Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'ecumenical'

Theology of Religions v. History of Religions

August 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Axial Age Religions, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Definitions of Religion, Evolution and Selection, Neolithic Religions, Shamans and Shamanism

Over at HuffPo Religion, a well meaning Matthew Anderson suggests that all American junior-senior high school students should be required to take a minimum of two classes on world religions so as to be exposed to something other than their parents’ religion.  He supposes that these courses would foster tolerance and lead to a more [...]

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Enlightened Religionists Chide the Masses

June 20th, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism and Religion, Axial Age Religions, Classifications of Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Definitions of Religion, Emotions and Religion, Recent and New Religions

In the beginning, I had some hope for the Huffington Post’s relatively new section devoted to religion.  Here was a forum, I thought, where difficult questions could be asked and possible answers ventured.  Not once, however, have I read a post which asks a tough question, which might include any of the following:

What is “religion”?
Why [...]

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Sunday Sundries — Spiritual Odds and Religious Ends

June 6th, 2010 · No Comments · Axial Age Religions, Cognition and Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Daily Devolutions, History of Religions, Morality and Religion, Ritual and Religion

As usual, lots of weird news from religion land.  Let’s start with this AP report about a Baptist minister in St. Cloud, MN who paid for a newspaper ad stating that Muslims “seek to influence a nation by immigration, reproduction, education, the government, illegal drugs and by supporting the gay agenda.”
This minister clearly knows nothing [...]

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Appeasing Religionists and Cramping Science

May 23rd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Atheism and Religion, Classifications of Religion, Daily Devolutions, Definitions of Religion, History of Religions, Methodology of Religion

Over at HuffPo Religion, the evolutionary biologist Michael Zimmerman has posted an article titled “Religion and Science: Respecting the Differences.”  Zimmerman argues that science has its domain and boundaries and that religion has its domain and boundaries, and that science should stick to science and religion should stick to religion.
It all sounds measured and reasonable [...]

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Religious Syncretism — Christian Yoga and Tantric Sex

May 8th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Classifications of Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, History of Religions, Pagans and Polytheism, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Ritual and Religion

Based on keyword searches leading people to this blog, it appears that many are interested in religious syncretism.  With this in mind, I thought some comments would be in order.  To kick things off let’s take note of two recent articles, each of which sheds some minor light on syncretism.
In the first, Lois Solomon of [...]

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The Meta-God(s) and The Golden Rule

April 19th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Cultural Evolution of Religion, History of Religions, Morality and Religion

There are many people, deeply imbued with the spirit of tolerance, who assert that the God/gods of all religions are really the same God, and that all these religions are getting at the same Truth, which can be boiled down to the Golden Rule.  This ecumenical view reduces all religions to a lowest common denominator, [...]

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