Here is my opinion: The religions can be looked at two ways. In the first way you take them literaly. You believe that a god "exists" in the same way any other entity exists. Just like you exist and I exist. "It is possible that god did not exist but in fact he does" - that kind of thinking.
I label this "fundamentalism". It interprets being in a certain way. All being is contingent meaning it could have been otherwise but in fact is not. For example my computer is black but it could have been blue. God exists but he could have not existed. Now that form of religion ultimately is a kind of science because it postulates the existence of an entity and it requires evidence to either confirm or deny the fact of the existence of that entity. That is why science seems to contradict religion. Because scientifically, if you are careful, no such entity is required to explain the data. Many of the atheists here believe that what God means is this contingent fundamentalist god and rail against those that believe it exists on basically, and correctly, scientific grounds. However, it turns out that is not what the religions are about. If you look deeply into them you see that they are conceived of in a kind of alternate metaphysics or ontology. They are not sciences. For a long time they were confused with them but not now. God, when directly experienced, is not a contingent being that happens to exist but a necessary one breathing the life of meaning into experience. There are "messages" that some claim to get. "Answers" and the experience is never academic but goes to the heart of who we are. Strictly speaking it IS heart. Denying this god is in fact - exactly - a black mark on the heart for what we mean by "heart" is the ability to experience life and its meaning as it actually is - sacred - full of mystery and - perhaps at least - loving. That form of religion is not fundamentalist but is routed in the meaning of being itself. Access to it is more like access to mathematics than it is like access to science - although in reality it is neither. So it is possible to scientifically not believe in the fundamentalist god while still realizing and experiencing what I will call the real god" on whom tthe scientific world depends. All of this is rationally explainable - at least to a point - in the study of ontology and metaphysics in philosophy. I think though that the reality exceeds these descriptions and requires a response that is beyond a kind of limited intellectual knowing. I wish you well and hope that the "black spot" which is really the presence of evil does not overcome you. Doubt is not a problem but unfortunately it is also not the answer. I think that if you doubt sincerely it is the first step. But it is necessary to go beyond that and find the answer as well...find the real answer.... or to have the answer find you! One thing for sure just abandoning the questioning and "choosing to just believe" is the wrong answer. It is a kind of lying to oneself and it is rampant in the more fundamentalist religious views. It is saying you don't doubt when you do or failing to realize that you can't just choose what to believe. You just can't stop questioning because you want to! That is a fundamentaly dishonest process because your will doesn't just make the truth. That is the real evil. Belief that you can just choose to make the truth into what you choose to. That is why I agree with the materialists more that disagree with them because they are trying, in their own fundamentalist way perhaps, to defeat that kind of intellectual dishonesty and blindness at the root of religious fundamentalism. At any rate I hope that the peace you experienced is not completely gone and my opinion is that that peace is based in truth and all that is required is to experience it more fully. Questioning is one path. There are others. I think that you can directly experience all of this for yourself and I recommend the Sufi tradition if you are Islamic. Read Rumi for sure. Or it might be interesting to try a course in comparative religious studies that compares the religions of the book with, for example, the Zen traditions. I also recommend exploring the artistic traditions as they are inherently linked to the religious ones... and then there is my favorite.... philosophy... the love of truth. Salam Alekum. Ma salam ya sayidati J On Apr 19, 9:42 am, Rosey <[email protected]> wrote: > I decided to start a new post as I originally intended it to be a > response to the Purpose of Life post but felt it took another > direction. > > First off, tip of the hat to everyone in here. I discovered this > group by chance. Second, purpose to life? Ah, the frailties of the > mind, I have been walking backwards as I've grown weak in faith. I am > muslim, I don't think anyone here is immature enough to negatively > comment on such a label, but I do have one thing to say: When I was > more faithful to my religion and consistent with prayers I felt a > sense of completion and calmness. I could even say that I at one > point I felt that I reached a temporary self actualization. It's not > the religion, but more or less the idea of maintaining spirituality > that keeps one fulfilled. Through my recent skepticisms and > analyzations of religion as a whole I have been more distraught than > I've ever been. Is it an oddysey? Why does one who has steered far > from ideological beliefs that a supreme entity exists feel lost and > agonizingly stressed? Wouldn't one be better off just accepting and > following religion knowing that they are abiding by its rules > accordingly? Isn't that comfort? > > Sincerely, > Lost --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
