This piece was originally meant to be about spirituality and the concept. Somehow it morphed into awe. SpiritualityMaybe thirty or forty years ago I would have described myself as spiritual and not religious, or at least not religious in any traditional sense. Boring, I know. Looking back, I think I meant there is something more … Continue reading Awe
Category: religion
The etymology of the word religion comes from the Latin: re ligare, again connect or reconnect. But connect to what? Our God, society, nature, humankind? For rom, it is about reconnecting with the universe. But also to recognize we were never separate anyway. Every bit of material or allegedly immaterial rom came from elsewhere and … Continue reading rom’s Religion
Islam has two major branches, Sunni being the predominant one. Shia is by far the next largest branch. The split was not theological but was initially hierarchical. This occurred at the outset of Islam. Sunnis favoured an elected leadership model from the wider tribe. And Shias thought leadership should remain in the Muhammad line. Within … Continue reading Islam
My overall take on the concept of natural is: Natural is a null concept I have been mulling over a post about nature versus nurture for a while now, and, having just read Alan Levinovitz's book, Natural: The Seductive Myth of Nature's Goodness, I have been led to put fingers to keyboard. Now, of course, … Continue reading Natural
I started writing this as the judgement for Vickrum Digwa for the murder of Henry Nowak reverberates around the UK. Digwa murdered Nowak without justification with a traditional dagger. I had been looking into the core tenets of Sikhism before this. Anyway, below in italics are the core tenets of the Sikh religion; if there … Continue reading Sikhism
I thought I would have a crack at Hinduism. I asked ChatGPT to summarize the core aspects of Hinduism, and it gave the ten sections (in italics), which I reordered. Overall, it is not a tradition or set of traditions I can buy into. There are about 1.2 billion Hindus worldwide, with many traditions and … Continue reading Hinduism
People have a strange capability of believing weird things. Some examples: The world is flat The moon landings were fake Vaccines are harmful and microchips The Earth is only six to ten thousand years old Donald Trump was worth voting for a second time Angels and jinns Karma and reincarnation Afterlife Divine Birth of Jesus … Continue reading Beliefs
Scientism is used as a pejorative. I could argue it is a reaction of philosophy to science, in a similar way that Luddites react to technology. Generally, scientism is seen as a use of science that is in some way inapplicable to a phenomenon or circumstance. ScienceBut first, what is science? Well, it is a … Continue reading Scientism
Which authors have shaped my worldview? All of them, even if I have not read them, but some more than others. Having said that, not all of them are equal, and certainly not directly In my preteen years, I recall avidly reading Enid Blyton's Secret Seven and occasionally Famous Five. Generally, I let these books … Continue reading Two Authors
Here is a summary of where I think I am. Subject to change. The Chat AI suggested the following "pithy" descriptions:1) Process Monism2) Naturalistic Realism3) Agnostic Pragmatic Realism4) Causal NaturalismI think I will go with Process Monism, as it "Emphasizes [my] belief that everything is part of an unfolding, interconnected causal process rather than discrete … Continue reading My Position
