I get a feeling there's a bit of unneccessary either/or thinking here, Slip.
I think my posting record here is clear enough to justify my claim that I do not count as a defender of religion. And there are certainly religious tendencies which tend to naively glorify or ignore dire poverty. The poor will always be with you, pie in the sky when you die, and all that. Indeed, to go further, I see, for example, Mother Teresa, her work in the streets of Calcutta and her tremendous worldwide publicity as being extremely problematical. Partly because of her extremely simplistic attitude towards birth-control, even more because her complete ignorance of and indifference to the structural causes of much of the major poverty worldwide. But it's more complex than this. I think of the spread of fundamentalist evangelical Christianity in Latin America and wonder about its usefullness to some powerful vested interests who are concerned about combatting another religious iteration, that involved in Liberation Theology/basic communities/empowerment etc., which has as part of its religious programme an analysis of sin based on structural, political causes of poverty. And I think of thousands of people, with a basic religious motiviation, working their asses of in Honduras, Haiti, Congo, etc., whose projects are about drilling wells, providing medical services, giving basic education, even teaching people to - oh dear - ask awkward questions of the rich and powerful. Religions, as broad expressions of human inspiration and commonality are capable of both the sublime and the truly horrid. Because they are, ultimately, human models of human attempts to make sense of things in a human way, to inspire and control people, to help them grow and to stultify them. In my view, religions are part of the history, the development of humanity; but a part which is better suited to its childhood and adolescence, something to be grown out of if we want to achieve maturity. To quote one famous religious authority; "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (Paul of Tarsus, 1 Corinthians 13:11). Francis On 8 Feb., 21:00, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > I have no anger friend, possibly that is a reflection of your own > inner turmoil emanating from your interpretation and frustration with > my post. > I'm not riled, just in recognition of more religious nonsense clouding > the real issues of poverty and starvation on planet earth. Why do > people waste time with religion when all they have to do is stop > living in denial and take action. > > It's not any one religion, its all. The xtians tell me "the bible > say's that we will always have the poor" (Jesus quote) a totally > misinterpretated scripture but nonetheless one that they will use to > blindly turn away from really helping someone out of poverty. > Religion has been around for thousands of years, yet its still the > same facade and the garbage remains. > > Religious people are in dream land! > > That is what I mean by piling it on. Not to be taken personally. > Seems many have been getting very touchy lately and some are coming > out of the woodwork with misguided attempts at defending others. > > On Feb 8, 9:26 am, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Slip, I couldn't understand the post, even if I sensed your anger. Or, > > is it angst, frustration ... ? > > > What exactly are you riled about : Me, Upanishads, India, Slums, > > Slumdogs, Millionaire, Slumdog Millionaire, Religion < " religious > > explanation ">, Fraternity, Brotherhood ... ! ! ! ? > > > Tell you what : I have not caused it. And, there is no way I can cure > > it. > > > " ... you pile enough bullshit on top of the bullshit ..." > > > Is this revealing of a personal angst you hold against me ? I'd have > > the same advice : I have not caused it. And, there is no way I can > > cure it. > > > On Feb 8, 9:51 am, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Yeah, and I'm so very touched by it. Never mind the Upanishads, I'd > > > rather understand how India supports slum dogs as a viable concept. I > > > find it not only disgraceful but barbaric, primitive and > > > hypocritical. The movie "Slum Dog Millionaire" tells the story. Is > > > there some religious explanation for treating people like the garbage > > > they live > > > in?http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfn... > > > > Fraternity and Brotherhood? As long as you have the right brother? > > > > I guess if you pile enough bullshit on top of the bullshit you won't > > > see the bullshit, right? > > > > On Feb 7, 9:10 pm, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > How many here have read the Upanishads ? ! > > > > > The two most positive aspects of religion are concepts of fraternity > > > > and brotherhood, in times when most of the world were barbarian, on > > > > one hand, and the practice of introspection or self - examination, on > > > > the other. > > > > > On Feb 8, 2:50 am, 1CellOfMany <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > There have been many discussions here where the negative results of > > > > > religion have been brought up as a side issue to another discussion. > > > > > I would like to start two parallel threads here, one about the good > > > > > that religions and religious people have done in and for the world, > > > > > and the other about the bad things that have come from, and been done > > > > > because of religion. > > > > > > In this thread, lets concentrate on discussing the positive > > > > > contributions of religion. The good acts, the positive results of > > > > > religious teaching, and the positive things that can be learned from > > > > > reading the "source books" of religion, such as the Bible, the > > > > > Upanishads, the Koran, and other writings that are considered "Holy" > > > > > by any religion. > > > > > > A historical time-line might also be useful, correlating the beginning > > > > > and growth of each religion to historical events and trends in the > > > > > places where the religion was spread. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
