"Some of the comments in the Wild Hunt discussion were of a similar us vs. them (and we’re better) bent. " You're better for not using technology, and saying so using technology. WAT?

It's funny. The other half and I were talking one day about how extremeist fundies of any creed seem to go a bit overboard (yes, even buddhists)... but then we got to Taoism. Not like, Taoist Church style, but the sort we follow (well, we've got a few things added in, but the basis of the actual "this is what you must do" portion of the beliefs is essentially the same across the board, it's just which spirits and gods and such you believe in and what you believe about them that sort of differs within varying individuals following the folk form), sticking to the basic texts, the whole "empty slate, seek the middle path" shebang that started it all. If someone were truly to go "fundie" based on those texts... there would be no such thing as extremeism. Because the fundamentals are all about NOT going to extremes. We speak of duality, but only in the sense that one cannot exist without the other, and too much of one or the other can cause problems. Mind you, I consider myself a "bad taoist" in that I still have a bad habit of trying to force things, trying to grasp for control where it doesn't exist, and jumping to extremes (usually at the WORST bloody times, too)... it's strange how something so simple becomes so HARD when society spends all that time wiring you to think a certain way...

But back on topic... we often forget that without nature, we wouldn't exist, and without technology, we would be kinda screwed as a species. Modern medicine allows us to live longer lives, beat diseases that may have killed us in the past... but it has been shown that exposure to nature improves mood, learning, quality of life. It's a delicate balance. Moving forward is a good thing, but we also have to keep in mind what cost that brings in the long term, and be certain we aren't moving forward in ways that will cause us to fall backward down the road.

Besides, most practitioners I've heard of use some form of tools. Tools are technology. Maybe not the same as computers and such, but the tools they use were once one of the steps in the walk away from the forest and into the city. If they're going to shun it, shouldn't they also shun anything they can't make with the materials they have immediate access to? Surely they live in houses with electricity and running water. I'm quite certain most use at least some metal implements, and that was a pretty big jump in human technology. So if you're going to spout fire and brimstone and all that mess, check your hypocrisy first. That's what gets me more than anything. Because so often the people spewing that much hate on the basis of "this thing is law" are breaking another law that is supposedly fundamental to their beliefs.

At least if I'm going to spew judgement at somebody, I won't blame it on my religion (wtf good would that do anyway? It's bloody Taoism ffs what am I gonna do, scream at you to clear your mind??) - I know full well it's the fact that I'm a bitch. Er... flawed individual. Or something like that.

Another good read!

I tend to be extremely wary of most "extreme" or dogmatic ways of thinking. It may be easy to try to color the world in dualistic terms, but it's rarely if ever an accurate way of thinking. I don't want to miss everything in between.