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"Debunking" other people belief in different religious teachings.

pearl

Well-Known Member
I know for my self and what i believe in that my understanding of the teaching is in a constant change because i learn something new or understand something new mostly every day.

Absolutely. As for using or misusing Scripture, Revelation itself is closed, it is our understanding of that Revelation that is never closed until we have drawn our last breath. It should never be closed off, allowed to become stagnant, locked in a museum etc. as though dead.
 

John1.12

Free gift
I appreciate that . And I agree . If the person could see your doing it out of love and concern they would be perhaps willing to hear .
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Are religious people supposed to go around "debunking" other peoples belief just because we believe differently than they do?

Are we doing the right action or speech when we tell others, your religion or faith is false or wrong, because i can not accept what you believe in? Did we truly check our own belief or faith in what we claim to believe our self? Do we truly understand the teaching enough to discredit others ?
Did we do enough our self to be the "right" owner of the TRUTH ?

I know for my self and what i believe in that my understanding of the teaching is in a constant change because i learn something new or understand something new mostly every day. That to me tells me that i will not be fully "corect" in my belief for a long long time. Only when i have reached the end of the wisdom and can no longer learn more will i be able to say now i "know" but still then, Can i be sure i actually know and understand it all?

I feel many religious people need to be humble enough to see that just because one feels good sharing their beliefs doesn't mean others are not harmed by that same process.

I know you speak of ego a lot, and I think that's exactly what it is. As for solving the problem, unfortunetly the handful of people are going by their scripture.

Their scripture supersedes other people's views and feelings. God is a justification of their actions. Who can question god.

I wish I can say as long as they don't hurt people, but in general a lot of people do in their homes, society, for their country, themselves.

And a lot of times they don't see it even when told directly.

How do we teach them to be humble when their religion (not all denominations) teach god tells them otherwise?
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
I feel many religious people need to be humble enough to see that just because one feels good sharing their beliefs doesn't mean others are harmed by that same process.

I know you speak of ego a lot, and I think that's exactly what it is. As for solving the problem, unfortunetly the handful of people are going by their scripture.

Their scripture supersedes other people's views and feelings. God is a justification of their actions. Who can question god.

I wish I can say as long as they don't hurt people, but in general a lot of people do in their homes, society, for theyr country, for themselves.

How do we teach them to be humble when their religion (not all denominations) teach god tells them otherwise?
In my understanding this is a good answer
 

KerimF

Active Member
Are religious people supposed to go around "debunking" other peoples belief just because we believe differently than they do?

I am afraid this is a universal behavior which could happen among scientists as well.
In brief, the word of the strongest has to be heard, mainly in non-friendly scientific forums. I also lived this fact many times on the ground while discussing scientific novel ideas.

We like it or not, this is how the world into which we are brought is made ;)
 

Brian2

Veteran Member
--but that doesn't explain the need to attack and destroy other people's beliefs. When I run into someone who sees things differently I'm curious as to what they're seeing that I may have overlooked. What are you seeing that I'm missing here?

No I was just having a dig at a JWs attack on what they call Christendom.
As a younger person I was drawn to fighting the attacks on the Bible by JWs and others. It has expanded a bit over time. I prefer to show people the message of the Bible but in a forum like this especially that involves defending the Bible and showing how the other person's beliefs contradict the Bible, if they actually say they believe the Bible.
I have found that this is not very profitable in gaining converts but hope that a seed is sown along the way in people's thinking.
It never ceases to amaze me how people can deny plain sentences in the Bible and say they believe the Bible. Sometimes they prefer to believe what their teachers tell them about the Bible even if it means that they are contradicting the Bible. People get enmeshed in various groups and their own beliefs also and hate to change their ideas even if those ideas are shown to be wrong.
Sometimes I think I should just go out and dig in the garden or do some other work that is on my list of things to do. I doubt I would miss this forum but I get sort of addicted to things, so maybe I'll be here a while yet.
 

MatthewA

Active Member
Are religious people supposed to go around "debunking" other peoples belief just because we believe differently than they do?

