hi Jason,
jason winslade <[log in to unmask]>:
> how can you deal with notions of religious embodiment
> and spiritual practice without having any opinion on
> the topic?
that does sound like an impossible extreme.
I think what i was attempting to say was more
concisely pinpointed by Jesper Petersen: it isn't
that people shouldn't have personal opinions (have
all you like!), or that they shouldn't express any
opinions (how dry would that be!), but that those
opinions which are expressed are bolstered by some
kind of academic data or foundation from which to
launch them.
> I think it's possible to have and express opinions
> on religion without having them take over analysis.
> But they certainly inform that analysis.
agreed.
> I think the best anthropology identifies biases
> upfront, confronts and challenges them, rather
> than trying to deny all bias.
that is also my interest. that challenging and
confrontation can be done in an academic style,
which preserves comradery and mutual respect. :)
nagasiva yronwode ([log in to unmask]), Director
YIPPIE*! -- http://www.yronwode.org/
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*Yronwode Institution for the Preservation
and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
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