From: Arlo J. Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Thu May 05 2005 - 16:27:35 BST
Hi Sam,
[Arlo previously]
It's the height of arrogance (in my humble opinion) for the combined Occidental
faiths to "believe" that the entirety of God's relationship with man was
centered around a small area just east of Egypt, and aaaaaalllll other people
on the planet were ignored. To be fair, my condemnation of occidental
nationalism is only because it is the dominant theologic base of the western
world. It would also be the height of arrogance for Buddhists to claim that
the Buddha only concerns himself with Indo-Asian peoples. Or that the "Great
Spirit" only speaks Sioux. This type of nationalism I feel is low quality
static social patterns, yes. But, again, that's just for what its worth.
[Sam replied]
I have a lot of sympathy with that, but a line of thought occurs to me. If we
accept an evolutionary framework, then sometimes something will come along that
is a) new and b) of higher Quality than what is around already.
Can't that apply in the religious/spiritual sphere as well? So it's not that God
is only concerned with one group, but that sometimes one group can have a
better understanding (pro tem) than others.
[Arlo]
First, that "religious nationalism" (quotes indicate its my term, which may or
may not be defined well) was an ordering principle in cultural-historical
development, I won't deny. That is, a solidified religious experience provided
unity and cohesion among local populations and (although I claim the
power-authority became more important to the institution leaders than the
spiritual-theistic "message") offered comfort to its people.
The trouble with "better understanding" is that it crosses two different
"advancements". First is the notion that (1) although the God of the Bible is
now seen as "accessible" to people all over the world, the historical "story"
is rooted as before in Israel, and (2) the claim that a spiritual practice
developed among tribes in Israel can take an Eskimo or Maori tribesman "closer"
to God.
In the first case, "nationalism" really hasn't been overcome, its just been
expanded to offer salvation to more people. However, the "one true God" has
still revealed himself only as reported in the Bible. It still demands prayers
to "Jesus" (a Hebrew prophet) and denies any of the local, historical, cultural
"spiritual understandings" (non-christian) to be valid.
In the second case, you'd have to make an argument for why "christianity" can
enlighten, say, more Maori peoples than their own religion. And do so in a way
that does rest on nationalist principles (because the Bible is right and their
way is wrong). You'd be arguing that it is a better theological practice
because it provides better access to the Divine Mystery of God than Maori
theologic practice. Is this what you mean by "better understanding"?
Of course, I reject that Maori theologic practice is "better" than Christian
practice as well. My point is that both are culturally-driven spiritual
understandings that evolved in cultural-historical populations shaped by a
particular language and surroundings. An all too obvious example is the role of
whales in most Inuit religion. Small wonder that (apart from Jonah) whales have
no real role in the desert-like landscape that provided backdrop for Occidental
understandings. In areas teaming with forests and wildlife, it is little wonder
(to me) that most world religions (in these areas) developed some form of
nature worship (although I admit that I'm oversimplifying this point).
Campbell's Monomyth appeals to me because it attempts to strip away the
cultural differences between belief systems, and try to understand the common
spiritual principle underlying them all.
What I guess I am getting at is that so long as Christianity (or any other
theologic doctrine) is enmeshed in "nationalism", despite opening its doors to
larger populations, it can't claim to be "better" (to any significant degree)
from other nationalistic religions.
Arlo
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