Clash of Fundamentalisms

Ian Murray seamus2001 at attbi.com
Wed May 1 10:32:27 PDT 2002


----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema" <crdbronx at erols.com> To: "LBO-TALK" <Lbo-Talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2002 10:01 AM Subject: Clash of Fundamentalisms

" Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 20:21:32 +0000 From: "Justin Schwartz" <jkschw at hotmail.com> Subject: Re: The Clash of Fundamentalisms


>
>Just what would a materialist analysis of indifference/hostility towards
>material
>well being consist of? Is there a hair shirt aesthetic that denies claims
>of being
>masochistic coursing through monotheisms?
>
>Ian

Actually Nietzsche'as account of asceticism in the Geneaology is materialist . . . . jks "

Just rereading it now, mostly because of the discussion of "ascetic priests" that I thought would be relevant to the priestly pedophilia scandal. Justin is abundantly right about this. This is where Nietzsche is particularly illuminating.

Also, on the specific history of Judaic, Christian and Islamic fundamentalisms, see Karen Armstrong's Book FUNDAMENTALISM.

Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema

=================

Except that someone such as Buddha doesn't fit the bill. I'm not interested in the riches to rags as renunication/resentment but trying to understand the scrutinizing of material affluence for the sake of pursuing voluntary simplicity -- which seems to be popular on the West Coast of the US because of post-WWII exposure to Asian ideas-- and finding other dimensions of human experience as contributive to well-being.

Nietzsche didn't think affluence was an end in itself and oft thought is was a barrier to understanding other possibilities, especially in the realm of the aesthetic, no?

Ian



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