Religion Takes A Lifetime To Research IMO

[CJCRANE]

and then you still won't know all the answers, if any.

Anyone who tells you there is a shortcut to paradise, enlightenment or understanding is lying.

There are thousands of interpretations of the Bible, the Koran etc.

I've done my own research into Christianity, Islam and other religions.

I find that the more I read the more I find stuff that the fundies never mention and probably don't even know about.

[Common Sense Party]

1. Define 'research'. nt

[CJCRANE]

3. Research generally means finding information

which you can do by reading and talking to people.

[Common Sense Party]

5. I think that religion is meant to be lived and experienced,

not merely studied and discussed.

And I do not mean that in a snarky way. I think it is great to read about different beliefs, but religion only has the power to transform when one attempts to live it, to do it, to make it a way of life. Research cannot accomplish that.

And, while it should be a lifetime practice, one can experience a great deal of transformation after a very short time of living the religion.

[FarCenter]

2. Once you realize that life ends at death, all the major religions become nonsense

Neuroscience is within a couple of decades of establishing that, and it will be more important than evolution was to a rational understanding of humanity.

[Newest Reality]

4. Maybe you have noticed

that higher order abstractions function in all aspects of humanity and that they are so prevalent that they are transparent and ubiquitous.

If you strip away the emotional aspect of religion and delve into the actual functions of belief, (comparing it to faith, for instance) it is not hard to put religion into the same basic conceptual context as philosophy, academia, politics, etc.

In other words, there is direct and concrete experience which is as close to a tangible reality that we come, and even then, we filter it and react with ideas, memories and concepts.

If one takes the "whole shebang" approach, then the intellect becomes a rather crafty, creative tool for oneupmanship because it can create and manipulate abstract symbols, (there is no such thing as a "concrete" thought) in many ways that claim superiority or truth and yet, by analysis breaks down to nothing other than reification to various degrees. Be it a theory, a spell, a beatific vision, revelation, etc., we fail to notice that anyone can believe anything with the proper incentive and, they can stop believing it, too.

So, that's not really an indictment of our capacity to talk and think "about" things. In fact, its an interesting way to be less jaded and more flexible and insightful when it comes to how we "represent" "reality".

Religion can be comforting to a degree and in context. Science can be useful when it comes to understanding and manipulating "matter". Philosophy can bring insights into what we know and how we know it.

Yet, when I burn my finger, you will not really feel the pain of that experience when I tell you about it, no matter how well I can express it.

[DetlefK]

6. It's actually not that hard if you break it down to the basic premises.

For example, if a religion claims that only their great creator could have created life, you can deduce that something's fishy:
It can be proven by thermodynamic methods that life can arise naturally from non-life over time, without need for an intelligent designer.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/123013568

Or if a religion claims that their creator created consciousness:
A research group recently found out that their Entropica-algorithm can solve challenges that were thought to need intelligence.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/122817723
http://www.insidescience.org/content/physicist-proposes-new-way-think-about-intelligence/987

Or if a religion claims to offer a perfect after-life in heaven:
It can be deduced that ultimate spiritual enlightenment in heaven (being closest to God) isn't possible if that heaven at the same time means ultimate happiness. It's possible to explain away this contradiction, but drawing that excuse needs its own kind of moral depravity.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/121876699




Sorry about the self-references.

[gcomeau]

7. Depends

If you were talking about "studying religion" in a sociological/anthropological kind of way then yeah, there's lots of them with crazy little quirks and studying that could definitely take a lifetime.


If you mean "studying religion" as in adopting one and then "studying" within it to get it to give you answers to life the universe and everything... then also yeah, you'll spend a lifetime doing that because religion doesn't have the capacity to answer questions. Any questions. Ever.

[Zorra]

8. I don't really know anything, but I've always suspected that this might be true:

"Each one must learn for himself the highest wisdom. It cannot be taught in words."
~Smohalla

[Common Sense Party]

12. +1000

That's what I was trying to convey above.

[snooper2]

9. Sorry you wasted so much time LOL

I was able to figure it out by around 13

[Animal Chin]

10. ...but spirituality can be immediate,

lasts longer and is more fulfilling.

[Orrex]

11. The same could be said of Star Trek or the tales of Sherlock Holmes

In my entire life I have never seen or heard of anything to convince me of the veracity of religion nor of any value inherent in it, beyond what you might find in any other compelling narrative.

Claiming that it requires a lifetime of study is to require someone to accept on faith the idea that faith is worth such devotion.


No thanks.

[kentauros]

13. And here are a few more sources to bookmark for later reading:

Internet Sacred Text Archive

Interfaith Online - Apocrypha

Also, here's our pinned thread in the Interfaith group for recommended reading material

[CJCRANE]

14. Thanks for the great links!

I think I'll have a foray into the Interfaith group too at some point, it looks interesting.

[kentauros]

16. You're welcome :)

Come over any time. We're always open

[Zoeisright]

15. Not really.

There's nothing new in religion and hasn't been for thousands of years. It's the only "discipline" in which there are no new theories or experimentation. All religious scholars are doing is going over and over and over the same things.

[MindPilot]

20. Always wondered how "theology" can be considered a legitimate field of study.

[Apophis]

17. I figured it out at 18 and never looked back.

[longship]

18. Nice thread going here.

I like it when potentially contentious issues get treated respectfully here at DU.

Kudos to posters in this thread for doing just that.

What does this respect show about religion? I think that it is recognition that it is a highly personal thing. If only more people realized that, the world would be a far better place.

Thanks all, from a lifelong atheist.

[caraher]

19. "Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it" - Andre Gide