People really ARE closed minded in here aren't they?

Question

AND UNEDUCATED! I feel that if you believe one thing that is because you researched the possibilities on what you SHOULD believe, and then make an educated guess as to what you should believe, and put your faith where your commitment is. People who have blind faith in one religion without looking to see really WHAT other religions offer, and why they ARE... FRIGHTEN ME!

Answer 1

I have read the many a theological book in my past and when all is said and done one thing I have learned is this; most religions state at some point in their dogma that they are right and all other religions are wrong. You shouldn't blame the followers of those religions for speaking as if their way is theonly way. They are just doing what they are taught is right. I am lucky I was exposed to religious scholars who do exactly what you suggest people should do; they study the religions of others. That is why I have done the same. It isn't easy when you consider the fact that most books you read are not written in the original language they were first written in. Take the bible for example. I have read seven different versions and you learn that the Ortodox Bible is way different form the Catholic Bible and even More different from the King James Bible. The word love for example is translated in one of nine different ways from the ancient Greek in the Orthodox Bible but in only one way in most other Bibles. It makes a big difference. I tend to synthesize these versions of the BIble into one. I do the same thing with the Koran. You really need to read that one with a Eastern Muslim. They are able to help you put the book in its proper order and context. That is also something I was taught. I know there are people out there who think as you write "Close Minded", their way is the only way, but; if it is then why are their so many of them arguing with one another? They can't all be right. I think. I could be wrong. It's a big universe. I just don't want to argue with them. All I want to know is what they think. They tell me and I go on about my day. One day it may firghten me that none of them agree with me or with others but not today. You need to look on the bright side of life. At least they care enough to have an opinion even if it seems a bit "uneducated". As a philosophy teacher once told me "I would rather someone say they took religion on faith than argue religion based solely on what they had been told and or experienced." As he put it, "That is not believing in God. That is believing in others and in your senses." Of course that means I went through those discussions as well. Don't mean to bore you here but the topic is vast and my search has been lengthy. I hope yours is a fruitful search. Thanks for reading.

Answer 2

I still would consider those you call closed minded and uneducated believers as well entrenched. Most people do not want to go and explore other possibilities but I will not put them in your category. They may have found their comfort zones there, it is true that they may also have fear of the unknown, they were raised to that form of faith from childhood and to uproot them to see other points may be hard. Fear has been injected to many. I believe there is a time for everyone to find reality from the truth.
Besides, your truth may not be same as mine but to a certain point it is our truth which both of us need to respect. So I would prefer the word "NOT READY for understanding" rather than blind believers, closed minded or uneducated. For all we know, they may even have more wisdom in what you may think as their limited knowledge than our scattered learnings. Do not be frightened. Go as far as you can and your light someday may be the guide but do not worry about those you leave behind. Leave a good and printable trail so it can be seen. It might be you who is needed to lead. Patience on your part will lead you to understand the whys in your questions.

Answer 3

Well your statement (not a question so I'm not sure why you chose to post it) seems like you are pretty closed minded yourself. Faith isn't about 'educated guesses' or being 'closed minded'. Faith is about a secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will. It doesn't require concrete proof. I don't need to see God to know that he is in control of all things. I have faith that He has a plan for my life. That doesn't mean that I don't read the Bible to further educate myself on the path that He wants me to follow. It also doesn't mean that I condemn other people's views even though I might not agree with them.
I truely believe that the people who are closed minded are the ones that really don't know who they are or what they believe in.
Those are the people who need to educate themselves.

Answer 4

True, however what about those people. like myself, who have? I have studied all the world's major religions and a few of the minor ones as well. I have balanced what they said, tested them for errors in logic or inconsistencies on doctrine, and determined that the faith I chose is the Truth. Now, if I advocate my position, one which runs counter to someone else's, would that still be considered closed minded?

Answer 5

I think religion is one place where blind faith is ok, I don't begrude anyone their spiritual beliefs, but anyone who is going to be offended by the mere mention of a religion other than their own should stay off of YA! (and probably the internet in general)

Answer 6

Also they freight-en me.
Looking to the inmost of every one guides always to the same God.
One God is there.
Religion(s) came from outside our universe. But Creator left many physical indications that guides people to the presence of God..
I mean that guidance to the right religion comes from the inside and the outside of ourselves.

Answer 7

When I left home and faced the realities of the world,
I put my thoughts of God in cold storage for awhile,
because I couldn’t reconcile what I believed,
deep inside, with what was going on around me.
But that early period, when God was
as real as the wind that blew from the sea
through the pine trees in the garden;
left me with inner peace, which, as I grew older, swelled –
until, perforce, I had to open my mind to God again.
Jane Goodall

Answer 8

You should be frightening YOURSELF... faith + belief = delusion. You are advocating a non-rational form of existence. Basically, you are saying "Research the various dogmatic, codified, institutionalized delusions that are available before deciding which delusion provides the best fit with your sensibilities." Rationally choose your irrational world-view. Damn. Get a grip.

