GR organised religion cf. personal beliefs

[Mutualcode at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/23/2003 6:57:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
jbor at bigpond.com writes:


> No, that's not correct. I made a distinction between personal religious
> faith or beliefs and organised religion. People's beliefs don't cop a bad
> rap in Pynchon's works, but organised religion does.
> 
> 

I am not sure that religion... language... what the hell- take it
to the max- self-consciousness, can exist in any purely
personalized form. As awareness of self must include a
recognition of non-self, so too with the belief and practice
of religion, as opposed to any left over "free-time" of the
secular day. Even the most hermetic monk, aesthete, yogi,
what-have-you, practices his or her way of life in opposition
to the mainstream, in which said practitioner seeks to become
an island.

What I'm asking is, is social organization itself what is being
given the bad rap, of which religion, even in its most furtive- my 
thoughts are my own- variety, is  just another manifestation?

All of which leads back to the family unit, I suppose, and what
glue- natural, contrived, or just plain miraculous. keeps
the whole thing in play long enough to perpetuate itself, and
hopefully, to evolve toward something a little less toxic- to its
members and to the environment.

At least spring seems to be arriving around these parts, at long
last. It's a season I'm usually anxious to get through quickly- too
fickle- but this year, it just seems more welcome in whatever
guise it might present itself. Bring on the birds, bees and flowers.
Can Fall be far behind?

respectfully
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