Wing-nut evangelical pastors like Terry Jones, the guy who’s staging the “Burn a Koran” event in Florida, make for eye-catching headlines around the world.
But it’s not the religious right that concerns me, so much as the Religious Wrong.
They’re more insidious, more widely spread, and apparently their numbers are growing like wildfire – because they’re found among the members of every religion on earth.
The Religious Wrong may be adherents of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zorastrianism, animism, paganism, or any other religion or worldview. Some of the most virulent members of the Religious Wrong are atheists.
The Religious Wrong use every mad action by every member of some OTHER group to tar all of that group with the same brush.
The Religious Wrong ignore their own religion or culture’s message of compassion, honesty, and virtue to attack the beliefs and actions of others.
The Religious Wrong feel every hint of difference or challenge to their beliefs is an attack on their own way of life.
The Religious Wrong refuse to question their own beliefs and traditions in light of their contemporary context or the needs of their neighbours.
The Religious Wrong avoid the work they ought to be doing on their own souls to focus on the perceived wrongs of others.
The Religious Wrong can frequently be found trying to defend God, who needs no defense.
Their varying professions of belief, costumes and customs may make them hard to spot. But there’s one sure-fire way to know who they are.
The Religious Wrong are the ones who always think they are right.
REUTERS/Scott Audette photo.
well said!!!
Extremely well-said! One of your best!
Very nice.
“The Religious Wrong are the ones who always think they are right.” ???
Cute but meaningless statement as very few religious folks think they’re wrong when it comes to their religious ideas and their belief in God. The stronger and more orthodox that belief (or non-belief as in the case of atheists) the easier it is for them to justify their opinions and actions in terms of righteousness. An honest and intelligent person would have to admit that while a loving caring God is a desirable possibility they have no actual perceivable direct evidence of either God’s existence or non-existence. Once accepting of the failability of their beliefs then they may become more accepting of others beliefs and less judgemental.
Sorry Steve, but you totally contradict yourself. After dismissing David’s line, you make his case.
In my experience, most genuinely religious people earnestly struggle with their faith.
As Herman Hesse said, “Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt and faith go hand in hand.”
Faith is an active process of questioning, searching and testing one’s own beliefs and practices.
Hence, you can be unsure of whether you’re right without thinking that you’re wrong.
Religious wrong is passing judgement on other’s religion considering actions of a select minority of that religion.
Religious wrong is critisizing other’s religion without indepth research on its teachings.
joseph K wrote: “Religious wrong is critisizing other’s religion without indepth research on its teachings.”
I can’t agree with this one… I don’t need to research catholicism “indepth” (for example) to criticize the catholic doctrine on birth control for instance.
I don’t need any “indepth research” to come to the conclusion that the more stict versions of islam requiring women to cover up is not good.
Some things are just easily dismissed without the need to research too much… don’t get me started on creationism!!
The Religious wrong are those that believe in any sort of sky fairy/daddy or any sort of supernatural creator or phenomena.
Very well said Dave – and thank-you for your positive comments about people of faith.
So, um, you think your blog post is wrong? You don’t think it’s right? The act of making any kind of argument suggests that you think one point of view is “right,” correct, or most defensible, and others “wrong,” incorrect, or less defensible. Spare us the high-falutin’ sentiments of agnostic tolerance, please.
The fruity pastor in Florida threatened the burning to make a point, and he made his point very well. Obama-savior was more interested in stopping the burning than he was the ground zero mosque. Apparently the mosque plan has been scrapped, as has the Qur’an burning.
Works for me.
