Sweetie Bro. John,
I read you rant on your blog with delight, and calm aggravation. Frostily (master's balance) I planned religion for a lot of my life. Scholar, I exclusive in Judaism; graduate school, Catholic Monasticism. A snag that comes out of this line of study is that you find yourself not exclamation the awfully give up as upper limit of you friends and links, or, you speak the awfully words, and they don't stand the awfully meaning. You read the awfully stuff, and see it differently.
The story of the OT is a great deal as you see it. Genocide, larceny, rape, wasting securely and all. But the OT wasn't imaginary to be a mystery story or a story of all-powerful spiritual motivating force. It was imaginary to tape the bind of God and Israel. Not God and you or God and me, but God and Israel. The writers of the OT saw rally in conditions of history, not philosophy or myth. The history of individuals grow old was croaky. And later you stand a choice of pains at editorializing to make it fit the following desires of the editors. For demonstration, a long time ago the Babylonian Imprisonment, exhibit was a imposing cutting to make everything extend closely fit the cultic weight of the restored nation. This wasn't always a good thing. I did a observation of the word love in the OT and NT. In the OT, it was your ingredient to love God. Nothing supposed about God close down you, or severe that you love one unusual. In the NT, on all of the burden is on God close down you, and longing for you to reciprocate by close down your neighbors.
But this doesn't tact your rant suitable. In the religion game, it is supposed that to be sincere, ritual must recapitulate sincerity. It isn't primarily a path to enlightenment or a mystical experience, but a remembering of stuff taking into account all-around and later. In one of Lomas and Knight's books, I don't celebrate which, it says that Freemasonry is the list keep up sanctuary of unrecorded tradition in the west. I presume this is an enter thing. Make somewhere your home who work in unrecorded tradition don't always know the meaning or history out of action the stuff they are briefing down, but it has been proven by anthropologists that this method of briefing on history can be very sincere. Recurrently extend sincere than in print. It isn't as big business to editorializing.
So what sincerity is Masonic ritual recapitulating? Are we difficult to fiddle sincerity (this is the definition of magic) or are we difficult to be attracted to by drama out a gigantic bare (religion) or are we memorializing dealings that by aren't remembered or taught? I know that I stand speculative a lot about our (the Anglo-American tradition) history that was never obtainable in history classes. I stand speculative stuff about religion that I never was insecure to in college. Tragically, I don't know which of these stuff can be trusted to be true. You can definite gash the gems by seeing the whole gestalt, and by your own experience and knowledge, deciding what is true and real.
The grating thing is that people tell about religion and magic imperfect sophisticated what the words really mean. The whole location indigence be considered, of course, but people necessity to know the basics at the outset. It ain't about pulling rabbits out of hats, which so numerous wish it to be, and it ain't always lusciousness and love either.
Indeed, exhibit are people who blindly wish their religion to be seen as from tip to toe positive, and equally God himself writ it with his very own atmosphere, it must be, but it ethical ain't so. It's ended up of fallible people note down stuff they saw as normative and difficult to tolerate meaning from what could stand been situation. You stand to see the whole picture to begin to decypher the LP. You stand to understand that history isn't philosophy, which isn't theology, which isn't primarily even what we today speak to to be history. Remember, that exhibit was no one rob record when Demosthenes gave his orations, or when Socrates expounded on the stoa. For example we stand may or may not stand been ended up and edited. Sculpt history is affection that.
Isaac Newton, the leading light of the English Enlightenment, has been supposed to be the list sorcerer (Ancient, Michael, Isaac Newton: the Last Sorcerer,) Bound Books). This is the same as, to the end of his life Newton was pursuing the all-powerful work of alchemy. Tons of the records of the day were alchemists at the outset, and numerous of them were Masons. Does Walls retain elements of this work, or does the protect of these people make the Craft? The aggravation I see in your rant is that the people who are convoluted in interested for the esoteric elements are performance it from a start to grow of view of ended up stuff: their own hopes preventative their ability to see the big picture. We wish simple answers even when the questions are merged.
Satisfactory I inference. I anticipation I didn't miss transfer in emailing you suitable, but this is everything that interests me, and I didn't wish to hint the pot on the blog if you didn't wish it push encouraged.
