I don't really have much to add to the conversation. I just know that a similar argument/discussion/"debate" had by first generation New England Unitarians and the Transcendentalists infuriates me to no end and has kept me up late at night trying to figure it out for the last two or three years. Grrrrrr.
Lex, your struggles remind of of a recent personal revelation as I wrestled with coping with a new appointment at this point in my life. With a spiritual pat on the head, God seemed to say: "No sliding into retirement for you!" I think the struggle is a good thing....no pat answers, I'm suspect.
Problem is that it isn't a personal, spiritual struggle. I'm pretty much a humanist agnostic who has a yearning for a spiritual life and generally keep an open mind, even for religious and other people who don't keep an open mind. The gray areas become interesting and sticky but don't cause any everyday distress.
The struggle I'm having is finding an academic answer to further my career life. On one level, it's personal because even with an open mind, I have a lot of difficulty understanding why the first gen Unitarians and Transcendentalist were getting all worked up, mainly because I don't have enough context. So this is just something that I want to finish, get over with and move on with my life.
There's really no decisions to be made other than what route of research do I take to get the context I need. I need to get my BA, I don't have the money to take classes to get my BA in a conventional manner at some other school. Once I'm done with a huge project, I can get my BA at a minimal cost from my last college.
So I don't have any personal spiritual, metaphysical struggle going on here. I just have a major academic, career, intellectual struggle going on here. It's a lot more tedious in my opinion.
=D