Episode 1: Why Religion? Why here? Why now? Why bother?
In this first episode, I introduce my vision for raising our religious intelligence through religious education and how you can help, regardless of whether you’re a theist, a nontheist, an atheist, or something else altogether.
Duration: 29 min 48 sec
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Excerpt
“Can I come up with a way to creatively and critically engage religion? Can I come up with a way to participate wholeheartedly in the religious life so that it feeds my body and mind and heart and everything?
Can it be emotionally satisfying as well as intellectually honest? Can I enrich myself even further by bringing even more intelligence, compassion, and creativity into the mix?
Can I bring in science, art, philosophy, psychology, all areas of research and study under the sun? In other words, does my religious life flourish when I add deep honest heartfelt questioning into the mix?
Can it help me come closer to understanding myself, all the people around me, and the world? Can my heart, like Ibn Arabi said in the poem I recited at the beginning, become capable of all forms and become inclusive of all things, all beliefs, all perspectives?
Finally, can I create new words, new perspectives, new models, new images of understanding that will help other people in their own lives?”
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 1:03 am and is filed under Podcast. Find similar posts by selecting any of the following tags: adventure, behavior, belief, core questions, creative thinking, critical thinking, ibn arabi, learning, religious miseducation, wholeness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Jenn Jones wrote on January 30, 2008 at 11:07 am:
I will join in the dialogue and discussion. You take the idea of “critical analysis” to unseen heights and I’m excited to see where we end up.
Maya Lemberg wrote on January 30, 2008 at 1:59 pm:
You are a great speaker Rahim! I’m excited to learn all that this community has to share.
MysticSaint wrote on February 3, 2008 at 6:10 am:
beloved brother Rahim,
it is a great podcast to start and made me truly excited and happy to know about your passion and vision. we so desperately need people like you to reawaken our collective consciousness for a better world where a integral consciousness will replace wide spread ignorance.
my best wishes will always be with you and let me know if i can be of any help. thanks once again for personally contacting me and letting me know about your site. the blessed journey has begun …
SBolling wrote on February 5, 2008 at 12:10 am:
This is quite a challenge that you have taken on, for yourself and for those of us who will become frequent listeners. I think it is an extremely worthwhile endeavor to “creatively and critically” engage with many religions across the spectrum. However, as one who counts herself a believer in one religion, a single question kept coming to me as I listened to this first podcast, namely: How far can you go, how much can you get from religion(s) if you are approaching it (them) as a casual observer, like a visitor to a museum? Religious truths do not come easily, and do not always sit easily, in my experience. Will this endeavor, as worthy and timely as it is, lead its participants to a feeling that their quest is fundamentally incomplete?
Scott Guffey wrote on February 5, 2008 at 3:16 pm:
Dear Rahim,
Let me first begin by honoring you for the launching of your Religion 2.0 project, for your efforts to open up a deep and honest dialogue into the nature of religion, and your genuine intention to help foster a more compassionate, more intelligent, and more peaceful world. For all of these things, peace be upon you my friend.
In the podcast you have just posted (Jan 30th), you have raised so many profound questions and personal observations that it is hard to even know how to offer a valuable response, and yet, I find myself overwhelmingly drawn to try…
Most fundamentally, I agree with you that religion was never meant to be the cause of separation, even between any two people on this earth. If there is there has ever been a Divine purpose for religion I believe it is has been the uniting of all peoples of the earth in one human family and one common faith, under the shelter of love and brotherhood. The original founders of every world religion have never desired for humanity anything but that which would promote our growth, harmony, peace, and well-being. Religion’s ability to speak in truly holistic way, honoring the (mind, heart, body, and spiritual) development of individuals and society throughout history convinces me that it is the ultimate motive power behind civilization and potentially the greatest source of healing for humanity and all its people.
So how right you are to decry those hostile, fearful, and ignorant religious leaders, who throughout history, out of their hunger for power, have wrestled the true spirit of religion, (conveyed by the virtuous lives and words of the divine founders) away from the people and replaced it with dogmas at once lifeless, self-serving, and exclusivist. And how right you are to lament those who, as a result of such leaders, have shut down their hearts and minds completely, either prematurely rejecting religion altogether or else blindly accepting man-made dogma and ideology fraught with prejudice. None of this can rightly be called a true understanding of religion.