Religious 'belief' (the internalized certainty that you know the 'truth' pertaining to fundamental aspects of existence and reality), sustained by 'faith' (wishful, magical thinking) is a profoundly STUPID combination. It is no way to run a railroad... and certainly no way to run your life. Faith-based religious belief is an insidious mind-killer... it cuts one off from the open-minded consideration of alternative possibilities.

There are some subtleties at work, which seem to escape the notice of most people. They have to do with the nature of 'belief'.

A rational person might say "I believe in the Big Bang." A religious person might say "I believe in creation, as described in Genesis." But these statements are not even remotely similar, with respect to what is meant by the word 'believe'.

For the rational person, the statement of 'belief' in the Big Bang means that they understand that the concept provides a scientifically and mathematically consistent explanation, congruent with the evidence, which accounts for the evolution of the universe from a fraction of a second after the initiating event, up until the present. When the 'inflationary model' came to the fore, rational people said "Well, good... that clears up a few questions and makes things even more coherent." NOBODY threw up their arms and wailed "Oh, no... oh, no... ain't so... ain't so... the Big Bang is the inerrant truth... not this ridiculous, atheistic 'inflationary' model."

See... when we say "I believe in the Big Bang", we don't really mean the same thing as the religious person means when he says "I believe in creation, as described in Genesis," or "I believe in God." Our 'belief' in the Big Bang (or anything else) isn't really a 'belief'... it is more properly a 'paradigm'... a useful way of looking at something, or thinking about something. If additional information is uncovered that adds to the conceptual model, that is a good thing... not a disaster. If part of the conceptual model is discovered to be incorrect, and must be tossed in the trash and replaced with something completely different... that is also a good thing... not the end of the world as we know it. And often, no matter how highly confident we may be of the accuracy or completeness of a particular paradigm, we may have reason to apply a DIFFERENT paradigm to the same thing, in an effort to tease out new insights; for example, we might want to contemplate the potential implications of a change to a theory from the perspective of the Tao Te Ching, the Gaia hypothesis, or ecological homeostasis. We KNOW that all theories are approximations... and that is OK. We KNOW that we don't have all the answers... and that is OK, too. There is nothing wrong with saying "We don't know... yet; but we're working on it."

But these modes of thinking, perceiving, contemplating and understanding are utterly alien to the 'religious' mind. For the religious mind, a 'belief' is not a paradigm... not a useful way of thinking about something... it is an internalized conviction that one knows the absolute 'truth' pertaining to some aspect of existence and/or fundamental reality. 'Beliefs' are one of the key interpretive component filters of the religious person's 'self-description'... a part of what DEFINES them as a person... the very thing that creates their world-view... an underpinning of their 'subjective reality'. Any challenge to one of these internalized 'beliefs' is perceived and interpreted as a vital threat... an attack upon the 'self-description'... and an assault upon their subjective reality.

And here is the key difference: When there is a change in one of the paradigms dealing with a scientific concept, or a new insight into the workings of the universe, to the 'rational' person it merely constitutes an interesting new piece of knowledge and understanding... a new insight, to be appropriately incorporated into one's world-view However, if that same new insight, or piece of information (a feature of the universe, for example) seems to threaten a tenet of Christianity, everybody goes to battle stations, goes into 'damage control' mode, for fear that the whole edifice will come crashing down... and ultimately, it will.

So, when a fundie disparages evolution, for example, it really has nothing to do with a genuine, intellectual dispute regarding scientific details... they are generally scientifically illiterate, anyway. Any 'scientific' arguments that they present are inevitably not even understood... they are just lifted from the pre-packaged lies, misrepresentations and pseudo-science that are found on dozens of 'Liars for Jesus' (LFJ) web sites, and parroted. They are in a battle. They are trying to sink science before science sinks them. They are desperate... and science is (mostly, and unfortunately) oblivious to the fact that they are even in a fight, and that somebody is trying to sink them. They are just blithely bopping along, doing what science does... trying to figure out how nature works.

No... none of this has anything to do with a mere disagreement pertaining to evidence and understanding. It has to do with minds that deal with fundamental issues in an entirely different way. It has to do with a flexible, open-minded (willing to honestly consider alternative possibilities), intellectually honest (willing to question and doubt one's own presumptions) curiosity about the universe, contending with a rigid, unyielding world-view that depends from a conviction that certain delusional faith-based (willful ignorance and magical, wishful thinking) 'beliefs' represent the absolute 'truth' of reality.

We might as well be talking to an alien species, from a distant planet.

When the religious enter a venue like this one, they are (generally) NOT seeking answers, or new information... these might cause them to QUESTION their beliefs, or might put their beliefs at risk. No... they are closed-minded, seeking only VALIDATION of their beliefs... and hence, of their self-description.

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"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion." ~ Robert M. Pirsig

Answer 9

Other religions offer you nothing. But Jesus offers you eternal life through acceptance of Him as your savior. There is only one way into the kingdom of God and that is through His son Jesus.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me

This is not being closed minded, but telling the truth. God's truth.

Answer 10

you are so right on the money. The worst closed minded people to me are those who deny what's happening around them or keep any form of progress out.