Does religion force things into a "black or white" point of view?

Question

Sometimes it seems that religion takes away people's ability to see the various shades of color in the world.

Answer 1

i think so, yes

right and wrong
good and bad
evil and good
god or satan
christian or nonchristian (secular)

they definitely see things as black and white...or 2 ways. there is no third way or other perspective to them. youre either in the box or out of it. (i like to think of atheists as out of the box, while examining the inside of the box. a transparent box)

look at how they call atheism a religion.any intelligent person ca nsee that atheism is far from a religion (its simply a lack of beleif in a god) yet they try to imply that somehow it is. now if they put it into that perspective then they cn attack it on a level they can udnerstand...for them its just a matter of weighing the good vs the bad.

of course atheism INST a religion...so they cant compare...so theyre kindof stuck...they cant attack atheism per se...but they can try to make it look bad i guess...or create a pseudo science like creationism/ID to compete against it.

i definitely think they see things as black and white...a sort of "if youre not with us, youre against us" like the president said

i dont think they have the ability to see multiple points of view...maybe thats it.

Answer 2

I do this all the time. Just because I am Catholic it doesn't mean that I would put down any other religion. I've even visited other churches and have actually thought about switching to Episcopalian. The Catholic church won't budge on some rules that are too old and outdated. My youngest Son is an atheist. Now he believes in Wicca. He's explained to me why, I've read about it and done research online and am simply glad that he has a belief. He was in a horrific car accident last month that almost killed him and he loved the fact that I kept prayer vigils with the family around him twice a day. He now says that he believes in a lot of things, even God to a point. People in America are afforded the "Freedom of Religion" Act. God doesn't judge and I don't think he would approve if we judged. God just asks that we believe. People have the right to believe but DO NOT have the right to try to force religion on others. Doing so usually pushes the person away from God at a running pace. God didn't make one man better than the other. We should ALL respect any form of religion a person chooses.

Answer 3

That's not religion.

That's human.

Whether religion or politics or science or philosophy, we have a need to be "right".

Think of how little pre-farming humans had in the way of reserves and how critical it was that every decision be the "right" one to keep yourself and your family and your tribe alive.

We're conditioned to think in such ways by evolution and thousands of years of subsistent survival.

Religion is like philosophy, science or power politics: a way of making decisions that hopefully will be "right" ones.

Whereas the other three rely more upon practical, materialistically measurable standards, Religion relies upon faith in omens.

Religion relies upon interpreting events to obtain their spiritual meanings.

The very basic religion is reading entrails, or giving special meaning to the movement of animals, weather, which star sits upon the horizon, etc.

In this you can see the dimly remembered time of our forebears when being able to read these signs correctly could tell them whether the hunt would succeed or not, or whether the tubers in a region were ready to eat.

More sophisticated religions like Christianity have taken us two steps away from that.

We no longer worry about what we witness, but rather, what we are.

And we no longer worry about being "right" in this life, we worry about being "right" in the next life.

Religion adds colour to the black and white of the Realist.

For the Realists seeks Reality, and Reality is an absolutely objective experience.

Religion casts a technicolour magic over Reality to create a Story that gives Reality meaning and purpose.

Answer 4

It depends on the religion. Taoism recommends keeping an open mind and accepting things the way they are.

A good traveler has no fixed plans
and is not intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
lead him wherever it wants.
A good scientist has freed himself of concepts
and keeps his mind open to what is.

Thus the Master is available to all people
and doesn't reject anyone.
He is ready to use all situations
and doesn't waste anything.
This is called embodying the light.
-Tao Te Ching

Answer 5

Religion boils down to a fixation. (Good and bad points)

But, if I get your drift, this is how I would see the black and white of my belief system (hoping it is not simply a fixation)

1. You get along with all of God's Children or you don't.

2. You use the method of "forgiving others" or you don't.

3. You judge the purity/righteousness of other people or you don't.

(guess who)

Answer 6

Insofar as a religion claims to be an exclusive possessor of the truth, yes, it encourages a dualistic way of thinking. That said, not all religions claim to be the sole repository of Truth. It should also be noted that people do develop mature outlooks despite their religion.

Remarkable, I know.

Answer 7

Funny, Ive always seen religion as shades of grey. But Im a Jew. We are encouraged to argue and make our own deductions.

Answer 8

It depends on your religion. You might as well make the same statement about art, philosophy or psychology. And it helps to define what issues are black and white.

Answer 9

I believe it does it kind of makes things dualistic,black white,
good bad,up down,right wrong,realize that the battle against these opposites to win out example good over bad,one cannot exist without the other,....do you understand...that leaves absolutely nothing.....all this duality happens in the mind realize that we are of the whole the one and everything
peace and contentment brother

Answer 10

Only in religions that demand worship and total obedience. In some religions mostly eastern and tribal it is about learning the nature of god from all things.