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A religion doesn't have to be about a supreme being does it? Couldn't it just be a "moral standard" among those in the religion? I mean, do you remember that guy Jesus... who said to follow you're heart. Religion (Such as christianity for example) relates to the heart, but not anymore... now it's about who's religion is right. While really they are all right.
Some relate to the mind, though... and some relate to the soul. (Hinduism, I believe) But that is a different issue.
A religion is a set of beliefs about the supernatural. Otherwise what you have is a philosophy. It's hard to conceive of how the supernatural could exist without a higher power of some sort. That's what the word "supernatural" means anyways. Super-natural means above or over the natural world in which we are trapped.
It is by this postulation of the supernatural that religions are close-minded. It is impossible to know anything besides what is in the natural world. Knowledge can only come from observation, and anything that is observable is by definition in the natural world. Religions make guesses about how the universe works beyond the limits of observation and claim them as absolute fact, even though there is no evidence to support their claims since the supernatural is by definition unobservable.
To be open-minded is to be willing to have your opinion changed by new evidence. Since religions work outside the scope of evidence, they cannot be open-minded. In order to embrace a religion, you have to blindly accept certain things as fact even when there is no evidence to back them up, and when the evidence argues against the claims. When you use logic and evidence to reason out your beliefs, that's not religion. That's science or philosophy. When you use faith (believing things to be true without evidence), that's religion. And when you believe things to be true without evidence, you have no way to argue for your beliefs, and you just end up believing them for no good reason, which is a sure path to close-mindedness.
But you can't deny that most religions have some good ideas... I agree in part with some of the ideals of Christianity but not that there is a God, for example. And what about Buddism? To my understanding, Buddah was not a supernatural being... he was a man who had set a moral code for his followers to live by. So Buddism isn't a religion then? It's a philosophy.
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Originally Posted by CocaCola
it's constantly debated whether buddhism, at it's core, is a religion or a philosophy. I guess I'd call it a philosophy myself. and yes, buddha was not supernatural at all and never tried to tell us he was, but sadly enough many priests and the like made him into one later because some people just need a magical man to believe in.
well mr D have to agree with you on this,
i dont have a set relgion by which i rule my life as i see nothing within a relgion that will benefit me in any way as you say there are no facts to back it up.
but on the other hand i have things which i hope are out there when i die i hope this isn't the end and i like to think that those who have gone before me are still around in a spirit world but i only believe it because i want to not because there is any real evidence that it exists. just a wishfull fantacy. but thats all it is as for any supernatural being that controls things if your good you go to heaven if not hell sorry but that just akes for a dctator who says its his way or no way.
well mr D have to agree with you on this,
i dont have a set relgion by which i rule my life as i see nothing within a relgion that will benefit me in any way as you say there are no facts to back it up.
but on the other hand i have things which i hope are out there when i die i hope this isn't the end and i like to think that those who have gone before me are still around in a spirit world but i only believe it because i want to not because there is any real evidence that it exists. just a wishfull fantacy. but thats all it is as for any supernatural being that controls things if your good you go to heaven if not hell sorry but that just makes for a dictator who says its his way or no way.
oops sorry double post :-)