• Philosophy and Spirituality
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Threads of Note Socialize
  • P&S Moderators: JackARoe | Cheshire_Kat

Closed-minded Religious people?

WhiteLinesNcoffee

WhiteLinesNcoffee

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
301
Location
California
And by this I mean all the people living day to day calling themselves Christian/Jewish/Muslim or anything for that matter that do not know the first thing about any other religion or in many cases these people do not know the first thing about their own religion they so readily affiliate themselves with. It really bugs me, especially when people of a certain religion think their's is superior to the next persons.

However, worst of all I can't stand the close-mindedness of some heavily religious people. I my self am agnostic in the sense that I am always open to knew ways of thinking about life and what comes next. Which is what I personally believe all people should be. To many people seem to fall into the religion they are born into without much though into it and when confronted with new "dangerous ideas" the readily play the "faith card" or tell me I am wrong and the only way to salvation is Jesus Christ. That was just a vague example because spiritual ignorance comes from all different places. Even atheists lol.

I guess it all just comes from the fact that I hate almost everything about religion. I believe that spirituality is more of a personal thing. And throughout history religion seems to have failed man-kind.

Does anyone else feel this way or am I just rambling on.
 
I definitely agree with most of your post. It really doesn't matter what religion you follow or if your an atheist, those are basically just two sides of the same coin anyway. It just comes down to how aware you are, and how you use that awareness.

Personally I'm a very spiritual person and while I don't follow any particular religion, I can relate to people from all walks of life - most religions have very positive things about them, and very good messages they are trying to communicate however religion has turned into a system of control, while it's true that some people can use it as a gate way to access the spiritual dimension of reality, it is still largely corrupted.

I feel like each major religion is just a single piece of this giant and mysterious puzzle we're all actively participating in, though at their core many religions tend to communicate similar concepts as long as you can see through the illusion of it all, though it would seem a lot of people can't - and that's where atheism comes in I suppose, turning the rational mind into your God, hah.


Peace!
 
i agree because ideology is a weapon and religion is often used as such.

edit: i cut some shit out because i'm too lazy to check on scripture and make sure i'm right
 
Last edited:
It is interesting that you offer none of the pluralistic acceptance to the people you demand it from.

I my self am agnostic in the sense that I am always open to knew ways of thinking about life and what comes next. Which is what I personally believe all people should be.
Click to expand...

And you push your beliefs on others. That quote is rather dogmatic. All people should be agnostic? You believe that do ya?

If your perspective is superior, hold yourself accountable to it and make it known through your life lived. Be superior, don't act superior.
 
I find these kinds of people often have never been exposed, at any meaningful level, to anyone of any belief different from their own. They live in bubbles of ignorance, so to speak.

My father remembers growing up in an urban neighborhood where absolutely everyone was Roman Catholic. To him as a kid, Jews were these ancient people in the bible who wore cloth on their heads. He had no concept of anyone who wasn't Christian being close either geographically or in just overall human similarity. Then he went to college, and struck up a close friendship (which endures to this day) with a professor of English, who he later learned was not only a living breathing Jew, but also gay. It changed his perspective forever, and I can even remember him losing his cool a few times when my grandpa expressed prejudiced opinions about other ethnic and religious groups, out of sheer ignorance.

It's really a shame, because when it comes to spirituality, what we all really yearn for is essentially the same. The paths to this common destination that attract, or ARE AVAILABLE TO, each one of us, is going to vary widely. Some paths are better at getting one safely to that destination than others.
 
So many problems in the world nowadays are due to sheer ignorance.

Education is really the answer to a lot of close-mindedness. A lot of time, people just aren't exposed to beliefs or ideas than their own.

People fear what they don't understand. It's human nature. That fear often turns to mistrust and hate unfortunately.
 
Should an open-minded person be open to closed-mindedness?
 
Papa said:
Should an open-minded person be open to closed-mindedness?
Click to expand...

There's no such thing as a truly "open-minded" or "close-minded." These distinctions are relativistic not absolute.

In answer to your question, a good question I might add, is that your obligations ought to be in the service of consciousness. If your being open-minded to a close-minded person serves this purpose or being close-minded to a close-minded person serves this purpose, you are in the right.
 
