>
> I consider myself an atheist pagan for reasons very similar to the
> situation postulated in this example; while I don't believe in the literal
> existence of personal gods, I find them very useful and compelling
> metaphors to use in shaping my own will to an idea or task. Does that
> make me Level 3, or does it just make me UU?
An important element in a level 3 life-style is having a central goal in
life to which most other activities are subordinate facilitators. Do
you have such a goal? Do you have a mission; an agenda?
As for being UU, do you mean Unitarian Universalist? If so, (I expect
Richard will disagree with me on this one, but I'd be pleasantly
suprised to be proven wrong.) Level 3 and UU are not mutually
exclusive. Based on personal experience, Unitarian practice is more
exclusively social than any other organized religion I can think of.
The variety of religious traditions which Unitarianism explicitly
endorses is so diverse that Universalists seem to be welcome to
entertain almost any belief system that suits them. I forget who it
was, but someone half-jokingly recommended that we loby to get memetics
included in the UU canon.
Let me put my response to your question in as concise a package as I
know how: The fact that you recognize that you employ various
conceptual frameworks because you judge them to be useful and empowering
in certain contexts and that you aren't scrambling to generate the
rationalizations that will gloss over all the inter-framework
incongruities certainly puts you head and shoulders above the crowd.
More power to you, Eva-Lise.
Take care. -KMO