Twid's spiritual exploration thingie.

[LMNO]

So, are you going to learn Hebrew and go to Temple?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Roger did raise an interesting thing with the eclectic Pagan thing. Am I walking a fine line between exploration and cultural appropration? Religion is a tricky thing in that way. To be Jewish could mean several things. I could be a religious profession, or it could be an ethnicity. Gentiles can convert to it, so it's probably not cultural appropriation in this context. But what if I decided to try Native American spirituality for a while? Is that cultural appropriation and is there a line or is it this murky area where at some point it does become a little too much like appropriation?

I had an interesting reaction to your announcement that you were going to try on Judaism, a distinct negative gut reaction. I had to really feel it out and try to figure out why, and whether there was something I needed to say. It felt trivializing, because while Judaism is a religion, Jewishness is both a culture and an ethnicity, which you can't just try on for a month and then walk away from. People who are raised Jewish are permeated with the culture and the identity, it is very much a part of who they are. But, I sat with it for a while, and I concluded that it is the approach that matters, and that you are approaching it from a place of sincerity, to try to understand what it feels like to be Jewish by adopting  the Jewish worldview for a while and genuinely attempting to see the world as a Jew sees the world. I am not sure you can fully succeed in that (not only because you lack the upbringing, but because due to the seasonal/cyclical nature of the religion I think it requires at least one full year of practice, within a Jewish community, to get a Real Jewish Experience) but I think that seeking to understand and empathize with other people's viewpoints is good and worthwhile. So, I have no real objection.

I may well be Jewish for a year, as with Catholicism.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

So, are you going to learn Hebrew and go to Temple?

That will be what I have to talk to a rabbi about.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Personally, I have all the spiritualism I need, locked up somewhere in the cesspool that passes for my skull.  This is, again, a personal thing, but I neither want nor need anyone telling me their take on it, which is why I hardly ever talk about it myself.

Going to a church of any kind, IMO, is like yanking that little bit out of my brain and having it try on a uniform.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Personally, I have all the spiritualism I need, locked up somewhere in the cesspool that passes for my skull.  This is, again, a personal thing, but I neither want nor need anyone telling me their take on it, which is why I hardly ever talk about it myself.

Going to a church of any kind, IMO, is like yanking that little bit out of my brain and having it try on a uniform.

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

I'm already familiar with that one.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

I'm already familiar with that one.

So, yeah, just asking here:  What makes you think one congregation of primates will be a different experience than another congregation of primates?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

I'm already familiar with that one.

So, yeah, just asking here:  What makes you think one congregation of primates will be a different experience than another congregation of primates?

The congregation bit is part of the larger experience I'm after. It's not the goal.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

I'm already familiar with that one.

So, yeah, just asking here:  What makes you think one congregation of primates will be a different experience than another congregation of primates?

The congregation bit is part of the larger experience I'm after. It's not the goal.

Well, that was kind of my original point.  It will be the same thing as the Catholic congregation, only with a different dead language.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

I'm already familiar with that one.

So, yeah, just asking here:  What makes you think one congregation of primates will be a different experience than another congregation of primates?

The congregation bit is part of the larger experience I'm after. It's not the goal.

Well, that was kind of my original point.  It will be the same thing as the Catholic congregation, only with a different dead language.

Well, I suppose I should ask myself then if I can experience Judaism without attending Temple.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

I'm already familiar with that one.

So, yeah, just asking here:  What makes you think one congregation of primates will be a different experience than another congregation of primates?

The congregation bit is part of the larger experience I'm after. It's not the goal.

Well, that was kind of my original point.  It will be the same thing as the Catholic congregation, only with a different dead language.

Well, I suppose I should ask myself then if I can experience Judaism without attending Temple.

Get yourself beaten by a pair of skinheads at random intervals. 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

I'm already familiar with that one.

So, yeah, just asking here:  What makes you think one congregation of primates will be a different experience than another congregation of primates?

The congregation bit is part of the larger experience I'm after. It's not the goal.

Well, that was kind of my original point.  It will be the same thing as the Catholic congregation, only with a different dead language.

Well, I suppose I should ask myself then if I can experience Judaism without attending Temple.

Get yourself beaten by a pair of skinheads at random intervals.

I think that experience is largely absent in Boston.

Not to say that we don't have skinheads. They just usually spray paint swastikas, it seems.

[AFK]

FWIW, I think this is pretty cool Twid.  I know there are bits and pieces of different religions I've been interested in, on a purely philosophical level.  When you think about it, most religions to some degree or another are about a kind of ethic or framework for how to live your mortal life.  Take out the sky-fairy part, and it stands to reason that religions will have at least some ideas that are actually useful to help guide one. 


Certainly the sort of anthropological angle in the religious exploration is also an interesting one.  Get a window into how other Earthlings are steering their mortality.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The uniform thing occurred to me, but being a part of a congregation would help me understand the worldview better.

It will help you understand the worldview of "being part of a congregation" better.

I'm already familiar with that one.

So, yeah, just asking here:  What makes you think one congregation of primates will be a different experience than another congregation of primates?

We're a congregation of primates.