Comments for Religion Compass Exchanges

Comment on GAFCON Closes - Deepening Rift in Anglican Communion by Update

Update — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:18:43 +0000

Three gay rights protesters, including Peter Tatchell and Brett Lock from Outrage today alleged that they were ‘punched and shoved’ after trying to gain entrance to a meeting of ‘rebel’ Bishops at All Souls Church, London.

Article from today’s independent

Comment on The Philosophy of Religion in an Age of Terror: What Is To Be Done? by therealianlogan

therealianlogan — Sat, 17 May 2008 06:34:13 +0000

Given the terrible crimes committed by atheists it is clear that the beliefs of Nietzsche and Lenin are not the place we should go to if we want to put forward the kind of argument put forward in this article. It is as if the twentieth century never happened. One might as well argue that it is only a belief in judgement after this life that prevents the worst excesses of human behaviour, as perpetrated by those who would appeal to Lenin and Nietzsche.

You appear to be confusing Christianity with Christian Science. I thought the objection to Christianity was that it was obsessed with the suffering, and that Christians wished to escape this ‘vale of tears’ for a better place. Christian theodicy, beginning with Saint Paul is based around the reality of the suffering of the cross.

Here is a couple of empirical facts for you: the largest provider of health care in Africa is the Catholic Church, whilst the atheist Chinese regime encourages war and prevents a resolution to the Darfur conflict. Doesn’t fit with your argument does it?

You say: ‘Doubtless many believers – and philosophers of religion - will also resist the conclusion that religion should supersede ethics,…’. I say: ‘Will they? What do you mean?’

In one sense I agree with you, that practical considerations are important, but this leads me to the position that atheism is a very dangerous world view and atheists should have to justify themselves and their beliefs (including their objection to a belief in a moral system the origins of which is external to humanity) in the face of the realities of atheism.

Comment on The Philosophy of Religion in an Age of Terror: What Is To Be Done? by jimhwhite

jimhwhite — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:23:33 +0000

Moderator: please add “all” to the first sentence, before religions.
Thanks

Comment on The Philosophy of Religion in an Age of Terror: What Is To Be Done? by jimhwhite

jimhwhite — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:32:29 +0000

Almost religions seem to be in crisis, primarily because they do not:
1 recognize and discuss the many reasons why people get involved in religion and how those reasons change over time;
2 come to grips witht he fact that many people who say they are Christian, Muslim, etc., do not really believe in that faith, but in their own ego-driven purposes (beware the Devil quoting scripture);
3 spend more time presenting the essential spiritual messages of their faith, rather than dogma and the need for money or preservation of buildings, etc.; and,
4 come to grips with the need to discuss the impact of those who say they belong to their own or another religion and do the opposite to the central messages of thoose faiths (the essential spiritual messages of all major religions are very similar).

If we are not honest (ingtegrous) about the state of our religions, both to ourselves and the rest of the world, we will continue to lose those who need religion but cannot accept what is being done in the name of religion.
Jim H. White

God is Great, God is Good, God is Love - all the rest is irelevant

Comment on The Philosophy of Religion in an Age of Terror: What Is To Be Done? by aabdulla

aabdulla — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:07:55 +0000

The misunderstanding lies in the term or in the meaning of forget worldly things. That in itself is going to extrems. We evolve as does our thought and when the thought does not evovle with us then it has the pontancial of causing confusion. There is nothing worce then a confused spirit of a collective which has no choice but to follow or even at times is forced to follow and practice such extrem leading to our distruction.

Comment on Taking the Purple Pill: On the Paradoxical Pedagogy of Mysticism by Liam Cooper (Associate Managing Editor)

Liam Cooper (Associate Managing Editor) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:40:06 +0000

[Hi Carl, please find below a response to your query from Jeff Kripal. Best, Liam] Thanks, Carl, I have assembled a sample list of reading materials here for your perusal. For more books and annotations on them, see my The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006). Best, Jeff

Georges Bataille, Erotism: Death & Sensuality (San Francisco: City Lights, 1986). Virginia Burrus and Catharine Keller, ed., Toward a Theology of Eros: Transfiguring Passion at the Limits of a Discipline (New York: Fordham University Press, 2006). Gary David Comstock and Susan E. Henking, eds., Que(e)rying Religion: A Critical Anthology (New York: Continuum, 1999). Bernard Faure, The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998). Grace M. Jantzen, Power, Gender, and Christian Mysticism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995) Jeffrey J. Kripal, Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).

Comment on Taking the Purple Pill: On the Paradoxical Pedagogy of Mysticism by jelloflavoredmidget

jelloflavoredmidget — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:44:53 +0000

I’d like a red pill please. Also, was Jesus a mystic parallel to Ramakrishna? What I mean is, do their lives reflect each other’s as far as their relationships with their “Mothers” I’m referring to Jesus to Mary and Ramakrishna to Sikta (or Kali).

Comment on Taking the Purple Pill: On the Paradoxical Pedagogy of Mysticism by Pages tagged "paradoxical"

Pages tagged "paradoxical" — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:00:22 +0000

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Comment on Taking the Purple Pill: On the Paradoxical Pedagogy of Mysticism by The Pedagogy of Mysticism « The Website of Unknowing

The Pedagogy of Mysticism « The Website of Unknowing — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:11:20 +0000

[...] The Pedagogy of Mysticism A blog called Religious Compass Exchanges has just published a wonderful essay by Jeffrey J. Kripal “on the paradoxical pedagogy of mysticism.” Click here to read it. [...]

Comment on Taking the Purple Pill: On the Paradoxical Pedagogy of Mysticism by Carl McColman

Carl McColman — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:05:09 +0000

Thanks for a wonderful reflection on mysticism. I am neither an academic nor clergy, so in my work (I have a blog devoted to Christian mysticism and am currently writing a book on the topic for the general reader) I’m interested in what, for lack of a better term, could be called ‘mysticism on the street.’ In other words, how does this particular kind of religious discourse shape, and is in turn shaped by, the experience of contemplative practitioners, particularly in our day when such practice is increasingly not anchored in a monastic or even religious context.

A question for you: You reference “a standard collection of essays on the study of sexuality and Christian mysticism.” Could you please provide bibliographic details? I would love to check this out. Or is it your own, as yet unpublished, collection?

Bring on the red pill!

Carl McColman
The Website of Unknowingtt