[2341] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: The role of religion
jik@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jik@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Sep 15 16:20:30 1991
>I've always seen religion as something very personal. Others may share the
>same view, but i'm not particuarly out to find people who believe the same
>as i do, nor necessarily convert them. it's not like i don't care... it's
>just that my belief is for me, and your belief is for you, and as long as
>we're happy: cool.
I think it is inaccurate to describe religion "in general" in this
way. The particular religion you have chosen may be a very personal
thing, and may indeed be completely a "live and let live" religion.
Not all religions are like this.
I'd say that your beliefs are at one end of this particular spectrum.
At the other end are those sects (for example, the Jehovah's
Witnesses, or the Lubavichers who wander the streets of NYC asking
people who look Jewish if they've said Shema or worn Phylacteries
today) who believe that it is their sacred duty to impress upon others
their particular religion. They also often believe that those people
whom they fail to impress in this way are "sinners" or are "going to
Hell."
Main-stream Conservative and Orthodox Judaism (and, to a lesser
extent, Reform Judaism) faill somewhere in the middle, between the two
extremes. As has already been pointed out, there are very strong
injunctions in the Jewish religion against proselytizing (The
Lubavichers confront non-religious Jews (or Jews who they think are
non-religious :-), but they don't try to convert non-Jews). However,
at the same time, "community" is a very important concept in Judaism.
Many laws in the Jewish religion simply cannot be carried out in
isolation, and some commandments that can be carried out in isolation
can be carried out "better" in a group.
>so my point is: why do you subscribe to any particular religion? Because
>it's a close approximation of what you believe? In that case, is it
>-exactly- what you believe? If not, why shouldn't you change it?
Well, if you truly believe that God has commanded you to do certain
things, then you do them, even if you don't understand or agree with
them all.
Furthermore, there is some merit to the idea of a religion providing
"discipline" which can improve someone's character. The belief that
many laws of the Jewish religion were enstated to encourage a
disciplined lifestyle (or even to "mark" Jews as being different from
non-Jews) is not uncommon among Jews (I ascribe to it, to some
extent.).
Finally, there is the concept of "community." If you go mucking
around with your religion because it doesn't quite fit the way you
think, then it's quite possible that you'll change it so much that the
community will no longer accept you, or at least will look upon you
with some doubt. It is quite disastrous for a Jew (in most sects of
Judaism) to be rejected by his/her community.
>There
>are N religions, who've all felt that they're correct; why can't you start
>the Rhu Greene version of Judaism? It doesn't have to be pompous; it can
>just be something that Rhu believes, and if you're comfortable with it,
>then go with it.
Well, that is, in a nut-shell, the basis of Reform Judaism, which
believes that if the rituals exist to help us come closer to God,
there is no reason for a person to perform those rituals which do not
help him/her come closer to God.
>Rhu, you asked what if God wants us to enjoy life. Well, i ask you if God
>meant for you to think.
This implies that to obey the precepts of a religion is to be an
unthinking automaton. Such an accusation is unfair. Judaism, even
Orthodox Judaism with its strict laws, encourages its adherents to
think and to question. Read "The Chosen." Or better, "As a Driven
Leaf."
>I don't think God is upset with me for taking
>Deism and pretzeling it with Paganism to make my own belief. Are there
>rituals in my religion? No. Very rarely do i pause to praise God per se;
>often i pause to admire something, but rarely do i attribute it to "God".
>The Wild Magic, the High Magic, the Light, the Dark, Nature, or just saying
>"oooh, that's neat!" -- but that's all i ask of myself -- to respect and
>help this world to make a better one. I think God is pleased that I'm
>doing this as best as i can. To be honest, i think God likes a good
>backrub just like the rest of us...
I suspect that the Jewish view of your religion would be that you
follow the seven Noachide laws, and that therefore you are as entitled
to an honored place in the world to come as the most righteous of
Jews.
