Please distinguish in my posts between religion and Religion - by the first, I mean beliefs that are explicitly and by nature not rationally based - the latter, capitalized one will refer to actual Religions: Judaism, Buddhism, etc.
Should religion be ditched? That's a difficult question to answer in a couple hundred words :). I think my answer, in short, is no. A religion, as it is defined by Geertz in my first blog, is a set of symbols (in the broad sense - words, images, maybe even ideologies). These symbols create a worldview and cultural structure without a rational basis.
Of course, we see this in Religions: Christianity has the Cross, the Fish, the Chi Rho (all symbols of Christ, actually); Judaism has the Star of David and the Menorah... and Religions have less obvious ideas that function symbolically: blood (in many ways and many Religions), greetings, Heaven and Hell (or other ideas of life after death).
I find Geertz's definition rather appealing as a way to describe aspects of our culture we commonly don't see as religious: The way football fans wear their team's logo and colours. The dedication people feel to their favourite TV shows.
I've even seen quite a bit of Lawrencianism in my first week at this university: Inexplicable oddities are responded to with the phrase: "It's the Lawrence difference." For instance, yesterday at the Jazz night, there was an incredible number of percussionists wanting to jam. This statement rang out. Or, in a more serious setting, the Welcome Week Choir learned their first song in fifteen minutes. The director said: "See, that's the difference at Lawrence. Where else could a group of new students get together and learn a piece of music this fast?" I've been at one other college, a tiny community college in the middle of Nowhere in Illinois - and our choir learned the same piece, just as fast.
There is a strong religion of numbers in our scientifically oriented culture. Statistics are accepted as facts without consideration of fallacies that may be present in the methods of research used or the manner in which the results are presented. Numbers are (quite literally) symbols, and certainly serve to create an "aura of factuality". In fact, I read a book last summer that tossed around some disturbing insights into the way we religiously perceive numbers (Seife, Charles: Proofiness: the Dark Arts of mathematical deception).
The reason I still think religion should not be ditched is that it is in itself not harmful, as long as we are aware of what simply has an "aura of factuality" and what is based on solid thinking. Let me put it this way: I do not believe in Jesus because of the symbol of the cross or the fish - I appreciate the symbols as elegant ways to refer to the most defining aspects of His life and character, which I discern from what is written about Him, and what He communicates with the Church or me personally (the latter, I understand, is often personal, spiritual, and not generally applicable - I also prefer not to argue by my personal experiences).
I do think there is value in careful analysis of what we observe, and numbers and statistics can be a good way of representing that, but I do not find the presence of numbers and percentages in an essay very compelling evidence of the truthfulness of the statements.
---- Okay. 550 words. I have other work to do, so I will stop here, although I am not without answer both to the reading and the video (much of my thoughts can probably be guessed based on what I already have written). If anyone has specific questions, feel free to post them. If I have the time, I will gladly answer. And if I don't have an answer, I'll look for one.
See you all soon,
Benny
Benny! I tend to like a lot of what you are saying. The idea that symbols in religion just create an "aura of factuality" is something that must be kept in mind when experiencing religion. There our many people that it can be seen that they have taken some things too seriously when having faith is a whole lot simpler. The symbols can aid in the the experience but they themselves are not the experience. An obsession with the symbols and a dedication to them is not a healthy religious experience. Religion (should you choose to accept it) should be a way of life, not a way to live your life (if that makes any sense)
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