Let me just say that of all the pieces that we have read so far, I absolutely love this one. It calls so much attention to the very thing that gives us life(in my opinion): awareness Not only does awarness gives everything living thing life but it is what separates us humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Our awarness of killing. Our awarness of habitat. Our awareness of education and so forth. But this speech is really brillant to me.
My absolute favorite part is where he begins to talk about worshipping "There is no such thing as not worshipping...Worship intellect, being seen as smart- you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out." It's like he hit it right on the spot. I had never thought about the idea that religion could move past a spiritual being(s) that one believed. But it is really true because some people really do worship money. I have a few friends who honestly believe that beauty is skin deep. They refuse to befriend anyone below their standards; in doing so they have missed out on making friends who will actually mean something and stick around. But I just love how he makes it a point to let it be known that religion is beyond a person; it can be a concept, or thing as well.
Another point that he makes that I like is about "socially conscious" thinking. It made me smile after I read this speech because I try to be more socially conscious of what is going on around me. If I'm doing that then it means that I am aware of what is going on in life. I like to be that kind of person. The way that I grew up was a bit on the spoiled side and I use to have a motto that "everything was about me." So for me "self centered" thinking was my default setting. The fact that I can switch from self centered to socially conscious is a major plus for me.
All in all I really like this speech. Can't say that enough. But it had really good meaning and a great message. For me it screamed "you can be aware without being moral." It's not that things can't happen or exist it's just that you accept the notion that it is possible.
Nice post! I really really enjoyed your comments in class yesterday too. Thank you for taking a risk and saying "I worship equality." A question like that from a teacher makes you really put yourself out there and its a scary thing sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that religion expands beyond what we would think of as God as a being. A key part of religion is ritual (which is one thing that connects so called "pagan" religions to monotheisms like Christianity and Judaism). Ritual/worship is one of the most interesting things to me about religion.