From: Arlo Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Tue Mar 29 2005 - 20:08:22 BST
Ant, Sam, Seth, All,
Seth writes:
>I know that in Christian language, a "personal relationship with Jesus
>Christ" means the same as "a special relationship to Quality that no one
>else can override."
With the possible exception that such a relationship with "Jesus Christ"
may make a Christian hierarchy egalitarian, but it still runs the danger of
infusing people with the idea that "although all Christians possess an
equal relationship with God, Christians possess the 'correct' relationship
with God". That is, it conflates "Quality" specifically with "Jesus Christ".
I've been of the opinion, as you (Seth) ask, that mythology is a practical
static-latch mechanism a culture can use to "point" towards Quality. Thus,
for an Inuit tale that features a whale or raven, it does so because these
are meaningful representations to that culture. When Occidental religions
speak of burning bushes in mountains, it would make no (or very little)
meaningful sense to an Inuit.
The historical problem has always been the deification of the story, or the
solidification of the myth into literal "truth". When this happens, the
mythology no longer "points" towards the truth, it "becomes" the truth.
People don't go to church to open their minds toward Quality, they go to
socially reify the idea that their, and only their, particular view is
Quality. And so the useful static-latch becomes Quality, and a whole host
of problems occur, not the least of which is that people no longer seek
Quality, they seek only the latch.
This is not damning the Christians, by the way, it is a historical problem
nearly all "religions" evidence. Buddhism, as many have stated, is one
exception. However, as soon as I say this, I solidify Buddhism into
"truth". Hence the need for "mu".
Just my thoughts,
Arlo
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archives:
Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Tue Mar 29 2005 - 20:48:38 BST