(no subject)
Hm. Have I mentioned lately that I despise the World Pantheist Movement?
Almost everything on there is shallowly anti-Christian. And what's not anti-Christian is a bunch of burbling about how pretty and shiny nature is (*cough*the Barlows*cough*). There is little to no genuine philosophy of pantheism--anywhere.
Which makes it rather sucky and difficult and kinda like trying to put together a puzzle without the picture on the front of the box. There's so much there, and so little language or tradition or established thought to define it.
*sulks*
One of these days I'm going to have to make an outline of what I think pantheism defines. Maybe then I can get somewhere. (Also, reading every philosopher who ever lived could help. Except Kierkegaard, because when he decided non-Christians were subject to constant despair, he lost my vote.) Or maybe by then my brains will have already melted out my ears and splattered on the carpet.
But until then, there's always various forms of fandom, by which I will procrastinate until I've forgotten all hopes of working on pantheist philosophy. Heh. So much for keeping my brains... ;-P
ETA: One of the things that bugs me about a lot of "pantheism" sites is the thought that we can harm "God" by our pollution or by not being good environmentalists. This type of thinking only works if you believe that the Earth and only the Earth is God (as in the Gaia Hypothesis).
Although it results in an ethical pattern I agree with, on an internal-logic scale it's only slightly above that of "pantheism" saying that the universe has a guiding purpose and moral.
If you are non-theistic, which pantheism supposedly is ("theism" being defined here as the belief in God as a person), then how can the universe have a guiding purpose or moral? Morality is a defining property of personhood. If you're trying to escape the divine-person meme, you're not doing a very good job.
Also, so many of these sites proclaim pantheism as "ancient." That's only slightly more accurate than calling Wicca the "Old Religion." Pantheism is not ancient. However, many ancient religions/philosophies have elements that have led into pantheism, such as Taoism and Stoicism. These are pantheistic religions, but they aren't pantheism.
Almost everything on there is shallowly anti-Christian. And what's not anti-Christian is a bunch of burbling about how pretty and shiny nature is (*cough*the Barlows*cough*). There is little to no genuine philosophy of pantheism--anywhere.
Which makes it rather sucky and difficult and kinda like trying to put together a puzzle without the picture on the front of the box. There's so much there, and so little language or tradition or established thought to define it.
*sulks*
One of these days I'm going to have to make an outline of what I think pantheism defines. Maybe then I can get somewhere. (Also, reading every philosopher who ever lived could help. Except Kierkegaard, because when he decided non-Christians were subject to constant despair, he lost my vote.) Or maybe by then my brains will have already melted out my ears and splattered on the carpet.
But until then, there's always various forms of fandom, by which I will procrastinate until I've forgotten all hopes of working on pantheist philosophy. Heh. So much for keeping my brains... ;-P
ETA: One of the things that bugs me about a lot of "pantheism" sites is the thought that we can harm "God" by our pollution or by not being good environmentalists. This type of thinking only works if you believe that the Earth and only the Earth is God (as in the Gaia Hypothesis).
Although it results in an ethical pattern I agree with, on an internal-logic scale it's only slightly above that of "pantheism" saying that the universe has a guiding purpose and moral.
If you are non-theistic, which pantheism supposedly is ("theism" being defined here as the belief in God as a person), then how can the universe have a guiding purpose or moral? Morality is a defining property of personhood. If you're trying to escape the divine-person meme, you're not doing a very good job.
Also, so many of these sites proclaim pantheism as "ancient." That's only slightly more accurate than calling Wicca the "Old Religion." Pantheism is not ancient. However, many ancient religions/philosophies have elements that have led into pantheism, such as Taoism and Stoicism. These are pantheistic religions, but they aren't pantheism.