A Journey for Truth through Religion

Islam

isearchfortruth — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:54:38 +0000

I just read the chapter in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World Religions on Islam.

Muslims believe that life is a test, that there will be punishments and rewards in the after-life. However, at least one follower of Sufism or mystical Islam believes that love and devotion to God, not fear or desire of punishment or reward (heaven) should be the reason for devotion, and is the only true reason. I’m inclined to agree.

Sunnis believe in a direct relationship with G-d. (not knowing whether the name of God can be printed, I’ll err on the side of caution.) Shiites believe in descendants of the disappeared twelfth immam which whose leadership and all-encompassing authority on the Quar’an they accept.

Some scholars suggest that the Shia represents the liberal sect of Islam. The book says it primarily has to do with leadership and “let’s leave it at that.” It occurs to me that it primarily matters what the leaders say.

“Two essential Sufi’s ideas are complete reliance upon
God (tawakkul), and perpetual remembrance of God
(dhikr). Rabia al-Adawiyya, an influential early figure,
condemned religious devotion that was motivated by
a desire for heaven or a fear of punishment. For her,
love for God was the sole valid expression of devotion
to the Divine.”

–102, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World Religions, available at Netlibrary if your library has purchased the book.

Sufism also sometimes uses music when praying, which I can add is frowned upon in traditional Islam. I learned that in a lecture by the founder of the Trifaith Intiative.

According to the book, you are not supposed to join Muslim prayers if you are not Muslim and women should wear headscarves when observing services. This second point, and perhaps the first seem doubtful to me. Call the mosque and ask. Only believers need to wear a burqua as it is a sign of submission to Allah, and humility (to use the Christian term.)

–Sam

love

isearchfortruth — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:59:53 +0000

Love transcends hate. Love is a pacifist. Gently echoing Isaiah, “Never again shall nation lift up sword against nation. Never again shall they train for war.” Love and peace are both patient. They are both kind and in kind. Both are selfless. (Then again so is war, but not really, only superficially.)

All life is suffering.
Truth without love is harsh; and love without truth is misguiding.

Mormonism

isearchfortruth — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:13:28 +0000

It is very much like mainstream Christianity with the following distinctions:

Joseph Smith helps “restore the Church of Christ” through prophecy.
Book of Mormon tells relations between the Americas and is another testament to Jesus Christ.
Believes you can tell the truth yourself (verification) by praying and asking for a revelation from the Holy Spirit.

–Sam

Hinduism revisited

isearchfortruth — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:20:12 +0000

I felt like I didn’t do justice to Hinduism. So I have revisited it:

“Those who see all beings in the Self, and the Self in
all beings, will never shrink from it.” — Upnanishads as qtd from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World Religions
Quite a beautiful expression of the holiness of self and interconnectedness of self within.
Religioustolerance.org essay # 2 is the best if you want to understand about Hindu worship, that is, who they consider God to be, and how they pray or “draw near” to the Divine. “draw near” is one of the translations for the word Vedas, the totality of Hindu texts. Brahma continues to create new realities, Vishnu preserves them, and Vishnu vanquishes or destroys them.
800+ million practitioners worldwide
Shiva depictions were found among the Indus Valley civilization ruins, including phallic symbols leading to speculation that he may have been perceived as a fertility God, as well as the modern day sense of “destroyer” of illusion.
Brahman is now known as the “absolute reality.” This is distinct from Brahma, the creator G-d.
Because the Indus valley had Aryan culture (unrelated to Nazis’ fake Aryan) and indigenous elements, it became very inclusive.
Although the Rig Veda and three other vedas exist, (the Rig Veda contains hymns), it is the Upanishads that contain an explanation of reincarnation, which I add was later adopted by the Buddha as he meditated on his own past lives.
The Brahmanas explain Hindu ceremonies, of which there are many. For more see Beliefnet.
Beliefnet:
Peacocks and other animals are seen as sacred, and one of the Hindu dieties (Skanda) is said to have mounted a peacock, similar to the prophets mounting the horse in Islam.
There are many more dieties than Brahman, Vishnu, and Shiva.
Bali means the “good demon”.
Ganesh(a), the elephant and remover of obstacles, took one of his tusks and hurled it at the moon who laughed at him once.
Despite the Guide claiming that Hinduism has no founder and no beginning, Shiva is called the blue necked God because he was poisoned when he created the oceans.
–The dieties quiz
Hinduism basics quiz:
The Bhagavad Gita is translated as “The Divine Song.”
The bindi or third eye, reminds the wearer of their devotion to G-d.
Some Hindus consider the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Vishnu. (Has anybody heard of this outside the Hare Krishnas? Let me know.)
Religioustolerance.org:
“Most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic religions. They recognize a single deity, and view other Gods and Goddesses as manifestations or aspects of that supreme God.”

