Some thoughts from David Tacey

Spirituality: Mystery and Tolerance
Spirituality and fundamentalism are at opposite ends of the cultural spectrum. Spirituality seeks a sensitive, contemplative, transformative relationship with the sacred, and is able to sustain levels of uncertainty in its quest because respect for mystery is always paramount (Tacey 2000). Fundamentalism seeks certainty, fixed answers, and absolutism, as a fearful response to the complexity of the world and to our vulnerability as creatures in a mysterious universe. Spirituality arises from love of and intimacy with the sacred, and fundamentalism arises from fear of and possession by the sacred. The choice between spirituality and fundamentalism is a choice between conscious intimacy and unconscious possession.

Spirituality is capable of remaining with ultimate questions, but fundamentalism wants answers: hard, fast, and furious answers. Fundamentalism can arise in any spiritual tradition, whether Christian, Islamic, Hindu, or even in modern ideologies such as Freudian or Jungian psychology (Tacey 2001).

If we were less certain of our beliefs, and more receptive to mystery and wonder, we would paradoxically be closer to God, more intimate with the spirit, and more tolerant of our fellow human beings and their differing conceptions of the sacred.

Secularism Under Pressure
The confusion of spirituality and religious fundamentalism causes many rational and reasonable people to reject both, in the belief that humanity is better off without the sacred, since it seems to be at the heart of contemporary and historical conflicts. This desire to distance society and its institutions from the sense of the sacred has been foundational in the creation of the modern secular state, which has chosen to put 'religious matters' to one side, so that the business of living, educating, informing, and governing the people can take place 'unimpeded' by irrational impulses. But the ideals of secularism, however well intended, are inadequate for life, since our lives are not rational and we are hugely implicated in the reality of the sacred, whether or not this is acknowledged.

. . . . . . . I think of the rising waters of spirituality in our own time. After a long season of spiritual dryness and aridity, in which faith and intuition have been atrophied, a new river of spiritual possibility is rising up from below, with potentially great benefits to society and life. The river of spiritual life is always present and available to those who wish to gather at its banks, but sometimes whole societies and periods of time choose not to see it or be replenished by it. In Australia, as in most Western societies, we are about to witness a veritable flood of spiritual interest, and those who are unaware of the spiritual dimension of life are going to be placed in difficult and challenging situations. However, those with developed interests in the perennial philosophy of spiritual wisdom will be better placed to understand and benefit from the rise of spiritual water in consciousness and society.

David Tacey,
ReEnchantment: The New Australian Spirituality, Harper Collins, Sydney, 2000.
Jung and the New Age, Routledge, London and Philadelphia, 2001.

Another discussion: Sunday Nites on ABCTV: Mysticism and Rationalism
http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s1027718.htm