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Religion, that word is so loaded with all kinds of different connotations. Depending on where you were born, what your environment was and who told you what is the truth… your idea of what it means to be a religious person often can be extremely different from the next person.
Lets see what the dictionary defines religion as:
re⋅li⋅gion
- a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
- a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
Lets face it no matter what you’re religion is or lack there of for most people in the United States and around the world whatever book you pray to or god you worship you didn’t find it yourself… someone told you, this is the truth! Can you really call yourself a religious person at all?
If we consult the dictionary and follow that definition sure maybe by definition you’re a religious person. You have a set of beliefs that have been handed down to you by your parents or an authority figure like a priest or bishop so it must be true, besides you’ve got faith.
I don’t understand how anyone can after reaching adulthood continue to believe in what they were told as a child and not question what they’ve been told and search for themselves. How can you call yourself religious when everything you believe has been told to you by someone else and you take it for face value?
Why are we so stuck up on giving ourselves labels anyway? What is the point of me calling myself a Muslim or a Christian? Can anything good possibly come from separating myself from the rest of my brothers and sisters on this planet?
Can you not see that as soon as you give yourself a label a religion that you are blocking yourself from everything else? If you say THIS is the truth you are negating everything else and in my opinion indicating just how flickery your “faith” truly is. Wouldn’t this world be a much more peaceful place if we could all just say I DON’T KNOW?
Instead of putting up this front that we KNOW what the truth is perhaps if we all put our faith, opinions, conditioning and backgrounds aside maybe then we’d all have the energy to look into what religion truly is. In my opinion religion has nothing to do with faith, a book or any name you give god. A true religious mind wouldn’t put a name on it at all.
I’m truly curious if there is anyone open to begin a dialog please do reply. Do you really believe what you’ve been told?
Peace,
~ Echo
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degreesofemotion.wordpress.com 
I do yes, though I haven’t always. Just a short synopsis:
-Born and raised Southern Baptist
-Denied Christianity when I was 15 and became pagan (Never doubted the existance of some kind of God)
-Had a conscious, not drugged induced, under no kind of duress, not even open to Christianity, experience with a saint and an angel in France 3 years later
-Became Roman Catholic because of it
-Am now finally at the end of my religious journey with Eastern Orthodoxy 4 years after that.
This is why I don’t buy the whole “religous people are all brainwashed” BS. I’m 1 semester away from B.A. in Philosophy so I don’t buy the whole “religous people aren’t rational and dont’ know how to think” BS either.
Comment by Doulos February 13, 2009 @ 4:01 amPlease tell me more about your experience with this Saint & Angel in France, what happened that was so profound?
~ Echo
Comment by casualtyofdesign February 13, 2009 @ 4:04 amI think it may have to do with the ingrained fears, as well. Your rationality may tell you to wander, but your fears of “eternal damnation” can be deep. I mean, they do use some rather rattling and colorfully petrifying phrases to scare you into submission. And recruitment.
Comment by Doon Baqi February 13, 2009 @ 3:07 pmOi Doon Baqi and thanks for dropping by!
I hear what you’re saying about the FEAR tactics, all the major religions use them but it just doesn’t seem like a good excuse to me anymore. For a grown adult to go on in the ways of religious warfare, condemning fellow mankind, etc… it all seems to me immature, childish and lazy. I’m not saying that all Christians, Muslims or Jews are war mongers but being a part of those religions along with any other organized DIVISION simply gives the nod to your fellow club members to do what’s best for the greater good of your particular sect.
All the FEAR tactics used in any of the books people worship these days promising lakes of fire and damnation couldn’t possible scare me more than what is happening right here, right now in REALITY.
Some might say, well what’s happening right now is what is coming to pass in the Bible or whatever other book you want to quote but come on… REALLY?
Isn’t it obvious enough that as strongly as you feel about your book, the guy across the planet on the other side of the world has just as much “faith” as you do… most likely more? Can’t you see that its your conditioning that has brought you to where you are in life?
Can I get a AMEN?
