1. What religion were you raised with and how does that affect your view of spiritual ecology?
2. What are your opinions on the Gaia Hypothesis? Do you agree or disagree?
3. Do you believe we live in a hyper-masculine culture? If so, how do you see it changing?
So to begin a context for my discussion of spiritual ecology, I should explain that I really do like using the term "spiritual" rather than "religious". I was not raised with a specific religion - my family did go to a Methodist church for a few years before my brother and I had too many Sunday morning soccer games. My dad was raised Catholic, but chose not to raise his family that way. The main spiritual direction I got from my family was that we believed in "God" - whoever or whatever that was to us - and that we should be "good" people in our lives. This has most affected me in the way that I first talked about: I have spiritual tendencies and am not tied to a particular religion. Secondly, I have done the best to keep my mind open and respectful towards the spirituality of others while building my own. For me, I do consider Nature to be a huge aspect of my spirituality...whatever "God" I believe in, I think it has something to do with that ubiquitous force of the Earth, and that whatever is responsible for creating humanity also creating this wonderful world of biodiversity, and we are intended to help govern each other in a mutual "progress".
The Gaia hypothesis seems interesting to further the end that we are subject to Nature - a part of it and dependent upon it as well as it being dependent upon us. I think it is most useful to provide just a broader context of thinking...we are living under specific cconditions, and what does it mean for those conditions to be perfect enough to support life as we know it?
In regards to a hyper-masculine culture, I can see a future where this changes, and I don't think that it is dependent upon first becoming posthumanist and postmodern. As the social norms are changing, I think that people will begin to question what they were taught - does it represent the way I live my life, is it respectful of the people that I care about in my life (women, etc)...?
I like how you consider yourself spiritual rather than religious. I had a very similar upbringing as you did; I was "raised" Methodist, but sports also began to consume our Sundays and we stopped going to church as well.
ReplyDeleteYou have some really good arguments, especially in regards to hyper-masculinity.