Biologizing the Eschaton

Conservative's contrast “ideology” with “conservatism,” defining ideology as the secular attempt to create a social utopia on earth, which was called “immanentizing the eschaton” (Eric Voegelin), or trying to bring about the eschaton, the final, heaven-like stage of history in the immanent material world, on earth. Whereas conservative's believe that the world is controlled by God, who is beyond the material-secular world, and that man cannot create social utopias on earth without God's help, because humanity is flawed and incomplete, containing original sin caused by attempting to act contrary to God at the beginning of mankind. One might think this would better make the comparison between ideology and religious philosophy, but it is assumed that conservatism contains these sacred elements in its political programs---or perhaps it looked too volatile to suggest a battle between religion and ideology.

How is theological materialism defined regarding ideology and conservatism? Theological materialism biologizes the eschaton in the evolution of material and supermaterial life to Godhood. But Godhood is not seen as a social utopia on earth, theological materialism promises Godhood beyond the earth, but unlike traditional religion, Godhood is reached through the formerly “secular” world of material and supermaterial evolution. God was first understood or seen by ascetics in the symbolic experience of the Inward Path to the God or Father Within, but in theological materialism this symbolic God is attained through material/supermaterial evolution to real Godhood, beginning on earth and then evolving out into the cosmos, applying such things as sociobiology and even voluntary eugenics.  “Salvation” comes through material and supermaterial evolution. This is not an “armed doctrine” (Burke) of radical revolution, this is an outward conservative transformation of the undeveloped traditional inward definitions of God.

Is this ideology or religion? Biologizing the eschaton toward evolving to Godhood is religious philosophy, not merely ideology. But why get upset by the the term ideology? The material and supermaterial world includes  ideology and religion as the means by which we evolve to Godhood.  This could even help heal the great divide between ideology and religion.