Some TOTAL Food for Thought…(no promises that any of this is all that accurate or even all that thought out…I’m just kinda typing as this is going through my head right now)
So I just got done with a short, yet thought-provoking instant messenger conversation with a good friend of mine. This friend happens to be Catholic and I love discussing religion with this individual (as with most individuals) because I like enriching my knowledge of other religions that I’m not all that familiar with….the Catholics for example, which is actually kind of sad since I’m from St. Louis…practically the Catholic capital of the U.S….HA! If I’m not mistaken, it was the last U.S. city Pope John Paul II visited before his passing.
So anyways…I asked “so do the Catholics think everyone else that isn’t Catholic are going to hell?” To this the response was “no, we don’t believe in condemning everyone else.” So then I went on asking some other things…blah blah blah…
Well I’m thinking about it now, especially after the recent religious blog discussions (read my previous blog entry to this one) and since it seems that a lot of religions think members of the other religions are condemned (even though they’ll be VERY quick to tell you they have no right to judge, that is God’s rulings) and I’m beginning to think this notion that the other religions or denominations are “wrong”, this mentality is a built-in characteristic for the church. It comes down to the survival of the fittest. I mean if a church doesn’t preach that they are the “right way” and instead they allow you to believe that other denominations or religions could be the “right way” as well, then what’s to stop you from choosing a “better fit” religion. What are your ties to one religion over another? Why be Catholic if you don’t HAVE to be Catholic? Why be Church of Christ if you don’t HAVE to be Church of Christ? If one religion isn’t more “right” than another, why do you have to stick to one over another?
It seems that in order for one religion, opposed to another, to stay-a-float (for lack of a better choice of words) preaching that THEY are the way…they are the “right” religion is a necessity.
So does it all just come down to politics? The politics of a successful religion is to condemn the others and praise your own. Kind of like how in a political campaign it comes down to finding the weakness of your opponent and stating how they are wrong and then glorifying how you are right and the “way to go.”
I suppose if THIS is the case, and it is just a bunch of politics—an effort for a church to survive—survival of the fittest, maybe one religion truly is NOT “right” over another.
Hmmm….like I said….this is just some thoughts….whether it will all make sense to me in the morning or after I rethink it through a few times—who knows. But it works for now….
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2 comments:
hey girlie. actually, i'm not as busy as maybe i made it sound...it's just the show is a lot of work...10 hour days is common (monday through saturday and sometimes sunday)...anyway, i miss you. what does august look like for you? i might be headed that direction one weekend that month to visit a couple of friends...maybe we could get together ??? take care...love ya.
I dunno... I guess if ya think about it there is no way of telling whether or not a religion is "right". There are no concrete answers. So, sometimes we just have to put our faith into some things (like when gambling at a casino) and just pray that what we believe to be true is right. But really, there is no objective way of knowing. I think it's human nature to "want answers" and to want to know that what we say and do is not hypocrisy -- but sometimes in life maybe it is okay to risk being a hypocrite. I think that choosing to believe in something which believes that all other religions is wrong is hard -- since it is religion. There's no way to tell what's the right way and the wrong way. We just choose whatever we wish to believe in. But that's just a risk ppl take I guess -- to risk being a hypocrite. I think it's okay for Christians to preach the Word to others (after all, it's the persons choice to believe) but I don't know what I think about condemning other religions. I think it's wrong to condem them as wrong -- b/c there are no real concrete answers -- but then that makes me a hypocrite b/c I've chosen to believe in a faith that doesn't always think the way I do. Oh well, there are worse things in life. Good post!
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