If you choose one religion how do you reconcile belief in the many others?

[bigtree]

There have got to be countless religions, all with splinters that have their own doctrines and beliefs. The very act of adhering to one religion seems like a denouncement of other religions and beliefs; some are silent reproachments, others more vocal and actively opposing.

How can someone be overtly faithful to a dictating religious order like Catholicism and not be actively engaged against other religious doctrines and orders, especially in our own governmental affairs where legislators which openly cite God and Christianity in their deliberations and appeals?

It must be hard for anyone with any other fundamentalistic, religious beliefs to not feel threatened by our media display of the Catholic leader selection process; followers of Islam, for example, as the world's largest religion of 1.3 billion with an estimated 7 million Muslims in the U.S.

[WeRQ4U]

1. Ahh but....

The key is not to be a fundy asshat, regardless of what religion you subscribe to.

[forgethell]

2. Although I

don't have a link handy, I'm pretty sure Christianity is the world's largest religion, and Islam is second.

That is the point of some religions, the followers go to heaven, the other guys don't. Nothing wrong with that, if you don't believe the right way, that's between you and God. It's when his followers think that they should kill you here and now that it gets sorta hairy.

In the current world environment, we have this to fear far more from Muslims than Christians.

[Hugin]

5. Here ya go...

http://www.xist.org/global/religion_top.php

[AllegroRondo]

6. Nice list

I notice that if you were to group 'nonreligious' together with 'atheist', they would actually be the largest group at over 20%.

[bigtree]

8. Most of the different branches of Christianity are profoundly separate

in their orthodoxy, belief, and practice. Point taken though . . . :dunce:

[forgethell]

11. There are also

numerous branches of Islam.

[bigtree]

12. Great.

Now, to the point of the post. How does one express faithfulness to one religious doctrine and not exclude or denounce the many others. Religions seem to only unite those faithful to their own doctrine and invite a divisiveness towards other religious expressions or non-religious ambitions.

[forgethell]

14. I don't think it's

necessary for a religion to be inclusive of others. Otherwise, we could all just sit around and sing Kumbayah at each other.

So, it is all right to disagree with the beliefs, rites, even moral codes, of other religions. It is OK to proselytize. It is even alright to say _____s are going to Hell. I don't care. Just so long as you don't pull a gun, point it at their head, and yell "Repent". Let like-minded people gather together if they wish. Let them recruit others. What's wrong with that?

Maybe there's an afterlife, maybe not. Maybe there's a God; maybe not. Maybe I'm right, and you're wrong; maybe not. We can both be wrong, but often we can't both be right.

But right now we can't put God in a test tube and watch the litmus paper turn color. so if people want to believe something, if they want to believe that I, personally, am going to Hell, let 'em. I don't care. Only God gets to make that decision.

Why live your life sweating it if other people disagree with you about God?

[forgethell]

15. upon re-reading

I think I should say, "you don't" and you don't have to. It is not important to not exclude others from your religious belief. That's because, by not believing it, they exclude themselves. But as long as no one harms them for it, why worry about it?

If they believe somthing that excludes you, are you being exclusive by saying that they have no right to do so? I think so.

[forgethell]

10. Thanks, it

is a nice list. Ha! and I was right.

[frictionlessO]

16. Sorry but I fear the right wing fundie radicals wayyyy more than any

Muslim including the sweetie sitting in the next cube over. Shes from Bosnia...she got out after the large Muslim purges that took place.

As for me I have hair down to my butt, wear tyedyes, espouse liberal talking points, am pagan/buddhist, prochoice, staunchly for gay marriage, and absolutely despise the neo-cons.

Yep I think I have a whole lot more to fear from Christian fundies these days in this country than a radical Muslim terrorist.

Caveat: I do agree with you quite often though... and I apologize if this post came off snarky.:hi:

[bigtree]

18. Just look at all the references to 'God's will' coming from our Christian

leader as he tries to justify his invasion and occupation of Muslim dominated Iraq. That has to be ultimately the most blatent threat to Muslims in this century.

Not to mention the use in our nation of Christian doctrine to justify legislation and deny fundamental rights to some . . .

[frictionlessO]

19. I keep hoping for a Christian revolution of some kind... where all the

progs/dems/libs/labels Christian types come out and band together and do... I dunno.. something big, like a mock excommunicating (sp?) in DC.

All I know is that if some mad man was in office under the guise of Buddha and using Buddha to justify all his hate... well it'd be obvious to every Buddhist that he wasn't a Buddhist. We'd probably laugh at him and tinkle in his general direction. That or get him some time in seclusion.

[forgethell]

22. Well, I don't

want anybody to be threatened, but neither am I as concerned about our threat to them as about their threat to us.

[forgethell]

21. OK,

As for me I have hair down to my butt, wear tyedyes, espouse liberal talking points, am pagan/buddhist, prochoice, staunchly for gay marriage

In Islam, hair down to your butt may be fine, maybe even the tye-dyes. But the other 4 will get you killed. Even the fundies won't do that. Or at least, there are not quite so many of them that will. Christian extremists are a relative rarity. Muslim ones aren't. But I've met some nice Muslims, too.

