Subject: RE: BHA: spoilt solidarity
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 11:14:18 -0500


Hi Carrol

You wrote:

"Perhaps one of the reasons that patriotism has so often been poisonous is that the modern abstract state is, precisely, too abstract to be the focus of solidarity. Patriotism, then (from the perspective I suggested) would be a form of spirituality."

I reply:

I would agree that the state is too abstract, or perhaps just too big, to be the focus of solidarity.  But rather than calling patriotism a form of "spirituality," I would prefer to call it a false sense of community, a quest for community in a place where it never can be found.

You wrote:

"What gets me is that spirituality is never tied (even by its adherents) to any concrete social practice or relationship. And at the empirical level, claims to "spiritual experience" seem to intensify as groups or particular individuals find themselves isolated."

I reply:

Many religious orders explicitly tie their spirituality to concrete social practices.

Best regards,

Dick


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