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Re: Wise man = Husband = HalfWitt
Posted By: Dave, on host 156.153.255.134
Date: Friday, May 17, 2002, at 16:11:36
In Reply To: Re: Wise man = Husband = HalfWitt posted by Wes on Friday, May 17, 2002, at 15:42:02:

> This happens an awful lot, and I'm really
>starting to wonder why. Why is it that any
>opinion is acceptable if it's based on religion
>while if someone had the same opinion for
>completely non-religious reasons everyone would
>be all over them for it? Is this religious
>equality running rampant? Or do you think that
>this is the way it should be, with people not
>needing to explain their opinions other than to
>say it's a religious thing? I'm really not
>trying to offend anyone, but this has been
>getting to me for a while now.

The difference is, if someone has *no* basis for their beliefs, or a demonstrably false basis, then you can debate them about it. With religious beliefs, it all comes down to faith. And you can't debate faith.

But I agree with you to an extent. I don't believe it's ok to hold wrong beliefs in the name of religion. I don't believe it's ok to make women wear veils because that's what Mohammed said to do. I don't think it's ok to stone adulterers because that's what Leviticus says to do. I don't think it's ok to kill babies because that's what Satan said to do. Likewise, I don't think it's ok to put women into a subservient role because that's what Jesus said to do.

My biggest problem with religion is that it's totally subjective. No matter what, you have to rely on an interpretation of whatever holy scriptures you're living by. Some of it is pretty straight forward--"Thou Shalt Not Kill" is open to *some* interpretation (for instance, is death as a punishment "killing"?) but not a whole lot. In the end, most people agree with what it means. But there are tons of other grey areas. Such as the one discussed in this thread. Sam's post gives one interpretation of what the Bible says about marriage. Other people obviously have a hugely different interpretation. How can anyone possibly objectively say which is "right" since the people who wrote these books have been dead for millenia and God is apparently not giving out divine instruction directly anymore (or if he is, it's not as obvious as a burning bush anymore)?

It's all based on faith. And faith, by definition, is not objective. You can't KNOW for certain, because if you did, faith would be irrelevent. So who is right? How can you ever tell?

Of course, my OWN set of beliefs are subjective as well. I think there *are* some basic objective Truths-with-a-capital-T, but beyond those, you're forced to build up your own, increasingly subjective, moral framework. But the difference that I see between me and someone who is religious is that I freely admit that I don't "know". I like to think I know a few basic truths, and I like to think I've rationally developed from those a moral framework that works. But I freely admit that I don't know for certain if it's right. But a religious person believes in Truth, paradoxically, through faith. I don't get it and never have, really.

Personally, I'm with whoever throws the best parties.

-- Dave

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