ABSTRACT

Of all systems of human cultures, those we deem religious perhaps fare the worst with respect to hierarchical oppression – of women and people of color, of nonhuman animals, and of the environment. The question at the heart of this chapter, then, is how a move away from oppressive hierarchies of all kinds towards a more just and interconnected egalitarianism can be a central motif of those who proclaim being Spiritual but not Religious. The chapter starts this process by taking a detour through the past, from Plato through Derrida, arguing that it is through deconstructing the mistakes of past formulations that a more desirable, egalitarian future can be manifested.