Spiritual Development Blog

Does analytic thinking cause a person to lose his religion? May 1, 2012

Wed, 02 May 2012 01:16:35 GMT

The original article (click on the link below to see the full article) describes some studies that showed how more analytical thinkers are less likely to believe in religion. Margaret Placentra Johnston posted this comment: Reason and analytic thinking can only lead what is called a "pre-critical" person away from his or her beliefs. A pre-critical person is someone who only believes in religion in a tacit way. He has absorbed the religion because he was born into it, and he is expected to believe. Or else he was born again into it and holds the beliefs quite fervently, but again has not analyzed them critically as of yet. James Fowler, who did extensive research on faith development, said at this development level "beliefs and values are deeply felt, but tacitly held." Once a person starts analyzing the beliefs critically, he can only realize that they cannot be true in a literal sense. This puts him into the critical phase, or what French philosopher Paul Ricoeur called the "critical distance." That is why people who were judged to be more analytical were less likely to be believers. When intuition comes in is the POST-critical stage, where people realize that thought itself has its limitations, that human reason and science will never be able to figure everything out entirely. Then the person begins to put his trust in a more generalized form of spirituality where intuition, or the voice of Spirit plays a much larger role in his life. At this point, his faith may or may not include religious belief. But in any case, post-critical beliefs are less literal than those held by the PRE-critical person. An understanding of faith development, or spiritual development theory can lend unimaginable depth and perspective to issues of religious belief versus non-belief. Yet very few people are even aware of this area of study. My upcoming book will explain it more fully.

How Could a Computer Understand God?

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:40:52 GMT

Margaret Placentra Johnston explains how complex reasoning skills are important in deciding whether God exists.

How Religion's Demand for Obedience Keeps Us in the Dark Ages 3/22/12

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:36:46 GMT

The original article appears on the "click for more information" link below. Spiritual development theorists have shown that those who submit to the oracle authority of traditional organized religious rules are less mature spiritually than those who have grown beyond that need. Those who do submit do so because they have yet to develop full confidence in their own conscience, so they need to rules and the structure that comes from outer authority. In some cases, this is a good thing because some of us do not have a fully developed conscience, and cannot understand how others may have a conscience that is more developed. Unfortunately, people like this are easily led (and just as easily misled) by those supposed authorities. The religious right is trying to take advantage of these peoples' gullibility and is making corrupt use of the authority they are trying to hold. When a person grows (develops spiritually) to the point where he can trust his own conscience, he begins to realize he does not need the outer authority of traditional religion. It can be said he is ruled by a conscience authority. This can happen by degrees, with a person first deciding to trust his own inner conscience authority on some issues, while continuing to rely on outer authority in other matters. This what is happening in the case of the many Catholics who do use birth control but do follow other rules of the Church. They trust their conscience on issues of reproduction, but may submit to outer Church authority about the need to attend Mass every Sunday. So if learning to trust an inner conscience authority represents greater maturity than relying on an outer oracle authority, we can see that the same maturing that happens in individuals is echoed at the societal level in the move from the pre-Enlightenment authoritarian rule to the Enlightenment's respect for the individual. The spiritual development trajectory occurs in the overall society, but some individuals within that society lag behind while others forge ahead of society and lead it progress. We must not allow those who lag behind (the religious right) to rule over those of us who have progressed beyond the need for the type of authority they offer.

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Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:54:30 GMT

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Community versus Individualism: How To Tell The Progressive Story

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:04:50 GMT

The original article appears on the "click for more information" link below. Progressives can win the fight over narrative and metaphor, and it is important that we do. We need to tell our story of community. My way of telling our story of community is to point out that the communal (versus individualistic) worldview is farther along the spiritual development path, according to a host of spiritual development "theorists.' That is to say that individualism is less mature - spiritually - than holding communal values. But while the conservatives you cite may be individualistic, they are also group-oriented, but in a less advanced way than those progressives who are truly communal (clearly some progressives are not communal.) Especially at the religious right end of the conservative spectrum, it is all about THEIR group versus other groups, all about divisiveness. This is even less advanced than the individualistic mentality. According to spiritual development theory, the more a person can include in their worldview, the more advanced they are spiritually. Thus the us-versus-them mentality of the religious right is the least mature stance prominent in our society. The communal mentality (which includes everyone, and at the extreme includes animal life, nature and the whole universe) is more advanced, more spiritually mature and more beneficial to our civilization. It amazes me that few in our society can see this.

