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A question on religions

Tudris	Date: October 3, 2006 @ 10:01 AM Eh, I know this is a topic which often turns into flamewars and veers far away from the thread's original intent, but... to DM people, from progressive thinkers to believers and everyone in between and overlapping, isn't it apparent that every religion's sincere followers experience the sublime, the presence of God, or what have you? Muslims rocking back and forth at holy sites, Jews praying by their wall, Hindus and Buddhists practicing careful meditation, and Christians dancing and singing at mass all seem to be doing these things in response to feeling something divine, an energy inside themselves and throughout the room that drives them to worship in whatever way they choose to. I remember this feeling distinctly from my days of Christianity. Hairs stand on end, goosebumps develop out of nowhere, the heart overflows and sometimes tears burst forth, when a sincere believer is in that moment of faith that makes their God undeniably real to them. Yet I can't be convinced that this is limited to that religion, that the swarms of Muslims stampeding to their holy sites aren't driven by something other than insanity. I imagine church leaders from my life years ago would have told me that other religions were feeling only the presence of demonic energy or somesuch bullshit. Your feelings aren't valid like mine are, basically. But how can you know unless you actually try different peoples' techniques?
leedsquietman	Date: October 3, 2006 @ 10:29 AM Karl Marx once said religion is the opium of the people. You can educate yourself about religion but you can't claim, for example, to be a muslim and a jew at the same time because their phiospohies and doctrines vary so widely. What is more ambiguous are the various SECTS within a religion, such as Sunni and Shi'ite muslims, Catholic and Protestants etc. Once again, a difference in certain core beliefs or sets the difference. Although I have never subscribed to the view that people following a different religion are 'possessed by demons' or 'going to hell', it's a personal and spiritual choice and should be respected. And really, certain points in the Koiran and the Bible can be interpreted many different ways, a bit like giving some poetry to 20 different people and asking them to dissect and interpret, you'll find some overlapping but I bet all 20 people will give some different responses to some of the poem. I'm always wary of people who quote religious passages to back up an argument or make a point as quite often what they say proves their point is so ambiguous and open to mis-interpretation that it proves nothing.
zedsalt	Date: October 3, 2006 @ 11:09 AM Every major faith includes among its major tenets some recognition of the fact that other faiths are every bit as valid. Being raised a Methodist, the expression of this that I'm most familiar with is the biblical, "As is each individual's need, so is My image". I honestly think that it's EASY for anyone who is prepared to be honest with herself/himself to discern those larger universal truths from the cultural baggage from each religion's beginnings. It's just that there are people for whom that particular variety of preparation is impossible, people who simply aren't capable of seeing how more than one faith could be valid. And there must be a significant number of them, as every major faith seems to have at least a few of them among its framers. That's alright by me; I think organized religion is at its best when it's at its most inclusive. I don't think such a small shortcoming in one's character should exclude her/him from an organized religion; I just wish there wasn't such a disproportionately large number of bigots rising to positions of earthly power!
Tudris	Date: October 3, 2006 @ 11:29 AM Good points, both of you. Zedsalt, I've never seen that verse before...where is it?
HalloweenBat...	Date: October 3, 2006 @ 12:03 PM religon brought us to the dark age
Alecs	Date: October 3, 2006 @ 12:25 PM Tudris, this is one of the large reasons why I'm an atheist. But, zed, you make a really good point. Where is that in the bible?
Tudris	Date: October 3, 2006 @ 1:28 PM I once floated between atheism and agnosticism and finally settled as being agnostic. It seems to me the only logical choice, because sometimes we just have to admit that we don't know and we may never be able to for sure. But I certainly think there is evidence that spiritualism of some sort can be constructive to peoples' lives. It's when people begin using their beliefs to harness control over their faith's followers for political or other reasons that it becomes a problem. I've studied Buddhism and I like it a lot and feel I can apply it to my life, but I wouldn't call myself a Buddhist. I'm also kind of into the idea of pantheism.