From: Alex Ferguson (abf@cs.ucc.ie)
Date: Thu 03 Feb 2000 - 21:00:24 EET
Gian Gero, replying to me:
> Or worse, that ex-/lapsed Christians have, hrm?>>
>
> Why 'worse', I don't think the difference is substantial in most cases.
The worse was mostly facetious, but rooted in the thought the many of
the 'worst offenders' are likely to be such. (No names, no pack drill
-- indeed, I'm not sure what a 'pack drill' is...)
> The main difference is that Gloranthan Religions (all that I know) are
> contractualistic, "do ut des", I give you (deity) power/worship/obedience,
> you give me (initiate) power/magic/helpers.
I'm sure I already cited most forms of Malkionism as being 'exceptions'
to this in a very similar way, if 'rule' it indeed is. It seems a
considerable over-general statement to me: yes, in some sense everyone
worships for some 'benefit', but certainly not necessarily the sort
of 'material' benefit you imply, I don't think.
I don't want to over-simplify your point, at least not at the cost of
distorting it, but is the nub of the distinction you have in mind
between purely 'salvific' (to use a gratuitous Eliadism), and ones
which are 'pragmatic', in the sense of being partly/wholly to do with
one's day to day life?
Cheers,
Alex.
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