Quote:
Originally Posted by chryssanthi sahar
...What you wrote is very interesting and I also see it this way. No person who thinks logically would consider everything which is written in "holy scriptures" (doesn't matter of what religion those are) as an eternal and unchangeable truth. But unfortunately there are many people who don't think logical. And there are many people who need somebody or something to lead them, because they are not capable of living self responsible lives. That's why we still have the global problem called "fundamentalism". ...(
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Thank you -- but I think I need to clarify a couple of things.
I did not mean to question the truth of any sacred text -- because there are questions about an interpretation does not mean that there is not truth in the text. What I tried to say is that one should not simply take another's interpretation/translation for granted.
IMHO, it would be like getting directions to a strange place from someone you don't know -- if that's all the help you can get, you hope for the best but you also don't ignore other information that might be more accurate and helpful.
And I know many fundamentalists of different religions who lead very responsible lives -- they believe in being able to support themselves and their families in an honorable way, in helping others even when it is not convenient or easy for them to do, in being honest, and even in being patriotic and good citizens as long as doing so doesn't clash with their beliefs.
Fundamentalism is not necessarily a bad thing -- unless it is twisted to make people think that those who are not practicing a certain
interpretation of fundamentalism (which often depends heavily on taking texts out of context) are not just misguided or simply wrong, but outright evil.
At that point, we are not talking about religion -- it's about control of religion, and control is politics.
Whew! I am sorry to be so long-winded!