Imagine you are a religious leader (priest, monk, pastor, Iman,shaman or whatever) would you...?

Question

prefer passive obedience and acceptance to what you preach or intelligent discussion and possible disagrement from your community.
When replying please state why? and whether you have a religious belief and if so what.

don't forget whether you have a religious belief and if so what.

Answer 1

>>intelligent discussion and possible disagrement from your community<<
Why? Ah! because this answer is self explanatory. OK i do not want to have a sheep who would blindly follow religion

Answer 2

I think you will and should always have both, People are on different levels as far as understanding and need and will have differing ways of believing.

The Bible says the wisdom of man is foolishness in Gods eyes, I think that's very true, man has believed some foolish things in the past and maybe now. But intelligent discussion may bring many to faith or at least into the neighborhood of faith.

I understand why so many believe in evolution, however the science behind it is being disproved every day, it is easier to think our intelligent minds are some much more superior then those of people who have faith in Gods Word, however believing in a false theory is not so intelligent is it.

Man has found irreducibly complex machines in our on bodies, many examples exist, Darwin said if we did; his theory would be wrong. Have you heard the intelligent crowd say this before?

It is much easier to be happy living in sin if you say their is no God, without God their is no real right or wrong and you can do what ever you want. The problem intellectuals will always have is that their is a very real God and their is a very real right and wrong.

I am in Christ and believe in faith (simple faith).

God Bless you all.

Answer 3

I am a Muslim.

In my view the objective of my faith is to make me aware of myself as a human being as a human being. It is also to ensure that the orientation of my mind is right; to ensure that I am along the right path; to ensure that I am in a state of optimum efficiency and use in the world I belong to.

Intellectualization of religion is not a new thing. We always try to do this. We want religion to be commonly understandable. We seek evidence of religious truths in scientific truths, and in facts of life we observe and experience in our normal day-to-day lives. It is quite natural things in our mind. But there are things that are there, we know that they are there but they are beyond our rational understanding. We are unable to explain things that make up our lives as the unknown factors. They generate big question like – who am I? Where have I come from? And - is there a God? These questions affect our lives our thinking but we are unable to answer these questions. If we do not address these questions through religion then they will not go away, they will assume superstitious forms that we are just too aware of through our history. The explanations suggested by religion are understandable by the strength of faith.

I personally like to have an intellectual discussion among people of faith so that we understandable better. And I would also like to define what I do not know or cannot find out in a limited lifetime. I would feel certain in the reality I know if I am certain about the reality I do not know.

In the contrary to science religion claims truth. It explains intellectual queries but it is not subjected to the requirements of rational knowledge. If I speak in favour of religion then I can ask - how much we know? We cannot understand what a car is if we do not know what a journey is, or path is. Religion is the ultimate means to manage what we know and define what we do not know, or cannot know within our life span. True understanding can only take place when everything is understood. If there is something we do not understand that there is no intellectual certainly, but a doubt. This is the reason that allows me to say that intellectual discourse should take place within the bound of faith, or it should take place in search of faith and absolute certainty that intellectual thinking alone do provide.

Answer 4

Absolutely there should be intelligent discussion on religion , we are all seeking answers and the more answers a religion can give the more true believer you will get ,Ive had discussions with Mormons ,Jehovah witness, and new age Christians and the answers did not explain or resolve anything for me , my religion is a hybrid ,i believe in Jesus as a religious icon and the greatest example of humanity ,i believe in wiccans respect for the earth and everything that grows on it i beleive that the Muslim teaching of being modest with your body and how you portray yourself in the world is accurate, i believe the Buddhists meditation techniques can give you peace and insight, we should all question everything untill we can find a beleive system that suits us.

Answer 5

This is one of the problems we have today, we dont communicate with each other properly. Its not a matter of saying we're right and they're not. Thats why we are in this mess. Its the way of knowing that God is Love, and that Love is ther for all, no matter where they are from. As long as people search in theri hearts, they will hear His call.

Love works in many mysterious ways, and teaches us Love, Hope, Peace, Truth, Light, Unity, Interconnectedness, Universal Spitiuality and Respect.

We can only feel these unseen qualities if we choose to.

Through time we have been making so many wrong choices, its time we listened to each others voices.

Peace

Answer 6

people will always find a way to justify their beliefs, so you are wasting your time stirring them up.

it does'nt matter how old the writings are, how dead all the people who wrote them are, it does'nt matter if there is no proof, it does'nt matter if the rules of the faith are centuries old and moulded for a different time, with different issues, all they need is their own belief and faith. you can't make a dent in blind faith.

even if you came up with a crashed ufo with proof we were originally beings from another galaxy, it would not dent the generations of blind faith.

you have to understand, everyone in my family had a different religion, I am used to it, though not used to the intolerance i see between religions. Yes, i've often thought how simpler life would be without religion, would people get along then, or would they simply find another reason to dislike each other's differences.

Answer 7

if there be a god who created man and set him in this universe then that god differentiated man from all the other animals by giving man alone the ability to doubt.

dogs never ask questions, nor do caterpillars or trees. there is no intelligent discussion in a termite mound, and when was the last time you saw two bluebells have a meaningful disagreement.

if god created man then god created him with the unique ability to question, to ask for reasons, to expect an explanation.

any religious leader who asks for blind obedience is calling god an idiot.

Answer 8

Intelligent discussion is better. This involves internalization of the beliefs. The saying "if we all think the same, then somebody isn't doing some thinking" is appropriate.

Answer 9

in my opinion, i'm no longer religious. i'm able to confirm the place you're coming from. faith is a very interesting subject because it impacts with all and sundry in the present day. And why does it exist? Is it human beings finding for a extra physically powerful meaning or basically policies on a thank you to stay your life properly? human beings carry on with religions yet do no longer probably have confidence interior the deity or deities at the back of them, they only carry on with the regulations and preserve the regulated life form of the chosen faith. this methodology works fairly properly for a good style of individuals who via all debts advance right into a extra clever guy or woman, preserving to the regulations set forth via the religion on an identical time as no longer believing in a god in any respect. in this way faith could be a good situation. besides the undeniable fact that whilst all and sundry is fairly deeply in contact with the gods and actually have confidence their holy script be conscious for be conscious, they decide for to be as good as they'd and keep others from a destiny which will declare them in the event that they do no longer connect the religion. The extra human beings switched over, the extra human beings stored of their opinion. This, i think is the main rationalization as to why human beings do carry forth their faith to others. for this reason this is unquestionably one of those complicated situation with the aid of fact on the single hand you have hardcore believers attempting to transform others fairly thinking that they are going out of their thank you to be good and variety, while on the different hand, the human beings receiving the 'lecture' think of that the preacher is going out of his thank you to be an annoyance and a 'patronizing ethical authority.' there is not any longer probably any sensible answer that i'm able to confirm different that to objective and notice from the two sides of the spectrum or maybe then, its no longer probably very powerful. i might basically pass approximately your life usually no longer bothering approximately issues that have little value on your ordinary. :)

Answer 10

Discussion is always better. But the leader should have knowledge about all religions to be able to explain other people what is correct and what is not.
From argue the truth comes...