Peace,
~ Echo
Comment by casualtyofdesign February 13, 2009 @ 3:28 pmWell, I was with a school group, my french language class, and we were just making different stops across the country. We went to the Cathedral in Chartres. While walking around just looking at things I found myself in front of a statue of some female saint and got the strange sensation that something was telling me to pray. Mind you, I’d distanced myself from Christianity for a good three years at this point, and was actually kind of hostile towards it. Well, I started kind of mumbling some words when I got the sensation that something was telling me to shut up. So there I was, looking up at this statue wondering what the hell was going on when my vision went blurry. When it cleared up a few seconds later, instead of a statue in front of me there was an actual person. She looked down at me and smiled. Then my vision went blurry again, cleared up, and it was the statue once more. Needless to say I ran the hell out of the church! *laugh*
A few weeks later, the last day of the trip, we were in the city where Joan of Arc was martyred. A bunch of us were sitting around talking when all of the sudden it started getting hard to breath.. like something heavy was on my chest. I left the room, walked around for a minute, collected myself, and went back in. A few minutes later I started feeling it again, so I left again. I was in the hallway staring out of this window just thinking, wondering if I was sick or something. From this window I could see a huge stone church to the right, left, and one infront of me (not sure why there were there were three churches so big so close to each other). I saw a light which I at first thought was a meteor, but it persisted so I brushed it off as a plane. I was idly watching it when it went behind the church infront of me… but I realized I could still see it! (it was a slow moving, small light, so if it was indeed a plane, I should have lost sight of it). As soon as I realized this it flew up towards me quickly and then disappeared and in that instant I just -knew- that it was an angel.
That moment changed my life (such a cliche phrase…) and because of it I’ll never be able to doubt again. Later found out that the saint that I had seen was St. Therese of Lisieux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thérèse_de_Lisieux), patron saint of France.
Comment by Doulos February 13, 2009 @ 4:07 pmHey again Doulos!
Yeah I think the time thing may have messed up because I change my settings on my end, keep in mind this blog is brand spanking new. Anyhoo…
You’re experience is very interesting and I don’t doubt for one second you saw what you saw but I do have some additional questions for you. Please do keep in mind that I’m not judging, accepting or denying what you’re saying… we’re just having a dialog and helping one another understand.
One of the things that you said in your last note that I found to be a bit unsettling for me is:
I’m just trying to grasp the significance of what you’re saying here. Basically you’re saying that because of the experience you had you KNOW its true. I don’t know if you agree with me or not, actually if you agree or not it doesn’t really matter… the FACT is when you say you YOU KNOW, you’re shutting yourself off from the rest of the world. You put a wall up around yourself and are putting yourself into a category. Can you see this fact?
Whatever your experience, be it seeing an angel or St. Therese of Lisieux (a beautiful experience I’m sure) why do you now have to cut yourself off from the rest of society and block yourself? Can ANY good come of you calling yourself a Catholic? I don’t see any, I can only see division, fear, pain, shame, war, etc. If you look back over history and see how many people have killed and died over their identity with the Catholic church its a shame. What purpose does it server to call yourself a Catholic or a Jew for that matter?
Another thing about your experience and what you saw. People have experiences like this all over the world if you where raised in Africa your experience may have been of one of the local gods or deities because of your conditioning and environment growing up. What you saw, what ANYBODY sees in experiences like these are visions drawing from the knowledge that you have accumulated over the years of your life.
I can tell you first hand having taken many hallucinogens, LSD, mushrooms, etc. What you see on trips like this all draw from what you know, from the accumulated knowledge in your head. I suppose you can draw comparisons to dreaming, when you dream you see all kinds of things but its your brain drawing from the database like a computer would to deliver some kind of message which you then interpret.
But lets forget all that… lets say your vision, experience was the real deal… no question about it the real thing. Does that justify you now diving into a book and confining yourself to all its interpretation and misinterpretations? A book of stories loving and bloody passed down over centuries… do you really do that book any justice by cutting yourself off from the rest of the world and not investigating for yourself what is truth?
Do you really believe that loving angel you saw that day, that beautiful saint would see you off to an eternity of hell fire and damnation? Isn’t it possible for you to have more mystical experiences, aren’t you open to that? Before the experience in France you had NO IDEA… now you’re full of IDEAS… but are ideas really truth?
I’m not denying you, or judging in anyway brother I’m just trying to dive into this with you. In your heart of hearts… in your wildest dreams could the creator of you and I, the birds, the beautiful sunsets… could that energy NOT LOVE YOU and I?
Peace,
~ Echo
Comment by casualtyofdesign February 13, 2009 @ 4:40 pmWoah.. something happened with the comment orders. My first post is time stamped after my second!
