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Post by subsidinginsanity on Sept 9, 2012 2:42:10 GMT
I tend to look at religion as a quagmire of good and bad, but is Richard Dawkins absolute statement accurate? Mother Teresa comes to mind. Somehow, if we are to believe what has been said about her, she managed to achieve Enlightenment through Catholicism. Mother Teresa aside what does religion have to offer us?
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Post by clara927 on Sept 9, 2012 4:13:33 GMT
Hello Subsiding,
I tend to look at religion as partly a method of understanding the world, the universe and the hereafter. I look st science as a method of doing the same thing. However, I also see religion as the passing down of knowledge (even is some of it is obscured), almost like a history book. Religious beliefs and rituals are like living artifacts, the give you understanding about what came before. I think we can learn a lot from religion that can not be learned in science. For example, the things that can not be measured or calculated. As far as Mother Theresa being able to reach enlightment through Catholicism, that goes to show that its not about the outer packaging of religion, but something deeper that would be able to translate into any faith. I think she could have been a Buddhist or a Hindu or a Muslim and that it was a calling deep inside of her that had to be followed. I think that God just chose Catholicism as the tool she would work through at that time in history.
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Post by subsidinginsanity on Sept 9, 2012 10:14:41 GMT
I've noticed that science/logic and religion/Spirituality are both equally open to the interpretation of morals and ethics. Those who hate on religion forget that it was science/logic that gave us things like the atomic bomb and global warming. Those who hate science forget the atrocities that have been done in the name of religion.
Richard Dawkins points to all the wars caused by religion, but never discusses the ones that were not, nor the nonreligious tyrants who started them. I see things in terms of ego. The Physicalist has as much ego as the devotee, and when it comes to deciding what is right and wrong science is just as open to interpretation as any scripture.
One benefit of religion may be better peace of mind. It's easier to not despair when you believe that you go on after the body is gone, and that there is a personal and loving God who will never abandon you. Science would have us believe that we are insignificant bodies in a universe so vast it's beyond comprehension.
Another benefit of religion may be community support. It's beneficial and healing to be around like minded people who love and support you. I've gone to The Unity Church, and I've never witnessed the love and joy of so many people in one place before. The fact that people of so many different faiths can do more than just tolerate each other gives me great hope for what we can accomplish as a species.
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