[P2P-F] Spirituality and the internet

Fri Sep 16 20:26:01 CEST 2011

Thanks. By way of a sort of summary of the debate thus far, from my point of 
view:

I empathize with anyone not wanting to thrash around in the thickets of this 
debate for a number of reasons. For one, its like a room full of cockroaches 
scattering every which way when the lights go on. 

I think many moderns  use the term "spirituality" as a kind of non-sectarian 
catch-all for what Abraham Lincoln called "the better angels of our 
nature".  I would change Lincoln's "angels" to "aspects" and the generic 
"spirituality" of my peers to somewhat less nebulous things like 
"intuition", "conscience", "sentiment", "good will", and of course the 
all-important empathy for all life and interdependence of all life.

I recognize the utility of generic, nebulous (slippery?) terms in some 
contexts but it seems to me that "good-faith" conversation between modern, 
educated, open-minded people is seldom such a context. I say that not to 
impugn anyone's good faith, but simply advisedly. Use of the term 
"spirituality" (much less terms like "divine") in clever company would seem 
to beg at least for extensive qualification or clarification.

Even if we are respectfully and sympathetically discussing pre-scientific 
world-views, indigenous culture, religious beliefs, etc.--we are always to 
some extent discussing it in the context of our own culture and times 
whether we like it or not. On the whole, my primary aim is to question 
certain aspects of contemporary discourse and not the truth claims of 
various world views per se (although I have done both in my arguments).

PR
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