A question for everyone. Is there any point in attempting to ‘understand’ the beliefs of others?

Question

Some answers to my earlier question ( http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoVSVj.Ifme_KTs6wv3TUTBFLxV.?qid=20070323095323AA577eD ) confirmed what I suspected, which is that there are some people on Religion & Spirituality whose beliefs are very different indeed from my own.

But despite this I think that it is still worth making the effort to better understand what and why they believe. Because I believe that understanding is the basis for tolerance. And I think tolerance is a good thing. Well, certainly better than conflict.

But I wonder what other people think. Is making the effort to see things from someone else’s viewpoint worth it? What if the other person’s beliefs are so very different from your own that there’s little ‘common ground’? What if you vehemently disagree with them? What do you think?

Polite answers please! Thank you.

Oh, wow! There are some great answers here and I'm quite pleased that the majority think it's worth making the effort to understand.

So many people have said things I like. Particularly the idea that 'understanding' doesn't mean that you have to give up your own beliefs. And that it may even help you clarify and strengthen what you yourself believe.

I really would like to choose more than one as 'Best'. But as I can't, instead I'm going to leave the decision to you all.

I'm sure you'll make a good choice. And all who answered, thank you.

Answer 1

yes there is a point

well yo usaid it yourself. you want to make an effort to see things from their perspective. that in itself is sufficient to attempt to understand.

sometimes in order to see things you have to step out of the box...and into someone elses box. maybe then you can gain some insight and/or understanding.

Answer 2

I think "learn about" are better words to use than "understand" and it's only worth as much as you want it to be worth. If you approach other beliefs with genuine interest, an open mind, and respect then there's so much to learn and nothing to lose.

Will it help you become a more tolerant person? Again it all depends on your attitude. If you approach someone else's beliefs with an open mind and think of them as human beings with a right to their beliefs then of course it will make you more tolerant. If people fear the unfamiliar and what they don't understand then the opposite is true too.
But if you already have negative preconceptions about other beliefs and you only listen enough to criticize and reinforce those thoughts then maybe you should hide at home all day, lock the front door and aim a shotgun through the door flap..

Answer 3

Yes there's a point. If more people act like you do that, we MIGHT all get along better, and perhaps have fewer or less intense wars.

BUT that doesn't mean other people are going to be capable of understanding your position, or anyone else's. The more fundamentalist the believer, the more difficult this is. If God has told you the truth, anyone who contradicts him is lying and an agent of Satan.

Exactly how is someone with this view going to take "tolerance" seriously?

Years ago I heard a sermon by an intelligent, very well educated and reasonable guy. He preached on the evils of "toleration". Is it any wonder war never ceases?

THIS is the problem. It's the conservatives in each religion, not the liberals, who are intent on carrying us all to heck in a handcart.

Answer 4

Why do you venerate tolerance so highly ?

Surely you should seek for truth ? Are you going to compromise on the truth for the sake of "tolerance," whatever that is ?

If so, then you are in a sad state.

Why do you need "common ground" ? Can you not respect somebody and not compromise the truth ?

If not you are in a sad state.

Why do you need to understand what and why a person believes something ? If you know the truth why do you need to "understand" error ? Does knowing the truth prevent you from having respect for anybody ?

If so, you are in a sad state, and, I might add, I doubt in that case if you do know the truth.

" If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. "

Is it not safe to put our trust in God and do as He says, for does He not know best ? - but the fear of man brings a snare.

If you know the truth then declare it. It is not for debating or arguing over, or hiding lest you should offend somebody.

If truth is like a lifebelt will you not throw it to someone who is drowning for the sake of tolerance and understanding and common ground ? Pah !

Declare the truth that all may have opportunity to hear and receive.

If you don't know the truth... well, you are in the same place as everyone else and understanding and tolerating their erroneous views won't help you a bit !

Truth comes only from God and not from foolish and sinful man.