Comment by Doulos February 13, 2009 @ 4:09 pmHey, no need to dance around the bush with me when it comes to conversation. I’m a philosophy major and debates and the such are what I love to engage in and if we’re scared to say what we really mean, or if the other person isn’t going to engage fully and get upset if their views are challenged then there’s no point in having the conversation! 😛
First, I just want to point out that I’m actually not a Catholic anymore, I’m Eastern Orthodox now. This change came about through continued research and prayer on my part, so I wouldn’t say that I’ve completely cut myself off from ther others systems of belief and possibilites. Before becoming pagan actually, after I first rejected Christianity, I spent a good time looking into other belief systems, religions, etc. What I meant when I said that I can no longer doubt is that I can no longer doubt the existence of God, and I’m almost completely certain that it is the God of the Christian faith (due to the context of the experiences and futher later experiences I’ve had since [though nothing as dramatic as the two I’ve already described])
As far as whether any good can come from labelling myself as an Eastern Orthodox, I believe that it can. Since I believe that EO is the fullness of the Christian faith (Roman Catholicism having strayed with a few dogmas, and Protestantism becoming almost unrecognizable) I think that the label is important. It is self-identifying with what I believe is the most accurate expression of the Christian faith and the fullness of the truth of the question of a divine being and how it wishes to be worshipped, as well as the overall world-view which Orthodoxy has.
As far as the bloody history of the Catholic Church goes, I agree completely with you that it is a shame. However, nothing like the Dark Ages, or the Inquisition, or the Crusades has occured within Orthodoxy (in fact, the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople, a Christian city and heart of Eastern Orthodoxy. Why the western Roman Catholics felt it necessary to attack, loot, and rape fellow Christians is beyond me).
I don’t believe that my experience had to do with prior conditioning or some kind of subliminal expectation on my part since as I said, I was actually pretty close to be outright hostile to Christianity. At the time I thought it was a ridiculous belief system and one that I was not open to at all. It is true that I had had experience with Christianity before, but I had absolutely none with Catholicism (I was raised a Southern Baptist, about as far from Catholicism as you can get as a Christian! *laugh*) so I had no real knowledge of angels or saints.
And yes, it’s true that other cultures have similar experiences and attribute them to various different things. My belief though is that there really is One God, but also a whole spiritual real inhabited by the angels (both good ones, and the bad which we call demons). I think that those other experiences that people had could either be from those fallen angels, or from the good. I’m not in the position to say who is saved and who is damned (unfortunately a lot of Christians believe that they are in such a position) and that really, it’s none of my business. What I am concerned with the state of my own soul, waging the unseen warfare against my own passions and the spiritual beings who influence them. I’m not going to say that it’s not possible for truley honest and commited Hindu, Muslims, or even agnostics to be ‘saved.’ Though I do believe that if others besides Christians are saved it only because of the all encompassing love of God working as He wills, though I also believe that those other groups only stumble upon this love accidentally and without full knowledge of how. Actually, scratch all that and let me just leave it at it’s not my place to decide. For me to look at you and tell you that you’re damned is very presumptious of me, and amounts to me saying that I have full knowledge of God’s will and that I am an arbiter of that will.
It comes down to my belief that Christianity, and more specifically Eastern Orthodoxy contains the fulness of the truth. Other groups and religions might hit upon aspects of it, but never the full thing. Even this amounts to pigeonholeing myself and others than I guess that’s what it is, but that isn’t to say that I haven’t been open to, or kept myself open to, investigating for myself. Some might be able to call me names for being a Christian, but one thing that they will never be able to call me is a blind-believing one. 😉
And lastly, though not really on this topic, you ask “are ideas really truth?” As a philosopher, I just want to say that this is an EXTREMELY loaded question 😉 I’m not going to say that ideas themselves are the truth (like Plato believed) but I will say that ideas are what lead to the truth, and that in a way ideas can have more of an impact than actual, material actions. Just as one example are the ideas of free-will and it’s opposite, determinism. These two ideas, and how you view them, have the power to explain and to impose your entire world-view, whether any actions is essentially meaningful, and which actions are. Anyways, it’s a very nice change of pace to interact with someone who’s genuinely open to dialogue. I look forward to your response!
Comment by Doulos February 14, 2009 @ 10:07 amFor lack of a better word or phrase I’ll consult my Yiddish vocabulary Rolodex… OYE VAY! Like the good book says ask and ye shall receive. LOL, no but seriously thank you for the dialog this is starting to get fun and I’m enjoying myself extremely.
Well, hmmm where to begin?
