DUCKPOND

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”, but I have to believe that a small understanding is better than none at all. The other extreme is to be so immersed in the story detail as to have lost the way out of the forest. You get that a lot of that here, but bear in mind that I know nothing about theologies, and that is unlikely to change. However, since “El Papa” graced us with his presence last week, and since this week we will are well on the way to forgetting about it, I thought in the contrary way, I might now reflect on these matters in general.

Others, such as Gary at Public Opinion have had the same idea.

July 21, 2008

I guess Benedict XVI, in attacking has attacked the spreading “spiritual desert” of the modern secular world, and calling for a new religious age of faith and redemption, has given the Liberals a new message.
They can begin to talk in terms of for a new age in which hope liberates us from the shallowness, apathy and self-absorption which deaden our souls and poison our relationships. Nelson can say that the world needs this renewal, and only conservatives can deliver it. Trust us.

Of course, they may need to temper their enthusiasm for wealth creation and prosperity a bit and talk a bit more in terms of moral absolutes. They would have to go easy on the idea that we live in a world of mere appearances, a kind of husk of reality where we grasp after shadows, though. And on the embrace of poverty and a life of self-denial.

And Truthdig has the cartoon for the occasion:

I thought I would make a comment there at Public Opinion, but as sometimes happens my comment became a commentary:

It is interesting to reflect, given that I know next to nothing about theology, that in the beginning Christianity was a liberation theology, much like Islam, and hence the appeal to the “poor ones” and slaves. As John notes the Bible provides a context for sacrifice, animal and human, and scapegoating. In the First Century, the political question concerned the subjection by an imperial power, Rome.

Political power does something to people’s heads, and hence there are the processes of accommodation and co-option. As we remember, Pontius Pilot washed his hands and placed the blame elsewhere, and that blame was duly recorded in Matthew’s gospel after a passage of tens of years. Religious foundational stories and myths have to be reframed, reinterpreted, in the process so that the original context can be lost.

I find myself agreeing with the Pope about notions about “spiritual desert”, nonviolence and environmental degradation. They are problems it seems to me. The solution may arise from a new cultural paradigm and the question arises about the relevance of the institutional frame of the Catholic Church, aside from its internal politics since Vatican II, given that the questions raised by the Reformation from around the 16th Century have not been resolved.

The crisis, witness the state of the environment and the value placed on the life support system of the biosphere, is plain enough, but question exists about the meaning and definition of spiritual. The Pope addresses this question, without disparaging what I do not understand, his metaphysics seem to make matters more obscure than they need to be to invoke positive action. For example, consider the homily at Randwick Racecourse given last Sunday and reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.

The analysis of Professor Michael Nagler, as summarized here by Lewis S Mudge, is somewhat plainer and closer to where the rubber meets the road:

The crisis through which we are passing is a spiritual crisis, a paradigm shift, a painful stage of growth like a snake shedding its skin. Michael Nagler proclaims that the violence and dehumanization of our culture spring from spiritual impoverishment.

Between the arrogance of scientism and the irresponsibility of commercial advertising, we are conditioned to believe that the fundamental reality is matter. Yet according to many leading scientists, the basic stuff of the cosmos is consciousness: quantum jumps are the events that ultimately constitute reality. Humans are not deterministically controlled cogs in a giant machine.

Much traditional religion, religion-without-spirituality, turns out to be ineffective in combating the forces of manipulation and control which lead us into mindless hatred and pointless wars. Nagler contends that the great spiritual mission of our time is the transition from a religion based on sacrifice to one based on meditation or “concentrated prayer,” interior practice directed toward the more-than-human Reality within us. And as we cultivate this meditative practice, we also need to become literate in nonviolence, learning the lessons taught by Gandhi before it is too late.

The Pope’s visit was not without its scepticism. I keep in mind the returns the merchants of Genoa and Venice made out of the Crusades. Daniel Emerson reported in the SMH some Sydney retailers “are questioning who got the money.” The money being the $231 million in economic activity for the city from the influx of religious adherents.

Conservatives, such as Brendan Nelson claims to be, want to claim the spiritual high ground without challenge, although in Australia given the Churches role in social movements, not least the Roman Catholics, just look at the NSW Government. It seems to that cultural change is less like a snake shedding its skin; it is more like a tadpole becoming a frog in its natural environment.

Postscript:

I hope the links work and I hope there are no spelling/typing mistakes now, especially not in the title. If I had not been so slack about not crossing posting perhaps I might have picked it up earlier. These posts are a permanent work in progress. I even forgot about the fourth anniversary. Well perhaps I will remember the fifth.