Answer 5

Yes, because people impinge upon one another. It's called society.
And now it is probably for each of us less uniform and predictable than it used to be. The days when most people were only exposed to one world view, religion, social structure... are fading fast (with exceptions).
And how to relate to these "Alien universes right next door" is an intellectual, ethical and practical conundrum.
"I know what's evil, burn the witch" at one extreme and "Everyone's religion is right, so I won't say anything about that child-sacrifice" at the other show that there has to be a middle ground of tolerance and understanding, tempered by a degree of intolerance for the intolerable.
Finding that exact spot for a particular time, place and culture is not easy.

Answer 6

I think if you"re interested in other beliefs it's certainly worth having a look into them; beliefs other than our may be valid; also, I think that if we would like other people to respect our beliefs, we should at least respect theirs, even if we don't agree with them. That said, I cannot understand suicide bombers in any way, shape or form; I ahbor racism at any level and like to think I am very open-minded, I believe everyone has a right to live their life how they want to,providing they aren't hurting anyone else, but this is one thing I cannot get my head around and just cannot unerstand.

Answer 7

There is not a person on this earth that each of us cannot learn from. To listen, digest and attempt to understand the views of others, irrespective of age, race, religion or gender, to be able to have intelligent tolerant dialogue with others..........hang on I'm ranting like a Utopian. Would be a happier, more peaceful place. Listen up George W!!! Excellent question by the way.

Answer 8

You have a great example of the problem right here.

For myself...I love to find those golden threads! I have studied many forms of spirituality and I still continue doing so. Out of love! Part of what drives me is my striving to find a way to stop us from destroying one another!

I get angry! I am aware how I must sound to some people. I want to make you think! I want you to wake up! I sense and I see clearly the same state of mind that lead to Jesus being killed, the same staight of mind that killed millions of men, women and children during the inquisiton and WWII. and countless other blood baths continuing today, a state of mind that will continue to take llives and persecute the innocent until we each of us can look in the mirror and wake up.

How we dehumanize one another, how we demonize and nitpick at one another anxious to be that warrior for God or for whatever reason is what truly angers me. I see it here right on this page. It is no doubt fully justified in the minds of the people who think this way.

What does it really matter to you or me what colour or gender God is?Athiest, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Druid, Sundancer, Christian...whatever it might be...I only care that we love and respect one another and all our brothers and sisters of creation. That we appreciate and celebrate the variety that the Creator, the creative energy of the universe has, our precious human lives...do you understand?What is really , really important is love!The rest pales before it.

Read books like turning evil and see how easily and quickly things can change from dialogue to mass murder.

Those golden threads that link our teachings and the hearts and minds of those of us who cherish them may be all that can save humanity in the end.

Was it not Jesus who said.." Blessed are the peace makers..."

I have seen things and it is bad. But there is hope of survival... it's up to us. The time is now though! I fear for us all. I don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe that it is fixed. There has been more time given to us before. I know, I was shown.

Things are moving accross the chess board.


Love to you all.

Peace begins with you.

Answer 9

Sorry, I didn't get back to answer this question quickly enough.

I think understanding (to a point) the faiths or beliefs of other religions and/or cultures is very important to be able to be sure that you have made a wise decisionin what you believe. But, I do think you need to be very discerning about what truth is. Once you have decided what the truth really is, make absolutely sure that you understand why you believe it is true. Basing your belief of your parent's religion or emotionalism is not good justification.

If I am to believe, as I do, that God created me. I should also believe that He created me with a brain. Contrary to some closed minded athiestic views, I think accepting Christianity is a very very logical decision. I think too many "Chrisitans" today don't have an idea why they believe what they believe. And, worse yet, they have no clue how to defend their faith. I spend countless hours researching in my spare time about other denominations, history, and doctrine of other religions.

