Page 79 - Liberating Liberals V2

Liberating Liberals
attributed to the Christian God. Yet now most liberals can conceive, and some even believe, that humanity created Judeo-Christian God. That is, humanity
may have created vast amounts of meaning from meaninglessness — by creating God.
On the other hand, as Bloom notes, the belief in God created meaning that made so many passionate about it that perhaps it is better than any other meaning that humans can ever create — even using reason. The belief in God may have been a creative act, and so wrote Bloom: “...Only an openness to the psychological phenomena of creativity can bring any clarity...” about what meanings are valuable. 63 That’s another reason for not getting into a contest with fundamentalists about who’s wrong or right. Religion has obviously created a lot of meaning, and we are all in the meaning-making business.
Yet efforts to save civilization provide some of the main meanings that liberals believe. Whether this choice is truly meaningful or whether civilization
can be saved is questionable. But it feels like good, concrete meaning when we experience victories — like winning the Masters or electing black Obama. Or, feels horribly bad if a Trump triumphs.
But if civilization is a major meaning, even if
it’s iffy, then what are civilization’s goals? Healthier happier humans? A more creative humanity? A more militant America a la Teddy Roosevelt and Dick Cheney? World peace, health insurance, ecological
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