I think you may be onto something. I have a suspicion Christianity works best as a meta-tribe, when we are yeast within other cultures instead of our own sub-culture.
I wonder if RC is the same way: better to be a movement within existing parties than its own political structure... E Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 3, 2019, at 08:57, Billy Rojas <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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]> >> 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.
