From PBS/NOVA: Is Free Will an Illusion?
Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer. I’ll still believe weird things but should I read this book anyway?
Whitney Houston’s last performance captured was a bit of “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” with Kelly Price. Houston was not much older than me. I’m not ready to go. I really need to be more aggressive in getting in shape and healthy.
Been thinking about… mythology. I suppose someday Christianity will be referred to as mythology much as we refer to stories of Zeus and Aphrodite as such. That’s something I never would have imagined saying a decade ago. Religious traditions that have grown over the last 4K years are a blip on the timeline of humanity. What is it that makes us think our beliefs are The Truth and every other set of narratives are not? I know, I know. Ego. I love mythology and allegories. I think they are useful and enjoyable. It’s when we put stock in them as anything more than stories, we seem to get into trouble.
How’s life in your world?
I like the anthropological sense of the word “myth,” in which a myth is simply a story that tells us about our place in the world. To call something a “myth” is not to comment on its literal truth or falsehood, but to put it in a special category of stories that help us make meaning of life.
Also, I think it’s demeaning to refer to our own stories as “gospel,” but everybody else’s stories as “myth.” So I don’t mind just referring to it all as “myth.”
I’m an avid reader of scripture — not just LDS scripture, but Gnostic scripture, Hindu scripture, Buddhist scripture, Mayan scripture, Muslim scripture, ancient Greek scripture… I find truth in it all… Does that go in the category of having a “weird” belief?
Weird to some, not to me. =)
Definitely wisdom in stories around the globe and through all time and yeah, that’s what I mean. Why do we infer (and outright claim) ours superior?
Are you maybe referring to things like Joseph Smith’s statement that the Book of Mormon was “the most correct book,” and that a person would come closer to God through reading it than any other book in the world?
The Book of Mormon does have a special resonance for me, I admit. Mormonism has an immediacy to me and speaks to me in a way that other faiths simply can’t… And I’ve given others a try, so I speak somewhat from experience. I feel the Spirit when I’m at Church, and practicing my faith the best I can keeps me grounded in a way nothing else does. So I can say unconditionally that the gospel restored through Joseph Smith is truest to me. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…”
Other stories, the gospel as taught in other contexts I find helpful. But they are helpful because they give me new perspectives and insights that help me understand and practice my faith better.
Right now I’m reading a wonderful, engaging book by the great American Jewish thinker Mordecai Kaplan. The book is Judaism as a Civilization. He was a controversial and engaging figure within his own tradition, among Jews. He rejected the notion that Jews were “chosen” while everyone else was not. He was convinced, ultimately, that that belief was the source of many of the terrible woes of his people. Still he felt that Judaism was the only true faith for Jews, and he was very concerned about the fact that many American Jews seemed to be turning away from the faith. He was anxious to find a way to help Jews recommit to their faith in a deeper, more profound way. He was absolutely committed to the concept of the State of Israel (his book was published in 1934), because he saw this as essential to the preservation of a vital Jewish community. He envisioned a religiously diverse America in which many different faiths would coexist in harmony, each by living their own faiths more deeply. It’s a vision I find very attractive.
Historians aren’t sure he succeeded within his own community… (Though they all agree he made people think and discuss Judaism in some productive ways!) Judaism has experienced a kind of renewal, but not through the formulations of Mordecai Kaplan. Orthodox Judaism (which vigorously insists on Jews’ “chosenness”) has experienced an upswing in recent years…
Maybe we all need to be convinced that our faith is “special” in order to commit to it in certain ways…
(Of course, maybe worth noting that Mormons believe in the “chosenness” of the Jews… Though in a different way than Jews themselves might believe in it…!!)
I mean “we” in two senses. First, we as in Christians in modern times. Second, we as in the last four thousand years… the rise of monotheism. I feel spiritually soothed in many circumstances but I don’t know that it is due to literal truthfulness or conditioning from infancy on. I don’t know that the source matters if it has a positive affect in my life and I’m not forcing it on anyone else.
Did people who worshiped Ra, the Egyptian sun god feel theirs was the only path? Maybe. Maybe that’s part of the natural ego in man we need to overcome. We’re wont to be star-bellied Sneetches, at least until others are.
John, did you go through the temple? This makes me think about another thought rattling around my head lately… that of titles. I believe we all have great, divine worth, but in the temple, the terms used are kings, queens, priestesses, etc. If everyone has such a title, is the value still there? If not does it mean there are serfs and peasants? Hmm, ponderous.