grant that others also seek--and find--the divine... but often through a variety of paths, just as one can scale a mountain by following more than one route.
I certainly understand this viewpoint, and it's a fair one. OTOH, the core beliefs of many of the world's religions do, in fact, make their truths mutually exclusive from many others. Truly believing in one of these really does require believing that others are wrong. (Unless you go with the idea that for me, there's one God, while for person X, there's no God, and person Y has many gods, but that gets into difficult philosophical questions about the nature of truth.)
That said, it does not excuse a lot of the attitudes that too often follow from these beliefs. It does not mean that people who believe their religion is right to the exclusion of others are "chosen" or better. It does not give them the right to force their religion, be it the beliefs, practices, or restrictions thereof, on those who do not believe it.
I think that my own religious beliefs are true -- if I didn't, it wouldn't say much for my "belief." I think that my religion is the best one out there -- why would I believe it otherwise? I do think that my religious belief is any more valid than anyone else's (or their lack thereof). My religion tells me how I must behave; it doesn't tell me that I must make everyone else behave this way. This is where fundamentalism goes wrong, IMO.
(I expect this wasn't at all what you meant. Sorry to go off on this point.)
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Date: 2004-11-03 07:37 pm (UTC)I certainly understand this viewpoint, and it's a fair one. OTOH, the core beliefs of many of the world's religions do, in fact, make their truths mutually exclusive from many others. Truly believing in one of these really does require believing that others are wrong. (Unless you go with the idea that for me, there's one God, while for person X, there's no God, and person Y has many gods, but that gets into difficult philosophical questions about the nature of truth.)
That said, it does not excuse a lot of the attitudes that too often follow from these beliefs. It does not mean that people who believe their religion is right to the exclusion of others are "chosen" or better. It does not give them the right to force their religion, be it the beliefs, practices, or restrictions thereof, on those who do not believe it.
I think that my own religious beliefs are true -- if I didn't, it wouldn't say much for my "belief." I think that my religion is the best one out there -- why would I believe it otherwise? I do think that my religious belief is any more valid than anyone else's (or their lack thereof). My religion tells me how I must behave; it doesn't tell me that I must make everyone else behave this way. This is where fundamentalism goes wrong, IMO.
(I expect this wasn't at all what you meant. Sorry to go off on this point.)