Are we doing the right action or speech when we tell others, your religion or faith is false or wrong, because i can not accept what you believe in? Did we truly check our own belief or faith in what we claim to believe our self? Do we truly understand the teaching enough to discredit others ?
Did we do enough our self to be the "right" owner of the TRUTH ?

I know for my self and what i believe in that my understanding of the teaching is in a constant change because i learn something new or understand something new mostly every day. That to me tells me that i will not be fully "corect" in my belief for a long long time. Only when i have reached the end of the wisdom and can no longer learn more will i be able to say now i "know" but still then, Can i be sure i actually know and understand it all?

Really interesting questions: hope to get back to you sometime, Conscious thoughts.
 

firedragon

Veteran Member
Are religious people supposed to go around "debunking" other peoples belief just because we believe differently than they do?

Are we doing the right action or speech when we tell others, your religion or faith is false or wrong, because i can not accept what you believe in? Did we truly check our own belief or faith in what we claim to believe our self? Do we truly understand the teaching enough to discredit others ?
Did we do enough our self to be the "right" owner of the TRUTH ?

I know for my self and what i believe in that my understanding of the teaching is in a constant change because i learn something new or understand something new mostly every day. That to me tells me that i will not be fully "corect" in my belief for a long long time. Only when i have reached the end of the wisdom and can no longer learn more will i be able to say now i "know" but still then, Can i be sure i actually know and understand it all?

Your question is fantastic.
 

Pete in Panama

Active Member
...It never ceases to amaze me how people can deny plain sentences in the Bible and say they believe the Bible...
Yes I've had that experience w/ JW's but I've also had it w/ virtually everyone I've ever met --except my wife maybe, but w/ her what happens is we find our two contrasting different opinions & we both endeavor to see how the other person comes up w/ their particular notion. After that it's a matter of agreement, or respecting the other's variant take, more discussion, or an agreement to table the topic.

W/ folks I run into on these threads the situation I run into is I'm declared "wrong" in accordance w/ some kind of Deity or something.
 

1213

Well-Known Member
...Are we doing the right action or speech when we tell others, your religion or faith is false or wrong, because i can not accept what you believe in?...

I think the ” i can not accept what you believe in” is not good. But I think is good to tell the message as Jesus told. If people don’t receive it, it is not a problem for me. For me it is enough if people have heard it.

This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matt. 24:14
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
I think the ” i can not accept what you believe in” is not good. But I think is good to tell the message as Jesus told. If people don’t receive it, it is not a problem for me. For me it is enough if people have heard it.

This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matt. 24:14
I find your words here to be very good :)
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Ahm, isn't that exactly what the debate forums are for?
Not in the way i see a forum would benefit from it no.
To me a religious forum can be a place to learn more about our own faith/belief but also a place to learn about what other people believe in and why. But i do no longer see a religious forum as a place to pull down and pull apart someone elses belief or religion.
in my mind, a much better way is to build people up to become stronger in the faith they holding, and give them a chance to understand even more about the teaching they follow.
 

blü 2

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Not in the way i see a forum would benefit from it no.
Wouldn't the answer then be to avoid the debate boards?
To me a religious forum can be a place to learn more about our own faith/belief but also a place to learn about what other people believe in and why. But i do no longer see a religious forum as a place to pull down and pull apart someone elses belief or religion.
There are already forums here where debate as such is not allowed, where discussion such as you speak of is the norm.
in my mind, a much better way is to build people up to become stronger in the faith they holding, and give them a chance to understand even more about the teaching they follow.
On the other side of that question, the truth will set you free. And while different folk may have different ideas of truth, my own view is that it never hurts to be forced to think about your own view. You can learn a huge amount more by realizing you're wrong than by insisting you're right, for example.

That some people don't agree means we have debate and non-debate boards here.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Wouldn't the answer then be to avoid the debate boards?
There are already forums here where debate as such is not allowed, where discussion such as you speak of is the norm.
On the other side of that question, the truth will set you free. And while different folk may have different ideas of truth, my own view is that it never hurts to be forced to think about your own view. You can learn a huge amount more by realizing you're wrong than by insisting you're right, for example.

