Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to I understand both sides

I'm not sure we have ever had a culture in which religion *hasn't* been a component.
Mary Anne — (archived)

And a significant one, at that.

If we haven't, what's the basis for comparison? Where's the control specimen?

I'm not sure it's magic, all of what people describe. Immanent divinity is an abiding understanding of the sacred in human beings, of the dignity we all have as humans, and of our place in the universe as observers and participants. The major religions have all had practitioners that go in this direction. Meditative techniques and rituals have been predicated on this immanence, and practiced to sublimate the ego, destroy vanity, declaw violence, and foster empathy. It's the heart of the philosophy of non-violence.

These practitioners are the same ones who recognize worship of an externalized God or gods as only an intermediate stage on the way to a humanity so profound that it is itself divine. An immanent divinity.

As someone who likes the view from the fence, my balance has become pretty good. I would rather concentrate on equilibrium than pave the whole of one side of the fence because nasty things sometimes grow there. Manichaeanism also has religious roots. Besides, you know what happens to repressed things.

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