Christianity and Islam account for the religion of 60% of all people alive today and it is growing. Especially in Africa and the far east where Islam spreads like a cancer displacing long held traditional beliefs. Of all the other religions Hinduism is next best represented at 11%, Buddhism only accounts for 8%. Beliefs that are held by the likes of you Path dont even figure on the statistics.
Sort of. Statistically, I'm Christian (at least by some people's counts) and by others, Pagan/Pantheist, and by others... nothing at all. You're not the first to think my ideas are Buddhist, though I never realized the similarities until i studied Buddhism academically, which was well after most of them were formed!
I think we need to ditch the labels entirely, because I've met Christians and Muslims who run the gamut from my own sort of "hippie tree-huggin' Gaia-lovin' unity" flavor to the types that think holy wars are acceptable. I can't speak for Muslims, but I can say that Christianity is incredibly diverse depending on how it is incorporated into a culture. Maya-flavored Roman Catholicism is still an awful lot like their traditional polytheism (which itself was overlaid on a still-older shamanic tradition). In "Make Prayers to the Raven," you find that Christianity had been adopted but left the original religious beliefs virtually unscathed but that modern technology and consumerism was beginning to rip apart the fabric of good ecology. Every culture is different, and so much depends on how the synthesis takes effect, how the missionaries bring the new stuff in, etc.
I really think the growth of consumerism, capitalism, and our lives (and governments, and often religions) being run by corporations have more to do with people's desperation, fear, and hatred (that lead to the more sick implementation of religion) than religion itself. One can only separate religion out from the rest of culture for heuristic purposes. One must always remember that it doesn't really work that way.
I do not think I am definitely wrong about the evolutionary induced psychology and physiology that I presented as being the truth behind our collective love affair with the God concept. But what I will concede is that it is foolish of me to believe for 1 second that mankind can be expected to accept such an argument, let alone act upon it.
May I inquire, is much of this from Richard Dawkins? LOL It may help to read the many critiques of his work from various disciplines. "The Selfish Gene" has also received quite a bit of criticism, from within evolutionary studies as well as without. He's an evolutionary biologist, but that doesn't make him an expert in culture or religion, or human behavior, or psychology. We each have our own stuff to contribute in science, and he's just one of many voices (a loud voice, and a well-written one, but not necessarily a correct one). All I suggest is a careful reading from multiple disciplines before making informed choice about endorsement of any given theory. Most of the time, one theory is insufficient. It gets at a piece but is too limited to grasp the whole.
That I fail to find God in this wonderful cosmos is no loss to me. It is amazing and magnificent and awe inspiring with or without God. And I love every moment that I am alive and concious and able to marvel at its infinite complexity.
Tao, again- perhaps it is the labels that trip us up. Because you described exactly how I feel, but I think of the entire experience (me included) and the relationships in between-- as God. When we connect to one another, to the cosmos, to all that is... in that connection lies the Divine. This is why I say, whether there is heaven or hell is not the question... isn't this moment enough to inspire gratitude, awe, love? And if it is, why worry about the details? To connect, to love, to wonder... these are the things that are my spiritual life. My beliefs (basically, my theories and thoughts about that spiritual life) are just my best attempts to express what is really inexpressable, or to apply that love/gratitude/awe- that connectedness to others- to my life (ethics).
Any links would be gratefully received.
I listed some great case studies and overviews above. There is also a series on religion and ecology, but I'd have to look it up in my home library. Not sure about internet links. Since it is my field of study, I tend to stick to the journals and academic books. Much under cultural ecology discusses religion in its cultural context (including economic, political, etc.). Also, there's some good stuff in medical anthropology that gets at practical benefits of folk science/religion/magic (we really only see separation of these concepts with the modern Western world).
A sick one, yes, but a neurotic, sick-souled need within such individuals. Some people get off on fear and worry, the causes are simple psychological programming which I feel confident I do not need to explain.
But the root of this is not in the human psyche or in religion. If you look at the shamanic religions, at hunter-gatherer societies, you find little fear-driven belief, except to point to things that
should be feared (for practical purposes) such as power animals. And even then, this fear is constructive (more akin to great respect and caution) than destructive (leading to hatred). The question is why so many people here/now embrace fear and worry over peace and love? It is not only a religious issue. Why do so many people have bias against other ethnic groups than their own, other nations, the opposite gender? Why are we all so afraid of each other? Why do we focus our lives on work, money, possessions, status? When it all leads to fear of loss, worry, stress, even earlier death and illness?
There is sickness, all right, but it is not because of religion. Its causes lie elsewhere, but bleed into our entire cultural lives,
including religion.
Spirituality (and even organized religion) can either play into this fear and hatred, this very disadvantageous suite of traits... or it can rebel against it. So can atheism. And you see movements in both directions in nearly all major religions (and atheism). That which feeds fear, divides. It pits groups against each other, it proposes horrible ends if everyone does not get on board with its tenets (whether religious or not- can be applied to atheism, politics, you name it). That which feeds love, unites. It causes people to achieve peace by giving up their pitiful egoic desires and worries and to reach out and embrace others (again, whether religious or not).
And it is high time all right minded people show that they are not just aware, but angry that religion is allowed to manipulate people into living miserable, fearful lives.
Before we treat individuals as if they are cogs in a wheel, we must remember that each of us has the capacity to analyze our own thoughts and feelings. We can choose to end fear. Escaping the "people are victims of the elite" cry, and yet recognizing and rebelling against injustice, are both necessary. And it is not religion that manipulates people into misery. It is the illusion that you are what you buy, what you do, your university, your company, your address... your church. It is separatism, consumerism... materialism. It is this illusion that causes the richest people of the world (in the first world) to be miserable. And it is the consequences of these actions (over-consumption, exploitation) that causes much of the rest of the world's misery. Religion is just one of many institutions that may support a deeper, more problematic, and more troubling cause.
Sorry to write long and passionately... but I am very passionate about empowering people.
I am not an advocate for religion. I am an advocate for love.
A place for me to practice temperance in my heretical rants
I hope Z doesn't mind this fascinating turn...
And I still love your heretical rants. According to the conservative ones, I doubt you'd be any more or less heretical than me!
![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)