# Will we ever shed our religiocentric views **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 8, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963 "2013-07-08T19:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/41 "2013-07-09T01:41:34Z")
> [@fumster](#): > > I don’t think that is an example of fundamentalism, it’s a reaction to the fear of fundamentalist Muslims. . I don’t think it’s even caused by fear. Rather mere xenophobia : “I don’t want that muslim garbage in my backyard”. Minarets don’t promote or restrain fundamentalism. They don’t want minarets because they don’t look Swiss, and they can’t really manage to ban mosques (where a non Swiss religion is practiced) and muslims altogether. I don’t believe it’s motivated by religious feelings, either, though. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/42 "2013-07-09T01:48:46Z")
> [@fumster](#): > > Look at the first commandment: don’t worship any other Gods before me. It doesn’t say that there is one God, just that Jews must worship Yahweh. The point was that the poster thought “God” and then stated that it’s not possible to reconcile your own religious belief and acceptance of other beliefs. Thinking “God” made him forget about all non-monotheistic religions which have no issue accepting the validity of other people religious claims, typically (“that’s their god, like we have our”, or “that’s just yet another god” being the norm rather than the exception, historically) ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/43 "2013-07-09T03:52:07Z")
> [@themysticalthread](#): > > I should ask, _how long before_ we shed our religiocentric views? > > In recent years, I’ve encountered more and more people that willing to accept the validity of other religious traditions. At the very least, more people are not eagerly denouncing other religions. > > Are you seeing this in your lives? Do you imagine that there will come a time when people of different religious traditions can do more than just coexist, when they actually respect each other’s faith? Depends on what you mean. While I certainly believe in the toleration of all religions per the 1st Amendment and have no desire to burn Pelagians, Donatists, or Cathars at the stake , I don’t see anybody who respects facts or believes in the existence of an objective reality can think any two religious traditions are equally valid for if one theological worldview is true all others must be false much as since the Earth is round the idea that the Earth is flat or a cube is false. Unfortunately though there has been an increasing of this illogical sentiment however. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/44 "2013-07-09T06:55:22Z")
> [@themysticalthread](#): > > In recent years, I’ve encountered more and more people that willing to accept the validity of other religious traditions. Do they also accept the validity of atheism and agnosticism? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/45 "2013-07-09T14:11:00Z")
I totally believe in Nicene-defined Trinitarian Incarnational Christianity, that Jesus is the Only Savior & Way to the Father, yadda yadda yadda. That said, I can totally appreciate my Jehovah’s Witness (Arian) and Latter-day Saint fellow theists as comrades in debating atheism & ultra-secularism. And while I believe Jesus is the Only Way to the Father, I also hope for the Day that He does indeed draw all people, the quick and the dead, unto Him. Till then, I will happily Evangelize, and probably get accused of Proselytizing, but I will try not to be a jerk about it. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/46 "2013-07-10T17:04:50Z")
Sees everything, knows everything, watches you all the time to ensure you are on the righteous path, smites the infidels, judges your sins and rewards the true believer, knows what you will do and think before you do. That’s the surveillance state isn’t it ? Case can be made that technology is filling the God shaped gap in the atheist mind - kind of religion 2.0 ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/47 "2013-07-10T17:32:46Z")
What the hell is a “God shaped gap”? Do theists have a “Santa shaped gap”? that religion fills? ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/48 "2013-07-10T18:34:38Z")
God fills a God-shaped gap the way puddles fill a puddle-shaped gap. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/49 "2013-07-10T18:48:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Especially if you don’t take it out of context:This is sort of opposite of the way you’ve been reading it, wouldn’t you say? No, I wouldn’t, nor would many others, including Ministers and Bible scholars. The vernacular is that while I know A way to Heaven, I am not arrogant enough to know ALL of the ways to Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/50 "2013-07-10T18:54:45Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > No, I wouldn’t, nor would many others, including Ministers and Bible scholars. > > The vernacular is that while I know A way to Heaven, I am not arrogant enough to know ALL of the ways to Heaven. Which would make sense if he talked about many _roads_. He was speaking to his disciples and telling them there was room for them in his father’s mansion-their reward for following him. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/51 "2013-07-10T19:03:12Z")
