Religion in a Box...

What needs do mythology and religion serve in today's world and in ancient times? Here we discuss the relationship between mythology, religion and science from mythological, religious and philosophical viewpoints.

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grantcollier
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Post by grantcollier »

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Last edited by grantcollier on Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Grant

grantcollier
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Post by grantcollier »

Jonsjouney asks:
Quote:
How is our sense of individualism tied in with our disposable lifestyle and our religious/spiritual/mythological belief systems?


Jonsjourney, this is such an interesting question and so relevant. I've recently been immersing myself in the East / West convergence of thought and identity. If it were represented in an image; West would be vertical, East would be horizontal. Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat" is speaking in economic terms but I also feel it applies to our philosophical acquisition of each other's seemingly foreign rituals and myths. Both have valuable offerings and this excites me about our future. Perhaps there is something to this "we generation." The individual with an outward reach and an inward touch. It's never been done on this scale. I'm hoping it leads to a collective exhaustion with materialism but it may take a while.
Grant

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Post by jonsjourney »

I would assume it does with choice. An individual can choose to be morally upstanding and an individual can choose to be immoral. If it suits my ‘individualism’ to go with the crowd, I go with the crowd. If it suits my individualism to go against the crowd I can go against the crowd. For example, when everybody is divorcing because marriage became a disposable contract of unity in our times, I can choose to go with the crowd OR I can say ‘stuff that, I can do better’. No? -Grant
Hmmmm. Freewill?
"He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher... or, as his wife would have it, an idiot." -Douglas Adams

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Post by Neoplato »

Jon Wrote:
Hmmmm. Freewill?
NO! DON'T DO IT! DON"T GO THERE! :shock:
Infinite moment, grants freedom of winter death, allows life to dawn.

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Post by romansh »

Neoplato wrote:Jon Wrote:
Hmmmm. Freewill?
NO! DON'T DO IT! DON"T GO THERE! :shock:
hmmmmn indeed?

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Post by Neoplato »

grantcollier wrote:
I'm hoping it leads to a collective exhaustion with materialism but it may take a while.
I know that Plato thought that materialism among the populace could not be eliminated. I think as long as we have "mass media" reinforcing us to "buy, buy, buy", "now, now, now" it's not likely to happen.

However, I think that if a person's interest is only on survival, "What to I need to survive?", then the 52" HD Plasma TVs don't look so good since you can't eat it, and it doesn't keep you warm.
Infinite moment, grants freedom of winter death, allows life to dawn.

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Post by Clemsy »

Is materialism the issue? Or is balance the issue? (There goes Clemsy and his teeter-totter metaphor again!)
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

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Post by jonsjourney »

Is materialism the issue? Or is balance the issue? (There goes Clemsy and his teeter-totter metaphor again!)
Both? How is that for finding the fulcrum!

I think that Clemsy often alludes to this idea of balance, especially when he talks about students having relatively few mythological/religious tools to help them achieve a sense of balance. If we are bombarded with images of the glories of consumerism and there is no polar opposition, where does that leave the young mind?
"He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher... or, as his wife would have it, an idiot." -Douglas Adams

Clemsy
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Post by Clemsy »

Both? How is that for finding the fulcrum!
Yes! Because there is no balance, the predominance of the one side becomes a problem.
If we are bombarded with images of the glories of consumerism and there is no polar opposition, where does that leave the young mind?
Any mind. However i don't think we necessarily need opposition so much as perspective... the acknowledgement of a balancing viewpoint that puts owning stuff into its proper place.
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

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