Jeremiahcp
Well-Known Jerk
Someone on these forums has suggested to me that all religious beliefs are irrational. Do you agree? Why or why not? Can you provide examples of a rational religious belief?
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Are all Religious Beliefs Irrational?
- Thread starter Jeremiahcp
- Start date
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I partially agree. There can be a rational path within the parameters of a religious belief, like ideology follows within ideology, even if the belief itself is irrational as it applies to the real world.
syo
Well-Known Member
as far as i've read, all religions speak of an intelligent creator, and that is how it should be.
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
As Nowhere Man said - partially. "God will help us". Rational. Dispels negativity. A lot of psychology is involved in human life.
Considering a "religious belief" is simply a belief that someone is deciding to view as "religious" (and the meaning of "religious" is not exactly cut and dry), I don't see how the statement "all religious beliefs are irrational" could possibly be tenable without further clarification of terms. Even with such clarification of terms, sweeping/generalized statements with absolutist verbiage almost never hold true.
I would not call subjective narratives "irrational."
I would not call subjective narratives "irrational."
CogentPhilosopher
Philosophy Student
We can observe the effects of love.
crowfeather
One
Rationality helps you make a milkshake. It doesn't help you enjoy it.
Likewise, rationality may comfort those in need of comfort, to imagine that they understand life.
It plays no part, however, in enjoying the experience of living it.
Likewise, rationality may comfort those in need of comfort, to imagine that they understand life.
It plays no part, however, in enjoying the experience of living it.
CogentPhilosopher
Philosophy Student
CogentPhilosopher
Philosophy Student
You make a good point.
We should really clarify what we mean by those terms before making such statements.
siti
Well-Known Member
Everyone else's religious beliefs are obviously irrational.
Mine, of course.
But I suppose it depends on what you mean by irrational. Rational usually indicates an idea that is based on sound reason and logic. Sound reason and logic, in turn need to be based on facts. So if one's religious belief emerges from a sound process of reasoning on facts and logic then it is not irrational. Unfortunately, for many religionists, belief in a transcendent God is required and that can be established by neither fact nor logic and such a belief must, of necessity, be irrational (i.e. not based on reason and logic) but rather based on faith and credulity. Unfortunately for skeptics who demand reasons for faith and insist on rational examination, there is also no way to rule it out. So the theists might be right - I cannot help but doubt it - but the fact is they might be right. So does that make disbelief irrational too?
But I also think it is possible to have a religion with no God - or at least one that whilst making allowance for the possibility of God does not insist on it as a tenet of the religion. I think some forms of Buddhism fits that bill to some extent and also Naturalistic Pantheism...maybe there are others?
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Are all Religious Beliefs Irrational?
I am going with 'No'. For me, my beliefs are just the most reasonable understanding I have heard after consideration of all the evidence and argumentation from all sides. I used rational reasoning to arrive at my beliefs.
I am going with 'No'. For me, my beliefs are just the most reasonable understanding I have heard after consideration of all the evidence and argumentation from all sides. I used rational reasoning to arrive at my beliefs.
arthra
Baha'i
I think rational thought is part of our search for truth... We start by questioning a reported event or principle... At first it may appear irrational but when we explore the context of a belief there can be more support for it than we first thought... Here are some excerpts on rational tghought that may generate further thought:
Man has a sacred power beyond the confines of the senses. The power of the rational mind is the power of the soul over the senses.
~ Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 95
Jeremiahcp
Well-Known Jerk
Everyone else's religious beliefs are obviously irrational.
Mine, of course.
But I suppose it depends on what you mean by irrational. Rational usually indicates an idea that is based on sound reason and logic. Sound reason and logic, in turn need to be based on facts. So if one's religious belief emerges from a sound process of reasoning on facts and logic then it is not irrational. Unfortunately, for many religionists, belief in a transcendent God is required and that can be established by neither fact nor logic and such a belief must, of necessity, be irrational (i.e. not based on reason and logic) but rather based on faith and credulity. Unfortunately for skeptics who demand reasons for faith and insist on rational examination, there is also no way to rule it out. So the theists might be right - I cannot help but doubt it - but the fact is they might be right. So does that make disbelief irrational too?
But I also think it is possible to have a religion with no God - or at least one that whilst making allowance for the possibility of God does not insist on it as a tenet of the religion. I think some forms of Buddhism fits that bill to some extent and also Naturalistic Pantheism...maybe there are others?
I don't think "facts" are always necessary for rational thought, they very often are essential but you can still draw a rational conclusion when you don't have the facts. A rational conclusion is simply that which is reasonable given what we can know. It certainly does not have to be based on facts, and neither does logic.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
Sounds much like humanism.
jonathan180iq
Well-Known Member
Is there really any difference?
What is love without the thing to see and touch?
Unitarian Universalism draws from humanism (as well as other sources).
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
Ah, that would explain it. I've never been very familiar with what UU actually is.