Bahai

isearchfortruth — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:34:01 +0000

My friend Cal wrote in her blog about the Bahai faith. You can read about her research here.

I do not know how to do trackbacks, or I would do one here.

Anyway, I have a special story about Bahai. I have had several people attempt to convert me to Christianity, and it was after one of these times that I went to college for the 1st time, and discovered “Bahai cookie night”. I was always behind on schoolwork, so I couldn’t stay long, but the people were warm, friendly, and knowledgeable about God. People from all faiths studied the Bahai texts together. They read things like the “13 virtues of God”, and someone asked, “By repeating this every session, do you diminish it and make it rote?” This question did not get her kicked her out, and was met with “Maybe.”

I asked about gay marriage and gay rights, something I must find good policies on in any religion I join. Everyone has moral values, and some are different from others.

They responded that to their embarrassment, Bahai forbade homosexuality, but they ignored it, and abided by the college’s policies towards it. I later found a website called Gay Bahai, made as an anniversary present to his boyfriend.

It discusses the specific doctrinal issues on their discussion board. Transgender people are accepted. Gay people and lesbian people are generally not, at least according to doctrine. Having been a Jew for a long time, not all people obey doctrine. (In Judaism, my issue was with patrilineal descent.)

I suggest that this may have more to do with the politics of Iran than anything else.

–Sam

Christianity

isearchfortruth — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:05:01 +0000

These are some reflections on New Testament scripture that I have read. I will clean it up later.

One thing i noticed right away was that jesus mentions his father. It is most evident at the crucifixion, but the dk book mentions it too, although they give an explanation to still make Him primordial. There was also a nice section about Mary, and her role in empowering woman. Practically, Christianity has changed, as the book noted, where it has spread, adapting to cultural mores, or adapting cultural mores to itself. In Russia, it is said that the divine feminine became the Virgin Mary upon conversion. (according to my friend Maggie Cerrina)

There is this passage in which Jesus attempts to ask a question, to clarify the relationship between the King of David, which is what the Jews expected, and the ‘son of man’. I find it convincing, which is hard for me as a Jew. In the ressurection narrative, they call him a prophet. If he had stuck to that, Jews would have no trouble.

What I did not see in the texts was this notion of humility, this notion of sin, although it is mentioned, it is frequently mentioned in the NT in relation to a specific sin, or specific temptations (such as right before Jesus is arrested.). Why would you base your adoration on guilt?

Even the Hail Mary full of grace, pardon us sinners now and at our time of death.” is missing the point for me, if love is God’s greatest gift of all (Corinthians), why this focus on sin?

I talked to a retired pastor at my mother’s wedding who said that God’s message has become obscured, that it’s really about love. Is it blasphemy to say that sometimes I’d like to express that love through prophecy? I’d like to know what happens to my friends before it happens, so that I can warn them and stop it.

I have my own guilty pleasures. As in Buddhism, pleasure — hedonism — is a sin, according to some politicians and teleevangelists. I had a rather intense religious mystical experience this week, which I am not going to talk about for fear of defaming the sacred. But, I looked up similar experiences in scripture, and was comforted by what it said.

In my NIV, there are some differences, notably the tear in the curtain of the tabernacle, and also, the fact that Jesus hid himself from the disciples it was not so that they were so shocked they did not recognize him. Simon of Cyrene, a black man, and probably a slave, carried the cross. This is very important to Black Liberation Theology. (Comparing textbook to scripture)

It is useful having the textbook sum up the differing Gospel accounts. I missed the part about Jesus asking John to take care of his mother, as his own. That strengthens the Jesus as human part, and strengthens his bond with Mary/Miriam.

Corinthians 12-13 describe the holy spirit, baptism in the holy spirt, and gifts of the holy spirit. It was nice to see the text reflect this, although the 50 days becoming spirit is not something I see accounted for in scripture.

