''This was a session at [[Sol 2012]].''
[[Brandon]]: Pseudo-religion has been described as "something that produces no fruits other than adherence to itself" - so what fruits does religion produce?
* [[Eric]]: community (same as adherence?), comfort, meaning and purpose
* Brandon: individual virtue/moral guidance: generosity, loyalty, service, groundedness, empathy/compassion, listening
* Eric: a lot of those specifics are choices a religion can make ... it doesn't have to include them all
** [[Ben]]: that's okay, we may not be looking for a definition that fits all religions
* [[Lion]]: Brandon says he's religious but not spiritual ... I agree: I'm religious about life
** The reverse statement implies to me a bubble isolating a person inside his/her own spiritual beliefs from others
** By contrast, I believe what we're doing in the world is serious and important and connected across people ... that's what I want "religious" to mean
* [[Hank]]: Does that relate to a church behavior?
** Lion: ''All Along the Watchtower'' ... we're doing something important ... that means organizing for a common mission, which is church-like
** Hank: That has made successful commun[iti]es in the past
*** Twin Oaks (Skinnerian behaviorism)
*** Oneida (perfectionism?)
*** Aurora colony, south of Portland (don't know their philosophy) ... they do spinning and weaving crafts as it was done 100 years ago
*** Rajnishis ... took over a county in Eastern Oregon
* Brandon and Lion: Doing something that matters, that's as essential as your very being
* Eric: People start to believe that their religion has universal value, so they want everyone else to do the same thing
** How to resolve the conflict with our belief in religious freedom?
** Gradient between individual spirituality and universal(izing) religion ... good religions should find a middle ground
* Hank: How are these fruits realized?
** Religion becomes a controlling mechanism that culture produces to create these benefits
** Could a group of "spiritual bubbleheads" function together as a religion?