(no subject)

The following are Democrats and Republicans who have affirmed (or not denied) that they are considering a presidential run in 2008. (Sorry, Duncan Hunter, there wasn't room for you.) How enthusiastically could you see yourself voting for:

( long poll )

a few terms and meanings, and a disclaimer

I've been told that some of the things i write come across as attacks on people or things i have no desire to attack. My use of language may have become kind of specialized and i thought i've explained myself as i've gone along, but just to be sure people understand what i'm saying, i will clarify my usage of a few terms.

I've become very bitter and critical towards religion. When i say "religion," i am primarily talking about organized religion: membership movements (you clearly belong to the movement or clearly do not) which require adherence to a particular doctrine (usually kept in writings deemed sacred), defined and maintained by an incorporated edifice of some sort, which ordains an official clergy to perform official rites and rituals. Religious membership almost always requires professing firm belief in unprovable statements.

There's some wiggle room here on what constitutes a "religion," but i think that's good enough for you to see what i mean when i contrast it with "spirituality," "mysticism," and "esoterica."

"Mysticism," in my usage, is subjective examination of one's experiences. I think i use the word to refer to something much more broad than most people do.

"Esoterica," in my usage, is a specific form of mystical inquiry involving the pursuit of certain altered states of awareness.

Most of the time when i use the word "spirituality" my intended definition is very specific, and refers to a pattern of misappropriation whereby some kinds of radical and dissenting speech are turned into safe "religious" speech, cleansed of its political overtones so that it seems only to convey instruction about the supernatural.

So, in my frequent criticisms of religion and spirituality, i am not meaning to criticize anyone's experiences of the supernatural or the numinous. I am not in any way putting anyone down for having such experiences -- i've had them myself and i do not repudiate them. Instead what i am criticizing, is the way that these experiences are stolen and co-opted by organized religion in order to suit agendas of control and exploitation.