[Religion]: Discussion is good way forward.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shines Discussion Thread: : Is religion a mental illness? The topic "Is religion a mental illness" is plain rude even if TS meant it figuratively.

Hi Shines, whilst the term 'mental illness' might be intense and strong, I guess TS has explained his suspicion whilst at least explaining the context within which he perceives so.

Me thinks that this way of resolving issues (through quasi-moderated forums) is much better way forward than sweeping issues under the carpet only to see them later explode into unresolvable conflict as is seen in many parts of the world today.

Me thinks somewhat that religions are like vehicles to divine revelation. Some better than others but everyone has right of way to use the road. Toyota vs bicycle vs pedestrian traffic: there shouldn't be conflict so long as people can switch modes of transport easily and slower traffic keeps left. All people should drive defensively so that collisions do not occur... just my 2c cos after reading the Bible somewhat, I understand that a certain amount of scholarship if not just commitment is needed towards its interpretation: e.g. was Jonah a real person who lived ?3? days in the fish's belly or was it rather a Christian/ Jewish (?Islamic?) fairy tale created simply to teach a moral lesson wherein which case, any discussion about the factual ability of a human to survive for days within a fishes belly would be moot given to the fact that the verse was originally written figuratively as a children's lesson in the very first place.

Thus, all persons interested in practicing religion ought to take some if not significant personal responsibility towards interpreting such religious text and if seeking religious education, be extremely mindful and cautious about wolf in sheep's clothing preachers, with an eye open for fraudsters and con-men who misrepresent and misuse religious text to deceive the gullible as a means towards obtainment of their own selfish material gain- if there were a scale of 'sinners'- I'd think that these would be the greatest of them all.

Certainly, greater efforts towards scholarship and debate in the context of religion would better elucidate the deeper meaning behind many religious and historical texts especially with the aid of technology available today towards quelling much religious animosity in the world consequence to suspicion misunderstanding aggravated by the degree of weapons systems proliferation (nuclear/ otherwise) as seen all around the world today.
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Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Gospel of Matthew 7:15, King James Version) [source]

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Thread:

29May2012: Is religion a mental illness?