tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post5727996732920660722..comments2023-10-21T03:54:12.029-04:00Comments on A Gift Universe: Public ritual in AmericaSheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-16842128726736476482015-06-09T23:30:27.605-04:002015-06-09T23:30:27.605-04:00+JMJ+
I recall an interview with the American mo...+JMJ+ <br /><br />I recall an interview with the American monarchist Charles Coulombe in which the interviewer teased him by saying that monarchy is full of empty rituals, and Coulombe quipped back, "You mean like voting? And the Supreme Court?" <br /><br />I don't vote myself, but I have to admit that I feel bad about it whenever Election Day rolls around again and everyone else can really get into the spirit of it while I remain out in the cold. Not that I have anyone to blame but myself. =P Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-9622430354447828962015-06-09T15:28:36.755-04:002015-06-09T15:28:36.755-04:00Really? I thought with a name like Sunday Assembly...Really? I thought with a name like Sunday Assembly it would be every Sunday! Perhaps a Unitarian Universalist church? I have heard good things about those. Or a community choir. Or, heck, start something yourself with a couple of buddies. (Honestly, you make me want to start something myself!)<br /><br />Feeling left out is the worst, and now I feel that way all the time. But having spent my entire life in a Catholic subculture, I'm terrified to branch out at all.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-90687869099965716782015-06-09T09:32:49.283-04:002015-06-09T09:32:49.283-04:00Ah, sheesh, I know exactly what you mean re. how i...Ah, sheesh, I know exactly what you mean re. how it hurts not to buy in. I went to a Cdom-style wedding a month or two before I left, and that was so painful--because weddings for Cdom students are such religious things, where everyone talks about how you can see God in the people's lives, and everyone there has this awesome feeling of together-ness which makes you just feel completely alone and in the dark by yourself. So yeah, sorry.<br /><br />I should sing. I like to sing. We had songs at the Sunday Assembly, and I sung, and enjoyed it. But Sunday Assembly is once a month. I need something more frequent. Meh.SeekingOmnisciencehttp://seekingomniscience.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-54555832654031575742015-06-08T10:47:02.069-04:002015-06-08T10:47:02.069-04:00Maybe part of it is that almost everyone isn't...Maybe part of it is that almost everyone isn't NON-religious so much as POST-religious -- they carry along the baggage of their experience with religion, which may be negative. And then of course one of the purposes of ritual is unity with the past, which you can't have with a ritual that was made up last year (or which you only just discovered). So time might cure those two problems.<br /><br />But if you want emotional experiences, shared with others, singing in a choir and acting in a play are the two best ones I know. The Greeks weren't kidding when they talked about drama bringing catharsis. And there's been some interesting scientific discoveries about group singing and what it does to the brain -- which was no news to me, as a longtime choir singer. What I've realized lately about religion is that many of the good things of religion don't have to come together -- some of them are best enjoyed separately, your philosophy in one place and your emotion in another, or whatever.<br /><br />Or there's my route ... which is to go to Mass anyway and see how it goes. Which definitely has an upside and downside. Attempting to experience community while not buying in to what that community believes can be a rather painful experience, which is one of the reasons people buy in when otherwise they wouldn't. You hold back for awhile saying "I'll just enjoy the community without buying in," but that *hurts,* so you buy in after all.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-84053903831527654862015-06-07T22:23:03.015-04:002015-06-07T22:23:03.015-04:00...sadly, I would probably pay for a public ritual......sadly, I would probably pay for a public ritual that I felt really deeply a part of. But usually I don't get that during sports games, because I don't actually care about sports.<br /><br />Went to Sunday Assembly today. It was... meh. This topic is actually the kind of thing that rationalists probably debate too much--half are like "Hey, we're humans who need community!" and half are like "Hey, this is too much like a religion and weird me out!"SeekingOmnisciencehttp://www.seekingomniscience.comnoreply@blogger.com