I think religion (and spirituality!) is overall a good thing. It can be one of the very best things. But it can't be imposed. And we have to be honest with ourselves: the way it's addressed and presented rarely meets the intellectual hunger.
Think of internet atheism, which peaked 2008-2012. The "gotcha" smugness of it all (which I, among…
I think religion (and spirituality!) is overall a good thing. It can be one of the very best things. But it can't be imposed. And we have to be honest with ourselves: the way it's addressed and presented rarely meets the intellectual hunger.
Think of internet atheism, which peaked 2008-2012. The "gotcha" smugness of it all (which I, among others, happily cheered and bought into.) It's a little like telling people you think love is for babies––it's an attempt to make yourself stronger, but also, buddy: you're fleeing from love?
I believe that a lot of people reject religion because they think they're too smart for it, because the religion they were taught in passing is for children: the God of "because I said so." It's easier to shirk, to sneer, and then to wonder why you feel empty.
Personally, I think C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" is one of the best religious texts ever written. It's smart, serious, thoughtful, human and interesting. It's also personal, in the age of personal connections. Eckhart Toole's "The Power of Now" is another terrific religious text, disguised as something else.
Any appeal to religion should begin with love. But I think intellectual rigor is the name of the game.
Read philosopher Peter Kreeft if you want some actual intellectual rigor. Since the 1400's we've been in the idiocy of nominalism, empiricism and Descartes forgetting about the objects of his "cogito". We are philosophical illiterates in the west.
I think religion (and spirituality!) is overall a good thing. It can be one of the very best things. But it can't be imposed. And we have to be honest with ourselves: the way it's addressed and presented rarely meets the intellectual hunger.
Think of internet atheism, which peaked 2008-2012. The "gotcha" smugness of it all (which I, among others, happily cheered and bought into.) It's a little like telling people you think love is for babies––it's an attempt to make yourself stronger, but also, buddy: you're fleeing from love?
I believe that a lot of people reject religion because they think they're too smart for it, because the religion they were taught in passing is for children: the God of "because I said so." It's easier to shirk, to sneer, and then to wonder why you feel empty.
Personally, I think C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" is one of the best religious texts ever written. It's smart, serious, thoughtful, human and interesting. It's also personal, in the age of personal connections. Eckhart Toole's "The Power of Now" is another terrific religious text, disguised as something else.
Any appeal to religion should begin with love. But I think intellectual rigor is the name of the game.
Read philosopher Peter Kreeft if you want some actual intellectual rigor. Since the 1400's we've been in the idiocy of nominalism, empiricism and Descartes forgetting about the objects of his "cogito". We are philosophical illiterates in the west.