Do you feel it's worthwhile to defend your faith?

[Unveiled Artist]

Sometimes I do because I get so annoyed that people don't understand what the faith teaches even if they disagree. I mean, I don't understand much about the Muslim faith but I wouldn't criticize a Muslim because I read or listen to things against it. I get irritated with anyone who insults anyone's faith. It's like they are tearing a person's heart out in front of me.

Plus, someone talking about my faith especially my practices in it is like attacking me. So, I try to defend with education about what I do and exchange in dialogue on points we disagree with. It doesn't always work out that way, especially online.

It get's to be a waste of time for me when we find out we understand each other's point of view and disagree with each other and still keep fighting over spilled milk.

If you are following a particular spiritual path or religion, do you feel the need to correct those who apeak (falsely?) against it?

I have debated from both sides against/for religions before and wondering if you don't bother or if at times, you feel the need to defend your faith? I'm of the opinion that there are times it can be a good healthy exchange and other times, when you are wasting your time.

Just wondering.

 

[nazz]

As a side note, I posted this thread because I know that I will be expected to defend Islam (at times), should I choose it as my spiritual path. Right now, I'm exploring it, and only it. I want to give time to prayer, and reading the Qur'an and living my life as if I follow it completely, to see if I would be interested in 'converting.' I don't like legalistic terms though. Having said that, I've told a few people in my offline life about exploring Islam, and my Muslim friends are delighted, but two of my friends, one Christian and one atheist...are not happy. I remember when I left Christianity, I lost two good friends (one since somewhat returned) so I'm reminded of how fickle people are over religion and faith and beliefs. I have to figure it out on my own, and I can't worry about what others may think.

I encourage you to follow where you feel led. I don't want to dissuade you but it was the legalism of Islam that was one of the reasons I found it was not for me.

 

[Riverwolf]

Of course not, and if their beliefs don't stand up to challenge, hopefully they'll be honest enough to re-evaluate their beliefs. That's another reason to welcome and even invite challenge; so that our beliefs, ideas, and perspectives become more developed, polished, and refined.

I should point out that just because we may not necessarily be able to defend a belief or assertion in a given debate, doesn't necessarily mean the belief or assertion itself is flawed (although that possibility should still be considered and explored). Another possibility is that the person making the assertion or holding the belief doesn't have the necessary vocabulary or conceptions (read: ammo) to defend it. It could also be an issue of anxiety; for myself, I know how to do math, but the simple act of doing it even when I know exactly what I'm doing has triggered really bad anxiety attacks in the past (by bad, I mean literally sending me to the floor and needing at least a day, if not longer, to recover). If vocabulary and conceptions are ammo, then relevant anxieties might be considered the armor.

Both ammo and armor are best obtained in debates, so challenges should still always still be welcome. Heck, it's part of my religion. ^_^

 

[StarryNightshade]

If you are following a particular spiritual path or religion, do you feel the need to correct those who apeak (falsely?) against it?

If a misconception is being passed as truth, then I will step in and correct said misconception.

Otherwise, in my experience, it tends to be ultimately futile to say or do anything else.[/QUOTE]

 

[PErSiAn]

Well, Every Defending Is Against An Attack, So Depends on Who's Talking With Us
If The One That Is Saying Something False Is Someone That Shows No Respect, Well It's Not Worthwhile Because He or She Probably Doesn't Want To Change
But If The One Who is Saying False Things Is Someone That Is Respectful, Well, Why Not Using our Time To Make Him or Her Understand The Truth By Dialogue?

 

[Deidre]

Well, Every Defending Is Against An Attack, So Depends on Who's Talking With Us
If The One That Is Saying Something False Is Someone That Shows No Respect, Well It's Not Worthwhile Because He or She Probably Doesn't Want To Change
But If The One Who is Saying False Things Is Someone That Is Respectful, Well, Why Not Using our Time To Make Him or Her Understand The Truth By Dialogue?

Thank you for this! And I agree with you.
If you hear negative criticism about Islam, over what ISIS has been doing...may I ask, for those who see the two as connected, do you make any attempts at changing those minds?

 

[DawudTalut]

If you are following a particular spiritual path or religion, do you feel the need to correct those who apeak (falsely?) against it?

I have debated from both sides against/for religions before and wondering if you don't bother or if at times, you feel the need to defend your faith? I'm of the opinion that there are times it can be a good healthy exchange and other times, when you are wasting your time.

Just wondering.

I'm of the opinion that there are times it can be a good healthy exchange and other times, when you are wasting your time.

 

[sun rise]

I'm of the opinion that there are times it can be a good healthy exchange and other times, when you are wasting your time.

