What is the Nature of Atonement?

Greetings Citizen Philosophers,

The latest Thinking Out Loud podcast has been released on iTunes. The session was recorded last Wednesday, Feb 6, and the topic was:

"What is the Nature of Atonement?"

Thank you, David Rood, Deborah Martin, and Uriah J. Fields, for your participation. We had a great discussion. For those of you who missed out, here are some of the questions we wrestled with:

Is there something universal about atonement that explains why it seems to be a part of so many religious, spiritual, and personal growth practices? Is it prerequisite for a joyful life? What are the essential elements of atonement? Is the acknowledgement and confession of wrongdoing sufficient? Is it necessary to "make things right"? Can there be atonement in situations where damage cannot be undone? Are words and feelings sufficient? Is action required? Is payment necessary for atonement? Is payment sufficient? What is the role of the wronged party? What if the wronged party chooses not to forgive or cannot forgive? What if the wronged party is no longer living? With whom do we need to make things right? What is the role of a guilty conscience? Is atonement a selfish act to attain inner peace? What is the proper motivation for atonement? What about situations where the wrong is done by one group of people against another group of people collectively? Can one and should one atone for the actions of others? Are we responsible for the actions of your ancestors? Are we responsible for the action of our government? Can we choose to accept responsibility for the action of others, as an act of will? Do we need to atone for the damage being done to the planet as a whole? What debt do we inherit from those who proceed us? Whom do we owe? Whom can we pay?

To subscribe to the podcast with your podcast software (such as iTunes or iPodder) copy and past the following link into your software:

www.citizenphilosopher.com/rss/tol_podcasts.xml

If you have iTunes, you can find us listed in the Apple Music Store directory under Podcasts/Society & Culture/Philosophy, or just do a search in iTunes on Thinking Out Loud People. The direct iTunes link is:

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=214321935

If you don't have iTunes or other podcast software and just want to download the mp3 file directly, use this link:

Listen to the broadcast (mp3)

You are invited to add your thoughts by clicking on the "comments" link at the lower right hand corner of this post.

The next Thinking Out Loud will be Wednesday, March 5, at 7:00 pm. No topic has yet been chosen. Two possibilities are the topics not chosen last time, namely:

1. What is friendship?
2. What are our biological property rights?

Another possibility came up at the end of our discussion on atonement, which I would phase as:

3. What are our human responsibilities (the flipside of human rights)?

If you have any other suggestions or comments, email me. Your input is always welcome.

Cheers,

Steve