I - Fundamentalism
Mar11,2006 12:08 ReligionHubris In Religion
We can appreciate acting on beliefs that are not just
something accepted, but known as a truth (this seems
a distinction that people outside a particular
fundamentalist view don’t often make - not that
we are inside any fundamentalist view).
Fundamentalism, however, historically, today, and in
the future, is a source of tremendous hubris and a
good example of a fusion of hubris in both its
classical and modern meanings.
Fundamentalist knowledge (again, to call it belief is to step further from a fundamentalistic point of view), requires such a large group ego, and personal ego for its incorrigibility to function - thus a manifestation of hubris in the modern sense. This incorrigible ego and knowledge has been, is, and will be the source of tremendous violence (e.g. the Crusades, Inquisition, Modern Terrorists, etc.) - thus a manifestation of hubris in its classical sense.
The violence of fundamentalist hubris, has accidentally brought about some good - e.g. A renaissance in the West would have taken much longer w/ out the Latin Occupation of Constantinople, but the accidental good by no means whatsoever even remotely comes close to the horrors of fundamentalist hubris.
Just looking historically, the reentrance of Plato, Aristotle, and other classical texts from the Latin Occupation of Constantinople, by no means outweighs 1. the destruction of the Library of Alexandria or 2. the fact that followers of the Prophet did not know barbarism until the Western Crusaders taught it to them.
This is just a quick historical example, and limited to hubris in religion. But 9/11, the Balkan conflicts, the violence in Sri Lanka and Nepal, the wars in the Middle East, much of the reasoning of the Bush Administration - all modern fundamentalistic hubris with extremely violent consequences.
Religious Antihubris: reading the holy texts of the world in the spirit of the text - not by the literal word; education that makes one question one’s fundamental views and leads not just to tolerance of other views, but acceptance and even a synthesis with other views.
To help this process of education, in addition to other resources we’re continually working on, we have started to develop the Antihubris.com Book Collection.
Fundamentalist knowledge (again, to call it belief is to step further from a fundamentalistic point of view), requires such a large group ego, and personal ego for its incorrigibility to function - thus a manifestation of hubris in the modern sense. This incorrigible ego and knowledge has been, is, and will be the source of tremendous violence (e.g. the Crusades, Inquisition, Modern Terrorists, etc.) - thus a manifestation of hubris in its classical sense.
The violence of fundamentalist hubris, has accidentally brought about some good - e.g. A renaissance in the West would have taken much longer w/ out the Latin Occupation of Constantinople, but the accidental good by no means whatsoever even remotely comes close to the horrors of fundamentalist hubris.
Just looking historically, the reentrance of Plato, Aristotle, and other classical texts from the Latin Occupation of Constantinople, by no means outweighs 1. the destruction of the Library of Alexandria or 2. the fact that followers of the Prophet did not know barbarism until the Western Crusaders taught it to them.
This is just a quick historical example, and limited to hubris in religion. But 9/11, the Balkan conflicts, the violence in Sri Lanka and Nepal, the wars in the Middle East, much of the reasoning of the Bush Administration - all modern fundamentalistic hubris with extremely violent consequences.
Religious Antihubris: reading the holy texts of the world in the spirit of the text - not by the literal word; education that makes one question one’s fundamental views and leads not just to tolerance of other views, but acceptance and even a synthesis with other views.
To help this process of education, in addition to other resources we’re continually working on, we have started to develop the Antihubris.com Book Collection.
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