[frictionlessO]

27. S'all good, Forgethell, we just got some different life experiences

I've had my life and property threatend on several occasions by hard core fundies fried on Christ. I feel that who may be considered the bigger threat is a matter of relativism in the end anyways...

Fair enough??

[forgethell]

28. Well, you may be more threatened by

the Christians. I don't feel personally threatened by either. But I think the Muslims are a greater threat to the country, in the long run and probably in the short.

That's just my opinion, and certainly you are entitled to your own
:)

[Festivito]

3. Christians plant a seed, God makes it grow.

If God takes His time, then God takes His time. The poor pope mired in his excessive writs, suffers from TMI - Too much information -- and so his seed grows too slowly.

This does not explain everyone, and certainly not every religion. But, I suspect that you don't really have any specific questions.

[bigtree]

7. Christianity is certainly an opportunistic religion

Think of all of the missions and missionaries. All religions claiming that the road to God is through their church. Can all of them be correct?

[Festivito]

9. Life is an opportunity. I hope that's not a bad thing.

The religions. All correct? Maybe. All wrong? Maybe. Some, One, right, wrong? Maybe maybe maybe maybe.

Can't speak for what might/might not work for you.

[pelagius]

4. Here's some Christians with...

...a vision for a non-exclusive approach to faith:

http://www.tcpc.org/

By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who…

1. Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus;

2. Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God's realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us;

3. Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus's name to be a representation of an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples;

4. Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable (including but not limited to):

believers and agnostics,
conventional Christians and questioning skeptics,
women and men,
those of all sexual orientations and gender identities,
those of all races and cultures,
those of all classes and abilities,
those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope;

5. Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe;

6. Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty - more value in questioning than in absolutes;

7. Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God's creation, and bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers; and

8. Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.

[bigtree]

13. What about non-believers?

Folks who don't believe in a controlling God or a divine Jesus? Do they obstruct your belief and efforts by rejecting the inclusion of the gospel of God and Jesus in our government deliberations and interactions with one another? Is there room for acceptance of those who don't believe in a higher power or some alternate power? Not merely tolerance, but an acceptance of the countless perceptions about our creation and force of existence?

All of your points seem to be an attempt to persuade towards your perception and belief. Is there room in your philosophy for error in these? Anything else would seem to invite divisiveness. It's not like we're talking about different plans for some public works project. We're talking life and eternity, after all!

[pelagius]

20. I think you must be talking to someone else...

...or perhaps I'm not understanding what you're saying.

My own life has been all about "countless perceptions about our creation and force of existence", so I'm all in favor of encouraging and listening to many points of view. I've found a particular form of Christianity that speaks to me on a deep level, but do not see that as the one, exclusive way.

[frictionlessO]

17. Wow, wish more Christians were like that...

Seriously this is a path of worth, seems like people I can deal with on any theological level... wish wishing wished.

[JerseygirlCT]

25. VERY cool

That sums it all up nicely for me!

[CornField]

23. Because there are many paths

Even with my friends who believe as I do, there are many paths. Each individual has his/her own journey to fulfill.

[JerseygirlCT]

24. You're mixing a few ideas here

belief in one religion doesn't mean that one necessarily denies the truth in other beliefs. There certainly are fundamentalists of all stripes who are convinced that they, and only they, know the absolute truth. But far many others do not hold to such exclusive beliefs.

I have to say that the RC faith I was raised somehow gave me a base in thinking along the lines of "many paths". I think there's something to be said for looking at the similarities between athe world's many different faiths, instead of focusing on the differences. This was an idea that I must have imbibed indirectly during my Catholic education -- because so many of my classmates/friends feel the same way!

Now as an adult (and Episcopalian)I will freely admit to being something of a universalist. I think God finds ways to speak to all God's people. Those ways take different forms, different shapes, depending on the needs of different people. For me, with my culture and upbringing, that's Christianity. But for my husband's family, that's Judaism. For someone else, truth and the divine may be found through Hinduism.

Fundamentalists -- of any stripe -- are truly a small percentage of the world's religious.

[Igel]

26. With all due respect to others, you can't. You're right.

You may be tolerant; you may say you believe that all the others are also right, including atheism and even indifference to the entire religious/deistic/theistic/organized-theology&philosophy project.

But if you believe that the sum of your beliefs and values are at best equal to others, or that the choice really doesn't matter in the least, that leaves it to whim, and personal likes and dislikes, and isn't a principled stance. That's fine, you like the color of the seats in one building rather than at your old building, think that the soprano or bass section of the choir is especially cute, or prefer the choice of font and paper made by the publisher of a certain category of philosophical/religious books. But inevitably, you get a group of people together that prefer their beliefs to another, for any reason, and it degenerates into being exclusive. Even something like UU: how many UUers have I seen on the theology thread with, well, contempt, for other belief systems?

Your proposition deprives one of any justification for saying that anybody else's views on deity are in any way inferior.