So Eastern Orthodox, I’ve never even heard of that until making your acquaintance, looks like I’ll be hitting up wikipedia later. Be it EO or any other religion… for myself I can see the inherit danger that comes along with making a stance behind any state, nation or religion. Can you not see it yourself?
I frequent another website current.com and post quite a bit there, anyways there was a post about an Atheist billboard that was put up down south somewhere and people lost their minds crying bloody murder. I chimed in with a response basically calling out the Atheist pointing out that they too are just as guilty or to blame for a lot of the violence in the world. The Atheist are making a stance behind the idea of being an Atheist and all the things that go along with it. They might not believe in “anything” in particular but that belief in “nothing” ironically becomes a belief in “something”. In any case I won’t bore you with all the details you can go check out the post if you’d like and get the full scoop later. The funny thing about it is this guy replied to me saying “You sound like a fellow atheist to me there mindcontrol.” My name on the site is “mindcontrol” by the way.
Here is the link if you want to check out the conversation… a really good website by the way:
http://current.com/items/89772655/atheist_bilboard_comes_to_the_bible_belt.htm?xid=357�
What’s so crazy about it is how an Atheist can’t even get past the idea of having to be called something, having to identify with a group. I for the life of me just find that amazing! I think its something so ingrained in us from the day we where born we’ve been told what groups we belong to and we just accept it. If we don’t accept it from our parents, relative or loved ones then we succumb to the propaganda of outside groups and influences. They come at us with all the answers, everything is in order so it seems and since we often find ourselves in a state of disorder and confusion it becomes easy and quite logical to accept this set of ideas or doctrine you’re be presented.
I believe even if you search for yourself and come upon something so significant and wonderful as you have Doulous, to claim this is the truth even if it is only for you and you’re not pushing it on anyone else… you’re doing a disservice to what you’ve found and yourself.
Lets look at what it means… truth!
Truth, is what it is, is it not? There is no denying the truth there are no bounds to the truth like the Sun in the skies above us its there that is the truth of it, that is a fact. If I run inside your house Doulous and grab you by the arm pull you outside and say look, look, look that is the Sun! What I’ve just said to you has NOTHING to do with the truth. The word “Sun” has nothing to do with it, its a word we’ve given it. As a matter of fact in Spain they call it Sol, France they call it Soleil should we argue and fuss over what to call it?
All the words I use, all the talking I do, all the pointing at the Sun doesn’t concern the Sun, it is what it is. In the same way Doulous truth is what it is calling it Eastern Orthodox is just putting a pair of sunglasses on separating you from that truth. Putting a label on it is confining and restricts you from seeing the truth without any distortions.
Any idea you put on it, any book you filter your thoughts through… all of it, it has nothing to do with truth. Isn’t that obvious?
The moment you say I’m Eastern Orthodox you are blocking yourself from god and no matter how thin a veil it is you’re putting up a wall between you and the rest of the world. It is so clear to me that if we as humanity all have our different nations, teams, states, religions, etc., there cannot possible be peace in this world. And if there cannot be peace we will not know love and if we cannot know love how on EARTH can anyone possibly know god?
Peace,
~ Echo
Comment by casualtyofdesign February 14, 2009 @ 3:34 pmBy the way, I hope you don’t mind long response, I’m not one know to be able to get fully across my thoughts in a short amount of space! 😛
Comment by Doulos February 14, 2009 @ 10:08 amSome thoughts :
One problem you may encounter is that without a guide, teacher or guru you may get lost in the endless nonsense of self (its endless modifications as thoughts, emotions etc)
The presumption that Truth lies within, in the sense of impeccable guidance,or absolute truth within is false, in my opinion and this has also been verified many times over by the endless stupidity of human beings (us) as you well point out.
In the end I found a Spiritual Teacher was required and remain always grateful for that relationship. When The Teachers knowledge becomes your own, in other words, proven to be correct by rigorous testing, then it is your own knowledge, not an “other’s”
In current society independence of thought and personal autonomy are seen as the trophies of a successful life, any dependence outside of self is seen as weakness ( generally)so enlightenment or liberation in modern terms is often seen as or is perceived in goal as “absolute independence”, and that can never happen because of the related nature of life and consciousness.
cheers :}
Comment by Nitram February 15, 2009 @ 8:35 pmNamaste, Nitram and thank you for participating in this conversation.
With regard to your first comment:
One might say the same thing about a teacher or guru. You might get lost in the endless nonsense of someone else and their endless thoughts, modifications and emotions. In addition YOU’VE got to get lost in order to find YOURSELF. When WE you and I get right down to it Nitram, there’s only one of us anyways.
