Religion

First, a small business item: Due to some past confusion in determing the dates of our meetings, we have decided to regularize our schedule for the rest of this year. From now through December, Cofound will be meeting on the first and third Sundays of the month, every month... with the possible exception of Labor Day weekend. On months with a fifth Sunday, we will either skip a week or plan something special. Please pass this information along to those who may be interested in our discussions who do not have e-mail.

Now, here's the update:

It was a small group that came out on Fathers' Day to discuss religion and its role in our private and public lives. Those in attendance spoke casually about our own current and past involvement in religious activities, which, as it turns out, amounted to little, at least in comparison to many Americans. We also compared notes on the role religion played in our upbringings, and to what extent our perspectives on religion varied (or didn't) with those of previous generations in our families.

While we found much to disagree with in the attitudes of some of those who are religious, we also expressed respect and appreciation for the role that religion can play in motivating people to help others. One member shared a colorful anecdote about a passionately religious man's recent attempt to convert her, and how the effort - though unsuccessful - had led to a suprising level of understanding and discovery of common ground between them. And we all agreed that religion clearly moves a number of good people to do good work in the world.

Left largely unexamined, however, was the extent to which religion had shaped - and continues to shape - the history of our nation and of the world. In a broad, historical sense, has religion been primarily a force for good or a force for evil in our world? Have religion and politics become too intertwined, or not intertwined enough? Join us as we examine these and other issues, this Sunday, July 2, at the City Cafe in Mid-City Mall.

Special Note: For our July 16^th meeting Clint is inviting everyone to his country bungalow for a cookout. For more details come to the July 2^nd meeting or just look for our next update.

Human Limitations

At our June 4^th meeting we continued to delve into the human condition and the fallible ways we manage our societies. One speaker presented positive anecdotes about government response and helpfulness. Without disputing the phenomena, others questioned the underlying motives and thought that little more than lip service is given to all but the most powerful. Like us, public officials just follow human nature.

But the flaw is not simply that we're human. It's that humans are animals and as such have a limited capacity for the acquisition and processing of information. And our attention focuses narrowly on our immediate needs. The world may have become too complex and our personal lives too busy for us to give much thought to the bigger picture.

As they are boons to information dispersal, we considered television and the internet and their amazing effect on our culture. Notable exceptions aside, they usually overload us with a blur of images and crude content aimed squarely at people's carnal frivolities and desires… so we're told.

And useful information that does get in is filtered through perception and prejudices designed to serve biological needs. We discussed how facial symmetry and other cues mold our perceptions of others and alter the interactions to come. One lamented the tendency of inattentive voters to focus on candidates and single issues, prioritizing "personality over policy". Given the mortal limitations of the electorate, it's no wonder our system falls short of the ideal.

Our group looked at the Peter Principle, the idea that individuals are promoted up to a position in which they are incompetent. Can much the same be said of governments and societies? By inertia or design, dominant institutions become removed from the everyday, and their leadership, insulated and weak, undermines those who would threaten the status quo. Rome, the Chinese monarchy and the United States of late were given as examples of greatness and decline.

So is this the fate of nations? Are all peoples destined to repeat the history that seems to be their nature to create? If not, what force can alter that history? Toward the end of our discussion, the word "religion" was uttered....

Spirituality seems like a primal need for our kind. And it has certainly shaped civilization. But is it being radicalized today? Politicized? Should church and state be allowed to marry? Can the world's philosophies ever find common ground? Join us June 18^th, 3 PM at the City Café as we consider faith, salvation or damnation.