[FoRK] Baseline for calling out the issue

[Lion Kimbro]

On Dec 3, 2007 10:15 AM, Jeff Bone <jbone at place.org> wrote:
> On Dec 3, 2007, at 10:54 AM, Lion Kimbro wrote:
> > On Dec 2, 2007 6:53 PM, Jeff Bone <jbone at place.org> wrote:
> >>>   I intuit that there is a new religion forming, a new spirituality.
> >
> >> New boss, same as the old boss...
> >
> >   Can you explain this?
> >
> >   If someone, say, joins a community, to talk about what is
> >   meaningful to them, to sing, have fun, and connect with life-
> >
> >   Can you explain how this is a new boss, the same as the old boss?
>
> A tendency to deify, mystify, etc.  Reinforcement of the tendency to
> "recognize" agency where there is none, as behavioral co-factor for
> all the badness that attends religion.

  Deify, mystify -->  This is done by every movie that makes a point.
  The Golden Compass does exactly this.

  Respect and veneration for nature, environment, and the Earth are
  genuinely important.  I challenge you to show otherwise.

  "Recognizing agency where there is none?"  -- can you give an example?
  What on Earth are you talking about?


> >> We don't need the crutches any more.  Throw them away completely.
> >> They are a carrier wave of memetic disease.
> >
> >   What crutch are you speaking of?
>
> Mysticism.

  What do you mean by "mysticism?"

  When I refer to mysticism, I refer to "seeing with the heart, rather than
  the eyes."

  You know -- closing your eyes, and feeling the presence of (literally,
  simulating the presence of, the mental echo of) a loved one, or
  something like that.

  Is this a crutch you want to do away with?

  Is this the "new boss?"