-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Bill Bartlett Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2003 7:29 PM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] RE: Xmas message
> Religion has already lost the battle in the US and most western
nations.
Even if this is the case, it is important to avoid defining "religion" too narrowly. If we opt for an anthropological understanding of "religious experience" (as having something to do with things like eating, death, ritual behaviour, clean and dirty, etc.) then we open the field of inquiry into a variety of different kinds of "religious" behaviour: shopping, sports, sex, celebrity, music, and so on. I think it is most helpful to view "religion" as the dialectical appropriation of instincts and drives for the purpose of achieving or working to achieve a variety of social-cultural ends. Religion makes use of / incorporates / generates / manipulates senses, perceptions, feelings of fear, comfort, love, balance, dignity, awe, and so on. This isn't going to go away... While certainly mainstream religiosity has been subject to some kind of deterioration... there are a plethora of substitutes that have arisen... from the mass of spiritualisms to the cult of home improvement. Your point is well taken, I just wanted to nuance it a bit.
thanks, ken