Regardless if truth lies within or without… to presume anything is a trap. If one can remain aware and observe his actions moment to moment, day to day he would never find time to presume anything. If an assumption comes along one doesn’t grab it but in the stillness of observation he will watch it pass by. Of course I’m only presuming this to be the truth.
Does knowledge have anything to do with the truth? Can any bit of knowledge in the entire world or any words we have explain what the truth is? I’m not using semantics to contrive puzzles or put you in a corner Nitram… really, does knowledge have anything whatsoever to do with truth?
Who is it that has something to teach you or I? This person, guru or whatever other label you want to attach to him or her they have more knowledge than you or I so they have something to teach us? Isn’t knowledge a collection of memories and experiences from the past, what does the past have to do with right now? Is the truth set in stone, is the truth set in one position for someone to explain, is the truth static?
Or is it possible that the truth is something much more magnificent? Could it be possible that the truth is dynamic in nature, moving and forever in motion? Knowledge being a tool to point out the known… how could knowledge possibly follow the moving, the living, the truth and who in the world has captured this knowledge to point it out?
You are the teacher Nitram only you’re pretending like you’re not.
Peace,
Comment by casualtyofdesign February 15, 2009 @ 10:45 pm~ Echo
Hi Echo, not much more to add to the conversation, did I mention that yes absolutely agree, everyone should question there inherited beliefs and many people do, and will continue to
I might add though, that the conversation is somewhat stilted, with you telling us how it is, this tends to not really lead to anything useful and may irk people so the conversation ends at that point.
You adopt the stance of one who knows, so why then ask the question if you already have the answer ?
So then you become this teacher :
“One might say the same thing about a teacher or guru. You might get lost in the endless nonsense of someone else and their endless thoughts, modifications and emotions”
A useless one ( in the sense of not really adding to the wisdom of anyone ) This sounds harsh, but there is no ill will here, plus I think your tough enough to debate on the level …
Comment by Nitram February 16, 2009 @ 1:34 pmHello Nitram,
I’m not claiming to know anything, I haven’t one up’d you or anyone else for that matter. I promote questioning everything… be a light unto yourself. The idea of a guru to me is simply absurd. What is a guru by definition? To the best of my knowledge the term guru by definition is someone who removes the darkness or ignorance from a seeker, one who helps point the way.
What does that mean, how is that important and what justifies bowing down or paying special homage to “the guru”?
Someone can help point the way that is not the issue here… it is a fact. Someone you meet along the way “Adi Da” or whomever it is may very well point the way and that is a wonderful gift but YOU are the one who has to walk the walk.
Nitram lets imagine you and I are stuck in a room and as far as you can see there isn’t a way out. Let me play the roll of “guru”. I can see the way and after some time of watching you struggle I point the way to the door for you to get out of the room. I as the “guru” have done my job, I have removed the darkness, I have removed the ignorance… MY JOB IS DONE.
You Nitram are the one who still has to get up and walk out the door. Me the so called guru can point all day and night but it is you who have to investigate still, it is you who have to walk the walk. You walking thought the door and finding truth has nothing to do with the guru at this point, it is completely you.
When I go to the doctors office and am sick and don’t know why the doctor in this case may tell me its because I’m eating the wrong foods and in order to get better I have to change my diet, habits, etc. We don’t bow down or give praise to the doctor and pay great tribute and go on chanting, he did his job its what is expected. The so called guru should be looked at the same way… if I see my brother or sister stuck and they can’t get out, why wouldn’t I point the way?
Is there any need to be called a guru and go on with the teacher pupil relationship? I don’t think so. Point the way, help your fellow man but let us not label the person pointing the way and get caught up in silly traditions, etc. The moment you decide to call yourself a guru or someone else does you are separating yourself and setting up division. What possible good comes from the label guru? There just isn’t any need for it.
Again I will say YES there are people that can point the way, that is a fact but YOU have to investigate that still and you are the one to find truth, enlightenment, etc.
With all that said, I don’t know if you got my message I posted on your blog but I’m definitely going to look into Adi Da. I found his spirit and delivery full of energy and I look forward to investigating further.
