Opensewer Gathering #8 Cleveland, Ohio Thursday, March 29, 2001.
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	SUMMARY - The Gathering and Discussion by Chris, Kristie, Amanda & Devin It was a quiet evening in Little Italy. The weather had finally broken and there were lots of people out on the street. Opensewer was in the air, the room was anticipating the discussion. We were holding off for the last few stragglers to wonder in when Terry Tarantino, the owner of La Dolce Vita walked up to the table, proceeded to tell us how he knew Phyllis Sanantonio (one of our long-time members), and expressed that he was excited to host our discussion. We started the discussion by defining spirituality and religion. Here is what we came up with collectively: Spirituality is an individual's connection with something larger than themselves. Spirituality is faith and non-reason; it is not primarily logic and reason. Humans use reason. Humanity plus reason equals spirituality. Religion is organized spirituality. As the discussion meandered on we asked ourselves a few other questions: What is the difference between superstition and religion? Why do people follow religion? Our answer: Belief in God and spirituality are a personal thing. It generally comes down to one question: "How were you raised?" How does a spiritual belief evolve? Our answer: It adapts to fit the needs of society. There is a social contract that society makes. Cleanliness is Godliness. Is it really? Or is it just a way to get your neighbors to clean themselves so that the whole block doesn't die of the plague. Ethical Pluralism is what we are striving toward. Be ethical however you are going to be, but be ethical and spiritual. Every religion involves The Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have done to you. We asked "Do we live this way for fear that bad things will happen to us?" At this point someone brought up the fact that this idea "is the same concept as Karma." After this, Buddhism was discussed. Then we went on to talk about how everyone has misquoted Darwin, saying He originally spoke about "the creator." We came back from some really good tangents. Why are we questioning religion now in this present era? Has technological development given us the privilege or simply the time to do it? Or, possibly the exposure to multiculturalism has opened our eyes to other world views. Everyone was an advocate of their position, but respectful of others' opinions. This was an extension of the "it's all good man" concept set forth by the original discussion questions. People danced around most of the hard questions. Nobody walked out of the room offended, which is always good. People defended each other, and cut the discussion before it got too heated. The discussion was objective, lively with emotive energy, and at certain times aggressive. It could have continued all night. Thanks to Terry Tarantino and La Dolce Vita in Cleveland's Little Italy, Ohio for hosting us. At La Dolce Vita 12112 Mayfield Road (In Little Italy) : Map (216) 721-8155   Jump to: Cleveland | Columbus | Ithaca Back to Opensewer 8 Main Page