marine Corps, which attracts an exceedingly high percentage of conservatives. However, much to my surprise, in the last decade the entire US military has begun to make Yoga mandatory in its exercise program to include the Navy Seals, Marine Spec Ops units, the entire Army and many other units. Moreover, the Marine Corps just recently made meditation (not TM, but mindfulness meditation) a required portion of any Marine trying out for the Marine Corp's Special Operations Command. So essentially, it's the exact opposite of what anyone following spirituality in modern America would expect. The people liberals tend to hate the most (anyone from a disciplined or structured element of society) seem to be embracing eastern teachings more rapidly than groups that are predominantly liberal. In fact, my experience with people in the military is that they tend to be more open minded towards those types of teachings than a lot of liberal minded people I know. This brings me to a conclusion about liberals. I think they fall into different categories. You have some of the new-age spiritual types, like the ones who I remember from my days in Fairfield. Yes, they are all open-minded towards many controversial subjects such as gay marriage, and their views on economics leans towards socialism. But their inquisitive nature regarding spirituality indicates to me that they actually are an evolving culture in many ways. But then you have the other type of liberal. The purely atheist type like Bill Maher or Janeane Garafalo. They are likely to have the same social and economic views as the new-age spiritual type of liberal, but they are vehemently against spirituality and religion. This results in a resistance to any form of spirituality, and I can assure you that TM won't be welcome by such people, regardless of what scientific evidence you spew at them. In fact, I believe it is the scientific evidence that is guiding the military to embrace such teachings because it is logical and it works. Regarding liberals, I am beginning to believe that most liberals in the media and public spectrum fall in this category of people who are pre-dispositioned against spiritual and religious teachings. I think liberalism is leading us more and more towards atheism rather than faith in anything beyond what the 5 senses can percieve. I watch Bill Maher and other liberal shows often enough to know that they are representatives of a growing attitude throughout the country. And if you think about it, gravitating away from spirituality and religion is a must. I think it is sub-consciousness. We simply can't have a set of socio-economic moral guidelines anywhere in our society if we are going to behave in a socio-economically immoral manner. Regardless of how wrong or negative anyone's policies are, nobody wants to be wrong. Not even Hitler wanted to be wrong. If you read the translations of many of his speeches, they weren't maniacal, they were inspiring to a society that needed inspiration during hard times. He had logic that supported his decisions and actions. But to support the decisions and actions that Americans are currently disposed towards, and to feel right about it, the first step is to remove any teachings that provide moral guidelines that contradict the direction you want to move in. Hence, we must remove spirituality and religion from our society. Just watch Bill Maher or other popular liberal spokespersons and their attitude towards religion. They don't just point out that there are a lot of nutcases out there, they try to completely discredit every single religion. Sort of like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You never see them attacking someone like Alan Watts or Eckhart Tolle. They simply expose only the weirdos, and ingores the geniuses. This is not in any way to say conservatives are right and liberals are wrong. I know many conservatives who are very ignorant about many things. I also know many people who believe deeply in Republican/Conservative politics but then they turn around and live a liberal lifestyle that is devoid of any personal responsibility. Hence, they are liberals in their actions and conservative in their minds. And many liberals I know, both the atheist and spiritual type are some of the most remarkable people I've ever met. But I still contend that the atheist type of liberal demographic is growing faster and is more publicly dominant in the media. Personally, this is not a direction I think is going to lead us anywhere more positive in terms of neither development of consciousness or materialism. It's weak on both ends of the spectrum. Any thoughts? seekliberation
