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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 17180
[Politics]
Date Posted:
1/30/2007
6:10:39 am EST
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Views: 8,826
RSS: 22,961
Comments: 7
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Religion Defined
Author: Jeffry Gardner Source: Albuquerque Tribune (NM)
Title: RELIGION DEFINED
As a matter of routine we almost immediately attach the terms "religion" or "religious beliefs" to people and organizations who believe in a supreme being.
In today's ultra-hip, pluralistic society, it's probably time we broaden our use of the terms. It's wrong to limit our immediate mental image of a religious zealot to an aging television evangelist or two.
Increasingly, by virtue of a society so successful that we've got time to burn, we're becoming a nation of activists - activists who warp our avocations into religions.
Contemporary liberalism, for example, is less about progress than it is about indoctrination.
Additional Article Link: [Click HERE]
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Community Thoughts: There are 7 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| I Hate To Disagree... | Jan 31st. at 8:19:34 am EST
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
with his last line, but intimidation by one group of another takes place all the time in this country. In fact, this country is rife with it. If it weren't, whistleblowers wouldn't be in the dangers they face to reveal the truth to the rest of us. This is the country of the dirty deal, of secret meetings and politics, corporate and otherwise is a game of greed and opportunity. Where Lobbyists set up shop in Congress to stump for the latest project and where religion becomes a bedfellow in its own dark political agendas.
Those not in the loop are fed the pablum of fair play while the ones in power seek to become the law in their own right. When it doesn't work, you get such things as Enron and the S&L scandals. When it does work, you get global warming with everyone passing the buck-and the blame while the rest of us are dealing with the aftermath.
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| Sloppy Gardner Article, Complex Issues | Jan 30th. at 3:56:21 pm EST
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Terry (Irvington, Virginia) - Email Me
This article fails many basic tests for making valid points. One is a common limit of column-inches in media while trying to address complex issues. More importantly, he fails to address a core aspect of the religions on which he's claiming knowledge, as to how religion and religious practice for some people is pretty much all of life all the time, while others self-identify as entirely non-religious, in ways which under US law often are religion in its legal meaning.
In personal perceptions of religion, religion is a lot like asking Humpty Dumpty and Potter Stewart to define pornography. Mr. Dumpty would assert that a word means what I want it to mean. Former Justice Stewart is on record asserting how "pornography" cannot be given a valid US legal definition, in part due to the subjective nature of "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it", often jokingly transformed into "porn is whatever gives the judge a hard-on."
Whatever religion is or is not doesn't generally matter to law or society, as to how different individuals perceive it, or base perceptions on their notions of deities, or more inclusive concepts. What does matter is the ability to delineate legal issues in common for us all, such as when a particular practice is protected under the 1st and 14th Amendments, or if an establishment qualifies for such treatment or if we're entitled to freedom from coerced actions that favor another such establishment, or if as this article ridicules, religion is used as a mechanism of child abuse in some cases because of specific patterns of action, not the existence of a nominal religion alone.
Protected religious practices are defined for purposes of EEOC labor rights issues in 29 CFR 1605.1, citing SCOTUS precedents of national standing. They define religion in about the only manner capable of broad, inclusive interpretation the 1st and 14th Amendments require. Any deeply held system of beliefs or core ideology coupled with related practices is also starting to surface in some dictionaries, but there it's reactive to published uses in many genres over decades, rather than reflective of any specific standards requiring an accurate reflection of human realities. A linked pair of 3rd Circuit Buddhist inmate diet cases goes much further, and establishes detailed legal tests for courts to evaluate whether a particular practice (eg, veganism) is entitled to legal protections, as a stand alone religion whether called that or not, or an element of some larger religion, versus being a recreational, occupational, philosophical, or other life choice not entitled to specific elevated rights. Those tests are far more invasive and specific than a general scope article which lumps together vague categories of thought and neither does nor can do the specific, complex rational review required to seriously identify not "religion", but "protected religious practices".
The theory of science, politics and religion co-existing is fine, but doesn't begin to address the above civil rights tests, nor when they have limits. We're far from neutral standards for child abuse based on rational criteria as mature as the above legal interpretations, but Dawkins may well see a clearer picture of what is needed to meet legal standards and realistic protections of religious rights while also defining child abuse than does Gardner. Indoctrination of intolerance for practices or the existence of neighbors entitled to civil rights to openly and visibly exist in society, indoctrination of scientific fraud rather than adequate scientific and other literacy plus critical thinking skills to act as a responsible voter or potential juror, deprivation of coping skills for the chaos of diverse society, and indoctrination of hate cult triggers for dysphoria or cognitive dissonance upon witnessing neighbors with different lifestyles or religions, are core traits of how some religions are very much used as child abuse plans, and fall outside parental or protected religious rights of abusers. That's not a black and white line, but another set of functional tests which psychology and social work would do well to develop into practical professional and legal process, as current practices often are based on unConstitutional presumptions of religion or ethnic culture based bigotry. Boo, hiss, if some traditional hate cult bigots get zinged for being child abusers, but only if they act as such. "Preacher's kid syndrome", which results in adults who are like dry drunks or ACOA's, belongs in the DSM rather than being treated by some as if a community model and youth goal. That's a divisive set of issues, as it does call for defining some religious practices as illegal and ethically bankrupt, but it does not bash religion per se. Congregational, Presbyterian, Epicopal, Baptist, and other sects have all had major corporate doctrinal feuds over the underlying issues, and demands by some to be applauded for being abusers, while chastised by others for not dealing with real life in diverse society and acting like mature adults.
Global warming also is a topic which requires input from science, but cannot deal with human impact absent cooperation from religions as sources of education or ethical training for many. Wikipedia has good starting points and citations good for a year's study of global warming and solar energy, issues which if not addressed will result in humans exterminating life on the planet. That trumps any religious rights, and by definition delineates harmful or helpful religions based on which ones deal with real world issues far faster than some sects are used to adapting doctrines to changed human needs. Non-procreative sex, good. Massive baby hatching, abuse of yourself, the kids, me, others around the world, and Gaia herself. Generation of carbon emissions, bad, whether from fuels, diet based food choices, or animals simply living. Life in cities or in ways that don't include enough green things to clean the air and water, bad. Use of money to develop non-carbon energy infrastructures, potentially very good, as Sun energy hitting Earth is 10,000 times human generated energy, which means our use of energy isn't nearly the problem that an atmospheric insulating blanket that prevents it getting back out into space is. (Anyone done or seen any good research on how much of that is from different energy source or food or other life practice issues, and in turn how much carbon emission reduction is possible via Solar-Hyrdrogen infrastructure, diet changes, or simply requires fewer humans? That's on my list to research.) Use of money for science or religious frauds, or to develop industrial society that disconnects people from balances of nature, bad.
Religion does traditionally address such functional survival issues. Traditional religions have been far slower to adapt to such shifted needs than the exponential rise of humans and planetary impact in recent decades requires. Therefore, whether religions benefit man, or might better die off and cease to exist, in today's world very much requires a strong connection of religion and politics to rational science. That could be the most valuable tool to change human habits among those who emote rather than think analytically, or who fantasize rather than developing scientific foundations and skills to apply them. That's not even a pagan versus Abrahamic difference, but a challenge of human survival on the planet given the diverse range of humans.
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| (none) | Jan 30th. at 1:33:30 pm EST
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Llunmere (Germantown Hills, Illinois) - Email Me
I think they're just upset that they can't run the show anymore.
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