tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20795009.post3964415232816143906..comments2023-09-22T15:44:10.411-04:00Comments on CUUMBAYA: So near, and yet so farJoel Monkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10631333436948102576noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20795009.post-24926912833163483692007-01-24T18:33:00.000-05:002007-01-24T18:33:00.000-05:00Thank you both! As you can probably tell, this is ...Thank you both! As you can probably tell, this is an important issue for me, and I'll be writing more in the near future.Joel Monkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10631333436948102576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20795009.post-76433473281994049572007-01-24T10:08:00.000-05:002007-01-24T10:08:00.000-05:00I read this post with great interest too, Joel. A...I read this post with great interest too, Joel. And like Lareinacobre, I will save it and reread it, as well as the references/links you inserted. Thank you for adding to my knowledge and provoking my thinking. It made me think about things I hadn't noticed in Murry's article.Lilylouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02328027965155428624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20795009.post-68535912683341921382007-01-24T01:35:00.000-05:002007-01-24T01:35:00.000-05:00This is a really good post. I need to re-read it t...This is a really good post. I need to re-read it tomorrow after the first read has had some time to percolate.<br /><br />The bit about "the supernatural" interested me. I read most of "Reason and Reverence" (but stopped partway through - it got a little too tangled with my thoughts from your post, which I'd read first). <br /><br />When I read Murry's statement that humanists reject supernatural things, I questioned that. I'm a spiritual humanist, and the primary reason for this is that I do believe human beings have something we like to refer to as a soul. And I also believe that there are some experiences we may have as individuals (or communities) which cannot be scientifically predicted. This doesn't make them unreal. <br /><br />The thing is, I choose not to expect anything of the "supernatural" world, or deities of any kind. But me choosing not to have a deep relationship with those things that I don't understand doesn't mean they don't exist.<br /><br /><br />I'll have to finish reading Murry's article later, but for the moment I'm left wondering why he doesn't take into account that a humanist might hold your definition of supernatural.<br /><br />It's not important to me whether a person talks to spirits, trees, or Jesus - every person's spiritual experience needs to be accorded respect. It's once they start saying, "my spiritual experience is the RIGHT one" that I become wary. Unfortunately, many humanists have a tendency to say, "Well, I've never experienced any of this stuff, therefore no one has - and if they say so, they're delusional or lying." <br /><br />This is no better than institutionalized religions dictating to their practitioners what a valid and approved relationship with their god looks like.<br /><br />I'm not sure if this makes much sense; I'm extremely tired, but wanted to comment before I went to sleep.LaReinaCobrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13554970165949410961noreply@blogger.com