I have determined through logical deduction and flat out intellegent reasoning that Intellegent Design is a far better and more convincing theory than evolution. If I were to just compare statistic probability I would have to choose intellegent design. That is beside the fact that evolution simply cannot answer enough questions. It is like when kids ask where babies come from and all you do is say, from their mommy with absolutely no details as to how they got there in the first place or how they come from their mommy. I have examined the necessary components of creation of life from electrical storms and pools of water with a methane atmosphere and the construction of amino acids that have been claimed to spawn life. Do you have any clue as to what the chances of that happening are? Even if the atmosphere were methane and some other gases instead of what some Darwinists claim it was, it is something like 1 in 10 to the 6 hundred thousanth power. It does not make sense to me at all.

But, we are talking about other religions. Well through the same line of reasoning, I determined that life was a creation rather than an accident. Now past that, there are several religions that may account for this, the problem is that most have no proof that I find suitable. I find that Christianity had over 4000 prophesies that had come to pass hundreds of years after the prophesies occured. Archeoligists have never been able to find anything to disagree with Biblical history and we have more ancient copies of the Bible than any other book in the history of the world, with pinpoint accuracy in each. Take that with the actual results of my faith, such as blessings by tithing, prayer, joy, etc., and I am fully convinced. That is not to say that actual knowledge of something that I could rely on that proved otherwise could change my mind, but it has to be a stronger proof than what I have already experienced and seen before I would consider changing it, and I really really don't see that ever happening. Faith in Christ has absolutely filled that God shaped vaccum in my spirit. I have never been happier. I am not more wealthy or better off than I was before, I am just content. I am content and grateful for whatever I have. I feel separated from Earthly things. Nothing stresses me out any more because I have I knowledge of something so much greater than the biggest thing I will ever come across in this lifetime, and I get to be part of that. That makes me excited.

Now if you don't have knowledge of other religions, what would make you think that you can debunk them as falsehood? You can't. I am not saying I know everything about Buddism or Hinduism or even Islam. I am saying that nothing I have learned about these religions so far has even gotten close to convincing me that I am wrong.

Some religions are very easy to dismiss. For instance, Mormons. I find absolutely no hard evidence that the book of Mormon has a single bit of truth any it. I might have to look further if it didn't mention things like horses (which the Spaniards brought to North America) or the city of Moron, which has never been discovered. In fact there has never been a single artifact or bone that could ever even suggest that anything in the Book of Mormon ever happened. Joseph Smith (the founder) has since been caught in numerous lies about being able to translate "Ancient Refined Egyption", which scholars say was never a language at all. They can't even find the original book of Mormon that was "written on gold plates". What a bummer. They lost a book that would have been astonishing evidence, and yet they claim that it is all true. That makes it very easy to discern truth from falsehood.

I think the concept of the non-religious world is that "religious" people are non-thinkers and are easily dupped. I strongly disagree. May faith was formed in a good part by logic. It is also re-enforced by Science and Archeology. Neither has proved it wrong. I cannot tell you that the world is only 6000 years old. I don't really know, and I may not understand everything about the Bible, but I know enough that I can believe it. The Bible never really said that the Earth was 6000 years old. All it had was a geneology, and some names are missing in the line in comparison to other records of discent, so who knows how many names were left out? Not me.

It seems to me that if I keep researching and learning about other religions and cultures and my own, I should only believe what I believe even more, not less, if I have already found the truth.

Answer 10

Sure, there is a "golden thread" that runs threw most if not all. Religion started from someones mystic seeing of truth and then devolved into beliefs. It's not the truth of religion I dislike but the delusion of the masses. The people that think belief is enough with no enquiry of there own.

Answer 11

I think it is important to try and see things from other peoples point of view because we are all human and in the end desire the same sort of things. As humans we desire to be loved, we desire acceptance both by society and by individuals, we for the most part all desire to better ourselves (economically, spiritually, socially, etc...). Although we are all unique and hold our own beliefs dear, it is important to realize that the concept of belief and faith are innately 'human' characteristics.

Thus in order to tolerate, understand, and love each other we must realize that the characteristics that most frustrate us about each other are what make us all human.

God Bless!