dfnj
Well-Known Member
Sorry for repeating this topic but it keeps coming up. A lot of atheists and non-religious types keep throwing around the evidence based argument in my face. I recently responded to someone saying in response to "all religions are the same" comment that they are not the same because they ALL contradict each other. I continue to disagree because I believe everyone's dogma is absolutely true from each person's point of view. And all religions are true. The contradictions do not matter.
Here's what I believe is the purpose of religion. The purpose of religion is to answer the four great existential questions:
1. Who am I?
2. Why am I here?
3. What does it all mean?
4. What is going to happen to me when I die?
These questions cannot be answered objectively based on evidence. They are essentially unanswerable questions. People are generally uncomfortable with unanswerable questions so people invent religion so they can be comfortable.
It really doesn't matter how you answer these questions. On the cosmic timescale everything we do is meaningless. But it is also meaningless that it is meaningless. So we might as well choose meaningful. So what people do when they invent religion is they choose answers to these questions that give them greatest possible amount of divine meaning in their lives.
When people answer these questions they do so with an article of faith. An article of faith is taken to be true without any supporting evidence. An article of faith is assumed to be true. Then based on a set of articles of faith, a person will live their life as if those articles of faith are proven to be true.
For some people, they cannot accept articles of faith. For some people, they want to choose a religion based on evidence. What they are looking for is to make a "decision" on how to answer the great existential questions. Where as most spiritual or people more open to religion "choose" to believe what they believe. The difference between a choice and a decision is very important.
Is it "right", is it "wrong", who knows, who cares. Either you live a divine life or one based on nihilism. Each of us chooses how we want to BE. Choose. Just BE. It's all good!
Here's what I believe is the purpose of religion. The purpose of religion is to answer the four great existential questions:
1. Who am I?
2. Why am I here?
3. What does it all mean?
4. What is going to happen to me when I die?
These questions cannot be answered objectively based on evidence. They are essentially unanswerable questions. People are generally uncomfortable with unanswerable questions so people invent religion so they can be comfortable.
It really doesn't matter how you answer these questions. On the cosmic timescale everything we do is meaningless. But it is also meaningless that it is meaningless. So we might as well choose meaningful. So what people do when they invent religion is they choose answers to these questions that give them greatest possible amount of divine meaning in their lives.
When people answer these questions they do so with an article of faith. An article of faith is taken to be true without any supporting evidence. An article of faith is assumed to be true. Then based on a set of articles of faith, a person will live their life as if those articles of faith are proven to be true.
For some people, they cannot accept articles of faith. For some people, they want to choose a religion based on evidence. What they are looking for is to make a "decision" on how to answer the great existential questions. Where as most spiritual or people more open to religion "choose" to believe what they believe. The difference between a choice and a decision is very important.
Is it "right", is it "wrong", who knows, who cares. Either you live a divine life or one based on nihilism. Each of us chooses how we want to BE. Choose. Just BE. It's all good!