I've noticed there are 3 factions in Seattle that have pretty much squeezed the life out of the 'traditional' religions in Seattle and that's what got me thinking about this blog.
1. 'Non-Corporate-Christians'. I don't have a good name for this uber-group because they cover a lot of ground. To me they are everyone who is not a member of a 'mainline' religious organisation like 'Episcopal', 'Presbyterian', 'Methodist', etc... I'm pretty sure this represents the majority of 'Christians' these days. Unfortunately, there is a misperception among the media and non-religious that they are all cut from the same cloth. You know this ain't true... For example, 'Fundamentalists' and 'Evangelicals' have nothing to do with Joel Osteen's brand of 'Christianity'. I think the media lumps y'all together as a political convenience... after all, the only thing this group seems to share in common is an overwhelming allegiance to Republican voting.
2. 'Spiritual But Non-Religious'. Most 'true' Seattle-ites would fall into this group. This also covers a lot of ground... various eastern philosophies, new age ideas, wiccan jazz, but mainly, it seems to me, a vague idea that there is 'something' out there beyond 'us', but certainly nothing that can be answered with traditional religions. These guys are about 98% Democratic in politics.
3. Bust out agnostics and atheists. They have a -lot- in common with Group #2 (although their politics are slightly less predictable.) Lately they have come out of the closet and are now vocal in the 'zealotry'. It seems like they feel a need to push back against what they perceive as the 'creationist threat'.
As I say in the intro, I feel squeezed by all three of these meta-groups. I can't figure out how they have come to dominate the media landscape. I know there are still a -lot- of 'traditional' church-goers like me... but you never hear about us so it seems like we've become irrelevant.
Well, I'm not quite ready to go quietly into that good night. I frankly find all three groups to be seriously deficient in their respective outlooks and I intend to explore these problems here. There is a real intolerance developing which has contributed to the polarization in the West and it is largely because each group has developed quite the 'holier-than-thou' attitude which would seem to contradict centuries of progress towards tolerance and communication between people of different belief systems.
I also want to provide a forum for anyone else out there who feels, as I do, that 'faith' and 'science' -do- go together---without apologies and without a bunch of lengthy circular logic. I'm talking about unabashed belief in God... yes, a 'personal' God that runs the whole show. But not finding that incompatible with 'evolution' or 'string theory'. And not feeling a need to destroy our faith when it's leaders are found wanting. And not denying scientific reality because of various phrases in a religious text.
There's a lot to cover, but I've gassed on enough for now. Trying to keep these things 'bite-sized' will be a challenge for a world-class ranter such as meself. ;)
---JC
1 comment:
Quote:" that 'faith' and 'science' -do- go together"
One "faith" and science do go together. But contradictory religions cannot all be correct - maximum one religion can be correct.
Undoubtedly many people have religious experiences. An important question is if all (if any) religious experiences also indicate a communication with the Creator of the universe. Many devotees of all religions would answer that the religious experiences that the followers of the other religions have only are brain constructions, and that they are not indicators of a communication to the Creator. Or could it be that all religions originates from the Creator; which would imply that the contradictions and conflicts among all religions reflect an intrinsic and internal cognitive dissonance and dysfunction within a self-contradicting Creator? We will go through some basic formal logical argumentation about the Creator to be able to answer that question.
Being logically consistent (orderly), the orderly universe must mirror its Prime Cause / Singularity-Creator—Who must be Orderly; i.e. Perfect. Therefore, no intelligent person can ignore that our purpose and challenge in life is learning how we, as imperfect humans, may successfully relate to a Perfect Singularity-Creator without our co-mingling, which transcends the timespace of this dimensional physical universe, becoming an imperfection to the Perfect Singularity-Creator.
An orderly—"not capricious," as Einstein put it—Creator (also implying Just), therefore, necessarily had an Intelligent Purpose in creating this universe and us within it and, being Just and Orderly, necessarily placed an explanation, a "Life's Instruction Manual," within the reach of His subjects—humankind.
An orderly—"not capricious," as Einstein put it—Creator (also implying Just), therefore, necessarily had an Intelligent Purpose in creating this universe and us within it and, being Just and Orderly, necessarily placed an explanation, a "Life's Instruction Manual," within the reach of His subjects—humankind.
It defies the orderliness (logic / mathematics) of both the universe and Perfection of its Creator to assert that humanity was (contrary to His Tor•âh′ , see below) without any means of rapproachment until millennia after the first couple in recorded history as well as millennia after Abraham, Moses and the prophets. Therefore, the Creator's "Life's Instruction Manual" has been available to man at least since the beginning of recorded history. The only enduring document of this kind is the Tor•âh′ —which, interestingly, translates to "Instruction" (not "law" as popularly alleged). (Source and further reading of how to relate to the Creator: www.netzarim.co.il)
The fact that the Creator is perfect implies that He isn’t self-contradictory. Therefore any religion that contradicts Torah is the antithesis to the Creator.
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