Being Religious

[poliphilo]

It is said of one of the London bombers that he had recently "become more religious."

I grew up in a society where "religious" was always a praise word.

Going to church a lot, being a pal of the vicar's, helping to run some militaristic church youth group- these were all, in and of themselves, things worthy of praise. They were moral. They were good.

Morality and religion were all scrambled together. You could be sour, nasty, intolerant, ignorant, snobbish, small-minded, cruel, power-mad, not to be trusted round children, but if you were also "religious" you were automatically on the side of the angels.

It has taken me most of my life to undo this early conditioning.

And to realise that "being religious" is just a compulsion, taste or hobby like any other- and that "religious" people are no more to be counted on for moral behaviour than football supporters or stamp collectors or any other gang or group.

Comments

[seraphimsigrist.livejournal.com]

I also find Islam the most difficult to
see the need of in the general course of
things...so I have tried a little and the
results reflected in these.
+Seraphim
*of course, I think you have done esoteric
study, you know the whole school of Guenon
and Schuon and Corbin and so on in fact became
Islamic but in a very specific way.
However I do not care for them really at all
and their books and thought are not easy for me...
I belive for Guenon Islam is partly a retreat
from the Personal...

Corbin

[seraphimsigrist.livejournal.com]

Is it Corbin who says well Judaism is Law
Xty is Love
Islam is the seal of Creativity completing the triad

I would call that a crock using a perhaps yankee
vulgarism.

Re: Corbin

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think I'd agree- about it being a crock, I mean.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that Guenon and co are new to me. I can't place them at all.

I can admire Islamic art and thought, but I've never come across anything in the culture that touches me here *thumps chest*.

Guenonists

[seraphimsigrist.livejournal.com]

the Guenon group called "tradtionalists" was and is a sort
of extrememly intellectual approaach to world religions
and to esoterism, not all were Islamic, Ananda and Rama
Coomaraswami and Kathleen Raine and Philip Sherard were
Catholic(Sherard Orthodox). Guenon's best known book is
the Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times (something
like Ortega y Gasset's Revolt of the Masses as an attack
on mass culture) they tended to elitism and Jules Evola
unless I am confused lost his leg in a neofascist bomb
experiment in Italy.
but in comparative religion they must be reckoned with and
also identified so one knows where this is coming from...
Titus Burckhardt , Muslim, Alain Danielou author of "Hindu
Polytheism", Fritjof Schuon author of all sorts of mystical
rubbish...

Re: Guenonists

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

The only one of these guys I'm familiar with is Raine. I seem to remember she rejected a poem I submitted to her magazine. Obviously she's a Bad Thing.