Ernie: Is tribal identity a bad thing? That is, what is wrong with "why don't you join our tribe?
We welcome new people and offer the best in religious experience" OK, that is kind of crass, it doesn't sound right, but as something to think about. Part of the answer might be found in the rise of the Godfearers in the first century AD (probably started in the first century BC). What was it that attracted Romans, Greeks, etc to a missionary form of Judaism? Hence the dispute between Paul and those Christians who were led by James the Just which is recounted in Acts and Galatians. Paul favored something like a "Godfearer approach." The people involved were sort of both "Pagans" and also Jews. And hence the curious passage in Acts 19 where Paul is defended by a Pagan who says, clearly, that Paul has not blasphemed "our Goddess" Artemis / Diana. That is, you can imagine, and just possibly it was a fact, where some Godfeaeres were both Pagan devotees of Diana -and Christians. Well, this is difficult to say for sure and, obviously, I have a pony in this race that colors my "take" on the matter. Still, maybe worth looking into. Billy ________________________________ From: Dr. Ernie Prabhakar <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2019 8:16 AM To: Centroids Discussions Cc: Billy Rojas Subject: Re: [RC] another conundrum Hi Billy, On Dec 31, 2018, at 1:48 PM, Billy Rojas <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Still, I can appreciate the fact that my faith is not for everyone. Not everyone has my interests or disposition or attitude. Indeed, I have talked with people like this at times in my life. A more-or-less "typical" response might be along the lines of "I really am not convinced about Christian claims and, besides, I have found real peace and intellectual satisfaction and life affirming morality in Zen." What do you do? That is, what would you do? I’ve thought about this from time to time. To be honest, thats one of the reasons I waffle so much on the term ‘Christian’. For too many people it is a symbol of tribal affiliation rather than what I would consider true spirituality. So for friends who jettison a shallow Christianity for something more authentic, I trust they are on a good path that may lead them back to Christ. For many others, of course, it is an excuse to move shallower into hedonism or scientism. That’s why I’ve been wrestling with the idea of “Spiritual Christianity”, to figure out what is THE THING that it is important for people to be moving towards, regardless of tribal affiliation… E -- -- 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
