Although admittedly it was a bit of an intellectual jolt at times, I remember taking a "Religion and Politics" class in college and although the professor had a great and unique teaching style, and presented interesting content, I couldn't stop from thinking, in hindsight, that the Religion and Politics class felt much more political than religious, even though it definitely provided some valuable insights. I, for example, had never really read anything by St. Thomas Aquinas prior to this class, so I learned a lot of new material, but the inextricably intertwined nature of some politics with some religions became apparent, even though that wasn't a specific message of the class.
A baby-boomer friend with whom I've brainstormed a great deal, and I reflected that a "religion has a lot of politics in it", and to get to the "real core of religion" you have to subscribe to the meditation, spirituality,and faith aspects to it. With the tenets, dogma, commandments, even "noble truths" of various world religions, just seem like formatting and compartmentalizing politics, which, of course, as a purpose, but that raw faith and inspiration often attributed to religion, seems to in reality derive from a very different source: passion, love, emotions, something more visceral, something less tangible, more alive, and less containable.
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