Hi David
I can agree with your first two sentences on faith. I can fully understand where it must be a struggle to believe in something for which you have no real evidence and I can see how this must give rise to doubts. Your third point however I believe is not accurate. You say faith is an active process of questioning, searching and testing one’s own beliefs and practices. That dosen’t fit with my definition of the word faith (and I will resist the temptation to resort to a dictionary at this point as I’m not trying to split hairs). To me faith is something you have inspite of (or in lieu of) questioning, searching and testing one’s own beliefs. If all that questioning, searching and testing invariably leads you to the conclusion that you nor anyone else has ever had direct contact with God (bible stories not withstanding) and as such no actual evidence exists then how can you come to a belief in God’s existence. I believe faith has more to do with an individual’s need and desire for a deity than it has to do with logic based on facts.
I agree with your final point that you can have doubts but still believe you are right. But that is not in conflict with my observation that very few religious people ever admit that they may be wrong, quite the opposite, they usually believe in their righteousness to the degree of telling others how they should act and even think.
If some folks have a quiet faith that they essentially keep to themselves and their like minded communities and follow its tenants without trying to enforce those tenants on others and without judgement of others. A faith from which they derive comfort without trying to force that faith on others then more power to them. I couldn’t be happier for them since they seem to have found their answers and are satisfied with the results.
It is not that I and others don’t wish to believe it is that we can not believe, at least we can not believe and be what we feel is honest with ourselves. Of course we can’t not believe either which is why we see atheists as being similar to believers. They both hold what appears to us to be unfounded beliefs. That’s fine, believe what you will, just please recognize we don’t and that we do not wish to live our lives by your religeous tenants.
My God is big enough to stand on his own. There is no need for me to defend him. My job is to show mercy and grace, so unconditionally given to me, to others.
Hey Steve,
I love your long and thoughtful comment – thanks for taking the time.
I can’t totally agree with what you say about religious people – I think you’re talking from personal experience based on those who are unduly firm in their convictions.
My sense is that the mass of people are much less certain in their faith which is why the guidance of clergy and scriptural interpretation figures so strongly in their worship.
Also, if you read much in the way of theology, it is often profoundly about the experience of doubt. Kierkegaard, for example, talks about the “leap of faith,” which is the deliberate choice to accept a view of divinity in spite of one’s doubt.
I appreciate you not resorting to the dictionary – we all have our terms! Personally I differentiate between faith, which is an active, personal, often highly challenging sense of understanding divinity in the world, and belief, which is what you hold to be true without questioning it. But that may be just me.
Loving the discussion!
Hi David, not so much based on personal experience as it is based on those common hot topics that believers and non-believers seem never to agree upon but do impact the laws we have to live under. I won’t even mention the issues as even a reference to them will result in a flury of pointless blogs with folks just getting upset with each other.The majority of my personal experiences with religious people have actually been very positive, they for the most part tend to be good and honest folks.
I would though like to relate a humorous experience with what I feel is religion overdone. My adoptive family including two sons, six & seventeen, are from central Asia and their mother is Buddhist. Buddhism is a very laid back religion with a number of curious practices and beliefs. We are now however all living in Africa and the only school we could find for the boys happens to be a born again Christian school. I am not the least bit religious myself but have always had an interest in the historical perspective of religion, all religions. I tried to prepare the boys for the school environment they were about to enter but I tried to use a non-partisan approach, I didn’t want them to run afoul of or accidently offend any of the teachers at the school. One day the younger boy comes home and shows us what he’s learned in his kindergarten class that day. He starts popping up and down singing “hallalaleelu (English is not his first language) crazy God”. Now I knew he couldn’t have been taught this at school. I finally realized he was trying to repeat “halleluja, praise thee God”. I must admit to experiencing a good deal of hearty laughter over it.
He, on a number of occassions has come home stating categorically the he “hates Jesus” and much to my surprize I find myself trying to explain and even defend the concept of Jesus in terms of Christian beliefs. The born again folks, while nice enough people, do tend to mention Jesus and the Lord in almost every sentence they speak and I think he just finds it too much. I like to see the boys exposed to religious ideas from an educational standpoint but I won’t try to promote any believe on their part, if they decide to believe that will be their choice. I just want to see them have open educated minds of their own.