Those who blow the trumpets for spirituality seem to be a dangerous breed.  Perhaps because we are all suckers for charisma.

I suppose it's like smoking.  Obviously unhealthy in my eyes from the day I was exposed to it as a child, it took decades till others recognized that.  Charisma is as easy to recognize as tobacco smoke.  So just see it for what it is.

Spirituality is a vital component of human functioning.  When spirituality works, it enables us to be fully human in a very ordinary, everyday sort of way: we know who we are, we are aware of what goes on around us, we contribute, we care about others, we take responsibility for ourselves, we say 'yes' to life, we realize that we are each part of something bigger and greater than ourselves, we see through flattery and shrink from corruption.  And so on and so on. 

When spirituality is cut off More...

The problem with freedom of belief is that scientists now think they have the answer. Theories are now given the status of truth. So subjugation by the church has been replaced by subjugation by science and ideology.  

One superstition is replaced by another. As a result, the battle to promote beliefs in education is intense.

But the flag I want to wave is emblazoned with freedom. So let's see where that takes us in regard to education.

My starting point is that the emerging 21st Century enlightenment must help us all move away from superstitious dependence on ideologies and theories. (Of course, they must not be rejected because of their misuse by many, anymore than the Church should be rejected because of its misuse by many.)

I look to an era of freedom of thought and, at a personal level, I suspect that this cannot be separated from freedom of belief. We think and think and think, and then we come to believe. Strangely, More...