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August 27, 2017
Does Religion Oversimplify Real Life?
Good Sunday morning--and Query:
1. I believe in a God or gods or some "oversoul" and that there is something eternal and infinite about each human being. I always have.
2. But I don't believe in organized faith or religion. In the case of many--no, not all--people, I think faith keeps them from observing, thinking and learning, and often gets used to sidestep and avoid the marvelous/awful complexity of the Real World.
3. Do some--no, not all--followers of established religions (any religion) either consciously or unconsciously use their religion or faith and its teachings as a way to prevent real growing "first-hand" as a human being?
4. Does organized religion and faith--again, for some, not all--not only simplify things and bring order to life but also serve as a kind of default substitute for exploring, thinking and learning about the actual world around them so that they no longer need to explore, think and learn on their own? So that life is more "scripted" and easier for them?
Do religion and faith oversimplify Real Life and make us lazy and not curious?
Saint Jerome translating Latin Bible, late 4th century. Leonello Spada, 1610. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome. In memory of my late Aldeburgh friend poet, author, professor and translator Herbert "Bertie" Lomas (1924-2011).
Posted by JD Hull at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
Profs. Politically.
I come from a family of business people--but also teachers and several profs. I like professors. Mainly. A very good friend teaches at a great law school. Two other close friends teach law at good schools. And I teach lawyers--many of whom are full-time profs--how to keep their licenses. Profs? Politically? Most? Profs are about as sequestered and small-minded as people can get. Liberal. Group-Think. Predictable. And most are not very brave people. They're observers. They watch.
Posted by JD Hull at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)