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Science, magic and religion.
One of my favourite aphorisms, possibly said earlier but I first read it in Tom Robbins "Still Life With Woodpecker" is
"there are only two kinds of people in the world, those who believe there are only two kinds of people in the world and those who know better"
On a site like this (like this? there is no other site like this) we encounter a lot of passionately held beliefs. Fair enough, poets tend to be passionate people. The beliefs I find most personally repugnant are mostly to do with religion and politics. Don't get me wrong, this does not personally prejudice me against the people themselves who hold beliefs I strongly disagree with. Look at Bellavistabear, his whole orientation to the world seems at odds with mine, but I find him delightful and would gladly call him a friend.
Had a big fight with the delightful and sincere Ellisville recently. Have fought tooth and claw with one of my best friends on the site, conect11.
This is all a kind of prelude to what I have been thinking about a lot lately. That I can think like a scientist and accept magic and the possibility of beings that we might regard as deities. I put my foot down at any form of organised religion, then it stops being an exploration of our spiritual nature and becomes politics.
Perhaps an analogy, you show a Bic lighter to Neanderthals and they will go "ooooh, magic". There are many things in this world we can't explain yet and the scientist in me believes that one day we will. While the part of me that experiences "otherworldly" or "spiritual" things chooses to explain or understand them as best I can. I have studied philosophy, theology, philology and linguistics (and a few other things, have read about 2 books a week for over 40 years). The ideas I have found that work best for me, pragmatically, are around shamanism. Just happens to work for me, that's all. It is really clear to me that conect11's christianity and my mother's, work well for them. And I utterly respect their beliefs. Mum's have changed a bit lately, she is 82 and a member of a non-denominational christian prayer group. I call them the Christian Coven. They are immensely powerful! Mum no longer describes herself as exclusively christian. That is a huge shift in thinking for someone of that age. She knows the power of prayer, has created, sustained and nurtured life unto three generations, you would expect her to have the right to be fixed in her beliefs.
Let me tell you a true story. I was lying on the lawn at university, having a peaceful reverie, this was 1976, when two attractive young women came up to me and said "can we talk with you?" "Of course" with a smile, I am hetero. "We want to tell you about our loving church". Suddenly the bright autumn sky clouded over. I was a bigot then. I did a malicious thing i am not proud of now. I pretended I was a christian and had a few doubts about my faith and explained them to them, things like original sin and the fate of good non-christians. After about an hour one of them burst into tears and ran off, the other following to give comfort. I told a lie. I am proud of that and every abuse subtle or aggresive I have ever given any proselytiser/preacher. Even the christian bible says things like there are many paths to the top of the mountain and there are many rooms in our fathers mansion. Another time a guy approached me on the street and said "would you like to come to a really great bible reading?" I replied "Oh yes, it is so great to meet another of the callen, we can kill all the heathens and whores together!" (at least he had the dignity to panic and run away). So if you preach at me, ever, expect the worst.
Meditation works to improve life and well-being, scientifically and medically proven. Prayer works, at least enough personal experience for me to believe, but it has to be focussed, it seems. A lot of natural remedies work and certainly do less harm than chemicals peddled by pharmaceutical corporations.
But there are only two kinds of people in the world.
So when people come on to this site preaching even loving bigotry, I tend to lose my temper. When it is hating bigotry I slam them with everything I've got.
I believe in love, beauty, goodness, the perfectibility of human nature.
I abhore (while not denying the existence of) hatred, ugliness, evil, that most evil concept "original sin" and bigotry, including my own (except I have no original sin).
cheers
Jess