Humans may want to differentiate themselves from mere ‘animals’ and delude themselves into thinking they’re NOT animals, but we totally are. We’re herd animals, and we act like it. Humans want to belong to a group. Belonging to one group gives a sense of safety. However, it also requires excluding other people, and often feeling uncomfortable or even threatened by the existence of other groups. That’s why Identity Politicis is so huge. “I am (group)!”, where group equals "Black, “Irish”, “Catholic”, “Jewish”, etc. The herding instinct of having a group to be a part of and feel safe within. Being less Religious centric depends on how much of your Herd Identity is defined by your religious identity. The less you identify along those lines, the less you are likely to be bothered by someone elses religious identity. The same then applies to nation, culture, race, class, etcetera. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/52 "2013-07-10T19:09:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Which would make sense if he talked about many _roads_. He was speaking to his disciples and telling them there was room for them in his father’s mansion-their reward for following him. Lets see - the translators see this as mansions, rooms, dwelling places and places of rest. So that word alone varies. Next - Jesus says he can get us a room at Dad’s (keeping the Trinity separate still). He is implying both that there is room for all, but also that there is room for everyone. He states he is the way as well of course. So even modern Christians can play Pharisee, nitpick the words to death, and find room to Love their Neighbor who follows another faith. But please, go ahead and keep Witnessing. I am sure you can convert a few followers to your cause. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/53 "2013-07-10T19:12:54Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > Lets see - the translators see this as mansions, rooms, dwelling places and places of rest. So that word alone varies. > > Next - Jesus says he can get us a room at Dad’s (keeping the Trinity separate still). He is implying both that there is room for all, but also that there is room for everyone. He states he is the way as well of course. > > So even modern Christians can play Pharisee, nitpick the words to death, and find room to Love their Neighbor who follows another faith. > > But please, go ahead and keep Witnessing. I am sure you can convert a few followers to your cause. I’m not the one that wrote John 14:6. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/54 "2013-07-10T19:20:51Z")
> [@](#): > > What the hell is a ‘hell’ - see, it’s not so easy to shake off. It’s in you, mingled with your earliest memories and emotions. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/55 "2013-07-10T19:24:22Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > ‘hell’ - see, it’s not so easy to shake off. It’s in you, mingled with your earliest memories and emotions. Word game “gotchas”? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/56 "2013-07-10T19:30:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m not the one that wrote John 14:6. No, but you are selecting a particular translation and interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/57 "2013-07-10T19:32:54Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > No, but you are selecting a particular translation and interpretation. Do you have a translation of john 14:6 that supports your view? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/58 "2013-07-10T20:12:33Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > ‘hell’ - see, it’s not so easy to shake off. It’s in you, mingled with your earliest memories and emotions. :rolleyes: It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the morons together. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/59 "2013-07-10T21:19:06Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > No, but you are selecting a particular translation and interpretation. [Here are 45 different Bible versions of what Jesus said when Thomas asked him how to get to his mansion/house/home/room in Heaven.](http://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/John%2014:6) Please point to the one that says there is more than one way to get to Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963/60 "2013-07-11T07:17:24Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > Lets see - the translators see this as mansions, rooms, dwelling places and places of rest. So that word alone varies. > > Next - Jesus says he can get us a room at Dad’s (keeping the Trinity separate still). He is implying both that there is room for all, but also that there is room for everyone. He states he is the way as well of course. > > So even modern Christians can play Pharisee, nitpick the words to death, and find room to Love their Neighbor who follows another faith. > > But please, go ahead and keep Witnessing. I am sure you can convert a few followers to your cause. Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV): > [@](#): > > 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-ever-shed-our-religiocentric-views/662963.md?page=4)