Religion Question

[ferco]

How many of you encounter friends/ relatives who claim that their religion is the only way / road to "heaven" and that the remaining millions upon millions of "non-believers" are going to hell.

 

[Nords]

... offensive comments about race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and national origin, are not acceptable.

You might as well just delete this thread now and save the moderators the trouble...

 

[yakers]

I agree with Nords. While I think there could be an interesting discussion on the topic, I expect it will not happen.

 

[Sam]

Geez! I have been dying for an opportunity like this to voice my opinion. May be I can still do it:

Since almost everyone thinks their religion is the best, almost everyone would end up in heaven. That makes heaven pretty crowded, then housing cost would go up. And since everyone up there is good, it would be hard to find liquor and wild parties. All things considered, I think I'll take hell.

 

[kumquat]

And alternative view that I'm sure most of you have seen.

At any rate, I have NO friends or relatives who hold such views. I know very, very few people who do. Maybe it's because here in the Frozen North, Hell beats winter and might be considered Heaven?

 

[kyounge1956]

How many of you encounter friends/ relatives who claim that their religion is the only way / road to "heaven" and that the remaining millions upon millions of "non-believers" are going to hell.

That is because religions are based on truth-claims. I think just about every religion, and some non-religious philosophies too, say of something, "THIS is an absolute truth". Why would there not, at least potentially, be dire consequences for rejecting that which is true in an ultimate sense? It would be the spiritual equivalent of denying that gravity exists. It doesn't matter how sincerely a person believes in the non-existence of gravity; what happens if that person steps off a cliff will be determined by what is actually true. Likewise, whether you or I end up in heaven or in hell depends on what actually is true about these ultimate questions, not on what either of us think is true. So give serious thought to what you believe. Your decision about what to accept (or reject) as ultimate truth is too important to be ignored or given only a superficial consideration.

 

[Dawg52]

I have zero friends/relatives who believe their religion is the only way.

 

[travelover]

In-laws.

 

[DoraM]

I view heaven as being run by Michael Vick (remember the story of Job?), and hell as being run by some warlord, so I am hoping to stay in purgatory for as long as possible.

 

[donheff]

None. Of course I would not stay friends with someone who was constantly proselytizing me so I suppose I never get to know folks like that. Interestingly, I was only once (that I can remember) proselytized like that at work where I was exposed to lots of diverse people. So, hopefully, they are fewer than I fear.

People who are absolutely certain that their beliefs are the correct ones always brings to mind Pascal's wager (better to believe in God because if you are right you are saved, if you are wrong no harm, no foul). But in response to that, what if you picked the wrong one of the thousands available? Or, put another way, what are the odds that you happened to be born into the correct set of beliefs from among the thousands that various people have held over the course of history?

 

[ferco]

I didn't mean it as an adversarial question, but a question for discussion on a social / conversational level. I'm not exspousing or disavowing any religion or belief, but in conversations I hear this debated quite vigorously and with passion.......I have no skin in the game either way

 

[REWahoo]

I didn't mean it as an adversarial question, but a question for discussion on a social / conversational level. I'm not exspousing or disavowing any religion or belief, but in conversations I hear this debated quite vigorously and with passion.......I have no skin in the game either way

Regardless of your intent, this subject is not one that leads to civil dialog.

This thread needs to go away.

 

[rescueme]

...what are the odds that you happened to be born into the correct set of beliefs from among the thousands that various people have held over the course of history?

That's something I've always believed in. For most of us, any religion we may practice is probably due to what our parents believed in, and how we were brought up.

Of course there are "conversions", or even acceptance of an organized religion based upon later lifestyle circumstances (such as marriage), but for most of us, the "parent trap" is the reason we accept any such "teachings" in the first place.

 

[ERD50]

Regardless of your intent, this subject is not one that leads to civil dialog.

This thread needs to go away.

[sarcasm] Right, we are just all children on this forum, incapable of an adult, civil conversation. We should stick to bacon and 3.4678934% vs 3.7845823% SWR discussions.[/sarcasm]

Where did this following thread go bad? I found it interesting and civil.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/deism-31897-2.html

-ERD50

 

[ferco]

So far responses have been VERY civil and informational. Thank you for the responses. I knew we could do it....gotta love it !

 

[Danmar]

I have zero friends/relatives who believe their religion is the only way.

Likewise. Otherwise they wouldn't be my friend.

 

[donheff]

Where did this following thread go bad? I found it interesting and civil.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/deism-31897-2.html

-ERD50

Good thread. I missed it back in the day. I am very interested in matters of religion, faith, etc. I understand that religious discussions can easily go bad - just like politics. But, like politics, it is worthwhile letting them proceed until they do go astray. This is a better group for a civil discussion of religion or politics than any I have encountered.

 

[donheff]

None. Of course I would not stay friends with someone who was constantly proselytizing me so I suppose I never get to know folks like that.

Likewise. Otherwise they wouldn't be my friend.

I initially posted the same thing but, on second thought, I would like to revise that. It isn't that I would feel hostile towards a proselytizer - I would happily engage them in discussion and be interested in why they believe what they do. But I doubt many of the people described by OP would stick with a skeptical enquirer for long. On the other hand, I have had many a brandy fueled late night [-]debate[/-] discussion with a family friend who is a Jesuit - a true believer of another sort.

 

[GregLee]

Likewise, whether you or I end up in heaven or in hell depends on what actually is true about these ultimate questions, not on what either of us think is true.

Christians believe it's what we think is true.

 

[HFWR]

I get a fair amount of mostly Christian preachy stuff from relatives. I ignore it to keep peace in the family.

Most of my friends are heathens like me...

 

[donheff]

whether you or I end up in heaven or in hell depends on what actually is true about these ultimate questions, not on what either of us think is true. So give serious thought to what you believe. Your decision about what to accept (or reject) as ultimate truth is too important to be ignored or given only a superficial consideration.

Doesn't your first thought conflict with your second? All the serious though you give to heaven and hell won't have any effect on whether they exist or don't. And since there is no good evidence for one religious belief versus another (they are matters of faith) superficial consideration doesn't seem to be a problem. It gets back to the Pascal's wager dilemma - how can one be sure he is betting on the right God out of the many available?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

The moderators have agreed this threat is off-topic per community rules. Blah blah blah...

Closed.

Rich, for the Moderator Team