Silent H responds to me:
quote:
I'm not sure why a person who finds religion so awful would want to use those rituals as the glue.
Because it's already pervasive. We here in the West live in a predominantly Christian culture. The imagery and culture are overwhelmingly tilted in its favor. Pretty much everyone will have Tuesday off.
So why fight it? It is extremely difficult to change cultural attitudes wholesale. You have to work with what you have. That's how Christianity did it: Christmas was once a pagan festival. So was Easter. And now, most current Christians have no understanding of the original intent behind the traditions they still carry out. They give their kids chocolate rabbits and eggs and don't give it a second thought.
I can't tell you how many times I've received gelt at the homes of Christians. They don't know why they're giving out chocolate coins...all they know is that it's the kind of chocolate that shows up in December. They have no concept of the Jewish tradition behind it.
quote:
Second, Dawkins has championed the concept of memes. He states that the god meme is viral. It is rather odd to believe maintaining arcane rituals and music based around faith in gods, is somehow going to diminish the presence of this meme.
But again, not if you are working to change it. It is harder to displace a meme than to evolve it. One of the most popular Christmas carols of all time was written by a Russian Jew regarding his experience in Los Angeles:
The sun is shining
The grass is green
The orange and palms trees sway
There's never been such a day
In Beverly Hills, LA
But it's December the 24th
And I'm longing to be up north
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Other than the superficial use of the word "Christmas," there's no mention of god or Jesus. There's only the barest hint of a reference to Santa. The main thrust of the piece is the sentimentality of winter. It lets you provide the meaning of what "Christmas" is.
How much easier to have religion slip away than to provide popular substitutes? They let you keep the need for ritual while changing the message. Instead of "Silent Night" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem," you start singing "Jingle Bells" and "Sleighride."
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Other than historically, how would it help?
Why are you denigrating the historical?
quote:
Thirdly, he argues that moderates empower fundamentalists. His use of religious material and practices most certainly empowers moderates. That would seem to be inconsistent.
Not if you're moving the moderates toward your position. Again, if you are leaching the religious understory out of the ritual, then it would be a bad idea to stake such a contrasting position that you can't find common ground. Like it or not, people need ritual. We have an amazingly entrenched ritual in our culture. It has already been changed from one form into another and it was done not by doing away with it but by co-opting it.
So why not do it again?
Rrhain
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