This is to me an ideal and I'm personally not able to live up to it 100% but first you respond by being who you are without apology. If you can respond to an attack full of rage without rage yourself, then you avoid them playing :"got you" by trying to provoke a response which confirms their prejudice. That in itself might be enough to sow a seed of doubt in them about their prejudicial assumptions.

You might also receive an intellectual attack where someone might say that in Islam a woman is worth only 1/4 of a man and cite some verses to prove their points. If someone said that, it might or might not be worthwhile to be able to answer the assertion.

Someone might assert that Muslims hate Jews not realizing that not too long ago in historical terms Jews were treated much better in Islamic areas compared to Christian Europe.

You might also receive criticism and attacks for Muslims because they interpret the religion differently than you do.

So I guess I'm saying that it's a tricky subject.

 

[PErSiAn]

Thank you for this! And I agree with you.
If you hear negative criticism about Islam, over what ISIS has been doing...may I ask, for those who see the two as connected, do you make any attempts at changing those minds?

You're Welcome
Well, In My Country ( Iran ) It's Very Clear That They Are Not Muslims, So I Never Tried To Say They're Not Muslim After The ISIS ( or What They Call Themselves, " Daaesh " ) , Was Officially Said That They Exist.
But Before The ISIS, Some People Here Were Thinking That The Terrorists Are Mere Syrian People Who Fight With Guns To Get Freedom And Democracy For Syria. It Was Wrong But It Was Not Clear To People Who Don't Know Politics.
It Was In The Middle of The Islamic Awakeness Era, Ghazafi Was Getting Attacked By His People With Guns, Mobarak Was At The End of His Time, And So on. It Was Normal For People To Think That They Are People In Syria That Are Fighting Bashar Asad. Even Though Their People Had Some Problems With Asad, Because His Government Is Not Islamic, But They Were Not People Who Took Guns.
It Was A Plan Actually, Back At 2005 When Hezbollah ( Pr0xy of Iran ) Defeated Israel ( Pr0xy of USA And West Europe ), Someone I Think Israeli ( Which I Don't Remember Who He or She Was ) Wrote An Article That The Hezbollah Is The Heart's ( Iran's ) Fist, Back At The 2005 Battle, The Arm ( Syria ) Sent Blood From Heart To Fist. So When You Cut The Arm ( Because They Cannot Attack The Heart, Yes, Islam's Defense System Is That Cool ) The Fist Will Get Cut Also.
Western Governments And Arab Dictatorship Governments Back Then Made A Meeting, Malek Abdollah ( The King of Saudi Arabia Who Is In Coma Right Now ) Gave The Idea That They Should Make Some Irregular Army ( Like Che Guara's Troops ( No offense, We Love Che Guara Even Though We're Not Comonist, He Was A Free Man ) And Al Qaeda Which Is A Brother To The ISIS ) To Make Muslim Kill Muslim Except of Making A Crusade Like 2001 ( Well Saddam And Ben Laden Were Not Good, Everybody Hated And Still Hates Them ). So Then The Economic Would Not Get Worse Because The Governments Were Not To Interfere This Officially.
In Syria, In The Fires of War, Rised A Group That Was Getting More Powerful Day By Day, They Were All Wahabies Back Then, But They Made People Join Them From All Around The World. That Is Called ISIS. You See So Many Races In ISIS Pictures If You Search, Even American And European! They Have No Idealogy, The Just Want Their Money And Pleasure ( They Are Slaving our Iraqian And Syrian Mothers And Sisters Like Orcs on Lord of The Rings ) And They Don't Care To Kill For That. No Religion In The World Works Like That! Even Slavory on Islam Is Not Like That It's That If You Earned Some Slaves At A War You Don't Have The Right To offense Them In Any Way, You Just Make Them Live With You ( And If They Wanted, You Can Marry Them If They Accepted It As Free People, You Don't Have The Right To Marry on Force With A Slave ) Some While And Then, When They Were Ready Enough To Set Foot To Islamic Society You Make Them Free, It's A Teaching System Not Slavory As What These ISIS People Do For Their Pleasure ( Which Even Pains Me To Say About It. Damn It The Women Slaves Have Husbands And Sons! ).
The Truth Is, ISIS Is Not Islam, It Can Be Answered By Religious Talking Like No What They Are Doing Is Not Islamic, But It's A Lot Easier To Answer With Something All People Around The World Accept It, Politics. And Better, It Shows That Religion Is Not Far From Politic, Which Was Believed Mistakenly over A Century.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I defend my religion although I am sort of a heretic, being an atheist.

 

[Thana]

If you are following a particular spiritual path or religion, do you feel the need to correct those who apeak (falsely?) against it?

I have debated from both sides against/for religions before and wondering if you don't bother or if at times, you feel the need to defend your faith? I'm of the opinion that there are times it can be a good healthy exchange and other times, when you are wasting your time.