Binge Artist said:
I'm nearly every bit as close-minded as all the other religious zealots. Only difference is, I believe in one less religion than they do :)
Click to expand...
hehe nice quote

of course, this topic, and "what can we know", this comes up all the time in P&S

many find it useful to think about things in a probabilistic sense. IE, it is possible that the earth is flat or god exists and the paths of science/knowledge we've taken* , while "valid" logically, have been mental masturbation as we should actually have gone in a whole different direction at the fundamentals; but that is VERY improbable, perhaps more improbable than all the air molecules in the room zipping around by chance accumulating at the left half of the room, leaving anyone in the right half to suffocate

*(that things are made of subatomic particles like the electron and the quarks and bosons and such, that time and space dilate as one approaches a gravity well, and classic biology/evolution and niches, and classic physics and etc etc etc)

so... i dont "believe" in anything. but i think certain things are probable, certain ideas are improbable, etc. the probabilities are always changing depending on what new patterns register on my senses (whether passively, or actively sought out)
 
Sorry for the late reply was not at my house. In regards to Shakti, when i originally made this post I was rather tired. I was referring to that I <think> it would be ideal if all people were more open to new ideas rather then closing out new information not that i believe all people should be agnostic. You be a very devout Christian/Jew/Muslim/anything that can entertain an idea without accepting it instead of just telling me i am wrong and am going to burn in an eternal hell fire etc.

The last part was sort of a joke
 
I believe the exact same thing you do. Agnostic and religion is personal is exactly how I would describe my beliefs. I know all too well about closed minded religious people. I live in Utah County, in Utah Valley... Fucking molly mormons are everywhere ready to tell you what your doing that the church doesnt like at the drop of the hat. They follow blindly without actually having personal experiences to back any of thier beliefs up.
 
My very good friend is very religious about the religion we both grew up with. To me it doesn't make much sense and when I ask her logical questions about the religion and can't find a logical answer she states that you just ha.ve to have faith. Faith instead of logic...mmm...
 
^There is a twisted logic in what she says though...if you do have faith, then thats all that really matters (to you). I personally don't really accept things that simply....

I find it a bit ironic that the OP is decrying religious people as close-minded in such a way; it seems that "open-minded" folk have really just closed their minds to some things.

I don't believe in the christian god, but I do believe (have faith) that their IS something that exists and does in fact deeply love all things equally. I could cite experiences I have had, but thats just subjective hoo-ha. Essentially, I take the view that either a benevolent creator exist, thus explaining the seeming perfection of our current universe of reality, or that there is a multiplicity of inifnite universe, and ours is, inevitably, simply the one with all the 'right' bits.

I find it odd that people won't look further then the word GOD for an nswer though, but as much as it frustrates me, the frustration seems based on the fact that I feel I know better; which, of course, I don't so I don't bother with frustration at people who worship these gods. I think the fact that our politcal system is basically Christianised (I live in Australia) is ridiculous; I can see no other source for the 'moral/ethical laws' we have (against drug use, same sex marriage etc.) except the basic christian/Abrahamic mindset. In that sense, I really really dislike christianity simply for making us "wrong" for just living our lives. But focusing on anything BUT the organisations behind these things ie. the Roman Catholic church, and targeting them is pointless. The individual church goer isn't at fault for the worlds wrongs, but the organisation they claim allegiance to most certainly is.
 
Swilow You have got me all wrong. I am sorry if I came off that way, but it is not what I intended. I am not closed-minded to religion. In fact I am the opposite, I am by no means what you could call a Christian, but I do attend church with some of my close friends who are very religious some times just to see what they have to say. And, I also do believe that there is a "higher power" or whatever you want to call it out there as well. I was just venting my frustration on those who blindly follow dogmatic practices of an "organization" <church/temple/whatever> with out questioning or even trying to find out for themselves.

I by no means was trying to bash church goers or religious people or call them close-minded as a whole. Just those certain people. Spirituality comes from within not from outside sources.
 
Papa said:
Should an open-minded person be open to closed-mindedness?
Click to expand...

I think so...this is ideal...it's something I try to do everyday, but it is not easy.
I try my best to understand where they are coming from , and never condemn them for their beliefs ( even though they probably condemn me for mine, oh the irony!) But such is life.

I'm a happy and content Catholic, and consider myself a very spiritual and open minded individual. Most of the Catholics and Christians in my life are not quite as open-minded and accepting, but I've learned to work my way around that, and I don't let it affect me so much, although it may make me frustrated and sad at times.
 
I dislike dogmatism (yet exhibit my own). I don't think that it is any nastier under religious guises unless fused with political and economic power.

ebola
 
The definition of religion is to be closed minded and have absolute faith in the dogma. If you are open minded and you give any consideration to what you're being told, you'd have to come to the conclusion that it's not exactly consistent with reality and truth. They have to be closed minded or else they will lose their faith.
 
I've always liked the saying, "my karma ran over your dogma."

it's pretty 60s hippy kind of cliche tho.

but its true.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top