[QUOTE]Originally posted by Faith:
[b]There seems to be some idea here that all "religion" is the same thing, whereas the differences in belief among the religions are as varied as their number. Some are not exclusivistic at all for instance. Hinduism is known to be very syncretistic, able -- or at least willing -- to absorb just about any other belief system into itself.
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No, I made no such claim in the question. Religion though is a definable concept.
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And what if one of the belief systems just happens to be true? That would of course mean all those which disagree with it would be false, and it would also justify its sense of exclusivism. Methinks some of you prejudge the case with little in the way of facts at hand.
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How so? Could you be specific?
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ShannonMay's "spirituality" is probably the most popular "religion" of the day, but what claim does it have to truth? Or does truth matter?
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How is this relevant to conditions under which religion is positive and when it is detrimental? I'm not following why a claim on truth is relevant to the question necessarily. It may be, but the above isn't clear.
quote:
Meaning, I guess, that the question about whether "religion" is "healthy" or "detrimental" seems meaningless to me. The kind of question that could only be asked by somebody who didn't truly believe in any religion.
Can a system of faith and worship be healthy or detrimental? I think we can all identify examples of where it is either, so I'm unclear as to how you come to such a conclusion.
And I am a Christian so you are wrong above.
Larry