[lit-ideas] Re: Faith
- From: "John McCreery" <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 13:40:31 +0900
Phil Enns wrote,
"I really was
interested in the idea of the relationship between 'solid content' and
headcounts. However, as a wiseman once said, we don't always get what we
want."
Could it be that what is missing here is a third, mediating
factor―religious institutions? Especially those evolved to the point
that specialists in theology and other aspects of dogma elaborate
content and agree sufficiently among themselves that certain ideas are
authoritative. The result is a situation in which the lay believer,
whose ideas may be very sketchy indeed, can turn to a designated
authority for answers to difficult questions and authorities with
middling knowledge can turn to higher authorities. The fact that
previously unknown answers are readily forthcoming reinforces the notion
that the original sketchy beliefs rest on a solid foundation even if at
times they seem to lie askew it.
Headcount is, then, important, but not directly in a straigtforward "the
more who believe the solider the belief" suggests. Headcount is an
indirect measure of the offerings and other resources that support the
institutions that enable the authorities to devote themselves to the
deliberations that solidify the content.
John McCreery
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd
"Creating Symbols is Our Business"
Tel 81-45-314-9324
Fax 81-45-316-4409
email mccreery@xxxxxxx
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