Integral Summary
Robb Smith's recent blog posting summarizing Integral Life Practices was a wonderful overview (and reminder) of what it means to embrace Integral thinking. Frankly, these are more hope than actuality for me, but I have found that reviewing his list is a good test of where I am with respect to the positions and practices they embody and which I deeply admire. Additionally, Robb's blog postings from TED were really provocative, thoughtful and resonated clearly with the unique perspective of Integral living.Moments of Transcendence
I count among my closest friends those who can best be described as true mystics, people whose response to nature is to be literally awash in their feeling of love from the universe. This indescribable feeling of oneness is usually interpreted through the prism of their understanding of the creative act behind the universe. Francis Collins, author of The Language of God, is one such person whose scientific training was overwhelmed by a celebratory moment within nature which led to a realization that the universe had meaning and thus had to have someone who begat it meaning just as it originally gifted life itself. His faith now, while no doubt continuing to have moments of similar ...Einstein’s God
While reading Walter Isaacson’s majestic biography of Albert Einstein I was deeply moved by his description of Einstein’s view of the universe, and the question of origins as seen by most people in the question of God. In a day of vacillating extremes between the devoutly religious and the disdainful atheists, it is helpful to remember that the very biggest minds this world has ever known were content to wallow in the utter mystery of human existence. To desire certainty may drive us to find solutions, and the only progress we know as beings comes with dissatisfaction at the world as it is, including our explanations and understanding of reality. But certainty can and in may ...7 Rules for Believing
Again from Chet Raymos' beautiful blog Science Musings. 1. Respect what your parents and teachers tell you, but keep an open mind. 2. Be skeptical of anything told you by people who are themselves not a little bit skeptical. Be especially skeptical of anything told you by people who believe they know the mind of God. 3. Trust science as a reliable guide to truth, but attend to poets too. Every "fact" is an open door to mystery. 4. Be willing to say "I don't know." 5. Don't be afraid to say "I was wrong." 6. Keep a sense of humor. 7. Respect the beliefs of others, in so far as they are willing to respect your beliefs. The balance of ...The Wrap-Up
Sullivan and Harris exchanged the final chapters of their dialogue on the question of faith and religion last week. Like many such conversations, few were probably converted on the basis of either's argument; however, Harris was able to emphasize his assertion that spirituality has a place in atheism and Sullivan was able to forcefully articulate that his view of liberal democracy was a better way to safeguard against militant fundamentalism (of its religious & secular forms) than Harris' rejection of religion all-together. In trying to address the global crisis we agree upon, I have two responses. The first is classical liberalism, as expressed in the American constitution, and constructed by Hobbes, Locke and their Enlightenment successors. That ...The Case for Religion
My friend Rich @ TheoCentriC has a review of Keith Ward's book The Case for Religion. I'll have to admit that I'm intellectually prejudiced against anyone using Lee Strobel's format of The Case for X as indicating a good apologetic text is soon to follow, but I always enjoy Rich's commentary and trust his perspective and insight. From his review: “A convergent spirituality becomes possible in the modern world, which is not an agreement on doctrines or practices, but is an acceptance that many diverse paths of prayer and meditation converge upon one supreme reality of wisdom, compassion and bliss. That, it may be felt, is the heart of true religion” (232). If we ...2007 LA Times Festival of Books
The 2007 LA Times Festival of Books Religion & Culture Panel spoke this weekend on CSPAN and is available for watching here. It has an eclectic group of authors who spoke including Zachary Karabell (Peace Be Upon You: The Story of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Coexistence), Christopher Hitchens (God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything), Jonathan Kirsch (A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization) and headed by Thane Rosenbaum. It's about one hour long and worth the time to hear the wit of Hitchens and the more nuanced arguments of the other panelists on a ...Jeff Sharlet’s Fightin’ Fundies
The most recent Rolling Stone has a good article by Jeff Sharlet on Ron Luce and his organization Battle Cry. If you haven't heard of this organization, it's membership can usually be determined by the overly serious visages from teenagers who at their point in life should be discovering a lot of things other than religious thinking cloaked in military metaphors. That, or anyone wearing a t-shirt with one of a host of pithy slogans like: "ABREADCRUMB & FISH" or "Not Of This World" or "RAISE THE DEAD". You have to look carefully, because the t-shirts are designed to look like any avant-gard rock & roll band or Lucky-Jeans paraphernalia. And that's a good ...H.L. Mencken & Agnosticsm
Hat Tip Andrew Sullivan: "All great religions, in order to escape absurdity, have to admit a dilution of agnosticism. It is only the savage, whether of the African bush or the American gospel tent, who pretends to know the will and intent of God exactly and completely. "For who hath known the mind of the Lord?" asked Paul of the Romans. "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His was past finding out." "It is the glory of God," said Solomon, "to conceal a thing." "Clouds and darkness," said David, "are around Him." "No man," said the Preacher, "can find out the work of God." ... The difference between religions is a difference in their relative content of agnosticism. The most satisfying ...Andrew Sullivan & Sam Harris Conclude
We are left with the impression that the desire to be accepted as a homosexual by society colors a lot of Sullivan’s religious sympathies. Sullivan’s flowing literary style has always had a pensive, almost angst filled, character which the recent Bush Administration and its misadventures in Iraq have only intensified. On one hand, Sullivan would have us believe that religious moderation can be trusted to guard against its fundamentalist tendencies, but his own religious belief offered no such advance warning with President Bush and his current dance with religious nationalism. Sullivan wants Harris to believe that moderate religious belief can distinguish a symmetric worldview which allows ideas to be discarded when found to be antiquated, but retains ... « Previous EntriesAbout MysteriousFaith
“If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm.”
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