Christmas != Flag Day (But Why Not?)

Discussions have got me thinking about how I define religion (I make a point of not defining religion, mostly, but relying on people's self-identifications). In these discussions--but not necessarily outside of them, I don't know--I seem to operating under something like

Religion = Cultural Forms + Ideology

Obviously that would include everything, since all cultural forms have an ideological character, but it seems to me that the stronger the bond between the cultural forms and the ideology, the more of a religious character it takes on. Is there anything obviously wrong with this?

And I'm still not sure if the problem is how to make the cultural forms accessible to people who don't share the ideology, or whether it's how to respect people who don't share the cultural forms (not necessarily for any ideological reason, but just because they're not theirs). The two questions seem to be complicating each other and making for a lot of confusion. [ETA: For example, the "conversation" (that is far too charitable a word) in Amy's journal when a flamer (that word is much more appropriate) claimed that religion was chosen. The ideology should be chosen after thoughtful reflection, but cultural forms are inherited.]

A Quote By Leonardo Boff Which Admittedly Has Been Posted in This Journal Before

. . . but could probably stand to be posted here again.

"First of all comes the experience of mystery, the experience of God. Only afterward does faith supervene. Faith is not primarily adhesion to a teaching that gives access to revelation and the supernatural. Then faith would be tantamount to ideology, in the sense of an idea or belief inculcated in someone from the outside. This extrinsic character of so-called faith can give rise to various forms of fundamentalism and religious warfare. All groups tend to affirm their own truths to the exclusion of all others. Faith is meaningful and possess truthes only when it represents a response to an experience of God made personally and communally. Then faith is the expression of an encounter with God which embraces all existence and feeling--the heart, the intellect, and the will."

I really love that quote.

Memetics: The Fun Pseudo-Science

Spoilers for AXM/NXM underneath the cut. I discuss Faith/Robin, Dawn/Giles, Summer Glau, Sherlock Holmes, Emma Frost, and Faith.

( meme answers: 2 pairings + 4 characters )

Ask me what happens after the end of one of my stories. I may have more than one answer depending on the story (and the question). Or tell me your own theories--really, I'd love to hear!

Spam Thought

Illyria canonically likes to talk to plants. So Illyria/Pamela Isley would be the perfect crossover pairing, y/y?