I do not distinguish between religions in any way. They all do pretty much the same thing in slightly different ways. They all believe in something on faith that can never be proved or disproved. They all try to differentiate themselves from each other but most are just variations on the same theme or branches of the same tree. People like Aiden that rabidly advocate for one religion while demonizing anther make me laugh. The only significant differences are in the heads of those that have a vested interest in their own beliefs. People will defend their beliefs to the death, literally. So much energy and emotion spent on something that isn't really any different than any other set of beliefs. Just something to think about....
I assume its because one group thinks god is one way, expects certain things from us, has certain rules...and the other group thinks god wants similar but different things. These people do not have any real proof what god wants, they have accepted one of the many sets of attributes out there and when others say 'no, god wants us to do THIS, not THAT' is where the trouble starts. Lets face it, belief in god requires what is called a 'leap of faith'. This cannot be easy. It cant be that terribly easy to put aside the physical world and all its rules and mundane reality where people do not rise from the dead and do not work miracles and accept that one guy indeed DID not only do all these fantastic things that do not occur in real life, but he was the son of god. We cannot see this, we must just accept the word of others long ago. And certainly there are no obviously hitches in believing the word of people thousands of years ago...I mean we all know that ancients came up with wild stories about gods, demigods, and the like. If I said that I died and rose from the dead the next day, or I knew a person who did...people would think I was insane. If I said I saw a person walking on the surface of water...again...crazy. So people are allowing themselves to believe something that ordinarily would be viewed as crazy talk, unbelievable. Now because people must take a leap of faith and believe all these fantastic things on word alone...I can see why seeing others who say they are wrong and that god is not how they think, follow rules that might contradict the ones they are sure god wants us to follow, would cause them a bit of distress. It reminds them that their belief system is just one of many different religious beliefs, and maybe remind them they can neither prove their belief is correct or prove the others are false, all the burden of proof is on them, they want something to be accepted as fact but cannot back it up with facts. I think the fact that religion expects us to believe these fantastic tales is why religious people gather together so often with like minded people to reinforce the belief and remind them they aren't the only ones who believe this...I think that maybe those who immerse themselves in religion in their daily life, those who are all about god all the time, are possibly even the people who have the weakest faith. But in the end, from the outside looking in, I agree that most religions seem to be roughly the same. It is easy to see the evolution of religious belief through time from early spiritualism to the monotheist today that are by far the majority and most common type of religion.
I have exposure to a lot of faiths, and yes, indeed many of them have central tenets that are common, but some are very different also. And there are some that are for all practical description are quite frankly bizarre in my interpretation.
Interesting view Moen. Are you saying we should not hate and kill one another over differing beliefs? What a concept. Only wish more even attempted to look at that way.
Well, I guess if people didn't hate and kill each other over religious differences, they'd probably find something else to hate and kill each other over. That neither justifies nor excuses religion. I think it says that religion is no different than any other artificial construct of man. It has no special power or mystical ability to affect the fate of men in any way. Religion is what it is and it isn't any different than everything else man has conjured up throughout the ages. Maybe its the case that we are naturally flawed beings and incapable of the ideals we can imagine.
Sure we would we have the teeth of killers and our eyes are placed in front of our heads like hunters. Our minds plot, our Id yearns for pleasure , our emotions run wild, and we tend to yearn for what others have. Never mind the fact that when we put others down it makes us feel better, when we blame others for our problems-it makes us feel better, etc. That is why the muslims are mostl likely going to win the world for unlike other bibles of faith that have been misused but really are books about faith the koran is also like the book, The art of war. A plan book and hate book to teach the unborn from birth to hate,conquer and kill anyone who is not of the faith. Lucky for us there is more then one version of the koran for our only hope is that they keep busy killing each other. Sunni/shia-etc.
I think what you point out is that religion is just a tool to accomplish whatever goal is deemed worthy at the time. The same religion can be used even as the goals evolve over time. They simply adapt the beliefs to the new reality and keep pushing the faith. The inevitable contradictions that arise are glossed over and buried in the vaults of history. Competitions and rivalries arise along the way naturally within and outside of the faith. The sheer number of religions in the world today and all those that have ceased to exist would have to make you think that the current ones are no more right than any of those from the past. But I'm sure the past practitioners also thought they had the answers too.
For the most part with what was wrote there but I must add that religion with tolerance can be a great thing but without tolerance it can be the opposite of what it preaches with the exception of Islam which started out with the premise of die or convert and has zero tolerance within its own ranks which is why the middle eastern cultures including north africa which once led the world in technology, creativity, art for thousands of years since Islam have become cognitive wastelands and depend on the west and east for anything new for around a thousand years.
WOW...yeah, you may want to just summarize this in one paragraph because I have the assumption that no one is gonna read all that. stainless
