In this post Andrew gives credit to Christianity for the capacity to repent. My response:
Repent what though? Repenting that we are imperfect and make mistakes,
taking responsibility for those mistakes, and committing to do better is
one thing. Repenting that we are thereby somehow tainted beings in the
light of a perfect God who will lead our kind (the house of Noah) into
heaven is another matter entirely.
Part of andrew's reply was: "My preference would be to try and negotiate fair and just public policy with them rather than just use the tactic of a full frontal assault on every thing they believe." I said:
ReplyDeleteActually I often post things from progressive Christians and give due credit, particularly when it comes to capitalism and budgets. Same for the progressives among other religions, at least in certain areas. But I'll continue to argue for a more progressive enaction of all religions, hence my participation in a forum with such a name. I'm even for a progressive mytho-poetic interpretation of religions, but that if far, far different than a literal belief in the veracity of Biblical ( or Koran etc.) statements.
In this thread* I've argued that it is metaphysical beliefs, capitalism being a major one, that creates such strict dichotomies. In capitalism's case, between the purely abstract forms of speculative finance divorced from all concrete or natural resources, leading of course to humongous bubbles that crash the entire economy. It's the same kind of metaphyics when religions have that strict dichotomy between God and man.
* http://integralpostmetaphysics.ning.com/forum/topics/integral-anti-capitalism-part-ii?commentId=5301756%3AComment%3A55324