[lit-ideas] Re: Better to have had faith
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 12:36:58 +0900
On 2005/05/27, at 12:21, Andy Amago wrote:
> A.A. All people who follow soccer are passionate; some are
> hooligans. But
> all people who follow religion *must* subscribe to religion's terms
> or they
> cannot be in the club.
Andy,
With all due respect, you have an exceedingly parochial view of
religion. Demanding commitment to dogma as a criterion for membership
that excludes membership in other "clubs" is characteristic of the
monotheistic religions that originated in southwest Asia. It is far
from the norm worldwide. Where religions are polytheistic, e.g., in
South and East Asia, dogma plays second fiddle to practice and
multiple, overlapping memberships are the norm.
Plus, even the monotheistic religions generally allow considerable
leeway in the beliefs that people actually subscribe to. Yes, it is
true, there are enthusiasts who insist that this or that belief is
absolutely essential and also broad agreement on certain notions,
e.g., Christianity's view that Christ is the Son of God and the
Saviour. But there's lots of flex and blur in what people actually
mean when they articulate these beliefs.
John McCreery
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