Post a Comment On: Bruce Charlton's Notions

Causal thinking can be useful - or even essential - in certain restricted domains of practical functionality; such as science and engineering. Yet, significantly, causal thinking has almost ceased at high levels of professional research - such that only one or two steps of causality are being considered, and each micro-specialty has its own unique and non-overlapping set of permissible causes. But while properly-causal domains have nowadays suppressed causal thinking (replacing it with officially-controlled bureaucratic consensus - aka. peer review); a fake causality is improperly imposed-upon the major policy areas of public discourse. So causal reasoning is (nowadays) not used where it should be; but instead used where it shouldn't. 
As I said; causality is improperly imposed-upon the major policy areas of public discourse. Improper; because causal ways of thinking exclude God and human free will (agency); because they exclude uncaused-causes - and all purpose agency must be understood as a cause which originates in/from a Being. If a Being's thinking or behaviour is explained wholly on the basis of having-been-caused - then it is not a free thought or behaviour. 
So, we need to develop a not-causal understanding - and this is indeed a spontaneous and natural understanding for humans; and this is often referred to as a matter of motivations, intentions, purposes and the like. So beings initiate causal chains by un-caused thought and actions. However; the understanding that the world is ultimately determined by Beings can also open the mind to the reality of 'non-causal' influences. Beings do not only initiate causal chains - but also communicate directly with other Beings; in other words thoughts (as well as actions) of God and other Beings can be known directly, and without the indirect linkage of causes and effects: i.e. without such causal chains as the production, reception and understanding of languages. 
When we recognize that the main determinant of 'what happens' should be understood in terms of the motivations/ intentions/ purposes of living Beings - then we can also appreciate how Beings (including ourselves) can and do change things for the better directly and by our thinking and behaving.This means that we who take the side of God and Creation are not wholly caused by the material (public, controlled) world; and also that we can affect the world for the better despite being excluded by the material world. 'Just' by what we think and do that is aligned with God and Creation - other people who are also aligned with God and Creation can know and be affected by this. 
In a deep and primary sense; a blog post such as this one is not necessary. All such communication might be deleted; and yet a spiritual community of Christians would still exist by direct knowing; for as long as Christians acknowledge the primacy of the non-causal.