what religions that value open mindedness?

Question

i think a religion that supported the following criteria would be right for me. any suggestions?
- religions that encourage you to find your own spiritual path.
- a religion that tolerates mixed beliefs about the existence of God and upholds the idea that there is something to be learned from every religion
- open to a wide variety of religious and spiritual ideas
- typically composed of open-minded and intellectual people who actively engage in individual exploration of many different spiritual truth
what

ok. 1st. i like answer 17. although you didnt have to be so sinister, i do know why religions were made, dont pity me. i like answer 19 because what it sais is right.
although, i dont beleive christianity is a bad thing, i am strongly aethiest at the moment.
but i would like some faith, something that there isnt just one god, but many, black and white, yin and yang kind of thing. something that is accepting of all things and what ppl have to say.
i have set down my criteria because this is what i beleive in, and this is how i think a religion should be.
in the end, i support that god doesnt like brands, so if u are a good person, he will accept you....

and yes. a religion can be open minded, it isnt a set rule thing.
i want to see it as a faith.
but i dont want to see a chosen god as a false idol, in which i follow his meening and underlying msgs in his text or scriptures.
ie christianity.
i want a religion where i can follow a text litterally, with well thought out reason, no iffy spots, umms and maybes. but a certainty that this has happened.
i know that the meening of FAITH is to beleive in something that u dont have proof of. eg. christianity.
that is what i dont want.
i know thats asking for much, but being an aethiest i am doubtful.
what religion is open minded, takes in all beleifs, one with nature, and not heavy duty?

ok. let me say. i have learnt alot. alot about christianity too. i beleive they are nice ppl. and all their open mindednes. but i dont like their history. how they wer formed. and how they destroyed paganism etc. im not going to all dan brown on you now . .. i want a religion that incorporates scientifically known FACT eg. evolution, big bang, things like that, but incorperates spiritualnes, open mindedness, knowledge, i dont care if u think ur religion is the truth, because i dont. what religion supports my criteria? accepts scientific facts? open minded? accepting of other religions? learns from other religions?

well, if there is just ONE god, then he is powerful, yet insecure.

Answer 1

to be honest, i don't think anything available now will suit you, most of them fail on the "open minded intellectual discussion about different spiritual truths" part. Those that pass the open minded part are usually lacking in fair, healthy control part (like cults)

usually this sort of stuff demands that you take a stance and classify yourself (chiristain, buddhist etc). so the only way to keep a real open mind is to stay out if it completely and read widely

my suggestion is you should stay as you are, keep learning about life, you seem to be on the right track to me

(end)

No offence GenuineOne but isn't Islam supposedly very intolerant about other religions, i heard from a muslim friend he isn't even supposed to mention the name of the gods of other religions

Answer 2

dude, do u have any idea what a religion means and why were religions "created"?
ok so once upon a time people were really dependable on nature. so any natural crizis would follow to a crizis in the society, right. but then people moved and formed cities where they didnt depend so much on nature in their everyday life. they stopped believing in the god of storm, water, wind, whatever u can think of, and in their drive for prosperity forgot to be nice to each other the least to say / meaning people became tools for achieving other peoples goals, meaning got killed/. so there had to be discovered a way to maintain some order and set rules for peoples ralationships. but if those rules were to be set from people noone would listen so...here comes god!
all this comes to tell that religion is a way of restricting in its general idea so u can`t expect freedom.
christianity encorages making decisions on your own. and some of its varities encorage inteligence and kapitalism. so ur good with that.
in choosing ur religion from the criteria u ask for: look around u. what society /country/ u think is most developed in all the things u look for. so there`s ur religion.
ps: the best religion is believing in yourself. and if u ask me u dont need anything else. society will get u anyway;)

Answer 3

You will find a good measure of what you describe in main stream Christian religions - not the fundamentalist types. You will find that one of the most fundamental expressions in Christianity of today is " the primacy of conscience". This does not willy-nilly allow you to think and believe anything you feel like on a whim, but if you sincerely inform your conscience you can come to conclusions which are not normally accepted by what is taught. There are limits and boundaries however, but there is also great leeway which allows for openmindedness. Unlike what was practiced in the past, there is laid down today guidlines that offer lay (ie. the non ordained members) people to have more autonomy and freedom to explore and broaden their outlook. There is always great tension between the conservatives and the progressives within the institutions themselves, but the trend is certainly towards making Christianity not only true to itself and but also relevant for today. One can say that Christianity today is going through another great reformation right within itself- which I would describe as quite radical.

Peace

Answer 4

First one that comes to mind is Unitarian, which consists of people who basically enjoy the quest at least as much as the finding.

But part of what you are saying here involves a contradiction: to call something a religion is to suggest that it has a point of view, and does not call all points of view equal. The word "religion" generally denotes a group that has certain doctrines or beliefs in common.

There are plenty of organizations which are not specifically called a religion, such as the Living Insights Center in St. Louis, that encourage one to seek a personal pathway.

Wicca is generally understood to be a "religion," but really it is a confederation of people on personal paths.

Answer 5

John_d_ayer wrote: "If people had not been open minded Christianity could never have spread..."

Nothing could be further from the truth. For centuries christians imprisoned, tortured, and murdered those who had different beliefs, even other christians. Missionaries often withheld aid unless the needy converted (still do). Christian "leaders" combined forces with kings and other tyrants to control entire populations.

It would be more honest to say that without force and fear christianity would not have survived.

To see some of the tactics used by christians to spread their "faith," see Raoul's entry:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=At_mtadLCd8UivKMkXOv40vb7BR.?qid=20070512035444AAh8asd

Answer 6

When it comes to open-mindedness, by all means, Islam, Islam, Islam. According to Islam, open-mindedness is not only valued but, it is mandatory.

I suggest that you examine your criteria...why? because, although it is true that the ultimate truth is with GOD and that there is some truth in just about everything, the fact remains that there is One GOD, One Truth, and One True religion. It just takes GOD'S utmost precious and VITAL guidance to realize the Truth ENOUGH to achieve success and salvation.

Answer 7

religion is not the answer because religion has set of beliefs... and open mindedness is not what any one should value...what is actually important is the TRUTH.all religions have certain truths and all religions have things that we can learn from.. what all of us need is to have a personal relationship with the Creator... so you dont really need to be part of any religion. God is not into brands....

Answer 8

it may be approximately as conventional as Grandparent's Day. you may not basically ask human beings to alter their faith for sooner or later. What approximately how Jews could study Hebrew and Christians could be shown? How ought to definitely everyone do this for the duration of a single day? Plus, faith is greater desirable than that. you may not sooner or later awaken and characteristic finished faith in a completly new faith, whilst the day till now you have been worshipping a very diverse faith.

Answer 9

That religion already exists. It has a huge membership. It is also known as a salad bar. Walk up to it, take what pleases you and leave the rest behind.

Hannah J Paul

Answer 10

Christianity.

This is not to say that all Christians value Open Mindedness, just that Christianity does.

If people had not been open minded Christianity could never have spread and as long as people are closed minded it will not spread.

1 Corinthians 9:22 - To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.