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michael Reynolds

What is this "poison of resentment?' And why don't I have it?

david

Oh, you do. We all do. Yours, however, expresses itself in humor and irony, whereas mine expresses itself mostly in blank verse.

michael Reynolds

I'm not sure you'll believe this, but I actually can't believe how great my life is. It could go bad on me in a heartbeat, but right now I just feel lucky.

david

You don't sound unhappy to me. You sound funny (as in ha-ha) and a little irritable. Those are both qualities I admire, and ones that can be found in happy and unhappy people alike. It's good you're happy. Spread it around a little, will ya?!

perplexed

could it be that violence is the animal instinct that comes to the surface and religion is the rational force that keeps it in check. Most wars dealt with greed on one side or the other, where does this fit in?

david

Perplexed: interesting to think of religion as a rational force. It's not entirely restrictive, either: its mystical elements can lead one to extremes, which can spill over into any number of excesses.

But at its heart is (or should be) what Heschel called "radical amazement," that force propelling us toward full celebration and realization of our living-ness. This is, like most other forms of amazement, an exploitable resource.

michael Reynolds

David:
I think it's genetic or something. I'm cranky but weirdly happy. Kind of surprises me, honestly.

perplexed

it makes you wonder who started with the extremes, it certainly has modified itself into a much different purpose than it was originally intended.

perplexed

David , what role does intelligence play in religion. Interpreting and having an open mind certainly propel you forward in a quest for knowledge. When you limit your thinking, don't you trap yourself in a circle?

david

perplexed:

Intelligence isn't merely cerebral and doesn't merely exist in the rational.

In one sense a circle is finite: its space is bounded. In another sense, a circle is infinite: its closed shape is suggestive, in many cultures, of eternity and infinity itself.

As the Chinese poet and warrior Lu Chi said, "In a single yard of silk, there is infinite space."

John

Hi, Im from Melbourne Australia. The poms have an appropriate word for Scruton's left brained scribblings BOLLOCKS.

It was all an expression of his own left brained doubt mind.
The mind that mis-informs all of the usual philosophical & religious chit-chat that goes on these days.

There was no evidence whatsoever of a Spiritually informed religious consciousness in that essay---none, zero, zilch!

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