Do you think atheists & other religious people in R&S help you understand others & your faiths better?

Question

I was born as a Muslim, and being taught by the older generations religious teachers, that questioning too much on the religion is an abstinence which may led to astray.
(Today I know that I can freely question & enlighten myself from anything)

In this section, the questions, feedbacks, diatribes are way beyond my imaginations, to the extend people challenge the existence of God! And make fun of God? Oh my GOD!
Well, okay.

It has been 6 months here in Y!A and I think..., detest or criticize own/ones' religions is not bad at all.

No matter how harsh the criticisms or hatreds are in this section, and how offended I got, in end I found them very helpful for me to 'align' or ''check & balance' my religion practice, the rationale, humanity to all and all other good reasons & as required by the religion.

************

Alright, wish you all have a good weekend!!

By the way, you may continue to criticize or detest my religion or the cult leaders, but I hope you all will not hate me & my wife (pictured) just because we are Muslims : )

Great, thanks for your answers guys, I'll definitely read them again during my lunch time & tonite.
(I've got to prepare for a meeting at 9.30 a.m. It's about 12hrs difference between Kuala Lumpur here and America.)

Answer 1

I have really enjoyed reading through some of the questions and answers here. They are very enlightening and sometimes well thought through. And yes, they have helped me align my own beliefs and think them through more carefully.

I have to agree though, that I am put off by anyone who thinks they have to degrade someone else--no matter why. (I was brought up on the saying, "If you can't say/post anything nice, (or in a nice way) why say anything at all?" And I think that most of the time if something someone else says hurts--it causes division, not acceptance and/or understanding.

Why can't we say what we need to in a loving way and accept one another while we are debating? We can't help what others post, but I think we CAN and SHOULD be loving in our own actions/posts to others.

It seems that defensiveness turns into attacking others; which shows that someone is considering their own beliefs--(they have to think something through--at least a little bit--to post) and that in a way is also a good thing (even though it may come across as very negative). They at least care about something enough to stand up and be counted.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend too!

And God Bless! :-)

Answer 2

I am a non-theist (some call me atheist, some call me agnostic), that always had a strong dislike for religion, and the God concept. With my short time on Y!A, I have come to respect the typical believer more, and wonder what the hell is wrong with the atheist mentality. The religious people tend to be more altruistic, the atheists tend to be agitators. I have come to Y!A, in hopes of learning more about myself and others. I have been quite inflammatory, at times, and the believers take it in stride (in general), far better than the atheists. This experiment on Y!A has been a fascinating, and informative quest to try to better understand my fellow man/woman.
Anyway, I just might always be a non-theist, but I certainly view things a little differently now.

Answer 3

I wish I could take away from it what you have.

I cannot say that I have gained much, in my year and a half here, in the way of new understandings. The only insight I've really gained is that most religious and areligious folks know quite little about one another. Atheists know lots of "surface detail" about Christianity in that they can quote its scripture, and know something about the political leanings of certain demographic groups within Christianity - but for all that, they still don't really understand it.

Similarly, some of the European and Middle Eastern Muslims try and proselytize the Christians in ways that are remarkably ineffective. And in response, many Christians proselytize the Muslims in ways that must leave Muslims scratching their heads, wondering how on Earth someone would think some of our sales lines can work.

There's a lot of salesmanship in this newsgroup - lots of folks, both religious and areligious, seem to act as though they've got a vacuum cleaner to sell.

There's a real opportunity for us to actually listen and learn something useful; it is too bad we do so little listening. We could really benefit from it.

Answer 4

I have no problem with you or your wife being muslim or whatever religion you choose. I'm glad you have come to the conclusion that you can freely question your own religion. That is a healthy belief. I don't know if you are right or wrong, but the fact that you are willing to question what you are told shows you have intelligence. I wish there were more believers like you.

Answer 5

I am a scientist, and it is the very essence of science to question everything. Only theories which survive the most rigorous scrutiny can be considered reliable enough to be useful. Hence, participating in this forum is of value; it led me to a proof of the theory of evolution. (Available on request to anyone providing an e-mail address.) For an interesting exercise, consider Qur'an 2:278 and the corrosive effects that it has had on modern society.

Answer 6

i'm not non secular, as i think that faith is a technique of administration over us. interior the call of religion human beings are informed what they might & cant do, who they might & can't marry, what they might and can't placed on. very much of freedom of expression is lost by using faith. Does your faith incredibly fairly make you chuffed?!?! Do you ever ask your self what life grow to be like in case you probably did not save on with your faith, and weren't informed from an early age what to have faith?!?! i haven't been non secular, even however i don't doubt that there is a few variety of God. I even however think of that fairly than this "God" we consult with, there's a tension it fairly is a few distance extra effective than any man or woman can understand. whilst we consult with this as a He, because of the fact our minds are extra able to narrate to it. In Christianity for instance, we've the son of God.....Jesus. i'm extremely particular that the son of God is unquestionably our sunlight. It supplies us mild and potential. you notice, non secular texts are maximum in no way literal in any respect, yet are very symbolic. we are made to have faith even however that the words contained interior the text fabric are literal. whilst it comprises Muslims, that's people who examine the e book (i don't understand a thank you to spell this is call) actually that take issues too some distance. To loathe anyone faith is incorrect. all and sundry might desire to appreciate eachothers ideals. Howevere I do experience that all and sundry has the stunning to have faith what they'll. i don't think of that purely because of the fact somebody is stated as a particular faith would not mena that they have got not got the stunning to question that faith, to opt for yet another faith or opt for just to not prepare. I went thoroughly off the ingredient i grow to be attempting to make, and did not fairly make it in any respect plenty, yet in line with possibility I certainly have exceeded on some strategies so which you will handle board perhaps?!?!

Answer 7

I think it's all a wonderful experiment where the Internet tough guys and girls can lower themselves to whatever depth their imagination will allow and get away with expressing any knee jerk reaction that they have had to stifle for expedient reasons in the real world.

Answer 8

I can say this group has helped me by asking questions that I never would have thought of myself. And by reading posts like yours that one can tell are honest and from the heart.

I wish you a good weekend as well.

Answer 9

" you may continue to criticize or detest my religion or the cult leaders"


That was well worth my day here in the RS section.

Answer 10

People challenged the existence of god! People challenged the existence of a being that can not be seen, heard, measured in anyway or even proved in any way and they challenged his existence? I wonder why.