In this religion debate in the anarchist community online, I think we need to refine our terminology a bit. Maybe we should separate religion, spirituality, and the social forms in which both religion and spirituality get articulated.
It is not just a matter of "believing the false" or "losing agency in detriment of a cult". In the first place, "the false" is a social construct and a historical contingency insofar as truth itself is a socially built category. Secondly, any form of social aggrupation can be both a restriction of individual's agency and a product of it, and can be both simultaneously.
As I understand it, there are two main questions in the problem of religion that often get confounded with one another. On the one hand, there's a question of meaning. On the other, there's a question of social organization and agency. Nevertheless, even when we can analytically address these two questions with a degree of independence, in reality they constatly intersect, as there is no meaning in a social vacuun, as there is no organization not creating meaning, as there is no meaning that is not contested.
I would also like to point out that many of the arguments I found are very protestant-christianity centered. But I would also like to point out that the spirituality in many indigenous communities is often not articulated in the form of an organized religion, but it resembles much more a conception of the world and a formulation of their symbolic universes, which is a product of their histories and modes of social organization. Here we can see an intersection between the question meaning and that of social organization.
Our word "religion" comes from latin "religare", that is, "to tie back together". As I see it, a religion fulfills a social function and acts as a means to social cohesion, and can be both a tool of the ruling class or a manifestation of the consciousness of the oppressed, depending on the historical moment we observe. Christianity born as the religion of the slaves before it seized power and became the religion of ruling classes. On the other hand, I understand spirituality as a discourse about the "meaning of things".
I don't know, my thoughts are not very clear yet and you can always ignore me, but I do think we need some nuance when talking about these topics. We all should be free to build our own meaning to life as long as it does not act against others' liberty. From my part, I'm not religious. I consider myself agnostic, as no judgement can be proved about a dimension of existence that is claimed to exist beyond any experience. I just don't really think about this in my daily life and respect a variety of conceptions about the world. If any, I would say that having faith, for me, would be useless, and therefore I have no faith, but I know some people that finding an spirituality helped them finding a meaning to life and a reason to go on.
This post is just a bunch of poorly connected personal views and I'm obviously open to discussion and friendly contributions πππ
#Anarchism #Religion #Spirituality #Agnosticism #Atheism #Christianity
#anarchism #religion #spirituality #Agnosticism #atheism #christianity
#BedeRundle - Arguments Contra #God?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWssy2jHZGg&ab_channel=CloserToTruth
#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfReligion #Religion #MoralPhilosophy #Logic #LogicalContradiction #Metaphysics #ProblemOfEvil #Atheism #Agnosticism #ArgumentFromDesign #DivineAttributes #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn
#RobertKuhn #CloserToTruth #divineattributes #argumentfromdesign #Agnosticism #atheism #problemofevil #metaphysics #logicalcontradiction #logic #moralphilosophy #religion #philosophyofreligion #philosophy #god #bederundle
The futility of religion. #Religion #Agnosticism #Atheism
#religion #Agnosticism #atheism
That 2021 #Census result for #religion in full...
(The #2021Census for #England and #Wales has placed those who identify with #Christianity in a minority for the first time.)
#census #religion #2021Census #england #Wales #christianity #atheism #humanism #Agnosticism #belief #spirituality
That 2021 #Census result for #religion in full...
(The #2021Census for #England and #Wales has placed those who identify with #Christianity in a minority for the first time.)
#census #religion #2021Census #england #Wales #christianity #atheism #humanism #Agnosticism #belief #spirituality
@kevmarmol Yes, I saw it. They seem to be rather dogmatic - from my perspective after several years of observation - in their refusal to accept that #Humanism is a philosophical perspective that is compatible with many religions and that many folk of faith are also #Humanists. #Humanism cannot be equated with #AtheΓ―sm nor #Agnosticism. Additionally, #Humanism, like many thought-systems can be religious, that is a form of #religion. It is like a Venn diagram of intersecting circles. Ha ha ha
#humanism #humanists #atheism #Agnosticism #religion
#JohnSearle - Arguments for #Agnosticism ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT2O81SIVbY&ab_channel=CloserToTruth
#Philosophy #Theology #Metaphysics #God #Agnostic #Atheist #Atheism #Belief #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn
#RobertKuhn #CloserToTruth #belief #atheism #atheist #agnostic #god #metaphysics #theology #philosophy #Agnosticism #johnsearle
I left Twitter in part because most (but not all) of the atheists on there seemed to be antisocial or just arrogant, opinionated jerks. Professed agnostics seemed to be rare. Wondering where my peeps are - folks who can see the hazards of religious faith, without being obnoxious towards those still identified with their religion? #atheism #agnosticism #agnostic #atheist #skeptic
#atheism #Agnosticism #agnostic #atheist #skeptic
Follow me and I'll follow back. #TwitterRefugeesUnite
Also, here are more hashtags and reposting some previously posted.
#psychology #metaphysics #astrology #occult #tarot #universe #physics #starwars #nerd #startrek #photography #summer #agnosticism #atheism #beach #cats #dogs #pets #digitalart #comics #disney #marvel #netflix #philosophy #nihilism #absurdism #food #libra #aquarius #aries #scorpio #books #reading #tattoo #painting #news #trending #gaming #anime #indie #music #concerts
#TwitterRefugeesUnite #psychology #metaphysics #astrology #occult #tarot #universe #physics #starwars #nerd #startrek #photography #Summer #Agnosticism #atheism #beach #cats #dogs #pets #digitalart #comics #disney #Marvel #netflix #philosophy #nihilism #absurdism #food #libra #aquarius #aries #scorpio #books #reading #tattoo #painting #news #trending #gaming #anime #indie #music #concerts
Follow me and I'll follow back. π€ #TwitterRefugeesUnite
Also, here are more hashtags and reposting some previously posted.
#psychology #metaphysics #astrology #occult #tarot #universe #physics #starwars #nerd #startrek #photography #summer #agnosticism #atheism #beach #cats #dogs #pets #digitalart #comics #disney #marvel #netflix #philosophy #nihilism #absurdism #food #libra #aquarius #aries #scorpio #books #astrology #tattoo #painting #news #trending #gaming #anime #indie #music #concerts
#TwitterRefugeesUnite #psychology #metaphysics #astrology #occult #tarot #universe #physics #starwars #nerd #startrek #photography #Summer #Agnosticism #atheism #beach #cats #dogs #pets #digitalart #comics #disney #Marvel #netflix #philosophy #nihilism #absurdism #food #libra #aquarius #aries #scorpio #books #tattoo #painting #news #trending #gaming #anime #indie #music #concerts
#Shitposting #LearningByAccident
#Agnosticism #Divination #Tarot #Witchery
#ActuallyAutistic #Neurodiversity #Plural
#Anarchism #Communism #AnarchoCommunism
#Queer #Bisexual #DemiRomantic #NonBinary #Polyamorous #Trans
#FLOSS #FOSS #Gateway #GatewayProject #LearnPython #Linux #Programming #ShowMeYourBots
#Adoptables #Art #ArtTrades #CommissionMe #DigitalArt #OpenCommissions #WorldBuilding #Writing
#shitposting #LearningByAccident #furry #possum #Agnosticism #divination #tarot #witchery #actuallyautistic #neurodiversity #plural #anarchism #communism #anarchocommunism #queer #bisexual #demiromantic #nonbinary #polyamorous #trans #floss #foss #gateway #GatewayProject #learnpython #linux #programming #ShowMeYourBots #adoptables #art #arttrades #commissionme #digitalart #opencommissions #worldbuilding #writing