(May 4, 2022 at 3:14 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: Casting a wide net is a good thing for a religion, as the purpose and nature of a religion is to create a moral community.
Yeah, but to abuse your metaphor, sometimes you get dolphins in your tuna net. And they don't really belong there.
Quote:I think there are problems with separating meaning into deep and shallow pools. Suppose a person considered their ready made purpose and removed all of free riders..it's not inconceivable that the six figure salary with 1.5 kids thing would remain as a profound and binding moral belief of a community. That's why it exists in the first place. It's believed...and not without evidence, that six figures and a low number of dependents will help you avoid suffering, and give you the opportunity to help others (not the least of which, your one and a half children).
If six figures does the job, then by all means, go for it.
But (excuse the tautology): if six figures doesn't work, then it doesn't work.
For a person who grew up in a severely abusive household, no amount of six figure salary may ever bring meaning into their lives. Maybe becoming a social worker who investigates abuse cases and tries to get abused kids out of their situations-- THAT is going to be incredibly meaningful... even though it only pays a meager five figures.
On the other hand, somebody raised in an impoverished home where they never felt like they had autonomy, that person might find an incredible depth of meaning in six figures. Six figures does the trick of addressing the existential anguish in a way that social worker accomplishments never could.
I think it's okay to separate meaning into deep and shallow pools, when that gives you perspective. I don't think everyone needs to do it. But (tautology #2): if you need to do it, then you need to do it. Not everyone needs to do it. But I sure do. And I'm not alone.
I always read the pamphlets that JWs offer me when they visit my front door. Quite often, they purport to answer the question: "What is the meaning of life?" Personally, I've always found their answer to be too shallow to be any good. And I make space in my imagination for people to find genuine meaning in Christianity. But the shit in those JW pamphlets is too shallow to get the job done for a thinking person. Period.
