thread: 2006-09-08 : Salvation, damnation, justification, a la Sydney
On 2006-09-10, Ian Burton-Oakes wrote:
I can't think of any belief system, religious or secular, that has not been used, sincerely, to justify brutality and oppression.
Dude, totally missed my point. You are reading me far too literally. I am making a point about the modes of religious discourse and choosing the ones in which we engage very carefully. Moreover, if you read what I wrote, you will see tons of respect for the Christian faith, the ways in which my spiritual position rests closely upon my relationship with the Christian tradition even as I consciously avoid participation in it.
Let me try something more simple, more direct, and less true thereby: What are you hoping to get out of this discussion? There are dangers to trying to demonstrate the value of faith to those who do not share it. I believe deeply that the evangelical dimension of any faith can lead many people away from their spiritual heart, to resting upon empty rationality. It shifts the evangelist out of their connection to their spiritual heart toward an explanatory language inimical to that intimate experience. And it can happen remarkably easily.
I'm not trying to score an intellectual point—I'm trying to make sure that you know you are on dangerous spiritual ground. That you know and are taking the appropriate precautions. If I knew you in person, I probably wouldn't need to ask this. But I don't, so I am.
