The truth according to me
So, what is the role of faith in our society, What should it be?
I use the term faith because it lends itself to my own beliefs far better than the term religion, which, to me, is the bureaucratic and dogmatic structure of a widely held belief system. Nothing wrong with that mind you, as one does tend to lead to another, but at what point does the cart begin to lead the horse?
The value of faith, or religion is in what it does for you, the individual, and you alone. It is OK to share the experience, (I irreverently liken it to passing a j, eh, cigarette), but it has no value when used as a means of regulation or coersion. Its value to society is in how it empowers the individual to fruitful thought, word and deed. Period.
We live in a society that likes to call itself plural or secular, but the truth is, we don't. The tradition that governs our legal system and the logic that we apply to our body of case law is
firmly rooted in the Bible, in what is commonly called the Old Testamant. That's right, we are all Hebrew's (or Hebrew wannabe's). I would not advocate changing that for one second,
as it has served us well, and, can be dressed up in many ways to suit those who cannot think of our heritage as being basically Jewish. (Some take some comfort in the term Judeo-Christian ----- kinda like adding "...and the Pips").
The logic that built our business laws, the codes of conduct that we call criminal law tends to wrestle with issues, often swinging in widely disparate directions before finally finding equilibrium. Many have no patience for this, and it leads them to a state of apathy. Others have no patience, and it leads them to a state of seemingly manic zealotry for whatever the
cause or issue. Both of those conditions, (while less than ideal), are OK because they tend to balance each other out. There is often injustice while things work themselves out, and the
process of adjudicating these things is at best frustrating, but they do find balance. (In another arena, it is called "letting the market sort things out"). We find turmoil when any man or
woman, or any group of some ideological stripe attempts to impose some form of order on the rest, in the name of <>.
In my respectful opinion, it is good that government borrows from the deeply held beliefs and traditions that bind us together, but only to the extent that it does not exclude other traditions from being recognized, observed, and sometimes assimilated. The tradition, (if it can be called that), that binds zealots of all persuasions together is a universal intolerance for anything but
thier own version of the truth. It can be found as a subset of Christianity, (see the Inquistion, the Crusades, Prohibition, the rise of the religious right and the Rosie O'Donnell episode
referenced in the previous post), in Islam, (see Taliban, Iran, Khomeini and al Quaida) and in the Jewish community, (see Zionism), as well as in politics, (again, see the video referenced
in the last post), in business and in social groups.
I don't know how to defeat that, save to render it irrelevant, and I am not sure that we are big enough as a people to pull that off. In the mean time, we need to judge our associations and
relationships, social, political, religious by the effect that they have on the community and the people around them.
I use the term faith because it lends itself to my own beliefs far better than the term religion, which, to me, is the bureaucratic and dogmatic structure of a widely held belief system. Nothing wrong with that mind you, as one does tend to lead to another, but at what point does the cart begin to lead the horse?
The value of faith, or religion is in what it does for you, the individual, and you alone. It is OK to share the experience, (I irreverently liken it to passing a j, eh, cigarette), but it has no value when used as a means of regulation or coersion. Its value to society is in how it empowers the individual to fruitful thought, word and deed. Period.
We live in a society that likes to call itself plural or secular, but the truth is, we don't. The tradition that governs our legal system and the logic that we apply to our body of case law is
firmly rooted in the Bible, in what is commonly called the Old Testamant. That's right, we are all Hebrew's (or Hebrew wannabe's). I would not advocate changing that for one second,
as it has served us well, and, can be dressed up in many ways to suit those who cannot think of our heritage as being basically Jewish. (Some take some comfort in the term Judeo-Christian ----- kinda like adding "...and the Pips").
The logic that built our business laws, the codes of conduct that we call criminal law tends to wrestle with issues, often swinging in widely disparate directions before finally finding equilibrium. Many have no patience for this, and it leads them to a state of apathy. Others have no patience, and it leads them to a state of seemingly manic zealotry for whatever the
cause or issue. Both of those conditions, (while less than ideal), are OK because they tend to balance each other out. There is often injustice while things work themselves out, and the
process of adjudicating these things is at best frustrating, but they do find balance. (In another arena, it is called "letting the market sort things out"). We find turmoil when any man or
woman, or any group of some ideological stripe attempts to impose some form of order on the rest, in the name of <>.
In my respectful opinion, it is good that government borrows from the deeply held beliefs and traditions that bind us together, but only to the extent that it does not exclude other traditions from being recognized, observed, and sometimes assimilated. The tradition, (if it can be called that), that binds zealots of all persuasions together is a universal intolerance for anything but
thier own version of the truth. It can be found as a subset of Christianity, (see the Inquistion, the Crusades, Prohibition, the rise of the religious right and the Rosie O'Donnell episode
referenced in the previous post), in Islam, (see Taliban, Iran, Khomeini and al Quaida) and in the Jewish community, (see Zionism), as well as in politics, (again, see the video referenced
in the last post), in business and in social groups.
I don't know how to defeat that, save to render it irrelevant, and I am not sure that we are big enough as a people to pull that off. In the mean time, we need to judge our associations and
relationships, social, political, religious by the effect that they have on the community and the people around them.
posted by eccentric recluse at 6:25 PM
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