Ideas, Not Dogmata

Especially over this past year I have been reconnecting with inner religious impulse. I was wondering in spiritual limbo for a long, long time, and the way back has been anything but smooth. My blog traffic is down (although part of that might be do to my less frequent posts) Perhaps my "dribblings" about my journey back and attempt to understand just where I do stand has run off some of my readers (I am aware of at least one case of that), and perhaps it has been a bit off-putting for my readers who aren't religious.  

 

Reconnecting doesn't mean - for me at least - going back to where I started. Religious fundamentalism, a mindless dive into the realms of "revealed" religion holds no attraction for me whatsoever. In fact, that, I feel, is one of the main sources of religious misuse and abuse. The other source is when political leaders and leaders of nation attempt to use religion as a source of control of the people they represent.

 

While sorting everything out I my head, upon reflection, it seemed to me that I had slowly lapsed from mere questions and doubts about whether the God hypothesis is true or makes sense into an unfair ridiculing of those who do take stock in it.

 

The downside of that is it blinded to me to concerns about things that really matter to me.

 

Let me be clear about where I do stand lest anyone misunderstand and credit me with the baggage that religious fundamentalists must claim.

 

First, I'm not big on proofs of God's existence. For me it is more of an instinctive matter, suggested to my mind by the orderliness of the Cosmos. Second, I believe the human religious impulse is universal and that from the beginning of recorded time has been well documented. Third, I believe that there does exist something like an inner moral law that all healthy minds recognize. In other words, I might suggest that the so-called Golden Rule wasn't created so much as discovered inside the conscience of every normal human psyche.  

 

All that doesn't take a great deal of faith. At least I don't feel it does. I don't insist I'm right and those who strictly hold to the scientific worldview are wrong. I do confess to having more than a bit of trouble imagining how science - which is limited to what is within the system - can pronounce on things - if anything there is - outside the system.

 

Lastly, I believe the religious impulse gives a firm foundation for transforming the Golden Rule from a useful suggestion into a moral "ought." If (and note I do say if ) indeed the source of the religious impulse lies outside the system science cannot provide us with a true moral compass.

 

Let me emphasize that the above is a statement of ideas I embrace, not dogmata I seek to impose on others. I think it proper to provide such a statement in order to provide a clear context for other things I would like to post about, including my personal spiritual journey.