Allegory of the Cave n Religion n Spritual Beliefs

Time has certainly passed since the last time I posted in these forums or said anything of significance. One thing has been annoying me for the last year or two and that is the concept of religion and its existence.

Although I may seem premature and inadequate to begin a logical construction of good argument (ironic that Philosophy is an area I am interested in for college), I will do my best to explain my thoughts and questions. (simple responses work well from u other posters)

  1. Does religion exist? Is the concept of religion purely “spiritual” as in belief of a higher being?

Over the years I have gradually pulled away from the idea that religion exists in spiritual terms due to the vast amount of world history and science I have been exposed to during my high school years. World history has shown me the countless conflicts due to religious fanaticism. I was in disbelief as realized the many patterns of wars, strifes, and continued violence all because religion played a major role. I have taken most of these thoughts from a scientific perspective, since science has clearly and evidently provided the necessary elements to understanding our natural world in ways that make sense since they are <b>predictable</b>.

Too much of anything is bad. Therefore, I hypothetically proposed a world where there was no such thing “spiritual religion” where religion was just a system of simple morals and ethics to guide someone through their role in society. If religion exists to purify the soul into communication with a higher being and to become good for the sake of good, why does the violence still continue? If religion didn’t have all the diverse variations (Islam, Protestant, etc.), would we still continue to have the problems of yesterday? It seems to me that there are too many conflicts of interest concerning religion that defeats the whole purpose of religion.

  1. Is the Bible of Christianity truly the product of a Higher Being?

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com

The link above showed me a quick review of the bible in terms of subject matter and other relevant facts to our world today. The “backwards” terms and phrases are faulty, no doubt, but their antideluvian meaning boggles my mind. If the bible was meant to continue to spritualize a person, why do they contain such arachaic terms? Most people tend to consider the King James Version the authoratative Christian textbook on life, but with all of these misgivings and erroneous lines, how truthful is Christianity? What hard proof is there (where is the covenant, the ark, the holy grail, the evidence)? Can we believe in the <b>predictability</b> of religion and in the prophecies in the bible?

  1. I have one analogy that has helped try to understand my view of the world: the allegory of the cave. (Those of you who are unfamiliar with the Allegory of the cave…http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm)
    In my interpretation, like every other human being, we are chained down and forced to view the world with a surrealistic perspective. Until one breaks away from the norm and finds his or her own true meaning (purpose for existing), a person will forever be blinded by something he/she never truly understood. I dislike people who do not question who they are, what they believe in, why do they do the things they do, etc. because they are blinding themselves to being, to exisiting, to living. My questions is now…

Does it matter they we believe in a religion at all? There is no point because all religions all aim at the same aspect: to reach heaven, which has no support of truth.

Do people feel better or less depressed when they believe in a Higher Being or Destination? Are people chaining themselves likewise the prisoners in the Allegory of the Cave?

Thanks for reading…and thanks for replying, if any of you do.

hmmm since there hasnt been that great of a response im guessing i either did sumthin wrong…or i just stumped sum of yall…plz reply wit nething whether it be an insult or negative criticism…this tells me how far along this argument has gone…

thanx

All take a whack at 1, since you are hungry for a response. However, since I am doing this at work, I can only fit in a short response.

Yes, religion exists in the sense spirtual sense. I remember a news item from about 10 years ago, in which a Bhuddist monk beheaded his mentor, because the mentor was having an affair and so was violating his oath not to touch women. Does that imply that there is something wrong with Bhuddism and that it’s practioners aren’t trying to “purify their souls”? No, it just means that the beheader had serious anger management issues.

Any time people separate themselves into an “us” vs. “them” mentality their is a potential for violence. We define ourselves with labels. (E.g., I am a “family man”, a “nihilist”, “inclusive”, etc.) For labels to have meaning the must include either include some group and exclude some group. So, there is always an “us” and a “them”.

True, there have been plenty of wars in which religion was apparantly the major instigating factor, such as the original Islamic jihad, or Al Queda against the U.S. However, there are always other factors. Al Queda was motivated by “our” army is on “their” land and “we” support Israel. There have been wars in which religion was a motivating factor, such as the Western European crusades. (The Byzantine emperor wished to retake Anatolia. Used access to the Holy Land as a motivating factor in a letter to the Pope. The Pope preached a holy war, and the Crusaders did what they pleased.)

There have been wars in which religion offered an excuse for wars waged for other reasons. And finally, there have been wars in which religion played no role at all. From the ancient battles of the Greek city-states, to the Korean War. There have even been wars fought over concepts of right and wrong, were religion didn’t play. (The violence in Northern Ireland isn’t about religion in the sense of the “theological disputes” during the Reformation. Religion is a conventient label used by the U.S. press for ethnic and political divisions.)

Every religion has many practioners who are trying to live in peace and harmony. And many religions have individuals abusing their power of persuasion for violent ends. It is as wrong to claim that religion doesn’t exist in a spiritual sense, because there are violent religious people, as it is to claim that non-theists are violent because some commit murder or wage war.

I’ve heard about that Cave of which you speak.

May I shift the focus of attention from the cavedweller who has never seen the light over to the religious zealot who gestures thusly and insistently declares, “Behold, it shines!” -?

Wisdom is as light, and its source shineth of its own accord. If all the gesturing zealots were to disappear, so that there were nobody to make these declarations, it would still shine nevertheless. And to those who did look, it would be apparent without them.

Come into the cave, deep into its catacombs, and you know what you will find? Zealots, bloody religious zealots, in here as well, gesturing into the inky blackness and insistently declaring “There, there is the light, don’t you see it?”

In here are many who reply that yes they have, and in truth some believe it, while others are more consciously aware that they have only felt the heat.

“There is no point because all religions all aim at the same aspect: to reach heaven, which has no support of truth.”

This where you’re wrong.

AHunter3:

Reactor:

Mmmmm . . . sweet, tasty, cholesterol-laden irony.

Irony it is.