Shaminism is an eclectic use of native religions and their power. neopaganism/Wicca does not believe in evil, something that I find odd. The fact that some people are drawn to evil may be so, or the Zorostarians may be right that people simply choose. In any case, the gift to “discern between spirits” (Corinthians 12) is important in this regard.

http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Devil provides more on the Christian view of the Devil. The army of Jesus is a concept not talked about extensively, but is clearly important to many Christians. St. Francis also. I am also drawn to the story of Asisi, as a beacon of refuge for Jews fleeing the Holocaust.

I find believing in the miracles difficult. Science Fiction has wanted a babelfish for a long time, but the idea that the holy spirit gave the gift of instant translation is dubious, and makes a mockery of faith.

I like the story of Francis and the wolf, although I read in The Time Traveler’s wife another science fiction book that Catholics believe that animals have no souls, something I find absolutely ridiculous.

Diabolus enim et alii (other) dmmones a Deo quidem natures creati sunt boni (God who in their natures are created good), sed ipsi per se facti sunt mal (but themselves are made bad)l I will eventually translate that.. seems to refer to how a devil becomes a devil, rather than as initially hoped to temptation.

Researching the Bible: An interfaith journey

isearchfortruth — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:54:00 +0000

Jews and other biblical scholars like to look at the Bible in the language it was originally written in. You can get good Biblical hebrew software with a glossary that can be quite striking. In Genesis for example, it is sometimes unclear what the words mean. Several different definitions could be accurate.

In class, however, we looked at a few research methods. Youtube for Gospel music and prayers, Crosswalk because it had the copyrighted NIV, despite being fundamentalist and I like to add the Bible Gateway, good for comparing textual editions side by side. One of the earliest Greek bibles has also recently become available online with a glossary. You can read or listen more about that here. One of the things it tells us is that there was a book in the Bible before Genesis, but it is now lost. It also omits some passages of repetition in some of the Gospel books. I am not an expert, and most of the discussion I’ve been following is on Slashdot. (a technology, science, and general debate blog.)

We looked at the St. Francis prayer which is beautiful and scholarly as it demonstrates core Christian concepts, and also “God is on your side”, a gospel music track, which didn’t move me as much as St. Francis’ prayer. It is worth noting that both of these are fair use in an educational classroom context.

We watched a Frontline documentary on the historical evidence for Jesus. There isn’t much.

I conclude that for Christians the basic existence of Jesus must be predicated on belief, not on historicity. Herrod is certainly not the most indelible Jewish King as the documentary claims, although any King that allows the temple to be built is favored.

My Catholic friend and I pray together and dialouge together regularly. I feel like our friendship is emblematic of peace on Earth. When we pray, all the fear, confusion, uncertainty and doubt that is emblematic of society vanishes and I focus like the Sikhs, on God alone, the great unknown. Sometimes we have controversy, but we have discussions, not arguments and for that I am grateful.

I urge people to keep their research and their discussions scholarly, but also to appreciate the holiness and sacredness of the texts. It can be done.

Shalom, Sallam, Paz.

Feminism

isearchfortruth — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:38:22 +0000

Part of what we did in our religion class is study feminism. Feminism provides a bridge through which all religions (at least most of the liberal-edged ones) can contribute. Religion strives to answer important questions about the role of women and men in society as one of its moral and foundational contributions.

Feminism es un tipica favorito conmigo. (Feminism is a favorite topic of mine.) I decided to launch the initial sentence in spanish to stimulate my brain. Our professor’s book, Feminism and Beyond features a comparison between Greek, Roman and Hebrew worldviews that was very helpful to me. I particularly liked the mention of drama, particularly electra, or the withholding of sex for peace, and how that was fundamentally a spiritual act when I thought about it.

Aristotle was actually quite enlightened in other areas. It baffles me how the men of his time could have thought of women as less than human. I enjoyed liberation theology when I studied it at my internship and it is also mentioned in my professor’s book, although for those that are trapped looking for a way out — it is a serious matter.

More to come later.

Blogging is a dynamic process. I cannot expect everything to come at once.

essay: Catholicism and Judaism

isearchfortruth — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:17:04 +0000

Introduction

In this essay, I will compare and contrast Judaism with Catholicism. Both religions have a similar cosmology, very different creeds, codes, and community. In addition, though Christians may see their cult or worship as similar, I contend that it too is very different in Judaism.

