Friday, January 09, 2004
Christian Humanism?
"I did not decide to embrace humanism and then cast about for the best version of it; I was and remain a Christian, who found that a humanist approach to my religion made more sense than a supernatural one."
With a beginning like that, this discussion of a humanist Christianity is engaging and insightful. Well worth reading. You can find it here: http://humanists.net/bernt_rostrom/chrsthum.htm.
With a beginning like that, this discussion of a humanist Christianity is engaging and insightful. Well worth reading. You can find it here: http://humanists.net/bernt_rostrom/chrsthum.htm.
Labels: Outside Articles
Spirituality without Faith?
How can naturalism inspire spiritual experience?
Although I use the words spirituality and faith differently, this article contends that just as we can be good without God, we can experience spirituality without spirits, and works around the dualism of typical conceptions of spirituality. "I hope to show that in its dualism, the traditional notion of spirituality in effect sets up problems of existential alienation and cognitive dissonance that religions have wrestled with, more or less unsuccessfully, for millennia. At a stroke, naturalism cuts these problems off at the root, providing an emotionally satisfying and cognitively unified basis for feeling completely at home in the world."
He asks: "What would it mean to naturalize spirituality? What precisely would a naturalistic spirituality look like?"
I would phrase the question: how can naturalists have religious experience? (But I'm swimming against the current--naturalist circles tend to regard the word "religion" as anathema.) The linked article, however, is worth reading regardless: http://www.naturalism.org/spiritua1.htm.
Although I use the words spirituality and faith differently, this article contends that just as we can be good without God, we can experience spirituality without spirits, and works around the dualism of typical conceptions of spirituality. "I hope to show that in its dualism, the traditional notion of spirituality in effect sets up problems of existential alienation and cognitive dissonance that religions have wrestled with, more or less unsuccessfully, for millennia. At a stroke, naturalism cuts these problems off at the root, providing an emotionally satisfying and cognitively unified basis for feeling completely at home in the world."
He asks: "What would it mean to naturalize spirituality? What precisely would a naturalistic spirituality look like?"
I would phrase the question: how can naturalists have religious experience? (But I'm swimming against the current--naturalist circles tend to regard the word "religion" as anathema.) The linked article, however, is worth reading regardless: http://www.naturalism.org/spiritua1.htm.
Labels: Outside Articles
Friday, January 02, 2004
Is America a Biblical Nation?
Not according to Glenn Melancon.
In a recent article at the History News Network, the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Associate Professor of History writes: "The myth that the United States is founded on the "Judeo-Christian Bible" persists and prospers despite readily available evidence. Contrary to popular belief, the Founding Fathers rejected the biblical model in favor of a secular model of government."
You can read the whole article here: http://hnn.us/articles/1854.html.
In a recent article at the History News Network, the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Associate Professor of History writes: "The myth that the United States is founded on the "Judeo-Christian Bible" persists and prospers despite readily available evidence. Contrary to popular belief, the Founding Fathers rejected the biblical model in favor of a secular model of government."
You can read the whole article here: http://hnn.us/articles/1854.html.
Labels: Outside Articles