Peace and Namaste,
~ Echo
Comment by casualtyofdesign February 16, 2009 @ 2:37 pm“The moment you decide to call yourself a guru or someone else does you are separating yourself and setting up division. What possible good comes from the label guru? There just isn’t any need for it”
Just on this point, it can be useful to look at your own limitations, people like Krishnamurti and some of your other influences were certainly hung up on this point, and often with good reason, that said there is also vast culture and wisdom and utility in tradition as well, that is one reason it is unlikely to disappear. Also by opposing this (religion in general ) you are also setting your self apart from the common choice of many (in principal agree strongly that religion as it, is bogus, however) and pushing your own viewpoint as the ‘one’ that is inherently truthful, the one that is most reasonable and therefore should be adopted by others thus ending the divisive nature of ” Religion”.
cheers:}
Comment by Nitram February 16, 2009 @ 4:07 pmOi Nitram!
It has been a pleasure talking with you, like I said I’m going to look into Adi Da, who knows perhaps I’ll end up posting some of his audio or video.
In the spirit of always questioning, peace to you brother. Please do drop by from time to time, I’ve booked marked you so I’ll be chiming in every so often. Also any audio or videos online that you would like to share… whoever they may be please feel free to pass it on.
Namaste,
Comment by casualtyofdesign February 16, 2009 @ 4:19 pm~Echo
You to man, a good meeting; will drop by to share and challenge the boundaries :}
Comment by Nitram February 17, 2009 @ 12:22 amI like your blog-great take on our emotions.
“The facts are we, all of us are living in a world full of fearful people who have all taken refuge behind our nationalities, religions, books, intellect, etc. If you can see this truth and realize the obvious… everything we’ve done up to this point has failed. Our religions have failed, our ideologies, our United States, our United Nations and any other label or group brought about to bring peace to the world”
Interesting observation of the difference between “religion” and “faith”-I’ve come to a similiar conclusion and have begun to focus on “faith systems” by which all of us live and function. When faith is understood generically, as something universal, we begin to glimpse a way we can learn to understand oneanother by listening to people of faith tell us what it is like to live by their own system. A book called “Stages of Faith” has done an excellent job of positing that faith grows (or doesn’t) similiar to the theory of child development psychology- the first stage being what you are referring to as “believing all that you have been taught”- some folks go through life it seems never questioning, never working through for themselves the hard questions of life, but simply accepting what they were handed down by tradition, etc.
By holding oneanother in esteem and treating oneanother with dignity, we can learn not what they “believe”, but rather what they “set their affections on” or where their ultimate trust is placed, where they go for “sanctuary” when they need a break from the constant battles of daily life. In this since what you are asking us to do is, I believe, impossible:”leave this all behind or outside” the conversation.
John Paul Todd
Comment by e4unity February 19, 2009 @ 5:56 amhttp://www.e4unity.wordpress.com
Hi John and welcome to my blog, glad to have you.
I wanted to start off with I don’t want anyone to do anything outside of question what you’ve been told… always question. I think if one questions what he or she has been told then eventually you’ll come to the point where you see what you’ve been told is… what they’ve been told and what they’ve been told was told to them and so on and so on it goes forever.
Any system of thought, any book you’ve been told has the truth is a pattern or system devised by the thoughts and investigation of other men and women. What is obvious to me, is that I need to investigate for myself. How in the world can I truly say I believe in the Bible for instance having never investigated for myself. In the world of faith/fear based religions there isn’t any room for questioning… you’re expected to just believe what you’ve been told. If you do question then you are labeled blasphemy or shunned. People have been burned at the stake for questioning and great wars have begun because of others questioning against ones beliefs.
Aside from all that…
Can’t we agree that all the division in the world be it the Bible, Quran, United States of America, France, etc. can’t we agree that all this division in the world will always breed conflict and eventually war.
One might say there is nothing wrong with me being a Muslim and that person being a Jew we can still love one another but that is not true. The very fact that one person calls themselves a Muslim and the Other a Jew they have set up division. They’ve basically said we’ve investigated into truth and this is our conclusion we are JEWS and the other group says well, we’ve investigated and we’ve come to this conclusion and we are MUSLIMS. By that very limited action of labeling yourself one group or the other you have planted the seeds of destruction and fear.
Being that there is another group outside of yours that doesn’t believe what your group believes eventually will manifest fear, war, jealousy, etc. You may be in your group and say that you still love the other group even if they don’t believe what you’re group believes but that is not love that is just being TOLERANT.
To live in a world full of tolerance is completely different then living in a world full of love.
Peace,
~ Echo
Comment by casualtyofdesign February 19, 2009 @ 10:14 am