True religion must be that which awakens both the heart and the mind, which is in harmony with the intellect, with reason, and with science, which expresses itself through the creativity and beauty of the arts, which embraces the unity of humanity within the diversity of its myriad cultures. True religion is that which encourages independent investigation of it truth and conscious knowledge of its wisdom, not blind belief. Authentic religious communities must therefore practice inclusivity, demonstrate moral leadership, educate children for tolerance, and work consciously to build unity and peace in the world. These Divine sparks, these universal ethical principles which exist at the core of every religion, reveal to me its oneness and its Divine source to be One: “There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God.” (Baha’u’llah, Gleanings CXI)
Like you Rahim, I am utterly grateful to say that I still believe such genuine religious dialogue and engaged religious practice is possible in the world we live today. Dialogue is possible because ultimately we are all souls walking on the same path, all longing to be of service to our family, friends, and humanity, all yearning to know and love drink more deeply of the Divine, and all continually seeking expanding relationships with one another and guidance from The One who promises: “Whoso maketh efforts for Us…In Our ways shall We assuredly guide him.” (The Qur’an 29:69)
Authentic practice is possible because just as all things in the universe move in cycles, so too does religion itself go though cycles of freshness and decay, so too must the spirit of religion need to be continually renewed! Have not all of the founders of religion, the Universal Teachers of mankind, themselves promised us that further Divine guidance would be sent to humanity in times of darkness: “When righteousness is weak and faints, and unrighteousness exalts in pride, then my Spirit arises on earth.” (Lord Krishna) and that a day of universal peace and brotherhood would dawn upon mankind: “nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” / “there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (The Bible, Micah 4:3 / John 10:16).
It seems only right that there must exist religious teachings which speak directly to our present condition, with renewed relevance to the challenges of the day and age in which we now live. I believe that we need only seek them out with detachment, with a pure heart and an open mind in order to find them: “The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest, and the lover hath no desire save union with his beloved. Nor shall the seeker reach his goal unless he sacrifice all things. That is, whatever he hath seen, and heard, and understood, all must he set at naught, that he may enter the realm of the spirit…and if we taste of this cup, we shall cast away the world.” (Baha’u’llah, The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, p. 1)
May we therefore remain ardent seekers after the “trace of the traceless”, the “soul of the Beloved” of which Rumi speaks, lest any insights from Religion 2.0 be offered up in our path, or any Divine guidance be offered up to humanity without our readiness to hear them…
Your fellow seeker,
Scott
Rahim Taliesin Snow wrote on February 6, 2008 at 12:57 am:
Jenn, Maya, MysticSaint - Thank you so much for your support. I am blessed to have companions like you by my side!
SBolling - I thank you in advance for becoming a frequent listener. And I thank you for the incisive questions at the end of your post. Those are the questions that one could write many books about, but I don’t say this to dodge the questions. I want to answer your questions in a couple of ways.
Short answer: come with me on this hiking adventure and you can tell me yourself how far you can go and what you’re getting out of it and whether you’re feeling incomplete. Some people are satisfied looking through the window or visiting a museum. Others want to roll up their sleeves and start whipping the batter because there are cakes to bake! So in some very important ways, I can’t give you more words to satisfy your questions, but I can show you and you glean the value for yourself.
Another answer: we are not performing an academic survey of world religions. We are using the world’s religions to draw out some crucial lessons about humanity itself and those lessons will take us deeper into our own chosen religion. At the same time, we will learn what we share in common with others so that we have a sympathetic appreciation for their hearts & minds as well. Some will dip their toe in all this and get a wet toe; others will dive in and find pearls. We are going into the heart of all religions in order to arrive at the heart of our own because they all share the same heart. And if this endeavor widens your heart so that all people are engulfed in your love, can you say that you are still incomplete? But these are just words and more words. As we proceed, the words will begin to bake and then we will have some cake to eat.
Scott - I want to thank you for writing such an articulate, heartfelt, and cross-cultural message. Your vision of our shared humanity makes me smile and your undying optimism in the possibility of religious dialogue and understanding multiplies my own. If I’m ever stuck in an intolerance brawl, I’ll be sure to call you. Peace be upon you, brother.
Odell wrote on February 6, 2008 at 9:39 am:
“I like soup. Soup is nice.” (Made me chuckle)
An awesome start Rahim! It is quite timely- this endeavor you’re undertaking, as it comes at a period when I’ve been wrestling with myself regarding my beliefs and their apparent incompatibility with the Christian environment in which I’m immersed.
I’m more akin to the second group of people you described (the ones who can’t stand religion and find it irrational, dogmatic), although not to that determined degree. My flavor is more like, “Let me walk my path. You walk yours. We agree to try and not trip the other up. We’ll smile and greet one another respectfully when and where our paths cross or merge. We’ll rejoice when we finally realize we were always on the same path all along.”
I look forward to your next tasty treat (I like pound cake. Pound cake is nice!) with the same eagerness and vigor that I look forward to the return of “Heroes” or the next episode of “Lost.”
Patrick wrote on February 8, 2008 at 5:45 pm:
Rahim,
Thank you. Thank you for the invitation. I would like to go hiking through this mountain of Religion from time to time.
I do think it’s important that we raise the quality of our religious conversations. I do note that as a society, we’re very good at having conversations about religion with people who basically agree with us. Otherwise, we’re good at avoiding open discussions concerning these ideologies. Yet I believe that we demonstrate our most fundamental beliefs (often distilled and called ‘values’) every day with everyone and enact the belief conflicts and disagreements in less recognizable ways.
I liked the way in which you connected religion to life’s core questions, to answers, to beliefs, and to behaviours and actions. This is not very apparent to most people when it comes to how they work and interact with people daily. It appears as if there is a disconnect between how we understand religious answers and beliefs about who we are, where we are going, why we are here, etc., and how we perceive our daily behaviours and lives.
