Re: MD terror & religion

From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Sat Nov 06 2004 - 01:30:22 GMT

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    David, Sam, all...

    On 5 Nov 2004 at 21:05, Sam Norton wrote:

    Don't know about attacked, my feeling was exasperation more than
    anything else. The particular quote that got my goat was:

    "While Eastern mysticism has its fair share of unjustified belief, it
    undoubtedly represents humankind's best attempt at fashioning a
    spiritual science. The methods of introspection one finds in
    Buddhism, for instance, have no genuine equivalents in the West. And
    the suggestion that they do is born of a desperate attempt on the
    part of Westerners to make all religious traditions seem equally
    wise. They simply aren't."

    I just don't think that's a defensible point of view - I can't see a
    better way of describing it than as a prejudice, ie an opinion formed
    without a full acquaintance with the facts of the matter. Not
    uncommon, but not worth celebrating either.

    msh says:
    I agree with Sam here. This guy's so pumped full of Certainty he's
    just about tipping over. There are just tons of "methods of
    introspection" in Western culture: Prayer, fasting, listening to
    music, viewing art, CREATING art of any kind, lifting weights and
    raking leaves, for heaven's sake. American Indian religion alone can
    hold its own with anything rooted in the East when it comes to
    methods of introspection, as anyone who's read LILA already
    understands.

    Besides this, I would think those of you who consider yourselves
    Buddhists would be slightly annoyed by the condescending tone of the
    opening sentence quoted above.

    Doncha think?

    msh
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    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "David Morey" <us@divadeus.freeserve.co.uk>
    To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
    Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 5:17 PM
    Subject: Re: MD terror & religion

    > Hi Sam
    >
    > Interesting, do you feel attacked in this interview?
    > Can you expand upon what is misconceived by the author?
    > Personally I put a fallible seeking of truth before religion,
    > and fear the potential violence of those who claim to 'know'
    > although at this time this seeking places me outside of the
    > secular camp and its built-in incapacity to face its own
    > inadequacies.
    >
    > DM

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