Hallowed Secularism: Religion, Art, Science and Philosophy Are Invitations

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Religion, Art, Science and Philosophy Are Invitations

11/23/2010—Yesterday, I was privileged to hear my friend and teacher, Robert Taylor, address his class in Law and Religion on the subject of his philosophy of religion. I am sorry that the address did not take place on a larger stage. Robert had previously told me he is not going to publish his remarks, so I will not presume to reproduce them here. But two statements stood out.

Robert began his address by describing the four fundamental realms of access to truth: religion, art, science and philosophy. While the rest of us might regard these four ways of life as independent, or even hostile to each other, Robert described them all as invitations.

All of us might have different terms for what the invitation is to. But I have been struck since yesterday in reflection that the great spirits in all four realms have often overlapped these realms: the scientists who see reality better through music; the scientist who sees the mind of God in physics and so forth. This should come as no surprise. Reality, after all, is not a bunch of different things. Reality is fundamentally one thing that looks different from different points of view. That last sentence is another example of overlap, since it was our religions that first taught humanity that reality is one thing. Scientists have been on the traces of the theory of everything ever since.

The other thing Robert said was that there are only two commandments: to love God and to love otherness and that they amount to the same thing. Robert reminded me of the story in the New Testament (Luke: 10) where the lawyer asked how to live and Jesus replied to look to the tradition. The man then said to love God and neighbor, which Jesus confirmed. The lawyer then wanted to know how far “neighbor” went and Jesus replied with the parable of the Samaritan, a group that Jews of the time did not accept. In other words, love otherness.

Judaism of Jesus’ time did not call this one commandment, but two. But Robert is surely right that they are one, even as the Sh’ma says that God is one.

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Welcome

There is a man in America who was taken to church as a child. When he went to a local college Sam spent most of his time with friends, studying, playing games and with nice girls. When holidays came around he went to church with his parents where he liked the preacher's stories but Sam did not believe the parts that insisted that God was the all powerful.

When he took his first job as an accountant Sam was able to live in a nice house and enjoy life around town with his friends. He became engaged to a woman he loved and they had plans for a secure life. As time went on Sam made plans for getting a better job and living a better life.

He moved with his family to a new city where there was a well paying job. When Sam was alone he occasionally had feelings of depression and loneliness even though he loved his family and they loved him. He tried many things like taking his family on vacations and spending more time entertaining his friends but the uplifting benefits of these things would fade quickly.

Sam was very protective of what he had and was very sad when his first child went off to a university. His children visited on occasion, he moved to better jobs and bought nice things to live with. Until the day Sam died he worked to get that better life that America had promised but there was always more that was needed.
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Now there is another man in America who was also taken to church as a child. When he went to a local college Pat spent most of his time with friends, studying, playing games and with nice girls. When holidays came around he went to church with his parents where he liked the preacher's stories but Pat did not believe the parts that insisted that God was the all powerful.

When he took his first job as an accountant Pat was able to live in a nice house and enjoy life around town with his friends. He became engaged to a woman he loved and they had plans for an abundant life. As time went on Pat made plans for ensuring that his family would have what they needed.

He moved a few times between jobs looking for one that would pay the bills and was a fulfilling place to work. When Pat was alone he thought about who he was and what the right way was to raise a family. He took his family on vacations, entertained friends and reminded himself constantly that he was lucky to have these things he loved.

Pat had high hopes for his children and encouraged them to take risks while being conscious to do the right thing. He and his wife stayed in the same house and his children came back to visit on occasion. Until the day Pat died he pursued a good life, he love America for providing him the opportunities he had and was fulfilled with his life.

The difference between Sam and Pat is not some psychological difference; it is that Pat believed that there was a universal good within a world of randomness and Sam believed that relationships and objects could make his life good. Sam was a Secularist, Pat was a Hallowed Secularist.

This blog will track the progress of a new way of life in this society, a way of life that may come to be known as Hallowed Secularism. In the short run, I will be writing a book that describes this way of life, at least as I see its future. But in the longer run, others will decide the future of Hallowed Secularism by living it.

A group of self-announced atheists, such as Christopher Hitchens, is currently trying to push secularism toward atheism and away from religion. But secularism need not be atheism. The secularist rejects many things the religious person holds dear: a traditional God, life after death, miracles and so forth. But the secularist can still have a conception of God or Godhead. The secularist may see a deep pattern in history and may feel a profound connection to all that is. Secularism can be holy. You and I will live that possibility.

Upcoming Events and Appearances

Oxford University Press will publich Bruce's new book, The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life, in early October. Preorder now from Oxford, Amazon or wherever you buy books.
Bruce will participate in a zoom discussion of the Electoral College and The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact with the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
Bruce will be delivering the Larry Grimes Lecture at Bethany College on October 7.
Bruce is interviewed on the podcast Ikthos at https://ikthos.podbean.com/e/episode-4-interview-with-prof-bruce-ledewitz/
Indiana University Press has published Church, State, and the Crisis in American Secularism. A trailer for the book can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n2aEHsYP5Q
A podcast about the book can be accessed here.