thread: 2006-09-08 : Salvation, damnation, justification, a la Sydney
On 2006-09-11, Emily wrote:
What an amazing convesation to be able to have.
The people I worry about are those who follow no tradition at all, or who patch together their own syncretisms out of multiple sources (see the companion thread), or who practice in one of the great traditions but without passion, commitment, or understanding. These people generally have a lot less ground to give up by backtracking, and I think they'd do well to embrace Christ right now—and indeed most converts start as just such spiritual wanderers.
My question is, why are you worried about them? Do they seem more in doubt of ever finding any path? Is it that their soul is more in jeopardy from worldly issues? In your earlier comments, it seemed that you were focusing more on the harm that can be done by picking and choosing among traditions without looking at the ramifications of them as noted by their long term adherents and historical precedents. I suppose I'd worry more about the non-passionate practitioners, if anyone.
For myself, as a steadfast picker and chooser and dyed in the wool syncretist, the value this path holds is that each grain of truth you find is more likely to have been sifted deeply, and chosen for the resonance that it has with your own simple and true self. Or at least that possibility is there. There is truth in everthing around us, words, people, nature, patterns. That's where I look for truth, and have found much more of it than in any religious text or tradition.
it has always seemed to me that, in order for much of Christianity to be appealing, you have to fear death.
I'm not sure if this is how Meg meant it, but this certainly sounds like the leveraging power that Christian theology uses to convert people from other paths. Without this, why not be part of another equally beneficial religion?
You two may well be better people than I am. "Blessed are the poor in spirit," e.g. me, because our problems are so obvious we know we have to run for help. It's only after consciously accepting Christ as my savior in 1991 that I was able to stop seeing myself as evil and consider the possibility that I could be loved and forgiven—which is something I'm still struggling with, honestly.
Thanks for sharing your real struggles, Sydney. This is what everyone struggles with. It's my feeling that religions are a human technology for dealing with consciousness and being human. We have this tremendous propensity for emotional existence which can be hugely challenging. The 12 step programs put this into stark relief: quitting an addiction can require a spiritual element. "Turning things over" to your higher power, is what all religions offer for the many trials of life, of self-doubt. And also, that higher power, or belief, or faith, can be many things. At least, so I find.
