New Posts For Thread: Why the Pope Hates Nunshttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns"It's tempting to simply view the church hierarchy as a cult of misogyny. But at its heart, it's a cult of power; misogyny is but one tool for securing that power." "Roman Catholicism, in its institutional form, is imploding," Hunt told AlterNet."SomThere is no centre and this has to be created and ideological enterprises, organized and institutionalized do precisely that. Ego, the subject is the centre, focus of ideological representations. Such centring can be religious (holy figures, prophehttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520868887#520868887There is no centre and this has to be created and ideological enterprises, organized and institutionalized do precisely that. Ego, the subject is the centre, focus of ideological representations. Such centring can be religious (holy figures, propheFri, 15 Jun 2012 16:17:07 -0500And this is where numbers matter. If it were just me, you could write it off as anecdotal and meaningless. But when a couple of million other hopeless alcoholics say the same thing, then I think the experience warrants a legitimate voice in the theolhttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520859677#520859677And this is where numbers matter. If it were just me, you could write it off as anecdotal and meaningless. But when a couple of million other hopeless alcoholics say the same thing, then I think the experience warrants a legitimate voice in the theolFri, 15 Jun 2012 13:01:01 -0500And this is where numbers matter. If it were just me, you could write it off as anecdotal and meaningless. But when a couple of million other hopeless alcoholics say the same thing, then I think the experience warrants a legitimate voice in the theolhttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520859045#520859045And this is where numbers matter. If it were just me, you could write it off as anecdotal and meaningless. But when a couple of million other hopeless alcoholics say the same thing, then I think the experience warrants a legitimate voice in the theolFri, 15 Jun 2012 12:44:56 -0500I can hear the evocative echoes of Rumi...I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went ashttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520856591#520856591I can hear the evocative echoes of Rumi...I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went asFri, 15 Jun 2012 11:49:37 -0500The debate ended for me when I opted for AA's "God as we [individually] understood Him." As the Big Book attests, "We found the Great Reality within us. In the last analysis, it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us."But just to takehttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520853969#520853969The debate ended for me when I opted for AA's "God as we [individually] understood Him." As the Big Book attests, "We found the Great Reality within us. In the last analysis, it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us."But just to takeFri, 15 Jun 2012 10:49:25 -0500Thanks Cherub for the apt James citation. Indeed, it works better than Weber in this context. Even if sacerdotal orders served some necessary historical function in the cultural evolution of mankind, it seems rather far-fetched to see similar relevanhttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520851619#520851619Thanks Cherub for the apt James citation. Indeed, it works better than Weber in this context. Even if sacerdotal orders served some necessary historical function in the cultural evolution of mankind, it seems rather far-fetched to see similar relevanFri, 15 Jun 2012 09:57:20 -0500I think the prayerful consciousness does transform at least the individual doing it and hopefully this rejuvenates the person to go out and do great things so to speak. I think it serves valuable maintenance and transformative functions in humans. Ihttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520849327#520849327I think the prayerful consciousness does transform at least the individual doing it and hopefully this rejuvenates the person to go out and do great things so to speak. I think it serves valuable maintenance and transformative functions in humans. IFri, 15 Jun 2012 09:11:32 -0500I think William James addressed that dilemma far better than Weber:"The religious phenomenon, studied as an Inner fact, and apart from ecclesiastical or theological complications, has shown itself to consist everywhere, and at all its stages, in thehttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520848905#520848905I think William James addressed that dilemma far better than Weber:"The religious phenomenon, studied as an Inner fact, and apart from ecclesiastical or theological complications, has shown itself to consist everywhere, and at all its stages, in theFri, 15 Jun 2012 08:59:31 -0500Without delving further into the merits of contemporary sociology as a scientific discipline demonstrating dispassionate empiricism (my masters thesis back in the day was devoted to this very theme), I do share an understanding on the relevance and nhttp://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520846851#520846851Without delving further into the merits of contemporary sociology as a scientific discipline demonstrating dispassionate empiricism (my masters thesis back in the day was devoted to this very theme), I do share an understanding on the relevance and nFri, 15 Jun 2012 08:11:27 -0500There should be room for both approaches. I'd like a trained surgeon if I needed brain surgery but I'd prefer a poet to sing to me the mysteries and vagaries of love.http://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/43851/29156877/Why_the_Pope_Hates_Nuns?post_id=520846349#520846349There should be room for both approaches. I'd like a trained surgeon if I needed brain surgery but I'd prefer a poet to sing to me the mysteries and vagaries of love.Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:57:43 -0500