Why is your religion/spiritual belief correct?

[DiscoDan]

Originally Posted by Liara Covert

Disco Dan makes a provocative point. If you have faith in your own views, why do you feel the need to justify or defend yourself to anyone? After all, who is anyone to declare there is a correct or incorrect view of spirituality or religion? Why would one view necessarily be superior to another? Would such views of supposed superiority not be projections of self-doubt and insecurity?

This is certainly not the point I was trying to make in my post. Let me pose a ridiculous example.

Let's say we have a fellow who is certain that a particular piece of swiss cheese he's found is actually God. He is absolutely certain of this. No one can tell him otherwise because he's certain it's true.

Now someone goes up to him and says, "Oh yeah, you're so certain, prove it to me!"

How can the first man (if he is, in fact, certain of his beliefs) reply with anything other than, "It is not my fault you do not believe in facts. If you do not see that this piece of swiss cheese is in fact God, this is your fault, not mine."

It would be like someone going up to you (perhaps on this forum) and saying, "Oh yeah, you believe you have eyes, prove it to me!"

This is absolutely ridiculous. Wouldn't you immediately dismiss such a question?

[Narz]

Originally Posted by dor

oh i think we have don't have a problem with that in the west....maybe we need to start questioning: convention, currently accepted truths, currently accepted political and cultural dogma, post 1960s social mores why single out tradition and superstition? Its like the people who say religion has caused wars and violence - well so has ethnic background, atheists, idealogy, -
and those who say organized religion is bad because of this or that incident, well goverments and as we have seen with the US, even democracies, can commit acts of evil, so do those same people say get rid of government?
And this is the problem I have with people who single out religion (and I not imply you, specifically) and seem to create an indentity based on that - I am free thinker because I reject organized religion -that makes a me a 'bright' like Dawkins -- (who is actually an idiot when it comes to geo political conflict)

I agree with should question all dogma whether religious, political or social in nature.

I also think Dawkins appears a little full of himself and doesn't have the personality to be able to pull it off.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Narz

I agree with should question all dogma whether religious, political or social in nature.

I also think Dawkins appears a little full of himself and doesn't have the personality to be able to pull it off.

if i may paraphrase the Pope to Michangelo in the movie Agony and Ecstasy ...do you see how well we understand each other when we don't shout

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by Narz

I also think Dawkins appears a little full of himself and doesn't have the personality to be able to pull it off.

I wish that I could like Dawkins but I can't. He comes across as too angry. Ever see the video of him with Ted Haggard? Now I can understand someone being impatient with such a twit, but it's best to hide it when on camera.

[ku'el]

Hi Guys,

In an infinite universe I believe all systems are arbitrary

I think the question is... "Are my religious beliefs effective?"

If they are, well, why not keep using them. If there are problems why not do something else.

the best,
ku'el.

[Narz]

Originally Posted by ku'el

Hi Guys,

In an infinite universe I believe all systems are arbitrary

Why do you believe that?

[hindweb]

I believe in Hinduism or Sanatana dharma. We really don't have this my religion is only true religion/ the right way concept. The basic belief of Hinduism is that all paths lead to that absolute reality, you may believe in some way and my beliefs may be different.

[dor]

Originally Posted by hindweb

I believe in Hinduism or Sanatana dharma. We really don't have this my religion is only true religion/ the right way concept. The basic belief of Hinduism is that all paths lead to that absolute reality, you may believe in some way and my beliefs may be different.

well that basic belief is a belief

[Liara Covert]

DiscoDan: I apologize if I misunderstood you. What comes across in words isn't always what the writer intended. Hence, the benefit of clarification.

Dor: I agree with your view on beliefs. Perception leads to perspectives.

Hindweb: You make an intriguing point --all beliefs could lead to one reality. Some people believe no 'ultimate truth or reality' exists. Then what?

[stroodle]

I think religion is our (sometimes weak) attempt to answer the unanswerable questions.

It amazes me how billions of people think they KNOW answers to things - that are really so beyond our comprehension. I think religion dumbs everything down to a simpler level of understanding. I think religion brings many positives, such as love - this if anything should be the universal religion. However, the deeper some peoples' beliefs get in these 'simple-answers' the more disillusioned people get and forget the real truth - that WE DON"T KNOW.

Of course these are just my opinions. Maybe I'm disillusioned for not believing in mythological figures.

I think if you just look at humanity over time you'd see that our collective intelligence is growing. Therefore something we may have believed thousands of years ago may not be what we believe in thousands of years from now. There was a time when everyone thought the world was flat. But clearly we debunked that. Right? hehe

Why can't we accept that we're all part of a great mystery being solved - that takes an undetermined length of time. We shouldn't think we have all the answers as of this moment.