greg (05/07/83)
How about a new topic? Would people be willing to share some of the books, movies, pieces of art or music, or whatever, that have been particularly meaningful to them? People who have no particular religious faith, together with those who do, certainly share the occasional deeply moving, perhaps almost transcendent experience of (as an example) a concert in which the performers and the audience participate in a shared experience of beauty. As a person of faith, these occasional, almost always unexpected moments speak to me about my relationship with God; those in this newsgroup who profess no religious belief will interpret these moments of beauty and transformation in different terms, but nonetheless, it seems to me that we might find a supportive, mutually beneficial basis for dialog in something along these lines. For starters, I was quite moved by the film Gandhi. In the movie, we saw him as he matured and became wise. In some sense he remained the same person, with the same wry sense of humor and feeling for political symbolism, but in another sense he completely changed, from a young upper-class lawyer to a man of great spiritual insight and love. As another example, a book by Paul Tournier called "The Meaning of Persons" had a deep impact on me. Actually, I would love it if the tone of this newsgroup moved in the direction of the gentleness and support that permeates his book. I had hoped that when this newsgroup was formed it would contain at least some contributions from thoughtful, sensitive individuals who see religious faith as a dynamic, integral part of their growth. Faith at its best is full of surprise, adventure, change, and joy. It is fundamentally a relationship, and like all relationships it is full of uncertainty, ambiguity, and doubt, together with the blessed moments when trust, love, and intimacy break through. How can we discuss our respective faith journeys and benefit from one another's experiences when we have on the one hand people waiting to attack and exploit any sign of professed uncertainty or weakness, and on the other hand rigid, static, doctrinaire guardians of a pseudo-faith that has no aspects of growth or dynamism at all? True dialog takes place in an atmosphere of openness and vulnerability; a non-believer will certainly feel no freedom to express wonderings about seemingly spiritual stirrings and needs in the presence of hard- core religious types who might take them as openings to shove canned religion down their throats. Similarly, a person of faith will be unwilling to openly discuss doubts in the presence of a bitter atheist who will use them as an opportunity to strike at the core of the person's faith. Here's hoping that we can all move in the direction of sharing with one another and helping each other in our respective journeys. - Greg Johnson U of Wisc. - Madison
rlh (05/12/83)
such a deeply moving, transcendent experience ... while a physicist by religion, I met in it a strong representation of the Form of evil. ~?