Allowed to Believe

[Thief]

So......your beliefs are your own?

if you parrot someone else....and the belief system fails
do you go down with your Prophet?

or do you accept the responsiblity?.....as your own

 

[Thief]

either way.....you're it

 

[TransmutingSoul]

What are you trying to say?

Regards Tony

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Yes, you are it, and there's an end of it.

As a child, I believed what I was told because I was made to do that -- for my own safety, so that I could live and pass on my parents' genes. I drank up the beliefs and mores of my community, because it was all I knew.

And then I began to learn, and while I was learning, I began to think for myself. And at some point, I became solely responsible for what I believed and for how I behaved in the world, informed (as we all are) by those beliefs.

Who do I get to blame for that? This is, to me, a huge question, and the only answer I eventually wind up with is that if I have exercised my own responsibility as a human, with a brain of my own, to believe only what I can justify for myself. Therefore, as an adult, I am to blame.

This is hard stuff, for a lot of people. "How can you build community if everybody gets to decide for themselves what to believe?" people will ask. To which I answer, how can you build anything when people can't think for themselves? If all they've got to go on is what went before, what new can come from that?

 

[Thief]

What are you trying to say?

Regards Tony

it is written.....
be careful that you are not deceived

so.....you have to sort through all the things you claim to be true

including the items.....you were told

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

What are you trying to say?

Regards Tony

He was referring to my thread..."I was allowed to believe..."

 

[Thief]

it seems clear to me....if your hand does anything at all
it's because you thought you should
or because you felt like it

but is it you?......leading the way
is it you?.....deciding what needs to be done

 

[Valjean]

it is written.....
be careful that you are not deceived

so.....you have to sort through all the things you claim to be true

including the items.....you were told

To be careful not to be deceived would require familiarity with opposing viewpoints, no?
How many believers can intelligently discuss opposing cultural and religious beliefs?

The fact that Muslim societies produce Muslims, Christian societies, Christians, and Buddhist, Buddhists makes it clear that the vast majority of people are not thinking for themselves; not "thinking" at all.

 

[SigurdReginson]

As a species, the most important lessons we learn are those we learn from our failures, imo. That's why clinging one's beliefs is unwise... Allow room for readjustment when lessons are learned.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

it is written.....
be careful that you are not deceived

so.....you have to sort through all the things you claim to be true

including the items.....you were told

Sorry, no better than the first post.

It's not that difficult good choices lay in practising virtues. Bad choices lay in feeding ones animal self.

Regards Tony

 

[Mock Turtle]

Well my parents couldn't probably afford to send me to some faith school even if they wanted to, which is unlikely, and neither did they (mainly my mother since my father probably couldn't have cared less) insist I went to any Sunday schools (once or twice was it before I was bored), so I can't blame either for inflicting some alien belief on me. That came from school RI lessons, and where such just helped cement the nature of my disbelief. Hence I have no one else to blame or thank for what I tend to believe in this area - and I am truly grateful.

All other beliefs I cannot answer for as to who was to blame.

 

[capumetu]

So......your beliefs are your own?

if you parrot someone else....and the belief system fails
do you go down with your Prophet?

or do you accept the responsiblity?.....as your own

You are correct sir, if the one you are following goes down, you will therefore as well. The responsibility of course is your own, each one is responsible for their own salvation. You personally choose which God you will serve, and must accept the consequences of your choice, be them good or bad.