I'll respond to you here, Julius, to catch you and Nefahotep. Yes, Pierce's closing was a beautiful crescendo, as was the whole quote. I'm having to make a conscious effort to set aside how compelling and masterful his language is and ask, "But do I agree?"
The first question, I think, in any belief system is 'What is my true relationship…
I'll respond to you here, Julius, to catch you and Nefahotep. Yes, Pierce's closing was a beautiful crescendo, as was the whole quote. I'm having to make a conscious effort to set aside how compelling and masterful his language is and ask, "But do I agree?"
The first question, I think, in any belief system is 'What is my true relationship to you?' Pierce posits a world in which there are evil forces and degenerate and regressive people taking the easy, downward path. He might be right.
I choose the position that any virtue I have in my life--to care for my children, to be fair in my relationships, to stand up for what's right--is what anyone would do if they had the same opportunity. It's our default. And any mistakes I've made have been forgivable, like everyone else's, not the result of an evil or degenerate nature.
In pantheism, the evil forces are part of god, which is indifferent to human suffering. If seems almost like an evolutionary approach to god, as not a creator God but something that just came to be with everything. I'm not sure there's an advantage to believing there's no god or a passive god. It still leaves us with nothing rooting for us, pulling for our success, celebrating our wins.
But maybe Pierce isn't talking about people at all, only forces of degeneration, like entropy.
Tereza, you provide a very astute observation of the short falling of Pierce; he seems to be an Artisan of Intellectual Gymnastics, while he comes off quite smooth, he manages to retain the "Flotsam" of Authoritarianism and the indifference to Life.
I do tend to agree with some aspects here, just not all of it of course.
Since I am not well versed on Pierce, I will defer to your better senses in what this author is expressing. As I am probably more of a Pagan to most Christians, I do not condone some of the things Pagan Pantheist would be accused of, especially being indifferent to Life. I Vehemently stand for and fight for Life.
I think Christian Authors did not have any clue as to exactly what the original Symbolic Meanings and Culture based off of Poly Theist ideas really were.
Pierce is likely talking about forces; while comparing the Mono-Theist to the Pantheist or Poly Theist approach. The biggest fault I have with both is they rely on Belief. I can't relate to Belief.
In ancient cultures, there was a chain of authority in both systems of Belief.
Mono Theist -- Abrahamic Triangle of Insanity, definitely has Authority enshrined inside it's fabric of Social and Political influence. I think we are all aware of this.
Poly Theist -- Many Temples and Many Gods also had a system of Authority enshrined in it as well. As an Example: Some cultures did fights between the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. As though they should have a squabble. ;-)
Both types of cultural / spiritual infiltrations were Human driven and controlled for the Hijacking of Cultural based Spiritual practices that were original to the indigenous people of an area.
If I can take the time to; I will explore Pierce's work. I hope I don't regret trying.
I'll respond to you here, Julius, to catch you and Nefahotep. Yes, Pierce's closing was a beautiful crescendo, as was the whole quote. I'm having to make a conscious effort to set aside how compelling and masterful his language is and ask, "But do I agree?"
The first question, I think, in any belief system is 'What is my true relationship to you?' Pierce posits a world in which there are evil forces and degenerate and regressive people taking the easy, downward path. He might be right.
I choose the position that any virtue I have in my life--to care for my children, to be fair in my relationships, to stand up for what's right--is what anyone would do if they had the same opportunity. It's our default. And any mistakes I've made have been forgivable, like everyone else's, not the result of an evil or degenerate nature.
In pantheism, the evil forces are part of god, which is indifferent to human suffering. If seems almost like an evolutionary approach to god, as not a creator God but something that just came to be with everything. I'm not sure there's an advantage to believing there's no god or a passive god. It still leaves us with nothing rooting for us, pulling for our success, celebrating our wins.
But maybe Pierce isn't talking about people at all, only forces of degeneration, like entropy.
Tereza, you provide a very astute observation of the short falling of Pierce; he seems to be an Artisan of Intellectual Gymnastics, while he comes off quite smooth, he manages to retain the "Flotsam" of Authoritarianism and the indifference to Life.
I do tend to agree with some aspects here, just not all of it of course.
Since I am not well versed on Pierce, I will defer to your better senses in what this author is expressing. As I am probably more of a Pagan to most Christians, I do not condone some of the things Pagan Pantheist would be accused of, especially being indifferent to Life. I Vehemently stand for and fight for Life.
I think Christian Authors did not have any clue as to exactly what the original Symbolic Meanings and Culture based off of Poly Theist ideas really were.
Pierce is likely talking about forces; while comparing the Mono-Theist to the Pantheist or Poly Theist approach. The biggest fault I have with both is they rely on Belief. I can't relate to Belief.
In ancient cultures, there was a chain of authority in both systems of Belief.
Mono Theist -- Abrahamic Triangle of Insanity, definitely has Authority enshrined inside it's fabric of Social and Political influence. I think we are all aware of this.
Poly Theist -- Many Temples and Many Gods also had a system of Authority enshrined in it as well. As an Example: Some cultures did fights between the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. As though they should have a squabble. ;-)
Both types of cultural / spiritual infiltrations were Human driven and controlled for the Hijacking of Cultural based Spiritual practices that were original to the indigenous people of an area.
If I can take the time to; I will explore Pierce's work. I hope I don't regret trying.