Mike: Dogma, of course, is not religion, it is the psychological excrescence of the life-frightened. Religion is the need to be one with the infinite -- infinite being, infinite knowledge, infinite bliss. Whether there is such a thing and whether it is possible to achieve is quite beside the point -- the need is there. It is the impulse to give thanks for existence and the desire to embrace all being. What you describe as religion is just the shit of close-minded little martinets posing as clerics.
"Dogma" is essentially a school (of thought and/or of praxis) that is proclaimed as true without proof. Your anti-dogma is, of course, a form of dogma. My definition of "dogma" is dogmatic to the extent that it relies on traditional meanings of words.
Some people need to be atheists; some need to be free-thinkers; some agnostic; some indifferent. Others need the structure of established tradition, perhaps to compensate for a chaotic family life. Others need to forget in order to remember. Others need to remember what they have forgotten. Others need to know what they don't need. Others don't need to know. Others ... I don't know what to say about them.
As Mr. Natural once exclaimed, "It's a hup-hup world!" Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
