>I didn't *exactly* say that buddhism is not a religion. I said I am a
>buddhist who does not consider it a religion. It is my primary path of
>spirituality, and it may be my primary way of looking at a lot of things in
>the world. But, I'm a bit skeptical that there is any such thing as a
>'COMPREHENSIVE WORLDVIEW' anyway. What does that mean? I know some pretty
>devout, almost fanatic Christians, but they don't seem, to me anyway, to
>interpret everything in terms of their religion.

Let's put it another way--the reference to Rawls's phrase,
"comprehensive worldview," was for the benefit of any political
scientists out there who might be familiar with Rawls.

a) Paul Tillich, the Protestant theologian, described religion as the
realm of one's "ultimate concern." This is perhaps one way of
rephrasing the idea of a "comprehensive worldview." I could go into
more detail on Tillich if you are interested.

b) Anthropologists and philosophers of religion are pretty much in
widespread agreement that things "religious" generally involve some
sense of the "sacred" and the "profane." Given that vast amounts of
environmentalist discourse revolves around the "profane" insults that
humans hurl against "sacred" nature, this would be another element I
would add to my analysis of environmentalism as a religion.

[snip]

>[You are right I did reduce the argument to an absurd example, but what I was
>doing was a simple falsification by example. And if you don't think science
>fiction can qualify as a religion, in the sense of a COMPREHENSIVE
>WORLDVIEW, go to a Star Trek Convention http://www.vir-con.net/ sometime.
>Cripes, there are people who "speak" Klingon. And this is my point, setting
>up any set of parameters and then saying 'if this or that meets these
>criteria, it is a religion' is sophistry, or at least so I believe.

Steven, what you've just described--"setting up any set of parameters
and then saying 'if this or that meets this criteria, [then] it is
X"--is philosophy, not sophistry. What you've just described is
conceptual analysis, whether the concept is X or religion. What
you've just described is analytic philosophy of religion in the
Anglo-American mode.

Jim





>
>Live long and prosper,
>Steven
>
>
>>From: Jim Tantillo <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: "Discussion forum for environmental ethics."
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: Crichton's argument
>>Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 16:33:45 -0500
>>
>>>
>>>Si, as a buddhist who does not consider buddhism a religion, you are
>>>correct. I think that changing the definition of religion and then saying,
>>>"Aha, reading science fiction is a form of religion" doesn't really mean
>>>much. Same with environmentalism, not doubt it can become an ideology,
>>>even
>>>a fanatic obsession, but IMHO that don't make it a religion.
>>
>>It is easy to *parody* the idea that a comprehensive worldview may be
>>a religion by reducing the idea _ad absurdum_ to examples like your
>>"reading science fiction" is a religion. But this is to miss rather
>>completely the point of what a COMPREHENSIVE WORLDVIEW is. (sorry
>>for shouting). :-)
>>
>>I think your claim that Buddhism is *not* a religion is at the very
>>least debatable, as a philosophical and theoretical/theological
>>issue. It is not, in my humble opinion, "non-sensical" or
>>"imbecilic" to discuss the issue. Serious people of goodwill can
>>agree to disagree on this issue, as I sense you and I do, SB. But
>>there are still very real philosophical questions here to discuss.
>>
>>What is a religion?
>>
>>Does environmentalism--or at least certain forms of
>>environmentalism--qualify as a religion?
>>
>>jt
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>Steven
>>>
>>>_________________________________________________________________
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