Hello Royston
If we accept (as I do) that there is no god, and that religion has no basis in reality, the gap that religion fills does not go away. So my question is this: what can we do to fill that gap in our collective psyche, and make ourselves more whole and rounded individuals as part of an atheist society / community / whatever, without giving in to superstition and irrationality?
I have a funny feeling this might be a very big question.
It is a very big and important question. All I can add is how I've come to understand it. But to begin with, I'll have to first appreciate Man in a different way then you are used to. So if you are open to our differences you will at least learn of a different perspective.
We both accept mechanical evolution and we may even agree that Man is the most complete form of mechanical evolution through the addition of the thinking process. This is where evolution stops for a great many.
However, I've become open to this idea of conscious evolution or the continuation of mechanical evolution. From this perspective Man on earth serves as this point of connection that can lead to conscious evolution.
Society should serve this purpose and aid in the means for the creation of individuality or conscious evolution. However, the human condition is such that we collectively lack the conscious experience and become enchanted with the shadows on the wall as described in Plato's cave. As a result only a few partake in conscious evolution since they neither sense its value or have the will or the capacity for conscious attention necessary to "know thyself."
"Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace." Simone Weil
The quality of humanism you are suggesting is impossible for Man as he is since we will always be governed by "prestige" regardles of the finest platitudes.
Simone is not suggesting a personal God but just becoming capable of psychologically receiving the quality of energy called "grace." It is through grace that one becomes conscious to the degree that objective conscience becomes active in a person. In other words values mean more than words since their truths are felt.
She describes a person as like a plant. The roots are fed by the culture it is growing in. If the culture serves to promote consciousness it is good food for the plant.
The leaves of a plant receive light from the sun for its growth. The light of grace feeds man's higher parts again opening the way towards conscious evolution.
So as you can see, our primary difference would be our conception of the nature of Man. Is Man just a creature of the earth as any other mammal or does Man have the completion that can allow for the transition from mechanical evolution into conscious evolution?
My guess is that all cultures have this calling much like a moth is drawn to the light but is powerless in front of it. The problem is that Man's nature has allowed Man and society to be governed by imagination and lacking conscious attention. Plato called this society the "Beast." The question for me then is if a person can become more than just a mechanical part of the Great Beast and evolve in the direction of conscious humanity?
If we accept (as I do) that there is no god, and that religion has no basis in reality, the gap that religion fills does not go away. So my question is this: what can we do to fill that gap in our collective psyche, and make ourselves more whole and rounded individuals as part of an atheist society / community / whatever, without giving in to superstition and irrationality?
I have a funny feeling this might be a very big question.
It is a very big and important question. All I can add is how I've come to understand it. But to begin with, I'll have to first appreciate Man in a different way then you are used to. So if you are open to our differences you will at least learn of a different perspective.
We both accept mechanical evolution and we may even agree that Man is the most complete form of mechanical evolution through the addition of the thinking process. This is where evolution stops for a great many.
However, I've become open to this idea of conscious evolution or the continuation of mechanical evolution. From this perspective Man on earth serves as this point of connection that can lead to conscious evolution.
Society should serve this purpose and aid in the means for the creation of individuality or conscious evolution. However, the human condition is such that we collectively lack the conscious experience and become enchanted with the shadows on the wall as described in Plato's cave. As a result only a few partake in conscious evolution since they neither sense its value or have the will or the capacity for conscious attention necessary to "know thyself."
"Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace." Simone Weil
The quality of humanism you are suggesting is impossible for Man as he is since we will always be governed by "prestige" regardles of the finest platitudes.
Simone is not suggesting a personal God but just becoming capable of psychologically receiving the quality of energy called "grace." It is through grace that one becomes conscious to the degree that objective conscience becomes active in a person. In other words values mean more than words since their truths are felt.
She describes a person as like a plant. The roots are fed by the culture it is growing in. If the culture serves to promote consciousness it is good food for the plant.
The leaves of a plant receive light from the sun for its growth. The light of grace feeds man's higher parts again opening the way towards conscious evolution.
So as you can see, our primary difference would be our conception of the nature of Man. Is Man just a creature of the earth as any other mammal or does Man have the completion that can allow for the transition from mechanical evolution into conscious evolution?
My guess is that all cultures have this calling much like a moth is drawn to the light but is powerless in front of it. The problem is that Man's nature has allowed Man and society to be governed by imagination and lacking conscious attention. Plato called this society the "Beast." The question for me then is if a person can become more than just a mechanical part of the Great Beast and evolve in the direction of conscious humanity?