That some people don't agree means we have debate and non-debate boards here.
I will be posting less and less in the debate part of the forum yes. except for a few questions i know will have the same output in each form of religions. so that heated debate and poo flinging will not happen.

When you say truth will set you free, yes it will, but who is the "truth" coming from? is it coming from someone from the same belief/ religion as our own, or is the "truth" being flinged at us from someone who has no background in religion or have no interest in understanding what religious lifestyle is? how would the non religious person know or understand any better than a religious person who have been on the search for truth for decateds?

I do agree a lot about the seeking from within our own being (the path i am on now do that all the time)
To know once own "faults" and how to deal with them is a lot more valuable then poo flinging toward those we happen to disagree with on a forum like this.
 

Clara Tea

Well-Known Member
Are religious people supposed to go around "debunking" other peoples belief just because we believe differently than they do?

Yes, that is what the bible demands (proselytize).

But, don't worry, they only debunk Pagan, heathen, and Satanic beliefs (like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and all of the other religions on the planet) (I'm kidding, of course). The problem is, everyone believes that their religion is correct, and that automatically makes all others wrong.

When Jesus said "judge not, lest ye be judged" (Sermon on the Mount), I think that he was letting us know that we should be tolerant of other religions.

Yet, we should not follow Satan, and if we don't judge who Satan is, and don't judge what Satan does, we will end up following him. We have to judge to discern right from wrong.

So, we must judge, but we must not be judgemental to others who merely seek to follow their own religion.

It seems obvious, to me, that God wanted us to build bridges of understanding with other cultures, other religions, and people of other languages. This is why he scattered the races, changed their languages, and did all this at the Tower of Babel. We are supposed to accept others, learn their versions of God, and merge with them to gain an even deeper understanding of our own religion.

After all, if all are God's children, then all must have had some version of God's word, and we would have to study that in order to understand all that God meant to tell us.
 

Hockeycowboy

Witness for Jehovah
Premium Member
Jesus said to fear Him who is able to destoy both body and soul in Gehenna. (Matt 10:28)
A healthy fear of God is a good thing and anihilationism also is a good way to create that fear.
Yeah, “destroy”, as in gone forever, not burn forever.
 

firedragon

Veteran Member
@Conscious thoughts

I was surprised honestly to see your post being misunderstood repeatedly. Such a simple post in my opinion, and probably one of the most pertinent questions that everyone must think about.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
I appreciate that . And I agree . If the person could see your doing it out of love and concern they would be perhaps willing to hear .
Do all want their love and concern? Why can't they just let us be? But that is not what their scriptures say. Whether any one wants it or not, they must play their fiddle.
I am afraid this is a universal behavior .. We like it or not, this is how the world into which we are brought is made ;)
Yeah, Gods design. Fight, never be at peace and never let anyone be at peace.
Only when i have reached the end of the wisdom and can no longer learn more will i be able to say now i "know" but still then, Can i be sure i actually know and understand it all?
If you are restricting your learning to some specific views or books, then your learning will be perpetually incomplete. One also needs a regular trashing of false views. Knowledge is a tough journey.
 
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John1.12

Free gift
Do all want their love and concern? Why can't they just let us be? But that is not what their scriptures say. Whether any one wants it or not, they must play their fiddle.Yeah, Gods design. Fight, never be at peace and never let anyone be at peace.If you are restricting your learning to some specific views or books, then your learning will be perpetually incomplete.
//Do all want their love and concern? Why can't they just let us be? But that is not what their scriptures say. Whether any one wants it or not, they must play their fiddle.//
Which verses are you thinking about in the bible when you say "
But that is not what their scriptures say"? It sounds like you have some scriptures in mind and I was wondering what your understanding is on said scriptures ( from the bible) ?

Yeah, Gods design. Fight, never be at peace and never let anyone be at peace

Romans 12

Romans 12:18

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”


//If you are restricting your learning to some specific views or books, then your learning will be perpetually incomplete.//

Depends what you mean? Which specific area of knowledge ? We have Christians who are pilots , Doctors , teachers ,lawyers, scientists, ect .
 
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