We can’t seem to connect the dots and we desperately try to, often using partial treatments such as those you mentioned (philosophy, psychology, physics, etc.).
So I’m intrigued to continue this journey in understanding “believing” and how it works and what it does.
I’m curious to see how we will raise our religious intelligence (RQ) in a way that refreshes, reconnects, and respects all.
Thanks for showing up and getting this started. I look forward to you sharing more of what you’re baking and leading beside you!
Denise wrote on February 8, 2008 at 8:00 pm:
Okay, you got my attention to a topic I NEVER thought I would care about. Having a life of NO religion I never really pondered any reason why they were important. I have only seen pain sprouted from religions, I can’t wait to hear more.
Thank you! Denise
Aleyda wrote on February 11, 2008 at 8:03 pm:
Rahim
What a delight to see your vision come alive! I really enjoyed your message it resonates with me on so many levels, especially at this time in my life.
It is so important to assess what we are living and experiencing to truly know what we believe. We create what we believe. So if you don’t like what you are living change your beliefs. The challenge is in doing that….changing our belief’s at times feels like we are changing our identity. And we are so much more than “our perceived identity”. We are grander and we don’t even know it. I think you are inspiring me to step into my courage and allow myself to make bolder decisions.
Blessing
Aleyda
lesley wrote on February 28, 2008 at 6:55 pm:
Wow! This is so exciting! I can’t tell you how encouraging it is to hear someone else talking about these things.
I’m currently writing my master’s thesis on something very similar, raising a child religiously in the modern world. It’s been a discouraging and incredibly difficult undertaking. The contemporary western world is so uncomfortable with religion and is eager to throw it to the wolves without seriously examining the ramifications. Understandably so. So many awful things have been done in its name, that at the end of the day many people just can’t bring themselves to be associated with religion. Yet, without a space to discuss those cored issues, without meaningful rituals and sacred texts, without guides and heroes to follow, our lives take on a vast emptiness and we allow anything to fill that void.
It’s particularly disconcerting for today’s children. Public education (which to be fair was never spectacular) has only deteriorated further. Education is and always has been ultimately about job preparation. But we face a serious crisis as our religious realms begin disappearing because we are losing the only place that offered the possibility of a spiritual education. Where do children go to ask these fundamental questions about the nature of existence when their only teachers aren’t even allowed to talk about what it is to be human without risking their careers? Children need teachers and a community to support their spiritual lives, in addition to a loving family.
It’s just so wonderful to hear someone dedicating their time to re-birthing the sacred into our world!
Lesley
(and thank you scott for pointing this out to me!)
Scrivener wrote on April 1, 2008 at 10:38 am:
I listened to this podcast the first day it went up, but I was pretty distracted then and couldn’t get into a place where I could really listen. So I’ve circled back this morning to give it another go around.
Couple of minor points first: I love your broadcast voice (or should I be more specific and call it a podcast voice?). Like Odell, I thought the soup line was funny, and it was all about delivery. There were moments where listening to your intonation reminded me of Evan Adams, particularly from Smoke Signals.
And I don’t know if you saw the link I put up about a month ago to this interview on NPR’s “Speaking of Faith” with John O’Donohue, but I have been meaning to mention it to you directly for a month now. There’s a lot of really amazing stuff in there, I think, and a lot that I think you would find of particular interest. What specifically made me think of you was O’Donohue’s discussion of leadership and creativity in the corporate world near the end of the interview.
Congratulations on the launch of this project, Rahim. You and I have been talking about various iterations of these questions for almost 20 years now, if you can believe it. I’m excited to see what new directions you take with Ivory Bakery.
mesbah wrote on June 29, 2008 at 12:31 pm:
Very Insightful. That is the first phrase that comes to mind. I rather enjoyed listening to this podcast (my first) and look forward to others as time and curiosity permits. I am not only curious about religion in the sense of answering my core questions, as I have many yet to be answered, but also the various roads religion can and does take towards freedom and a better life. Both in the sense of tradition, mindset, history as well as the art birthed from it. I personally do not feel that I belong to a single religion, one with parameters; I belong to a religion of collective minds, history and continued learning. I belong to a collection of religions.
I like the direction, the tone, and the simple layout of your podcast. It takes the idea of the stereotypical preaching of religion out of the picture. You are on the right track. I believe it, and most importantly You believe it, as we all do that have visited and listened to your podcasts. Religion is not only an infinite number of core questions, but also a guideline into our life for our lives, a healthier life. If we take the core guidelines of all religions; peace, harmony, and unity. We will see and understand the resemblance of each of these ideas resembled repeatedly, through obscure forms, illustrated in various ways.
I personally do not believe in one God, one religion, one following, I do take in and adapt the idea of religion and its different aspects into my life. It is time for change, it is time for Religion 2.0 to show the facets of unity across all platforms of religion (no matter the background). I am happy that you welcome everyone from every religion/belief into your mind, heart and voice. If there is one fundamental core belief that all religions discuss, it is one of a single community living together peacefully. The path is there, all leading to the same place. unity. With different religions resembling different routes, different journeys, different scenery. We are all here, crossing paths, trying to join together.
I believe in this. I believe in your words.
Rock On!