tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507971071895999602.post7699534857843582613..comments2022-11-16T15:01:27.839+00:00Comments on The Book of Barely Imagined Beings: A mangled bankCaspar Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04667141284390082748noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507971071895999602.post-55075955328584095322009-12-22T03:33:32.180+00:002009-12-22T03:33:32.180+00:00"Evangelical materialism" is probably mo..."Evangelical materialism" is probably more accurate, but I find both those words to be very loaded(it sounds like a critique of the capitalist Christian Right). <br /><br />As an aside on a related matter, I never know what to think when people call themselves "spiritual"-- sometimes it describes this non-religious sense of wonder; sometimes it means being a particularly Emilynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507971071895999602.post-10009891847650908942009-12-21T21:49:58.464+00:002009-12-21T21:49:58.464+00:00I'm not comfortable with pantheism either, eve...I'm not comfortable with pantheism either, even if (perhaps especially if) Richard Dawkins doesn't mind it. It still has 'theism' in it. <br /><br />Gaia theory, which Lovelock claims as theory not just a hypothesis, of course has no time for a literal goddess of any kind, but you'll always find New Age types somewhere or other who will try to push the boat in that Caspar Hendersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04667141284390082748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507971071895999602.post-30306386700294111012009-12-21T17:09:24.628+00:002009-12-21T17:09:24.628+00:00I'm not sure about using the term "panthe...I'm not sure about using the term "pantheism" for the attitude described in that article, since it still implies belief in a God-- and as the article notes, atheists can be pantheists. Even those who believe in the more extreme versions of the Gaia theory don't revere an earth-goddess(do they?). Maybe we need a term for "the mystical experiences available from immersion in Emilynoreply@blogger.com