The Research Process and Acknowledgements

First, I want to take you through my research process. Because my father was Jewish, and I had many Jewish friends, I decided to start looking primarily at Catholicism, and then determine how it differed. I used the about.com portal, which featured expert opinion on both Catholicism and Judaism, including some from potential converts to Judaism. It also in the case of the Catholicism site featured primary texts such as the Baltimore Catechism 2nd edition, which although I later realized was old, was still invaluable. Its simple questions helped me get to the core of Catholic teaching. I later used another Catechism to update my understanding. I used Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed to provide a similar coverage of Judaism, which though old, is still widely respected in Judaism.

I am also thankful to my Catholic friend, Aileen Wall, who has also studied Judaism, for helping to point out some differences and similarities that I must include in my paper. My Jewish friend Shanna Dell helped at the last minute to point out that the Jewish conception of angels is very different from the Catholic ones.

Definition of God, the difference in Judaism and Catholicism

A monk named Anselm uses “perfection” to define God, according to Hester G. Gebler. In researching, I strove for perfection. However, I had to realize that God himself had to be present, or my fear of writing would not dissipate. Anselm also states that what exists in your imagination must therefore exist in reality.. which is a key point of difference between Catholicism and Judaism. Namely, that they believe in the actual existence of God as an incarnation, whereas Judaism has no such belief.

Cosmology: more similarities than differences

Judaism and Catholicism have some similarities, in terms of cosmological creed. The difference I outlined above is a little more nuanced. Both Judaism and Catholicism believe in the Holy Spirit. The holy spirit is very similar to the general Jewish view of God, in fact Jews do not believe in the trinity, so the similarities are even more striking absent a trinity. (c.f Mcloskey). For evidence for the Jewish belief in the holy spirit, look at the fact that it was Genesis that first declared it. Judaism may not call it the Holy Spirit everyday, however. They also believe in angels. (Block) The difference is that in Judaism they are defined as part of science, part of the mystical experience of God, honored every Sabbath (Block), and according to Shanna, in every Amidah (standing prayer), although many Jews choose to meditate for the standing prayer, rather than using the rabbinical prayers. Catholicism tends to view them more abstractly, and more as beings, unlike Judaism’s view, at least according to the Baltimore Catechism. They also both have pretty strong communities, and also have debate (at least for Catholicism in the hierarchy) over scripture; neither religion takes scripture literally. In the Christian parlance, they apply a hermeneutic. Aileen assures me that Catholics have never taken scripture literally. Judaism, however, does not require belief in God in order to be considered Jewish and part of the community. Judaism also has a well-respected mystical tradition called the Kaballah; so does Christianity, as is well-supported by scriptural evidence, hermeneutics and commentary of Christian mystics like Thomas Merton (10).

Code

Both Judaism and Catholicism stress morals, but in different ways. Answering a question about tattoos, a Catholic writer for americancatholic.org had a different answer than a reform rabbi. The reform rabbi on judaism.about.com said that defiling the body was not acceptable in Judaism, but that it was a minor defilement (Goldwasser). Catholicism also has a distinction between mortal and venial sins, but consistent with Jesus saying that the Mosaic law no longer applied, has no prohibition on tattoos. (1:”americancatholic.org”). The rabbi asked a few questions of the young person asking, such as whether they were doing it for self-esteem reasons, and how Jews persecuted in the Holocaust might react. This shows Judaism’s emphasis on community.

Doctrine

Catholicism not only has code, but also doctrine. This doctrine is very well-explained. One of these doctrines concerns the ordination of women. They do not allow it. I am focusing my essay on Roman Catholicism, not on the other branches. They say that they do not allow it because men and women have different roles, as chosen by G-d from birth. Aileen, who doesn’t agree, pointed out that Jesus in Matthew setup a “double standard” when he asked men to leave their houses, and join him. Jesus makes this assertion in Matt. 8:22 and 4:18. The women had to bear the burden of that decision and none of the rewards. “There’s no actual historical writing saying that Jesus DIDN’T have female disciples that were just as important as the apostles.”, she wrote to me.Judaism allows female rabbinical leadership and study in reform, re-constructionist and renewal congregations. Aileen’s doubts about the ordination policy point out that the doctrine of a religion, the proclamations of popes can differ from the beliefs of a people. Jake says that Judaism is primarily a “family”, implying that creed is second.

The Hierarchy

One of the other things that make Catholicism unique is the hierarchy of a pope (papam), bishops, and priest. Both share this idea that there is a holy language, and Catholicism even recognizes Hebrew as one of the holy languages. The pope is infallible (without error, coming from the Latin word for fallacy), something that Jews would never say, and in fact do not say about Moses, a rabbi, or any other figure. Aileen says that she misses Pope John Paul II, and hopes that the conservative proclamations of the current pope will swing the other way. But when I pointed out that he has said some good things, she responded, “He is the pope, after all.”

