Nora54

I'm a fairly newcomer to the agnostic perspective, and I really do like the angle they take on spirituality

but if i say that this is my "religion" i feel that i should be at leas well read.

so does anyone have any good agnostic/freethinker books to recommend to me? i would love to hear them!

(nothing too meaty right away, though. i don't want my brain to explode all at once.

thanks!

Og

I would recommend pretty much absolutely everything by joseph campbell.

I'd start with his videos since they're easy to digest. His "Mythos" Series is narrated by susan sarandon and is 10 hours of wonderful lectures with great images to go along that kind of span human mythology and the role it plays in our lives. You might be able to find a torrent for this one on the net somewhere. search: Joseph Campbell Mythos torrent or something.

Joseph Campbell is probably the greatest mythologist/theologian of our time. He consulted with George Lucas to create the "Force" for the original star wars movies and has a huge body of writing. His book "Hero with a thousand faces" is pretty much required reading for authors in any genre or type of media.

There's a shorter series of interviews between him and Bill Moyers that you CAN get on DVD called "The Power of Myth" and this seems to be what propelled him into popular culture.

I have a bunch of his books too. "Thou art That" is his discussion of christian symbology. "Myths of Light" is a wonderful tour of eastern spirituality and how it compares with western religion.

There's quite a few more, but all are good. I recommend trying to get your hands on a DVD if you can to get a taste and then start digging into the texts.

It will give you a great perspective on the history of myth and the similiarities in stories that have permeated mankind since 15000 BC or farther back. He was a professor of comparative mythology at a college in NY, I think, for something like 40 years.

When you see orpheus crucified and hear about the parallel death and ressurection motifs in our culture and how it correlates with the 3 days that the moon spends in it's "new moon" phase before being lit again and when you see the identical ideas and symbols expressed in the buddhist tradition 500 years before the christ story appears in the west, you'll just plaster yourself in the agnostic column and just enjoy life.

Campbell's main quote is simply: "Follow your bliss."

That's his personal philosophy.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Nora54

Og,
WOW! Thanks so much, I really appreciate the suggestions

This'll sure keep me busy for a while. I went to Amazon.com and did a search and his name came up a lot, but I wanted to hear suggestions from someone who's "been there" so to speak, and you certainly delivered!

"Follow Your Bliss," I love that.

Og

Yah, I got kind of kicked into it by seeing the daVinci Code DVD over thanksgiving. The movie/book is fiction and it's hard to tell what is true and what is made up to fit. The point is that Campbell is the real deal where symbols and common threads in mythology are concerned. And he's definitely not christian centric. He's a big fan of the underlying meaning of hindu and buddhist faiths and paints them as lightyears ahead of us in understanding of the human psyche.

His big beef is that western spirituality has gone and made their religious symbols into concrete idols and thus has become a collection of dead spiritualities stuck 1500 years in the past. Eastern spiritualities, on the other hand, have no such problem and are equally applicable today in the modern scientific world as they were 1500-5000 years ago.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Nora54

yeah, i really liked the DaVinci code movie, as entertainment only. however, it did intrigue me when pagan symbols (such as the trident) were turned into symbols of evil by christian missionaries.

it always kind of bothered me the way christianity is (to some point) framed around the golden rule (do unto others...) yet technically, their missionaries forced conversion by turning native peoples' own symbols agianst them.

i'm not saying that i side with one religion in perticular, but i do find it to be somewhat noxious.

so are you saying that Campbell is kind of like a real-life langdon?

}SoC{Sumguy

"mere Christianity" by C.S.Lewis. it describes his mentality and opinions when he was an athiest (before J.R.R. Tolkein converted him).

__________________
"And now you've seen his face,
and you know that there's a place
in the sun, for all that you've done.
For you and your children.
You always wanted to beleive.
Just ask and you'll receive,
beyond your wildest dreams.
And you already know how this will end...."