RELIGION, NATIONALISM & CONSUMERISM
Conversation Outline: for MONDAY JANUARY 27 2020 CLC GATHERING AT ST NOEL What do we mean by ‘religion’? What is its relationship to nationality and culture? THE PARADOX OF PLURALISM Jack Miles Miles offers two definitions of religion. The first modern one where religion as we know it is “one human activity among many other kinds such as business, politics, warfare, art, law, sports, or science.“ Some contemporary people such as Jews, Hopi, and those from India do not experience religion in this way. “What you people call Hinduism is for me just part of being Indian.” “Judaism is not a religion Judiasm is a way of life.” The second ancient definition given by Miles: “Throughout most on world history in most parts of the world what we are accustomed to call religion, ethnicity and culture have been inextricable parts of a single whole.” Miles argues Chri...