0007 Ours is a world where we project meanings, presences and messages into our spoken words, then construct artifacts to validate them (B2). The artifact validates our projection, even in the face of unintended consequences. One result is that spoken words, which are at first not deceptive, become deceptive, then wreak havoc until they are reformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does that sound vaguely Biblical?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
0008 An example is offered in the masterwork, How to Define the Word “Religion”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 0009 During and after the Reformation, the word, “religion”, labels Christian factions, vying for sovereign power in order to implement their organizational objectives. The factions stand as artifacts that validate the term. The terminology has consequences. Enlightenment constitutions, especially the American, explicitly forbid the federal government from establishing a religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 0010 The problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the Enlightenment of the 18th century, and during the subsequent two centuries, new social noumena appear, claiming to be “not religious”. The word, “secular”, is coined in the mid-1800s as a label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does it mean to identify oneself or one’s institution as “not religious”?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, it must mean that the entity does not belong to a Christian faction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 0011 The problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n These “not religious” individuals (thinkers, leaders and supporters), societies (institutions) and movements (widespread affiliations) behave precisely in the same way that Christian factions do after the Reformation. They engage in social construction (meaning). They seek sovereign power in order to implement their organizational objectives (presence). Their righteousness contains inherent contradictions that cannot be resolved (message).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, modern “secular” individuals, institutions and movements meet the criteria that defines the term, “religion”, according to the above masterwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 0012 The problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US federal government has established a religion, contrary to the first amendment of its constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It so happens, that the religion is not a “religion” (a Christian faction).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 0007 Ours is a world where we project meanings, presences and messages into our spoken words, then construct artifacts to validate them (B2). The artifact validates our projection, even in the face of unintended consequences. One result is that spoken words, which are at first not deceptive, become deceptive, then wreak havoc until they are reformed. Does […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,10,40],"tags":[64,115,30,114,113,109,110,29,118,119,116,111,50,112,117],"class_list":["post-4808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-an-archaeology-of-the-fall","category-defining-religion","category-the-human-niche","tag-adam-and-eve","tag-adaptation","tag-an-archaeology-of-the-fall","tag-christian","tag-concupiscence","tag-definition","tag-evolution-and-the-fall","tag-first-singularity","tag-how-to-define-the-word-religion","tag-human-evolution","tag-niche","tag-original-sin","tag-religion","tag-secular","tag-the-human-niche"],"yoast_head":"\n