everything i know about ost...

[Artur Ferreira da Silva]

At 07:50 19-06-2003 -0400, Harrison Owen wrote:

>The space is always open, and heresy is definitely good for the soul. It
>is a marvelous antidote to arteriosclerosis of the mental pathways and
>other obnoxious indications of incipient dogmatism. And it certainly
>eliminates the dreaded One Right Way.

 From my experience of being considered a heretic in many settings during
all my life, and from my studies on metanoia, namely the works of Alberoni
about movements and institutions, I would like to add one comment.

There are indeed two very different types of heresies.

One accepts the "spirit" (no capital) and the "ethics" of the movement, but
criticizes some parts of the "letter" (or the "wording"). This type of
heresy is normally contained inside the movement (indeed in the exterior
part of it, not very close to the center), but doesn't try to fight against
the orthodoxy or the leadership, namely to create a new orthodoxy with a
new "obedience". It discusses the "principles" or methods but accepts the
"foundations" of the movement or community.

A very different one can be called "factionist", as it criticizes the
"foundations", in order to create a "different movement", based partially
on the converts of the first one. Even if this one also discusses the
principles or methods, in fact what is the central concern is "power" and
the creation of a new orthodoxy, normally more "strict" (or closed) then
the first orthodoxy and normally giving more privileges to the first (re)
converteds.

In every case that one wants to analyze heresies one has to question what
are the underlying values, ethical principles and potential consequences of
the heresy in relation with the movement.

My two Eurocents

Artur

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