Talking to Religious Relatives
Posted on: May 15, 2008 - 6:26pm
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Talking to Religious Relatives
Hi, all. What's your opinion:
- Is it worth trying to talk some sense into religious relatives?
- If you've tried, what did you try and how did it go?
It's hard to respect my mother knowing that she is completely uncritical when forming her beliefs. If it's published in Utne, she believes it. If it makes her feel good, she believes it. If someone claims it comes from ancient Eastern medicine, she believes in it. Gah! She's capable of rational, abstract thinking - she has a BS in Mathematics. Why won't she apply it to the rest of her life?
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You watch Earl?
Saying you believe in some creator but not religion doesn't get you off the hook. Can anyone believe in any "creator" without being influenced by religion? I have a theist friend who talks of Jesus and the bible yet adamantly denies he's either Christian or religious. Go figure.
Even many athiests' beliefs are influenced by former religious upbringing. When I see something about someone I don't particularly like I can't help but hear the "judge not, lest ye be judged" phrase echo through the back of my mind. There's no escaping the religious influence of our cultural upbringing.
"The Bible looks like it started out as a game of Mad Libs" - Bill Maher
There are spiritual concepts and knowledge, but religious behavior is only a way of dealing, or not dealing with them. People can be spiritual as artists of all kinds, charity workers, or scientists, for example. (of course, there are also ways of esotericism, secret lodges like freemasonry, and so on)
Some people adopts the idea to not behave like idiots when they think of dealing with an entity, which created all these nice physical laws, and more than we can imagine. This is, why they are spiritual, but at the same time non-religional. Thanks for your attention.
Beings who deserve worship don't demand it. Beings who demand worship don't deserve it.