Take that
I despise religion and make no secret of that. What I have is a sense that the journey of life should proceed toward selflessness. I hope that by the time I pass on I have renounced all trappings of materialism and ego.
Comedian and TV host Bill Maher, from a NY Times interview this morning
(Blog postscript: I like the quote because it speaks to the fact that the deepest spiritual truths like selflessness are so intrinsically universal to human nature that they can be realized by people who come to them from inside or outside the lens of institutional religion.)
September 18th, 2005 13:11
Yes, religion has little to do with spiritual truth. Especially when it becomes a political tool.
September 18th, 2005 13:25
So one question that emerges is: Can people within a religion develop spirituality. Another: can religion be a barrier to spiritual development (as in, your observation about religion as political tool). These are interesting and important questions.
September 18th, 2005 17:06
Hi Jack,
there was a session at the “Opening Space for the Practice of Peace” in 2003, convened by Rabbi Ted Falcon and called “How Faith Inhibits Peacemaking”–if you’re intrigued you can read through the session notes here: http://tinyurl.com/aph2x
September 19th, 2005 08:53
I think this is all so much baloney. It’s easy and so very PC to say one is against religion, meaning the organized practice led by humans. That’s fine. But do you have a relationship with god? That’s the only thing that matters.
September 19th, 2005 12:03
That depends on who and what God is, and whether “he” is something you can “have a relationship” with.
Baloney is very tasty, and may be the reason so many people think organized religion is the only spiritual food they need.
September 19th, 2005 12:29
Every community of place and purpose is populated by some who love religion, some who ignore it, and some who despise it. The key to building a community, I think, is being myself without making anyone else wrong for being themselves; and the other way as well.
It is still possible with differences to have common ground, and seeking selflessness is I hope one of the paths to that ground.
September 20th, 2005 07:24
The danger arises when community is transformed into hierarchy and the roadmap become infallible dogma.