4 ms·

Historically churches and other community groups, including the Masons, would help in this regard. It appears as if this gone now. For example, black churches u

Historically churches and other community groups, including the Masons, would help in this regard. It appears as if this gone now. For example, black churches use to have get out the vote buses that helped people register. They would work with their paritioners and the large community to make sure that people could get to DMVs or wherever the locality required people to sign up. It appears like that is largely gone. Masonry and church attendance are on the wane. The government as god seems to have grown in its place. Unfortunately, many of the new adherents don't understand community nor civics. It will be interesting to see what happens as millennials gain more power.

BigJono 9y ago
I feel like there's a void to be filled here. Something that allows people to build a sense of community without all the make-believe crap.
- virmundi 9y ago
  There might be. I don't know what it is. As a former Mason, the teachings are symbolic. Few people think they are historical. People don't really do symbolic anymore. We do TV. Not be too much of a curmudgeon, but I don't think our society at this time has much of a philosophical bone left in it. As a result, we mostly reflect on ourselves as narcissists. Look at Facebook. It's use is a known cause of depression. We feel bad because others make their lives look so perfect or interesting. We get in flame wars on political topics. We no longer appeal to traditions like Locke or Rousseau. We don't reason about things. We feel and are offended. If what I said is even mostly true, how do you build a society on that? At this point we've stared too long into the abyss. Perhaps we need the "make-believe crap" to bind us. Perhaps its not crap, but rather what the world is and our ignoring is leading to our own demise?
  - behringer 9y ago
    Believing it is what got us here in the first place.
    - virmundi 9y ago
      Belief boosted community. Black churches, unified by a belief in the intrinsic value of humanity, got people to vote, to march, and to change. Whites, Asians, and others, unified by a common core belief pushed against the violence and racism of their day to improve the lots of their fellow man. At the forefront was not a scientist, not a technocrat, but a preacher, surrounded by preachers. At its zenith, as with all things lofty, religion started to fade. In its setting the government rose. It took up the mantle of diety. It became father. We live in its world now. We are poorer for it. Government takes power from the people and apportions it to its acolytes. Organization for its own sake is the status quo. To streamline government is to unemploye millions. Our calf requires total subservience with little benefit. Perhaps we’ll find a way to control our new leviathan. Maybe we can yoke it to till the soil of communal need. We could even do that by trying to preserve the dignity of man. To do that we might have to abandon our new truth that life is an accident. That man has no more importance than a rock. This might be a noble lie. We need something for we have only straw to grasp now handed to us by our new religion postmodernism.
      - marnett 9y ago
        Do you have any more writing on this subject? I have been working on an essay discussing the lack of this philosophical backbone in our ideologies we build up - the new religion of the intellectual liberals of today (traditional dictionary definition of liberal, of course). I can feel a similar emotion in your writing.
        virmundi 9y ago
        Mostly it’s from high school philosophy classes and YouTube. Watch enough Jordan Peterson and YouTube will feed you more. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Peterson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Peterson
        marnett 9y ago
        It does have a similar ring as Jordan Peterson, you are correct.
- r00fus 9y ago
  Could be the "make believe crap" serves a useful function as social lubricant and adherence factor. Perhaps have more obvious and better make believe (flying spaghetti monster)?
- lazyasciiart 9y ago
  I think that's what Universal Unitarianism is meant to be - I certainly know atheists who have joined one for the community and felt welcome.
  - KozmoNau7 9y ago
    You mean Unitarian Universalism? :-)

BigJono 9y ago

I feel like there's a void to be filled here. Something that allows people to build a sense of community without all the make-believe crap.

virmundi 9y ago
There might be. I don't know what it is. As a former Mason, the teachings are symbolic. Few people think they are historical. People don't really do symbolic anymore. We do TV. Not be too much of a curmudgeon, but I don't think our society at this time has much of a philosophical bone left in it. As a result, we mostly reflect on ourselves as narcissists. Look at Facebook. It's use is a known cause of depression. We feel bad because others make their lives look so perfect or interesting. We get in flame wars on political topics. We no longer appeal to traditions like Locke or Rousseau. We don't reason about things. We feel and are offended. If what I said is even mostly true, how do you build a society on that? At this point we've stared too long into the abyss. Perhaps we need the "make-believe crap" to bind us. Perhaps its not crap, but rather what the world is and our ignoring is leading to our own demise?
- behringer 9y ago
  Believing it is what got us here in the first place.
  - virmundi 9y ago
    Belief boosted community. Black churches, unified by a belief in the intrinsic value of humanity, got people to vote, to march, and to change. Whites, Asians, and others, unified by a common core belief pushed against the violence and racism of their day to improve the lots of their fellow man. At the forefront was not a scientist, not a technocrat, but a preacher, surrounded by preachers. At its zenith, as with all things lofty, religion started to fade. In its setting the government rose. It took up the mantle of diety. It became father. We live in its world now. We are poorer for it. Government takes power from the people and apportions it to its acolytes. Organization for its own sake is the status quo. To streamline government is to unemploye millions. Our calf requires total subservience with little benefit. Perhaps we’ll find a way to control our new leviathan. Maybe we can yoke it to till the soil of communal need. We could even do that by trying to preserve the dignity of man. To do that we might have to abandon our new truth that life is an accident. That man has no more importance than a rock. This might be a noble lie. We need something for we have only straw to grasp now handed to us by our new religion postmodernism.
    - marnett 9y ago
      Do you have any more writing on this subject? I have been working on an essay discussing the lack of this philosophical backbone in our ideologies we build up - the new religion of the intellectual liberals of today (traditional dictionary definition of liberal, of course). I can feel a similar emotion in your writing.
      - virmundi 9y ago
        Mostly it’s from high school philosophy classes and YouTube. Watch enough Jordan Peterson and YouTube will feed you more. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Peterson https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Peterson
        marnett 9y ago
        It does have a similar ring as Jordan Peterson, you are correct.
r00fus 9y ago
Could be the "make believe crap" serves a useful function as social lubricant and adherence factor. Perhaps have more obvious and better make believe (flying spaghetti monster)?
lazyasciiart 9y ago
I think that's what Universal Unitarianism is meant to be - I certainly know atheists who have joined one for the community and felt welcome.
- KozmoNau7 9y ago
  You mean Unitarian Universalism? :-)