What single historical figure most influences my ideology ? This is a question I cannot answer because the parts of my ideology are interrelated with one thinker of the past contributing one set of ideas and so forth for each part. Ultimately though, it comes down to religion and the unifying view that my theology gives me. For that there is a trajectory : Baptist - Baha'i - Buddhist - Tantra - Aurobindo - a period of intense seeking including study of Zoroastrianism - and finally arrival at a new understanding of faith as based on extreme fundamentalism in which the original Bible is found by using rigorous scholarship to identify that "Ur text." It exists, concerning the Tanach, primarily in the scriptures of ancient Mesopotamia where, to put it in Christian terms, the Goddess Ishtar is simply their way of describing the Holy Spirit. And from the Holy Spirit flows all things that matter to me. So far this system has led me to one discovery after another, not by argument from authority but though looking for evidence that authority requires if it is to be validated as true and good. And it must be validated, otherwise it is mere opinion. The evidence then needs to be tested so that I am sure, with no doubt, or minimal doubt. Science, including social / behavioral science, then, is a necessity for faith. To interpret the results requires philosophy, and often enough, political philosophy. What one thinker influenced all of this ? There simply isn't any one thinker, there is a chain of thinkers each of which is absolutely necessary for all the others. This is how it is with respect to a comprehensive system. I first learned how such a system works, and how beautiful such a system can be, from study of Hegel, but there has been so much else since that time in the 1960s, and he was only the beginning. But with Hegel you get the absolute necessity of thesis and antithesis for each other, and the necessity for chains of theses and antitheses, which is about as Radical Centrist as you can get. All ideas that matter must be looked at in perspective provided by also looking at alternatives to that idea and making the strengths of the alternatives intrinsic to how you understand the resulting new idea that emerges. Billy PS This is far more than a single paragraph, and I don't expect you to use it. But trying to boil it all down to 140 words is not something I can do. The statement does condense things as much as possible, however, and still retain serious meaning. ============================================================ 10/11/2011 9:22:12 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
I've got a fun one for anyone who'd like to take part: What single historical figure most influences your ideology? Responses would go here (I bought a domain and moved the blog to Blogger): http://www.moderatetradition.com/ The last one we did is located here, for reference: http://www.moderatetradition.com/2011/09/question-what-does-it-mean-to-you-t o-be.html -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
