I was thinking about conversations I've had with various people about religion and philosophy. Many of these people have a belief that they think is truth, and I'm not talking about any one religion or belief, I'm talking about people who have differing beliefs, but think their belief is true. Now, I'm not speaking just in broad terms, like one person is a Christian and the other a Jew or Muslim, but also in sub sects of each religion.
So, I've been told I think too much, and I say to that, this is good thing not a bad thing. I've been told I question too much, and I say this is a good thing not a bad thing. If humankind did not have a large brain and have consciousness than we would not even be able to ask the question who, what, where, when.....and why. A dog does not sit around and ask...is there a god, or an afterlife, or spirits and angels, or demons.
To me it makes no sense that God would want human beings to kill themselves over what they deem to be truth. It does make sense that God would include all people and that just believing that God exists would not be good enough and that one's deeds would matter to God. It appears to me that we as humans are missing or not wanting to hear the message of Love and acceptance. Such a simple thing, yet such a hard thing for us humans to live consistently.
I was also thinking about how the strong survive and the meek perish. You see it everywhere, it is almost a law of the animal kingdom. With humans large brain and adaptability, do we not have the capability to change our thinking about this way of thinking? If we are closer to God in the way we live our lives and prayer will we not have compassion for the meek? Will only the strong survive still apply. It would seem that it wouldn't. It would seem that Christians, and Muslims, and Jews if they were living their live in accordance to the way God would want them to live would have compassion for each other and those who are less fortunate. It would seem?
All good thoughts. Good questions.
ReplyDeleteRandom responses:
Even in our best moments we "see through a glass darkly" so too much certainty about the nature of "the permanent things" always makes me nervous. Though I have been guilty of this as much as anyone.
But I do not think honest uncertainty is the same as NOT believing or not knowing. Anyone who claims absolute certainty about the Transcendent or Eternal is not being honest, with the exception of St Paul or St Peter who had a bit of an inside connection.
Everyone thinks that what they believe to be true IS true, otherwise why believe it. Age and failure allow us to have a certain acceptance of the fact that we may be wrong and that we certainly ARE wrong about many things.
I think we are in more danger these days of believing that all things are as true as all other things. We kind of live in the age of philosophical egalitarianism, that is, all beliefs are equally true as long they are held sincerely. The "hierarchy of truth" is not an acceptable phrase these days.
We are all a bit Nietzchean, taking great pride in disproving what has always been believed to be true.
Well those are random and unfiltered comments on your thoughts.
Always a pleasant conversation for me.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comment. This is a necessary danger though. For hundreds of years people have been kept from knowledge, a prime example being the dark ages. Take the Crusades for example, and if you look at Ottoman empire you would be in your best interest to be a Muslim. Look at this country when we had witch hunts. Then there is Hitler and we all know what happened their. You may know truth or you may know some truth, or you may know little truth. Take being a Cristian for example. If you believe that Jesus was the son of God, what this means can be debated. Some think that you need to except Jesus and God as one and the same, and if you do not believe this you will not be allowed into the kingdom of God. Some people think that this is a misinterpretation and that you need to learn from Jesus's teachings and apply them to your life in order to truly achieve salvation. Philosophical egalitarianism is just people asking questions and looking for answers. It is because we live in a country that allows this expression, which may bother some folks for example Catholics because these beliefs are thought to be heritic. So, with this said, if you believe that someones belief is wrong or against God, does God want you to love that person. I think yes. To not love that person goes against the teachings of Christianity. But that is exactly what happens. People who have these heretic views get ostrosized and if not hated are extremely disliked by Christians. Something seems wrong with this dissention. Right wing Muslims feel the same way as to right wing Jews. One of these groups is wrong, or they are all wrong about the same thing. There may be people who have it all wrong and are following false gods or god, or don't believe in anything, but they are free to make speak their opinion, and this is to me a good thing. We are not to be the judges.
ReplyDelete"So, with this said, if you believe that someones belief is wrong or against God, does God want you to love that person. I think yes. To not love that person goes against the teachings of Christianity. But that is exactly what happens. People who have these heretic views get ostrosized and if not hated are extremely disliked by Christians. Something seems wrong with this dissention."
ReplyDeleteTrue. True. True. If you are a Christian or Jew you are obligated to be charitable. I don't know anything about Islam. My point is not that I am right but that there is such a thing as "right" and a "wrong" in the world of ideas.
I don't care for the metaphorical description: "Dark Ages." A lot of good things happened.
Right. I agree that there must be a truth or a right or wrong. I see now that what you were saying, however people who don't agree completely with either Christians or Muslims, seem to get ostrosized. With that said, I don't think that it is truth. I think that somewhere in their learning they are mis-interpreting the teaching. If you are teaching to be good and your student follows you and does bad in the name of protecting good, then that just doesn't make sense. It also seems to me that the numbers of people who are living the teachings in all of the major and non major religions are not applying what is being taught. Maybe this is too much to ask. I'm not sure, but I thought Christ was sent to suffer for our sins, so we would be allowed to continue living on Earth and still be allowed into the kingdom of God. Now, my street corner understanding, which is very basic, is that God was unhappy with the way we were living. So, it seems that deeds are extremely important, and that if humans were living right, that God would not have had to send Christ.
ReplyDeleteAs far of the "Dark Ages", it is the hoarding of books by those in power and the killing of those who were thought to be heretics that I have a problem with, but I would like to here about the good aspects of that time period. It would also make for a good article. Thanks Fran. I enjoy this discusion.
"Dark Ages" was a term invented by a 14th century poet named Plutarch. He applied this term to cover the period between the "Classical Age" and the "Renasissance". In his view, everything inbetween was darkness and ignorance.
ReplyDeleteSuch a view is now rejected by all historians. We now know that the Church of the "Dark Ages" was directly responsible for preserving the ancient learning and transmitting it to the following generations. The new leanring of the "Renaissance" and the "modern" age were only possible because of the lively philosophical speculation of the "Dark Ages" (one need only read a biography of Thomas Aquinas to realize how lively it was) and their regard for the wisdom of antiquity.
Although it is true that the Bible was chained in the Churches and that books were "hoarded", the reason for this is obvious. A book at that time was incredibly expensive and the only way to gurantee that everyone could access it was to chain it in the Church. If the priest left the Bible unchained, it would doubtless be stolen.
--Andrew