Education Has Nothing to Do with Why Republicans Deny the Science of Global Warming

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:26:59 GMT

Another reason followers on right deny science, so to speak, is they are not ruled by their own conscience, like the rest of us. Instead, they are ruled by the "authority" of what their group says is true. College degree or no, people at what I call the Faithful (or Traditionalist) level of spiritual maturity have their identity all tied up with that of their group, so their opinions cannot diverge very far from that group. If the authorities in their group tell them global warming is a farce, no amount of logic, reasoning, education, or guilt is going to make them change their minds. Unfortunately it seems leaders on the right have realized that they hold this power over their constituents. They have taken advantage of the opportunity to twist truth any way they want to because their "followers" won't question it much, so attached are they to their group. Liberal leaders do not have this power. A lot of their constituents are at the Rational level - much more individuated and critical of any outer authority. This causes a lot more dissension within the liberal mindset. While on the right leaders are gaining control over their masses, on the left, leaders lack this control over their more personally developed, more free-thinking constituents. If only more people understood these spiritual development stages, the right leaders could not get away with controlling their followers the way they do.

AHA’s Naughty List: Actor Denzel Washington

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:31:26 GMT

A serious problem in society is that people generally do not understand the spiritual development stages. There ARE atheists who are as Denzel Washington describes - no conscience, no remorse, just want to dominate. Traditionally religious people often mistake ALL atheists for the pre-religious, or what I call "Lawless" kind. What most traditionally religious people fail to realize is that most atheists are NOT like this. They are post-religious. That is they don't need the rules of religion to govern their behavior. On my website I call them Rationals. instead of not having a conscience, people at the Rational level have a conscience that comes from within. It is not dependent upon the rules of the church, or even of society. It is a deeper form of morality than those who just follow the rules. Furthermore, in general Rational level folks are more devoted to social justice. They take into account the needs and feelings of people who don't fit into their same social group. This is a more mature stance than the traditionally religious people who think only those who believe as they do are right.

Humanism is Love

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:10:36 GMT

Margaret's comment in response to an American Humanist Association article entitled Humanism is Love. The original article (Feb, 2012) appears on the click for more info link below. How about...Humanism is love that refuses to separate us from other humans on the basis of beliefs?

Racism in the GOP? Margaret's commentary on an AlterNet article

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:19:32 GMT

The original article (1/20/12) appears on the "click for more information" link below. In the eyes of the Right, "those people" are not "real Americans." They never can be. I am not sure the racism card isn't being somewhat overplayed in this article. But the author has correctly picked up on an essential trait common to the most vocal members of the GOP: "my-group-itis." Ostracizing ANY kind of outsider will do: This reality speaks to why there should be no surprise when Republican audiences cheer the death penalty, dying people without insurance, or heckle soldiers who happen to be gay. This vocal GOP these days limits its "group" to white stably-employed Americans (who don't need to worry about health insurance,) heterosexual, and preferably male. Many of us who react against their elitist proclamations do so because we feel we are a part of a larger group--ALL Americans or preferably all of humanity, or even all of the universe. Our circle of concern is wider than our most immediate group. The GOP "my-group-itis" can also be called ethnocentricity and is typical of the second of four levels of spiritual development. Those who rail against the GOP proclamations, in broad general terms, tend to be at the third (worldcentric) or fourth (universal) level. Yes - I am saying that today's most vocal GOP spokesmen proclaim a spiritually immature message - either because they themselves are spiritually immature, or in effort to manipulate the vulnerable masses. The sooner more people understand what spiritual maturity looks like, the sooner the elitist, racist, homophobics will lose their hold on our society.