A Unified Understanding: Good Works

Both Judaism and Catholicism also encourage the performing of good works as part of their social and theological teaching. Jews call it a mitzvah, and both Jewish confirmation classes and bar mitzvah classes do mitzvah projects, both individually (bar [male] and bat [female] mitzvah, a rite of passage ceremony) and as a group. (Confirmation classes). (2)

Catholicism since Dorthy Day and the Catholic Worker have been extremely concerned with social justice, and liberation theologists even more so. The Pope even criticized capitalism in his latest encyclical although he has been dismissive of liberation theology in the past.

Differences in Intellectual Inquiry

Unlike the Catechism which asks questions and answers them, Judaism encourages Jewish confirmation classes to join the intellectual debate that Rabbinic Judaism has been doing for a long time. (2) After Luther, however, Catholicism has gotten “better”, printing Bibles and encouraging Bible studies, and Vatican II has made an effort to reach out to other religions.Confirmation in Judaism may be an example of syncretism, but it is also reactionary in that it is completely different from Catholic confirmation.

Interfaith and attitudes towards interfaith dialogue

Judaism likes interfaith dialogue as a general rule, but has no mandate as far as I am aware. Whereas Catholicism depending on how you interpret Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium 16 and Gentium 15 (about salvation for non-Christians, and Salvation for other Christian denominations), does have such a mandate, though the Trifaith initiative in Nebraska was unable to get the local diocese to become part of it.

Vatican II does have a certain exclusivity to it, however. “We believe that this one true religion subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the duty of spreading it abroad among all men.” I have seen this in Jews who are settlers as well. While Catholics have the Vatican; there is no controversy over it, and the Catholics do not claim that the Bible gave them the Vatican like Jews claim God gave them Palestine, and certainly not all Jews do. Many believe in a two-state solution, some are even anti-Zionist.

Abortion, Rituals

In terms of moral code, Judaism has much more nuanced views on abortion and certainly does not view it as a preeminent concern like some Catholics do (EWTN). Judaism’s commandment to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, is one of many rituals, like costume celebrations at Purim, or retelling the story of the Exodus at Passover that Jews have, whether they believe in God or not. My friend Jake notes that the story of Esther only makes a veiled reference to God once, and that Esther, not God, is the heroine.

Catholicism likewise also has rituals. The bris in Judaism (circumcision) can easily be compared to a Catholic baptism, the confirmation with the Catholic confirmation. Judaism has no equalivent of the Eucharist. And the confirmation and bris are never given together. The dietary restrictions are also present in Judaism, but not present in Catholicism. However, to compare them in this way, diminishes the sacredness of both rituals. The Eucharist’s treatment of the wine, and bread leftovers that get buried in the Earth bears a similarity to the way more conservative Jews handle pieces of paper with the name of God written on them — they get buried in the Earth also.

Personal Reflection

I found when studying that Judaism’s lack of belief in the incarnation and the Trinity allowed it more complex answers to questions like “If God created the universe, who created God?” God is, says the rabbi, quoting Maimonides’ guide for the Perplexed, is the “primal Cause” or the beginning of causality, so there was no beginning without God. God is not a human being. There was no cause and effect without God. In other words, the incorporeality is used to answer complex questions about God.

During this paper, I also questioned my own belief in God, and I reviewed Anselm’s proof in an attempt for answers. In Judaism, doubts about God are pervasive in part due to the Holocaust, and other reasons that are anybody’s guess.

Creed

Jake says that Judaism lacks a creed, and it certainly lacks a cult, because many Jews do not worship. But the Talmud is explicit that prayer is a mitzvah, even if you can only recite the alphabet in Hebrew, G-d will no what you are taking about.

But Maimonides’ guide was certainly designed to address some of Jews’ doubts at the time he was writing. And Maimonides defined the essential beliefs of God, as “unity” (in other words, one God and no trinity), and also had proofs for God’s incorporeality. Maimonides’ description of angels despite being scientific were a little bit hard to swallow, as the science he was basing it on were outdated. (Aristotelian and Ptolemaic astronomical and physical concepts). Catholicism also used Aristotelian and Ptolemaic astronomical constructs.

