tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post6012559301853014790..comments2023-06-27T16:51:05.805+02:00Comments on The Pangrammaticon: On ReligionThomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post-76038133764724395762013-11-12T09:36:53.858+01:002013-11-12T09:36:53.858+01:00It's mainly a playful jab at existing authorit...It's mainly a playful jab at existing authorities. Their indignation over the inability of people to "believe" amuses me. But I do have a vague sense that some tribal cultures, working under the guidance of a good shaman, managed to develop sustainable and (importantly!) coordinated answers to the questions What are we seeing here? What is it all about? Who are/am we/I? What shall we do now? <br /><br />In the end, I'm a modernist. I believe in a respect for the craftsmanship of specialists. If politicians respected their mandate, and scientists their method, and if philosophers would mind only our concepts and poets encourage only our emotions ... and if we, in turn, respected science and politics, philosophy and poetry for what they are, then we could find the composure we need.<br /><br />But there are all these distractingly dysfunctional authorities in our way. Scientists who pretend to philosophize (and, more often, simply preach!). Philosophers who want to be celebrated as poets. Poems with political objectives...etc. And (God help us!) religious orthodoxy that respects neither scientific discovery nor political decision making, that demonizes thought and scandalizes our feelings.<br /><br />(That's almost a rant, isn't it?)Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861197.post-33713778458337408622013-11-12T09:08:17.568+01:002013-11-12T09:08:17.568+01:00Does the final sentence signify your desire for su...Does the final sentence signify your desire for such a "properly functioning religious authority"? A nostalgia for such an authority?Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.com