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From: David
Category: Category 1
Date: 26/07/05
Time: 11:34:52
Remote Name: 222.152.234.49
in the context that I don`t believe that any of them is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol not that that fact indicates they have no concern/empathy whatsoever for our environment .All we are examining is what are their primary concerns . I was contrasting their actions and lack of appropriate actions relative to Pantheism and it`s "Green " philosophy .
Christianity has strong " other-worldly " concerns . Arguably at the expense of this world . In Christianity the idea that "this is the only world we have and will have " is noticeably absent. Can that outlook be read into the actions of those devout leaders ? I don`t unduly stress this point but maybe it has some relevance in this type of debate .
A Christian has voiced concerns that the Pantheism I present would mean that his child would lose his enquiring mind and , more particularly not be open to the truth of "other wisdoms ". Having first asked what would be the criteria for assessing the admisability of those other "wisdoms "? I then suggest that concerns about inculcating an enquiring mind in a child within a Pantheistic philosophy are entirely unfounded . The very name Pantheism ( Pan) does not have any connotation of restrictive practice , intolerance or narrow Ideology . Quite the reverse . There are plenty of glaring examples elsewhere better meriting his concerns .
Pantheism in a separate link espouses association with Scientist Carl Sagan`s(now deceased) beautifully stated philosophy . Furthermore , if one could pin down Einstein philosophically it would be no stretch of the imagination to suggest he expressed Pantheistic outlook and did not distance himself from Spinoza exactly . Not that we could imagine that unique man Einstein wanting to pin himself down with a label .
I was paticularly impressed by the reader`s submissions under the link "Why I am a Pantheist ". http://www.pantheism.net/why/htm
We read of "Conversions "that were naively child-like . Yet conversely there was more than a hint of absolute maturity in what they were acknowledging . Their "Conversions" did not occur within the hysteria of a crowd or congregation but in far more solemn and dignified surroundings viz. confronting nature and more often than not - the Heavens .
I think Wordsworth penned " T`was an evening calm and free as breathless as a nun in solemn adoration ".
Those "Conversions "were not achieved at a vulnerable "down" point in their lives . Instead , decidedly at a "High "point of those lives .
There was no sign they were signing their lives away . They were simply making a profound and clearly heart-felt acknowledgment .
There were so snake-oil preachers involved . No persuasion- Rather a One on One confrontation with Nature . That was enough . There was no suggestion or undertone of Hell Fire and Brimstone thundering from a pulpit . No proportionate guilt feelings to the fore to cheapen that solemn occasion .
All in all I was and remain highly impressed . My children who are wiser tham me would be too .
You are concerned that Pantheistic followers would be led to ultimate disappointment . All due respects I think you underestimate them .They could have been taught no greater Truth . There is nothing to be read between the lines . You may see Life as having a Hollywood ending . Nobody would attempt to take that child-like belief from you . If the most Beautiful music we could resonate to did not have a finale . If the most exquisite poetry did not have an end in view it would lose entirely it`s impact . The bitter and the sweet of life . If human interaction -friendships , love were judged in a greater context than the here and now they would be grossly cheapened as to their worth and meaning . There is just too much injustice manifest all around us - for some from cradle to the grave for us to feign Hollywood or Story Book endings . So let us set about the more honest task of being decent and humane towards one another without reading over or under tones to our actions .