History

I've decided that due to the nature of the Analects of Confucius (which I am writing my paper on) I needed a stronger historical understanding of the context that informed what Confucius' teachings. Most interestingly, I've found that the context that many ancient religious movements started in was because of the increased efficiency of production when civilizations moved into what's called the iron age. The increased abundance allowed huge parts of the populace to specialize their labor in ways that where not possible before. This produced huge problems as societies tried to restructure their social systems in order to accommodate the new economic reality and new social classes. During this transition period many still influential religions and systems of thought arose, such as Buddhism, classical Greek thought, the first Abrahamic prophets, as well as the great Chinese thinkers appearing during this transition.

It makes me wonder if we are going through a similar transition now. We have very recently, in historical terms, undergone a revolution in abundance. Humans, in some places, have far more than just their needs taken met by the modern economy. Do we have a modern spiritual crisis that is analogous to this ancient one?

Australian Buddhism

This is a documentary about a particularly successful group of monks from the Thai Forest tradition in Perth, Australia. It gives an interesting account of Buddhism adapting to the west. The documentary was, however, produced by Buddhists very sympathetic to this particular monastery and I would say that it crosses the line between sympathetic portrayal and open laudation quite regularly.

Freedom of Speech and Islam

For an American one of the most disconcerting things about Islam in Middle Eastern public life is that it seems like conservative Muslims have no tolerance for any sort of criticism. If a Qur'an is burnt, or an image of the prophet or god is shown on TV, there is the very real threat of violence. In the west, religion is constantly criticized, as is the lack of religion, and all religions different popular forms. There is a constant back and forth, but no one expects to be physically harmed as a result.

This may be because we are in a very lucky position of religious plurality, where there is so much diversity of belief that one group could never get away with violently attacking another without making all the other groups insecure and hostile to that one group. That plurality may be very deeply ingrained due to the United States being home to many different Christian sects even before other faiths where widely introduced. In many parts of the Middle East Islam is the only religion, and religious conservatives may thus feel more secure in acting violently.

Response to "Power of Words"

That's shocking and bizarre! Considering that so many people are turned off from religion precisely because of this pushiness. Even when missionaries are not being pushy people tend to avoid them.

I wonder if this is something wrong with the christian 'brand?' I'll admit I get a bit anxious when those missionaries are camping out in the marketplace and handing out materials. Usually I'd go up and look at a few free books just to see what they say if their being given away, but there's something about middle aged men in suits purveying books with tastelessly designed covers, that I'm pretty sure are going to tell me I'm going to hell, that scares me away and makes me less welcoming.


Original post here

Response to Biological Repression

Original post here

Do Christians have any spiritual practices available to them besides prayer, celebrating mass, and applying the moral teachings of their faith? The entire point of Buddhism is the path, the metaphysical stuff comes second to that. In Christianity it seems like you affirm your beliefs and are done with it. Fasting seems more like a physical act of self hatred of the body, and I don't quite understand what that has to do with Jesus' message. Maybe this acquaintance of yours is trying to achieve union with Brahma through self denial?

I have a vague understanding of religious history in Europe and it seems that beleif in biological repression comes from Manichaeism, which thought that the flesh was evil and humans should instead try to side with God and affirm their souls supremacy. Considering we are made of flesh and I think there is little doubt that consciousness is a byproduct of flesh, there is a clear danger in accepting this doctrine.

NTC Bans Religions Parties from Running

Al Jazeera reported today that the National Transitional Counsel in Libya is banning parties based on religion. This is a very surprising and interesting move. The Arab spring was set off by young college educated citizens who where extremely liberal compared with the rest of society. Now that elections are being held, it is clear that the rest of the population is still deeply conservative. The question on the table is weather Islam can be compatible with a liberal democratic state like the young protesters have demanded. In Tunisia the moderate Islamic party that won a plurality of seats in the government, Ennahda, is very promising in this respect.

The article on Al Jazeera can be found here.

Mohamed in Medina

Very glad to be reading this Armstrong book. My understanding the life of the prophet Muhammad and Medina was that Mohamed left Mecca and returned with an army to capture Mecca after several decades. This sheds allot more light on that period, and I'm interested to see what actually does happen when Islam gains control of Mecca.

I also found it very interesting the Islam grows and modifies itself over the life of the Prophet. Very distinctly when he changes the direction of prayer for Muslims from Jerusalem to Mecca.