He defines the basic beliefs of Judaism this way. (qtd. from 5)

God exists.
God is one and unique.
God is incorporeal. (Catholicism does not share this one, except in its conception of the Holy Spirit)
God is eternal.
Prayer is to be directed to God alone. (Catholics would agree with this, although they also pray to saints and the communion of saints or Christians passed on is unique to Catholicism, but this commandment was directed at idolatry, which Catholics also disdain.)
The words of the prophets are true. (Likewise, though how they interpret it is different.)
Moses was the greatest prophet, and his prophecies are true. (I have no idea.)
The Torah was given to Moses.
There will be no other Torah. (Clearly, the New Testament is a new Torah of sorts [ed. note: not recognized by Judaism.)
God knows the thoughts and deeds of men.
God will reward the good and punish the wicked.
The Messiah will come. (Catholicism would say “has come”)
The dead will be resurrected. (5)

(These last four beliefs are central to both Judaism and Christianity, though they interpret them differently.) In Judaism, sin can be a choice or not a choice. There are some sins you have no control over, and thus are less of a sin than a sin you have control over. Homosexuality, some argue, is a sin one doesn’t have control over, assuming you believe it is a sin at all. Catholicism clearly and unambiguously does believe that homosexual behavior, not attraction, is a sin.

The Holocaust

The Holocaust, however, leaves an indelible mark on Judaism. It binds us together as a community, unites us in our cause for social justice, and leaves lingering pain and doubts few (myself included) will ever be able to understand. Although the priests in Asisi assisting those during the Holocaust who came for refuge, still many people feel that Catholicism particularly the Pope in Rome turned a blind eye to their suffering. And so despite the reforms in Vatican II, many Jews are wary even of philo-semitism, love of Jews, that many Christians now profess. But we will not abandon Jews that do not believe in God, there is room for many in our Jewish family. We do not allow those who believe in Jesus as Messiah to be Jews, because Jews believe that the Messiah will be a person descended from King David. Jake commented that it’s because “Christians have given us so much trouble over the years.”

A Final Note

I envy Catholics for their strong faith, for their beautiful catechisms, and rituals. Particularly the Eucharist. I like the idea that every Catholic shares the same Eucharist, and forms a bond with each other and with Christ. The Jewish Mezuzah asks us to put a piece of Torah, a prayer for protection, on our doors. But without a Messiah, the closest thing to the Eucharist is Passover when we say “next year in Jerusalem, next year may we all be free.”

Works Cited

1. “American Catholic : Update your Faith.” Americancatholic.org. Ed. John Fiester. St. Anthony Messenger Press and Franciscan Communications. 8 July 2009 .

Block, Barry H. “Angels in Judaism.” Temple Beth-El, San Antonio, Texas. 12 Dec. 1997. 9 July 2009 .

2. “Confirmation – Jewish Rituals – Jewish Lifecycle events – Reform Judaism.” Judaism.about.com. Ed. Ariela Pelaia. About.com. 9 July 2009 .

Gelber, Hester G. “Proving the existence of God, Medieval style.” Stanford University Homecoming Renunion 2005. Stanford U. 2005. 27 Oct. 2005 . Requires iTunes. Access should work.

3. Goldwasser, Jeffrey Wolfson. “Jews and Tattoos – Ask the Reform Rabbi – Reform Judaism.” Judaism.about.com. Ed. Ariela Pelaia. About.com. 9 July 2009 .

Goldwasser, Jeffrey Wolfson. . “Who Created God – Ask the Reform Rabbi – Reform Judaism – Jewish Beliefs Creation.” Judaism.about.com. Ed. Ariela Pelaia. About.com. 9 July 2009 .

4. Israely, Jeff. “The Pope on Capitalism: Encyclical ‘Charity in Truth.” Time 8 July 2009. 9 July 2009 . Will expire at some point. (Online version)

5. Katz, Lisa. “Basic Beliefs of Judaism.” Judaism.about.com. Ed. Ariela Pelaia. About.com. 9 July 2009 .

6. Mcloskey, Pat. “Ask a Franciscan: Nourishing One’s Faith in Jesus – August 2001 Issue of St. Anthony Messenger Magazine Online.” Americancatholic.org. Ed. John Fiester. 2009. St. Anthony Messenger Press and Franciscan Communications. 8 July 2009 .

