thread: 2006-09-08 : Picky-choosy religion, 3 views
On 2006-09-08, Jason Larke wrote:
I rarely comment here, but I admit that I was about to leap into the fray and castigate Sydney before his explanatory post about the leap of faith. I absolutely agree that to take a mashup of other people's ideas and symbols and embrace them totally, truly giving yourself over to them, is a recipe for disaster.
I myself am a fanatical atheist. I have never had the slightest spiritual sensation or inclination, in Church, in the presence of my daughter, or anywhere else. It's still clear to me that possessing deep values without either understanding them nor having any clear insight into the behavior of other people who've embraced them is dangerous. I don't say that it must always lead to disaster, but I would say that you can't know where it will lead. You don't know if the imagery in that NIN video appealed to you because you think Trent is hot or because it touched on some dimply recalled memory of childhood pain. Neither hotness not childhood pain seem like good guides to a fulfilling life, though.
Side note: I have a BA in philosophy. I find that the two things I took away from it were a deep affection for Existentialism and a near-total inability to make definite statements, except that my parents overpaid for what I got.
