05-15-2007, 08:56 PM
[quote chas_m]The quote from Buechner is a good one, and would perhaps apply if there were such a thing as sin (there isn't) and if I was consumed with hatred and anger (I'm not).
Falwell's death is a welcome piece of good news in the unrelenting bleakness of NeoCon Hell all thinking people have been living through for the past six years, and we can only hope that Dick Cheney is not far behind.
PS. Those of us who lived through the 80s and lost friends to AIDS more or less directly because of Falwell's influence on the Reagan administration have a SPECIAL hatred for the man that younger people, I think, do not fully appreciate.
Again, how does being angry and glad that he is dead *help* you or him or anybody else? I'm not saying he wasn't an evil SOB...but how does what you're doing *help*?
also, to fully understand Buechner's quote, one has to look at what "sin" even is. Sin as the typical religious person puts it is B.S. - I agree. However do we, as humans, sometimes to frequently do things that hurt ourselves and/or others and do not help promote the connection we all have together? Absolutely. Personally, the use of the word "sin" is so poisoned by church-folks that it should just be dropped in favor of a discussion of things that are loving vs. unloving. Do one's actions bring you closer to others and, if you lean that way, further develop your spirituality or do they not? No need to feel hugely guilty if they don't...just treat it like a wandering thought in meditation and bring it back in line. However, you do have to acknowledge that they are a problem.
The whole sin-guilt-forgiveness thing was the church's way of interpreting this, IMO. It just got waaaaaaayyy out of control and the result isn't pretty.
make sense?
For a Unitarian's discussion about sin, I really liked this: http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/se...chterm=sin
kiva
Falwell's death is a welcome piece of good news in the unrelenting bleakness of NeoCon Hell all thinking people have been living through for the past six years, and we can only hope that Dick Cheney is not far behind.
PS. Those of us who lived through the 80s and lost friends to AIDS more or less directly because of Falwell's influence on the Reagan administration have a SPECIAL hatred for the man that younger people, I think, do not fully appreciate.
Again, how does being angry and glad that he is dead *help* you or him or anybody else? I'm not saying he wasn't an evil SOB...but how does what you're doing *help*?
also, to fully understand Buechner's quote, one has to look at what "sin" even is. Sin as the typical religious person puts it is B.S. - I agree. However do we, as humans, sometimes to frequently do things that hurt ourselves and/or others and do not help promote the connection we all have together? Absolutely. Personally, the use of the word "sin" is so poisoned by church-folks that it should just be dropped in favor of a discussion of things that are loving vs. unloving. Do one's actions bring you closer to others and, if you lean that way, further develop your spirituality or do they not? No need to feel hugely guilty if they don't...just treat it like a wandering thought in meditation and bring it back in line. However, you do have to acknowledge that they are a problem.
The whole sin-guilt-forgiveness thing was the church's way of interpreting this, IMO. It just got waaaaaaayyy out of control and the result isn't pretty.
make sense?
For a Unitarian's discussion about sin, I really liked this: http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/se...chterm=sin
kiva