7. Moses, Maimonides. Guide for the Perplexed. Trans. M. Friedlander. 9 July 2009 . Highly recommended.

8. Richert, Scott P. “Why Can’t Women be Priests?-Why Women Cannot be Priests in the Catholic Church.” Catholicism.about.com. Ed. Scott P. Richert. About.com. 9 July 2009 .

9. Third Council of Baltimore. “Baltimore Chatechism” 9 June 2009.

10. “Wikipedia – Christian Mysticism.” Wikipedia. 6 Jan. 2009. 9 July 2009 .

atheism

isearchfortruth — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:49:37 +0000

I take offense to the idea that to abstain [(or not to believe in)] religion is to make one less than fully human. (p. 9). I recognize that religions do confer protection and comfort, particularly in the aftermath of tragedy or discord. While we are hard-wired to wonder about the world¹, we are not hard-wired for religion persay. God’s grace is also a Protestant concept, which I wouldn’t use in a world’s religion textbook. But what is religion anyway? If it is partially an exploration or curiousity, then we could say we are hard-wired for that.

It is undeniable that religion correlates with great worldly transformation: Ghandi (Hindu/Jain), Martin Luther King (Christian), Desmond Tutu (Christian), Nelson Mandela (who remarked that the whites-only church on the prison grounds while he was not allowed to enter it, continually gave him hope. I will also note that religion has been used falsely for great strife. In my anti-semitism class, we learned of Hitler’s letters in which anti-semitism is cloaked in practically a religious conversion, although there were many anti-semites before Hitler. Either he was delusional, or a pathological liar.

Religion has two purposes in my mind: to make man more free, by as they say, outlining the barest of morality, good and evil (the five mindfulness trainings for me), to bring people together, and to protect and comfort them when things go awry. (Protect as in add an aura of familiarity).

But for those that abstain, they typically find secular moral codes. They have been hurt by religion, and they abandon it, which is also instinctual. Fight, or flight.

One final story: I was at a retreat, and my friend’s son went out drinking. He was underage. It just so happened that a few day’s after we were having a “Beginning Anew” ceremony, in which appreciations, and concerns are aired before the entire community, and acknowledgement and forgiveness is to be had.

I watched this kid, despite cracking a joke about the fun they had on the town, beg his mother for forgiveness. I wept. It was healing for the community as a whole, under their moral code, which discourages drinking. This is an example of protection that a religion can afford (as cited in the DK World Religions book), although in his case, it didn’t come soon enough.

Ancient religions:

I once again take offense to another idea: that we are supposed to find mistakes in the ancient religions. From an anthropological point of view, that is wrong. They are not fallacious, just different. And some, like Bali, used religion to create a very stable agricultural ecosystem.

The interesting thing about Zoroastrianism is the emphasis on free will and the goodness of the world and goodness of mankind, and the free will to choose good or evil, and the emphasis on good works. Religioustolerance.org says that there are 200,000 still practicing Zoroastrianism.

The simplification of Gods down to a monotheistic one is kind of sad, as religion then loses its local flavor. You see monotheistic attempts and polytheism respectively in Egyptian although it failed, but also in greek, where the local gods are sometimes lost to our culture, particularly the ones worshipped in cults (separate worship groups, not like the derogatory cults of today).

Rights for women were present under the cult of demeter, and possibly the cult of dionysus, secret cults that could do things differently from the mainstream.

Seperation of church and state is a doctrine which I wholeheartedly agree with, otherwise state diminishes the truth found in religion (as demonstrated by egypt, and the romans, with the idea of the emperor as God, an idea also present in Shinto), and religion can also be persecuted by state. (Christianity under the Roman Religion). A good example of such a wall, is the Ottoman Empire, which realized it must promote cooperation between the religions.

It is difficult now for a state to invent a religious philosophy.. as offensive as that may sound to some theistic ears. Partially because the texts must be able to read, although a state can always sponsor a text like King James did.

For my external research, I decided to look at my old constitutional law book.

The U.S Supreme Court has defined religion as any “sincere belief”, in fact even in any non-religious belief (such as anti-war views) that approach the level of religious fervor, whereas earlier it had adopted a belief in god and worship as necessary elements, with regulations able to occur if the religious beliefs were objected to morally but did not concern god or worship. (ie. polygamy)

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/john_dominic_crossan/2006/12/are_we_hardwired_for_god.html

there are also several opposing views even to the hard-wired for wonder idea, and some scientists have even experimented with giving a psychedelic to induce religious experience to alleviate depression.