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Peer Review in Religious Debate, Who Is That Behind the Mask?

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
what do you think of peer review in relation to religious and spiritual subject matter?

do you believe someone's belief is more important than reality and should be left alone? or should beliefs be questionable when the believer tries to apply them to others?


honestly i believe the prisons and psychiatric wards are full of believers who don't want to deal with the golden rule and end up harming themselves or others because of this lack of service to all as self. i have learned from having my beliefs doubted/questioned.

hypocrisy is doing as i say and not as i do. who is that behind the mask?
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
I don't see the value of peer review in theological matters, since theology is not grounded in empiricism, and everybody with a religious opinion has an opinion just as valid or invalid as anybody else's (nobody isn't a peer). There is no test for correctness in matters of faith. What we do here is as close to peer review of religious matters, and it doesn't seem to accomplish anything like it does in science.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
do you believe someone's belief is more important than reality and should be left alone?
This is one of the strangest notions I have ever read on here. Is anyone truly advocating that this is "best?" That anyone's mere belief is more important than a reality we might be able to mutually agree upon? This seems like a recipe for disaster to me. Or, at the very least, a recipe for absolutely ZERO beneficial progress.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
What do you think of peer review in relation to religious and spiritual subject matter?
Do you believe someone's belief is more important than reality and should be left alone? or should beliefs be questionable when the believer tries to apply them to others?
My belief is based on empiricism, therefore I do not mind peer review. Of course, the person is in his/her right to have his/her views and should be left alone, irrespective of whatever views the person may have. In a discussion, his/her views could be discussed critically. Applying one's views to others is foolishness.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
This is one of the strangest notions I have ever read on here. Is anyone truly advocating that this is "best?" That anyone's mere belief is more important than a reality we might be able to mutually agree upon? This seems like a recipe for disaster to me. Or, at the very least, a recipe for absolutely ZERO beneficial progress.

so you disagree with plato and his allegory of the cave?


and you are right, it is a recipe for disaster. unfortunately reality is full of disasters


 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
I don't see the value of peer review in theological matters, since theology is not grounded in empiricism, and everybody with a religious opinion has an opinion just as valid or invalid as anybody else's (nobody isn't a peer). There is no test for correctness in matters of faith. What we do here is as close to peer review of religious matters, and it doesn't seem to accomplish anything like it does in science.
everyone has a belief system. some question their's and some have their's limited. i'm not speaking so much in the sense of western science but as in just people having a discussion about their religion or spiritual understanding.


even a child's beliefs are corrected because of their immature minds and experiences. so why is that limited to children and adults who are not necessarily psychologically mature? why are children more adaptable to reality than a grownup?


there have been plenty of religious or spiritual beliefs that have caused great social harm. some justified slavery, promoted misogynic abuse, and some judicial systems temper those beliefs en lieu of social/economic balances

afghanistan is a good example of what a third world society looks like en lieu of a limited education and curious mind. how best to control someone except psychologically. keep them ignorant and feed them manure. the body grows but what of the mind?

would you raise your fledgling minds on beliefs? could one find empathy for an adult who has the mind of a teenager? a 7yr old?


the trickster is a wily thing

 
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A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
so you disagree with plato and his allegory of the cave?
Seems like this idea of the cave and its purposefully deprived inhabitants demonstrates exactly why beliefs should not be held as more important than reality. The inhabitants of the cave were the ones whose beliefs were being held as important by them, even as the other who had been set more free could see that reality itself encompassed so much more. I am not sure how this "cave allegory" works to support the notion in your OP that, potentially "someone's belief is more important than reality and should be left alone." I only see the opposite being advocated for in the video you posted. That some people's beliefs, no matter how ingrained or cherished, are not more important than a reality that may be experienced by any/all.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
Seems like this idea of the cave and its purposefully deprived inhabitants demonstrates exactly why beliefs should not be held as more important than reality. The inhabitants of the cave were the ones whose beliefs were being held as important by them, even as the other who had been set more free could see that reality itself encompassed so much more. I am not sure how this "cave allegory" works to support the notion in your OP that, potentially "someone's belief is more important than reality and should be left alone." I only see the opposite being advocated for in the video you posted. That some people's beliefs, no matter how ingrained or cherished, are not more important than a reality that may be experienced by any/all.
then observe the fact that adults have no problem whatso ever educating children who have immature minds and hold to a huge understanding of reality based on belief. i didn't use the word religious exclusive. I also used the idea of mentality/spirituality


the problem arises in adults with impulse control and anger when truth doesn't necessarily support their beliefs. looke at your typical cult, ie QAnon. the difference between a cult and a religion is basically only the size and one being much more popular.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
i didn't use the word religious exclusive. I also used the idea of mentality/spirituality
And I didn't even once use the word "religious." Everything should be held up and compared to reality. Things that don't pass a comparison test should be put in a bin marked "for entertainment purposes only."
 
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