Is this quote right on point re: ALL religion?

Question

He who begins by loving Christianity better than the Truth will proceed by loving his own sect or church better than Christianity, and end by loving himself better than all.

Answer 1

If I understand this quote from Coleridge and how you are seeking to rephrase it, I think I would agree that it has some truth in it, particularly if you do universalize it to encompass all religion.

I think it is important to understand that Christianity is only one way of approaching Truth. I like the saying about the different religions of the world serving as flashlight--each illuminates one part of the Truth, yet, outside of this shaft of illumination darkness remains.

When we become completely exclusive in Christianity, we fail to acknowledge that other religions and faith traditions hold other forms of Truth. We tend to become isolationist and prejudiced against other views --unwilling to even listen to how others view the Truth as they see and experience it.

Answer 2

You did not misquote Samuel Taylor Colridge. His quote is as follows:
"He who begins by loving Christianity more than Truth, will proceed by loving his sect or church better than Christianity, and end in loving himself better than all”.

I think that this quote is right on the money.
The truth about anything, remains the truth, regardless of any claims made otherwise.

Therefore, if a person loves 'christianity' more than than the truth, this means that if their religion teaches them something that conflicts with reality, they will believe the lie anyways.

Following this logic, for a person who loves his sect/specific church or group more than christianity as a whole, if his sect requires something of him or teaches him something that is not a part of christian donctrine, he will go along with what his sect teaches/wants regardless.

Continuing this thought, the same person, whether his opinion is valid or not, values his own opinion and wishes above all others.

I think that this applies to most religions, but not necessarily all religious individuals. Obviously, there are many good, decent people out there, who can see the truth, and who will do the right thing, regardless of what their church, religion or the general public might say.

Answer 3

Did you mean to say:
"He who begins by loving ALL RELIGION better than the Truth will proceed by loving his own sect or church better than ALL OTHER RELIGIONS, and end by loving himself better than all."

If so, then you are about 99.99% correct.

Answer 4

Pretty deep.
If you LOVE GOD FIRST and MOST, everything else will work out for "Good" for you.
1. Marriage
2. Family
3. Community
4. City
5. County
6. State
7. Country
Didn't say you wouldn't have any Trouble's in all of this, just said it would "Eventually" work out for Good.
The Devil is 24-7, sorry, gotta wait till JESUS come's back and Lock's the Devil up befor the 1000 Year's of PEACE on EARTH can begin.

Answer 5

If that does not open a can of worms. What is truth? Who's truth? Some people believe that their sect is truth, if not, why follow it? Just an example of oversimplification to the point of failure.

Answer 6

I think intolerance is the ultimate form of self love, one would place little value on any opinion other than their own. So if you were going to follow a chain of events the one described is probably most logical.

Answer 7

Whoever said this, seems to think that you can either love your religion OR love God -- but not both.

No offense to him/her, but that's a stupid thing to think.

Where does it say that we can't love both?

It's a pity that some people seem to think that our capacity to love is so limited.

People who always think in such "either/or" terms really drive me crazy sometimes.

Answer 8

I don't know whose "quote" it is, but that's not the way it works.

Answer 9

god is great,, i behead you now