3 - Big Ambitions

Summary

Why have I been calling the religion project a big project? In part, certainly, because when thinking about it, we are operating at the macro level, where it’s not just what I think or feel or what’s going on at the synagogue down the road that’s relevant but anything that any human has ever felt or done in relation to the notion of transcendence. The religion project is a human project; it belongs to us all. That makes it big. But, as I’ve already suggested once or twice, the religion project is also big because of its outsize ambitions. Trying to figure out as much as you can about whether there’s something more to reality than just nature – and something benign – or trying to understand the transcendent reality you already believe to be there is not very much like trying to fix your car or outfox a business rival. It’s a bit more complicated.