RE: Is Allegorical Religion better than Fundamentalism?
March 31, 2022 at 9:49 pm
(This post was last modified: March 31, 2022 at 9:52 pm by Belacqua.)
(March 31, 2022 at 9:27 pm)The L Wrote: There is a reason why there are no rational religions. Because the meaning of the word ‘religion’ refers to things that aren’t rational.
So you're just defining "religion" as something that's not rational. If it's rational it's not religion.
What argument do you have to show this is true, and not just begging the question?
(March 31, 2022 at 9:21 pm)Angrboda Wrote:(March 31, 2022 at 8:49 pm)Belacqua Wrote: I also don't know what it means to apprehend something religiously.
How can you be sure that such a thing won't be rational?
I think revelation is an important concept here. A revealed truth is a fundamental truth about reality that is communicated directly to a mortal by the divine. So religiously apprehending something, I think, would require some elevated communication, beyond that achievable by mortal to mortal, and it must communicate a fundamental, or perhaps important truth. Take Jesus' command to turn the other cheek. People can read that and have a response of wth? How does that makes sense. But if turning the other cheek is an important truth, getting it from a divine authority can bypass our critical filters. So, the same would apply to stories, allegory, and parable. If Jesus' parable about the sower communicates an essential truth that couldn't be communicated non-narratively, then it is a more religious narrative than one which simply relates an easily accepted more through the medium of story.
So a person reading, say, Martin Buber or Simone Weil, and feeling these are very wise writers but with no expectation of divine revelation, is not apprehending their books religiously?
