Some thought-provoking articles:
Nietzsche on Christianity I mean to read some Nietzsche. I understand there is some connotation about him among people, but I don't know what it is. Just that its there. On the subject of religion in general, I am sort of confused about the whole thing right now. I am having troubles distinguishing between what I would like to be true and what I actually believe. I mean, who doesn't like the idea of heaven? I don't want to be annihilated when I die. Does that mean I believe in heaven? Probably not. It's sort of a silly idea, unfortunately. Nice, but silly. Like unicorns and pegasuses, and dragons. I think a general difficulty with people and religion is this distinction between what we would like to believe and what we actually believe. There is a difference. I think it's a right brain/ left brain thing. People generally act on right brain impulses, so maybe that's what really matters?
Jonathan Haidt on why people vote Republican This is a long article, but I suggest reading through it. It has suggestions to liberals for appealing to more conservative-minded people through certain values that we don't often talk about. I don't like the article in that it seems obviously calculating, like we should only do this to get votes, instead of just suggesting that we talk about issues differently so that people of a different mind understand us better. Communication over calculation.
My synopsis of what we are missing:
ingroup/loyalty value: We pursue social justice because everyone has a right to be an American, to pursue the American dream (instead of it only being the right thing to do). We want to include everyone! Coherence to maintaining the American dream.
purity/sanctity value: We must overcome our base materialistic desires and promote reverence of Nature
authority/respect: We will maintain order by promoting personal responsibility and respect for the rules. Be hard on those who misuse the system for personal benefit.
The author also has a website where you can test which parts of the "moral spectra" are important to you. I am apparently more liberal than the average liberal on situations concerning harm and fairness. And slightly more conservative than the average liberal on issues of loyalty and authority. Run of the mill liberal on the purity scale. Perhaps it is best for all of you if you take the test before you weave your way through the article, just the hypotheses don't affect your answers.
Feel free to discuss any of this in the comments!
2 comments:
Speaking of Nietzsche, he was the subject of yesterday's Philosophy Bites, and an interesting idea of his was that Christian and post-Christian morality is dialectic - meaning that good is defined by its opposition to evil. Nietzsche believed that during the pre-Christian period people were motivated by abstract ideals. He also said that peasant people needed evil for psychological reasons. The challenge would be to develop a new standard of good without reference to evil. There are some problems with this, but it is an idea I had not heard before.
The difference between what we would like to believe and what we believe is indistinguishable because they are both beliefs (or perhaps even wishes) – but that doesn’t make either true. The right brain exists in the here and now, while the left brain is concerned with past and future. I would say beliefs stem from the left brain, since the left brain is the home of the ego, and it is the ego that holds onto beliefs. Beliefs are used by the ego to add “more” to its sense of self, thereby to become bigger and enhance itself in some way. I propose that it is better to have no beliefs – you only need to look at the state of the planet to see the result of beliefs. For instance, the couple you mention with 17 children had those children as a result of their religious beliefs. Sarah Palin thinks creationism should be taught in schools, that the US military is on a mission from God, both due to her religious beliefs. The terrorist attacks on 9/11 were a result of religious beliefs. George Bush believed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Hitler believed that the “Aryan race” was superior. Marx believed in Socialism. Christians believed that Jesus was God. Man believes that the earth is his to dominate.
Beliefs are a service to the ego, and the ego has led us to the condition on earth we have today. Better to throw away your beliefs and listen to your right brain by being in the Now – no beliefs required for that.
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