[quote name='johnnypark']Yeah. The only constants I need (and the only ones I find stable across all religions) is that of forgiveness and compassion. No matter how it's expressed or what other stuff is included, every major religion has, at it's center, a foundation of love and selflessness.
From a Western perspective, let's assume G-d
did create everything, and is a personified being which feels emotions and takes some active role in human existence. Well, taking it to it's full extent, that means this supreme being created everything - including all of the world's various religions. If they all teach basically the same thing, fundamentally, and they're posited as the pathways to the divine, then the most basic attributes which are universal across faiths are the simplest understanding of a higher power you can have. I'm reminded of a poem by Gandhi that I'm very fond of:
"There is an indefinable mysterious Power that pervades everything.
I feel It, though I do not see It.
It is this unseen Power which makes Itself felt and yet defies all proof,
because It is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses.
It transcends the senses....
That informing Power or Spirit is God....
For I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth, truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists.
Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is love.
He is supreme good.
But he is no God who merely satisfies the intellect
If He ever does.
God to be God must rule the heart and transform it."
I really like the way he describes it, as G-d being truth. As the creator of all things, that would mean there has to be some truth in everything. In the movie,
Gandhi, he's approached by a fellow Hindu who's angry over his willingness to negotiate with the Muslims. The man says to him, "Aren't you a Hindu??"
To which he replies, "Yes. And I am also a Jew, and a Christian, and a Buddhist, and a Muslim." Or something similar, and that's kind of how I feel. All these divisions make people blind to what they have in common, and I don't really want any part of that
Hmm, all this talk of tattoos has me considering starting a legit thread for people to post their body art. All the one's I've seen turn into jokes or are just asking for advice on getting tattoos. What do you guys think?[/quote]
I think that's bound to happen with any body art thread... Your talk of a universal truth behind religion brings up a good point, but allow me to pose a counter-argument.
You're right, most of the major religions do generally preach the same ideas and moral principles. My problem with religions isn't founded in their core beliefs, but more of their applications. People take this stuff way too seriously. They argue over it, fight over it, and embrace it the wrong way. Instead of bringing people together, religion seems to do more dividing.. always has. So, my claim: Why do we even need it? Why do we need such tools that create these divisions? Do we really need holy texts and priests to tell us what is right?
Surely, it would seem that the reason why all religions do tend to preach the same central principles, is because these principles are universally found independent of religious thought. As an atheist, I still believe in the concepts of goodness, helping people, all that stuff. If I don't need religion, why should anyone else?
I guess what I'm trying to say is.. I don't have any problem with people like you. I think you've got the right idea... but I don't think most "religious" people do. That's why I'd say in general.. I'm anti-religious, anti-theist whatever. I think people can sort of extract moral principles the same way that physicists extract physical principles from the natural world. Yafeelme?
and I was going to get a dradle tattoo. Along with the lyrics to the elementary school dradle song.
