Posted by Chris O on July 19, 2008, at 17:01:00
In reply to Re: Psychic Dianne Morang: We all go to Hell! » Chris O, posted by Sigismund on July 19, 2008, at 15:33:58
I think I used the wrong adjectives to describe what I was getting it with Ms. Morang. Many people in the ancient world, including the ancient Jews and Christians, whom Ms. Morang "cites" as "proof" of her "research," had a regressive view of history. They believed everything was running down, getting worse, and doomed to end in some Apocalypse because people were getting more and more "sinful." Since the Renaissance and Enlightenment, we in the West have taken a more progressive, a more optimistic view of history. Moreover, while many (most? all?) in the ancient world had a very tribal, ethnocentric view of their "gods" thus negating any sense of tolerance for the other, we in the modern western world exercise a more tolerant, all-encompassing view of religious belief. We basically pick and choose based on our own personal experience and however we define rationality for ourselves. Thus, it seems that Ms. Morang is using a progressive view of history to validate a regressive view of history, one which, paradoxically, does not accept or tolerate the progressive view she uses. It's like a Japanese man I once read about who remarked, "If people want to choose fascism, isn't that their right?" It's a paradox that many fundamentalist/orthodox religious believers ignore today, and it's a paradox that many people who are just encountering modernism for the first time do not fully comprehend. It's like...they want to choose that which oppresses them. And even though Ms. Morang was not espousing anything close to fundamentalist religious belief, she involves herself intellectually in the same paradox that those individuals do. It's really quite frightening and does not bode well for our survival considering how many nuclear weapons now exist. Sorry for the long babbling.
poster:Chris O
thread:840495
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20080404/msgs/840832.html