Why do westerners into spirituality tend to be on the left end (liberal, progressive) of the political spectrum?
I see a few possible reasons:
There is an historical reason. Modern western spirituality was “born” on the US west coast (especially the Bay Area), partly because of it’s large Asian influence, and this is also a center for a liberal and progressive orientation. This connection is then perpetuated.
More liberal people tend to be more open to new experiences, new cultures etc., which may also give an openness to spirituality outside of traditional religion.
People into spirituality tend to be more concerned about the health and well-being of all life, which fits a more liberal/progressive orientation.
For westerners, I also assume that most of those with an interest in spirituality would land in the bottom left quadrant of the political compass. That is, to the left and less authoritarian. (I ended up to the left of and somewhat less authoritarian than Dalai Lama.) Where spirituality is combined with religion, and traditional religious structures, it’s possible that more people will end up in the more authoritarian quadrant. And if we did a survey of people into spirituality in the west, we would probably find dots everywhere in each quadrant (even if there is possibly an emphasis on the bottom left).
And, I assume that as people into spirituality mature, they tend to arrive at a more integral approach to politics, appreciating the value of approaches from the whole political spectrum, and finding more freedom to apply any political tool depending on what seems most helpful in the situation.
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Why do westerners into spirituality tend to be on the left end (liberal, progressive) of the political spectrum?
I see a few possible reasons:
There is an historical reason. Modern western spirituality was “born” on the US west coast (especially the Bay Area), partly because of it’s large Asian influence, and this is also a center for a liberal and progressive orientation. This connection is then perpetuated.
More liberal people tend to be more open to new experiences, new cultures etc., which may also give an openness to spirituality.
People into spirituality tend to be more concerned about the health and well-being of all life, which fits a more liberal/progressive orientation.
For westerners, I also assume that most of those with an interest in spirituality would land in the bottom left quadrant of the political compass. That is, to the left and less authoritarian. (I ended up to the left of and somewhat less authoritarian than Dalai Lama.) Where spirituality is combined with religion, and traditional religious structures, it’s possible that more people will end up in the more authoritarian quadrant. And if we did a survey of people into spirituality in the west, we would probably find dots everywhere in each quadrant (even if there is possibly an emphasis on the bottom left).
And, I assume that as people into spirituality mature, they tend to arrive at a more integral approach to politics, appreciating the function of approaches from the whole political spectrum, and more free to apply any political tool depending on what seems most helpful in the situation.
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– why more people into spirituality also on the left (liberal, progressive)?
— historical coincidence, west coast of the us, both
— more open minded, open to new experiences, new cultures etc.
— more concerned with the health and well-being of all + society + all beings + future generations
– and, is a diversity of views, can look at it as lines of development, and can take an integral approach
– can be more or less mature within any political quadrant (or however we want to divide it), although will end up more integral after a while, appreciating the value of each approach and being more free in integrating and seeing the bigger picture (more pragmatic)
– obviously reflects my own views and biases (there is validity in many other views too)
http://www.politicalcompass.org/test
Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -9.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.79