Wednesday, December 23, 2009

AVATAR ... if this teaches something good about pantheism, then I'm all for it.

When "true" religion makes its appearance we don't necessarily have to run for the cover of the big inerrant book.

NYT OP-ED Columnist Ross Douthit: Heaven and Nature

"Today there are other forces that expand pantheism’s American appeal.
We pine for what we’ve left behind, and divinizing the natural world is an obvious way to express unease about our hyper-technological society. The threat of global warming, meanwhile, has lent the cult of Nature qualities that every successful religion needs — a crusading spirit, a rigorous set of ‘thou shalt nots,” and a piping-hot apocalypse.


At the same time, pantheism opens a path to numinous experience for people uncomfortable with the literal-mindedness of the monotheistic religions — with their miracle-working deities and holy books, their virgin births and resurrected bodies.


As the Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski noted, attributing divinity to the natural world helps 'bring God closer to human experience,' while 'depriving him of recognizable personal traits.'


For anyone who pines for transcendence but recoils at the idea of a demanding Almighty who interferes in human affairs, this is an ideal combination." - Ross Douthit

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