HI Billy, On Apr 16, 2012, at 3:27 PM, [email protected] wrote: > Ernie : > " I suspect you use "faith" in the latter sense..." > > Absolutely. What you'd expect from any Baptist, even a renegade who > these days is part Buddhist, part Zoroastrian, etc, etc.
Yeah, I hate to say it, but I think you've chosen the wrong word. "Religion" has too much invested in religious practice to mean what you want it to mean. "Metaphysics" is closer, if high-falutin. "Divinity" is more accurate, but archaic. "Theology" is too academic. I've actually been thinking about this in, of all things, a marriage counseling session. We don't have a good word for the rock-bottom, life-defining beliefs that religion is supposed to provide. "Beliefs" is too weak. "Conviction" a bit too sterile. "Myth" too derogatory, though arguably accurate. Words matter, at least if our goal is to communicate in a way that changes hearts and minds. I think we need some new ones... -- Ernie P. > > About liturgical churches, with their emphases on tradition / traditions., > while I have few negative feelings, I also have little empathy. > Rituals, at least speaking of ceremonial rituals, sacraments, > outside of the least number possible, don't do anything > for me whatsoever and seem to me to be > a complete waste of time. > > The subject is : > " actual *religious understanding* about who we are and what we should do" > > That's the bottom line and the top line and almost all the lines in-between. > > If someone wants to wear a "sacred thread" or make use of "holy water" > I don't get all bent out of shape, but such practices, as I see it, are > theater, > not spirituality. Maybe some theater is OK in life but that manifestly > is NOT what "religion" is really all about. > > Faith is a matter of the heart and the mind, especially the heart but > only if this also means an alive and fully engaged mind. They are > inseparable. > Traditions have their place, and can have value, but they are strictly > secondary. I cannot possibly see things any other way. > This is what I assume and assume that others > necessarily also assume. > > But, I think you are right, many people simply don't think this way at all. > I'd like to persuade them of the value of my way of thinking but maybe > what they all need is to become Baptists first. > > Something like that. > > This is tongue in cheek, but maybe you get what I mean. > Religion as "add-on" to life, as tradition, isn't religion as "faith" at all. > > Billy > > ============================= > > > > 4/16/2012 2:59:45 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] > writes: > HI Billy, > > On Apr 13, 2012, at 9:07 PM, [email protected] wrote: >> So the question comes down to this, for anyone : Do you believe, >> deep down inside, that religious faith really is crucial to your life ? >> That, in a sense, nothing else could possibly be more important ? >> For if anyone answers "yes," then a foundation exists to >> move mountains. Maybe an awkward metaphor but >> hopefully the idea is clear enough. > > As usual, I think it is important to separate out two distinct issues. > > One is religious tradition, which is very useful in a whole bunch of ways, > but at the end of the day, not really essential to living a good life. > There are multiple incompatible but equally valuable rituals. > > The other is an actual *religious understanding* about who we are and what we > should do. > > THAT is incredible vital, and changes everything. > > I suspect you use "faith" in the latter sense, but most people don't, which > causes a whole mess of problems. > > -- Ernie P. > > > > = > > -- > 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 -- 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
