About this blog

Welcome to Peaceful Turmoil, which is committed to "Advocating and encouraging the search for the sacred in the ordinary - the eternal in the everyday." Thanks for visiting!

Summary Version

To help get you acquainted, here are some of the goals of this site:

• Highlighting a middle Way between religious and irreligious fundamentalism, neither an "enemy of faith" nor an "enemy of reason" but as a champion of both.


• Confirming the value of our own potential and the spiritual paths, sacred and secular, as different starting points on the Way to opening ourselves to reality-as-it-is.


• Reaffirming that this Way is open to everyone, beyond spiritual materialism, beyond intellectual elitism, present in all circumstances and conditions.

Here is a sampling of my approach to spirituality, religion, and sacred traditions:

• I don't shy away from the above terms nor from words like faith (see below in the detailed section), nor do I subscribe to a simplistic understanding of these terms. I love science as a tool, not as a substitute for the greater, stranger, more amazing reality that we use such tools to study.
  
  
• Many of my views would be considered "liberal" in contemporary American politics, but I don't want to just hear from people who happen to agree with me. I don't have a problem with spirituality shaping someone's politics, I just don't care for it when political views are substituted as spiritual values.
  
  
• I value what I have gained and lost during my time as a Christian, as an atheist, and as a Buddhist. I find the atheist-theist debate too limiting, and while post-modernism can be a useful correction to modernism, there are things of value from both traditionalist and modernist perspectives.

Who might be interested in this blog? Religious humanists, non-religious humanists, independent spiritualists, those in sacred traditions, and those curious about such folks, particularly when the topic turns to subjects such as science, society, and suffering.



Detailed Version

It is a port in the storm for those who recognize some manner of a spiritual view in life who also happen to embrace what is sometimes considered the "secular side" (unfortunately associated in some popularization as "anti-religious" instead on non- religious or religiously neutral) of controversial issues such as evolution who feel buffeted by the strife between the staunchly anti-secular and staunchly anti-religious camps. Such people are the beleaguered middle, who tend to shy away from what is commonly labeled fundamentalist religion as well as the more fanatical anti-religious crowd. This is not a homogeneous group, and in fact many significant differences of opinion and perspective are readily discerned, yet they are sometimes lumped together as being "in the way" of the more extreme camps, obstructing a clear argument that either any form of religion or any hint of secularism is weak-minded and dangerous.

For the record, I am not advocating the recognition of a new category of mild intellectual or social prejudice or decrying the treatment of a group connected by common views. This site is intended to serve as a platform for inspiration, edification, education, and the appreciation of the strength of unity through diversity. In others words, it is not about complaining but complimenting. It is not about division but devotion to principles and actions promoting pursuit of knowledge, dignity, and purpose. It is not about enmity but enlightenment. This site welcomes those who label themselves Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindu, Wiccan, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist, etc., but reminds everyone that a label is not an identity. We are all more than what people call us or what we choose to call ourselves.

It is my contention that all human beings have a spiritual side to their life, whether they call it that or not, whether they recognize it or not and whether or not this is pursued within a formal religious tradition. It is a non-negotiable aspect of humanity. Instead of seeing spirituality merely as religion or supernaturalism, neither of which are necessary components of (much less synonyms for) spirituality, I adopt the definition offered by Brother Wayne Teasdale, that "Spirituality is a way of life that affects and includes every moment of existence. It is at once a contemplative attitude, a disposition to a life of depth, and the search for ultimate meaning, direction, and belonging" (from The Mystic Heart). This is consistent with the description put forward by Roy Wood Sellars, an original signatory of the first Humanist Manifesto, as quoted by Jack Sechrest in the March/April 2003 issue of "The Humanist", specifically, "The spiritual must be seen to be the fine flower of living, which requires no other sanctions than its own inherent worth and appeal...The spiritual is man at his best, man loving, daring, creating, fighting loyally and courageously for causes dear to him."

This does not mean that I believe religion has no useful role to play in spirituality, or that it should be utterly scorned or abandoned as some skeptics might suggest. Neither should it be fanatically embraced or seen as more than a means to an end. While formal religion is not a requirement of pursuing spirituality, and despite the well known and often cited human failing done in the name of one religion or another, sacred traditions still contain thousands of years of insight into human nature and the pursuit of the spiritual life. On the other hand, religious traditions should serve to mediate our intellectual and cultural knowledge with the insight from deep spiritual practice. This includes knowledge produced through the ongoing endeavors of science. When religions become too conservative and fail to incorporate and contextualize new information in terms of their spiritual understanding, a conflict is created. In some cases people tend to move to new sects or denominations, and in other cases they come to reject a personal involvement with religion altogether. This, as with all decisions involving spirituality, is a profoundly personal choice and I believe it should be respected.

Unfortunately some of those who choose to be non-religious are or become openly hostile to religion, rightly recognizing the failures of those who refuse to reformulate the relationship between their faith and the modern world. They focus on the conflicts (academic, social, political) such fundamentalism inspires and supports. This hostility creates an adversarial relationship in which the fundamentalist religionists and their secular counterparts can see little if any value to the other side's position. Hence those who do not migrate to one extreme or the other are caught in the middle.

I hope that this page offers some perspective for everyone and encouragement for politically moderate and progressive spiritualists, even if it's just confirmation that other like-minded individuals are out there. I also hope that it helps to dispel the myth told to many of the more conservative spiritualists that moderate and progressive people are automatically "enemies of faith".



ADDED: Here are some insightful and instructive links that help flesh out much of what is published here:

-How To Read This Blog

-The Labels (Tags) Reference Guide

My (Very Limited) Glossary of Buddhist Terms

-My (Very Limited) Directory of Buddhist Names

-Sharon Salzberg: "How Important Is Faith?"

-Jack Sechrest: "Religion, Spirituality, & Humanism"

Thanks again for visiting!