Is it right to tell someone they have the wrong spiritual beliefs?

Question

I was reading one of the answers to a previous question and the answerer told the questioner "you have the wrong beliefs." If someone has faith in what they believe and had the insight to form their belief, how can you be sure they are wrong? If you have spiritual beliefs you probably had a similar moment of insight. Correct? Is your belief more valid in some way? Please explain.

Answer 1

I don't think that anyone knows for sure that their belief is true. The only people that think they know for sure are those people who are too scared to honestly assess the situation and realize that the people who believe differently were born with the same amount of knowledge that everyone else has (which is pretty much NONE).

I think that religion is a personal thing and no religion is going to work for everyone. We are all to different. For someone to think that one religion would work for everybody is very simplistic and that person is showing their ingnorance when it comes to people and how personalities, experiences, and what we are taught growing up can form us into very different people.

Answer 2

An issue here is that many people think that there is no way to know which spiritual belief is true or which one is false. This is relativism. But I believe that if there is one God, and that this God has revealed his will through the Bible, then there is but only one truth. The thing is, not everyone sees the truth in the same way.

I believe that there is truth in the beliefs that many people have. But in our own personal beliefs we also add our feelings, our formation has a little influence in them, and there is a lot of different factors that influence what we hold as true. But if we could only be objective enough to accept as true only what the Bible says, then we could find the root of truth, and we would all be essentialy agreed in issues of faith.

So, if I believe that someone is wrong in their belief, I am responsible of telling him, not in a way to make him get defensive and not want any more communication, but with an open mind and with patience. If I believe my belief is true, I should share it with others.

Answer 3

its not right to tell them that theyre wrong, because you dont know for sure what is right. But, it IS right to ask questions that logically question the basis of the beliefs. That is called helping the person become enlightend. That is looked at as the best thing by all religions (including athiesm) except for christianity. the christian religion thinks that we should not try to become more like god and since god is all knowing, we shouldnt try to learn anything. if we follow the christian beliefs, nothing would ever get done, look at what happend in the dark ages which was the last time christianity ruled the world. 1000 years of no academic progress. is that wrong? nothing is wrong, but many other religions have opposite views. if you believe in something without any proof, which is what all religions ask us to do, you will cause conflict because you will not admit your ignorance on the subject.

Answer 4

There is a more diplomatic way of telling someone you don't agree with them than ' you have the wrong beliefs'. I was not aware that there were omniscient mortals who have the insight to be able to say that what you believe are wrong. If you do not agree with someone else you can simply state, " this is not what I believe" and proceed to explain what you do. No need to get really nasty - but I think if they are nasty first, feel free to rip on 'em.

Answer 5

It is not a way to "win friends and influence people". It would be different if the questioner asked for opinions about their belief system, but to come right out and say it's wrong, lacks in tact and comes across as arrogant.

Answer 6

The annoying thing about believing in spiritual stuff is that not everyone is going to agree with you. There will always be those who think your are 'wrong' or 'misguided.'

But that's one person's personal opinion (personal opinion being the operative word here.)
So no it's not right to just come out and say, 'your beliefs are wrong.'
However if you are one of those people who is so self-righteous that you just HAVE to say something. The best way to say it is, 'In my opinion, your beliefs are wrong.'

That way you're less likley to offend or put-down in any way and still get to have that gratifying sense of 'im making a difference in the world, by telling everyone who doesn't agree with me that they are wrong and are going to burn in hell or whatever'

In the end your beliefs are your own and they should stay that way.

Answer 7

It's rude, ignorant and arrogant. It devalues the beliefs of the other person. It stops any meaningful conversation. What these people are actually doing is telling someone that they don't value their beliefs and experiences but that person NEEDS to listen and value what they are going to say. (Do as I say, not as I do) Yeah....like that's going to happen after the person has just been insulted! I wonder if they realize just how rude they are, and simply don't care.

Answer 8

No it is not right. If that person asks you what you believe or asks what you think about what he believes, you can have a discussion about the whys and wherefores. He may leave still believing as he originally did but your opinion of whether he is right or wrong should be left unsaid - it probably won't change anything anyway.

Answer 9

My belief is the only answer for me - but one man's meat is another man's poison (as bugs bunny once said) and I think there are many paths to enlightenment, all equally beautiful and valid. There is no way to truly know the Unknowable until it doesn't matter any more.

Peace!

Answer 10

For faith-based belief systems, it is impossible to know who is right and wrong. We can only prove certain things scientifically, and no religion is 100% correct in what we can factually/objectively observe.