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Within fundamentalist religion, why is it that mankind focuses more on having the right type of faith, rather than an authentic personal experience?

I have seen people jump through all sorts of hoops, that to the outsider look rediculous, and all because they cannot sleep at night thinking they might be part of the wrong religion. I do not understand this. It seems to me that God should be smart enough to read a person's heart, and that if one believes in God, one is selling God quite short by insisting that God only speaks one religious language, and only understands one type of person.

Thoughts?

I don't know anyone like that. What I have seen is when people are doubting their religion, some of them start worrying about "where to go," what religion to look for. From what I've read, a disproportionate amount opt out of relgion, and some become atheists. Feeling "fool me once, shame on you," they are determined not to be accused of "fool me twice, shame on me."

Ubbo-Sathla wrote:I don't know anyone like that. What I have seen is when people are doubting their religion, some of them start worrying about "where to go," what religion to look for. From what I've read, a disproportionate amount opt out of relgion, and some become atheists. Feeling "fool me once, shame on you," they are determined not to be accused of "fool me twice, shame on me."

I've seen that too, though perhaps my focus is disproportionately on those who insist theirs is right. I see doubt and faith as two sides of the same coin, and to me doubt is a good thing, it makes us ask questions. Though I do wonder about the situations you describe, people eschewing religion altogether because of bad experiences. I don't dare say "one bad experience", because that's most definitely not the case. Though I have talked to former LDS who became mainstream Christians (among other faiths), who wondered why it is that when people leave Mormonism, many turn to atheism and agnosticism. What is it about that particular faith that does this? Is it the "all or nothing" mentality that the LDS church (and other fundamentalist churches) harbors? I've known of people who don't believe in God, but believe in the LDS church. How can you separate the two?

I know quite a few people who insist on having the "right religion", even to the point of causing themselves great emotional weariness. They try too hard. For me, I never got the impression that God cared what vehicle I was in, so long as I got to where I needed to go. Right now, I'm "walking". Does it matter?

Its simple. God is a God of order. If he were not, then it would be impossible to worship him. Can you honestly worship a God that considers the belief of the Hindu perfectly compatable to a belief in Christ?

There is only One God, and there is only one Faith, and one baptism.

But GIMR's mind is disordered, and she seeks a religion that mirrors that disorder. Its quite simple. Some like cafeteria religion. Others would rather construct their own golden calf out of what they see in the mirror each morning. At least with the cafateria, there is an implied allegiance and deference to something outside of the subjective contents of the self.

Gazelam wrote:Its simple. God is a God of order. If he were not, then it would be impossible to worship him. Can you honestly worship a God that considers the belief of the Hindu perfectly compatable to a belief in Christ?

There is only One God, and there is only one Faith, and one baptism.

Gaz, you still don't get it. Does God have to speak only one spiritual language? Or is that man's need to be important? Why are we comparing and contrasting religions rather than one's heart and spirituality?

The desire for the "one true" reminds me of Americans going into foreign countries and demanding that people speak their language...something I watched for two years while I lived in Europe.

Coggins7 wrote:But GIMR's mind is disordered, and she seeks a religion that mirrors that disorder. Its quite simple. Some like cafeteria religion. Others would rather construct their own golden calf out of what they see in the mirror each morning. At least with the cafateria, there is an implied allegiance and deference to something outside of the subjective contents of the self.

And what religion am I a part of, my spiritually, sexually, and mentally confused friend?

As to why a fair number of exmos stop believing in God altogether, I think it's a result of having been so sure that it was possible to know that the LDS church was "true", then finding out that that "knowledge" that they thought they had previously was in fact not real after all. The church leaders, the "prophets, seers, and revelators" lose credibility, and you start to realize that all these people out there who claim to know "the truth" about God have no more credibility than anyone else on the matter, and you realize that in the end it's probably all made up, and it doesn't really matter which religion you consider, they're all made up.

Sethbag wrote:As to why a fair number of exmos stop believing in God altogether, I think it's a result of having been so sure that it was possible to know that the LDS church was "true", then finding out that that "knowledge" that they thought they had previously was in fact not real after all. The church leaders, the "prophets, seers, and revelators" lose credibility, and you start to realize that all these people out there who claim to know "the truth" about God have no more credibility than anyone else on the matter, and you realize that in the end it's probably all made up, and it doesn't really matter which religion you consider, they're all made up.

And you have a point. I think that it's very important to realize the mythology within one's own religion if it's ever going to be authentic. That's not saying that God does not exist for the person, but I believe that the Kingdom is within, not without, not inherent in symbols, religious language, and dogma. Still, that is difficult for many to understand who have a fear-based relationship with God.

It's good business practice to claim you are the best, or even better, claim that you are the one and only true (fill in the product category here). Any marketing guy who claimed his product works pretty good, and is pretty much the same as all the others will get fired. No, you have to claim to be the best, #1, the one and only true product. With so many different religions claiming to be the one and only true religion, any critical thinker should question all of them.