Just wondering.

Is it worthwhile?
No, not really.

But we're only human.

 

[allfoak]

Of course not, and if their beliefs don't stand up to challenge, hopefully they'll be honest enough to re-evaluate their beliefs. That's another reason to welcome and even invite challenge; so that our beliefs, ideas, and perspectives become more developed, polished, and refined.

This is all true indeed, but if you look at some of the things happening on this message board and many others, you will see that the ones who get challenged are the least likely to adopt that way of thinking.

The ones that often do not get challenged by others are those not seeking one from others.
I am challenge enough to myself.

 

[Father Heathen]

This is all true indeed, but if you look at some of the things happening on this message board and many others, you will see that the ones who get challenged are the least likely to adopt that way of thinking.
The ones that often do not get challenged by others are those not seeking one from others.
I am challenge enough to myself.

People tend to be stubburn and willfully ignorant because their ego and identity is tied into their beliefs (especially so with childhood indoctrination). Also, when people's beliefs do change, it's usually a gradual shift rather than an abrupt one.

 

[mainliner]

That is a FANTASTIC point. Seriously. If you have nothing to hide and you're not insecure about your beliefs, why back down from a debate? But, I think there is a line between debate, and mockery/attacking. Like if things drift into the latter, as they often do...best to shake hands and walk away without raised blood pressure. lol

i don't believe anyother beliefs in god are correct Apart from my own


but i believe all the religious beliefs like following the right paths and doing good things <<<< lol i nearly typed thongs but didn't..... Are all correct if common sense comes to play.

doing good things in life is too easy.......its thinking your doing good things and not knowing your doing bad which is diffecult


just saying





peace 'n' peanuts ( roasted obviously duh )

 

[Levite]

If you are following a particular spiritual path or religion, do you feel the need to correct those who apeak (falsely?) against it?

I have debated from both sides against/for religions before and wondering if you don't bother or if at times, you feel the need to defend your faith? I'm of the opinion that there are times it can be a good healthy exchange and other times, when you are wasting your time.

Just wondering.

Sure. There are a lot of misapprehensions and ignorance about Judaism out there. If they are not confronted and corrected, it can lead to anti-Semitism and even to violence against Jews.

That said, sometimes what people say is just so idiotic that it's not worth trying to offer correction or debate, or it may be that the individuals who are doing the false speaking are known anti-Semites, and thus it is of negligible worth to try and engage them.

 

[Quintessence]

If you are following a particular spiritual path or religion, do you feel the need to correct those who apeak (falsely?) against it?

It's not so much that. I don't feel a need to "defend" things, because what is there to defend? It's more so that line in my signature. As an academic at heart, I have a broad interest in expanding our understanding of all things around us. A component of that is having an accurate understanding of the topic. To understand, we need to be capable of suspending the urge to pass judgement. Passing judgement involves the insertion of our personal values, which compromises objectivity and thus an accurate understanding of a topic. The trouble with those who speak against something is that they are in judgement mode, which means they're not being objective. That creates a significant obstacle to encouraging understanding. Navigating around these obstacles is a challenge.

If you're confident in your beliefs, you should welcome challenge.

Why should we? Not all of us are competitive and are energized by conflict and drama.

 

[Sunstone]

The issue of why people defend beliefs is an interesting one. There's a pragmatic answer to the question: In so far as beliefs can be like maps, their usefulness lies in their accuracy; and defending a belief might then boil down to defending their usefulness.

But I think much more frequently, we defend beliefs because they become part of us -- part of our egos, or our sense of who we are. When that happens (and it almost always happens), we defend those beliefs just as blindly and stubbornly as if we were defending, say, our bodies.

 

[Deidre]

People tend to be stubburn and willfully ignorant because their ego and identity is tied into their beliefs (especially so with childhood indoctrination). Also, when people's beliefs do change, it's usually a gradual shift rather than an abrupt one.

Yes, you are right. It's been a gradual shift in different directions for me, personally. I read something recently and it resonated...''we are the journey.'' Meaning, we think we are destined to find one special place in spirituality, that will carry us through life, and if we just follow it, everything will be great. But, religions were all handed to mankind from the mankind before. I feel a sense of comfort and peace in Islam, and it resonates with me. How I've come here, is by a lot of twists and turns, but it's always been something that I've found to be quite beautiful. It's not without its problems, but you are right that our egos can get wrapped up in defending religion because we feel like we are defending ourselves. The central message in most religions, Islam being one, is that it is supposed to create a desire to remove one's ego, and become about serving a greater good, in the case a god. And in that, we should emerge our best selves.

@Levite - you make a great point, because to not say anything to correct people in their misunderstandings about certain beliefs, one might help to lessen discrimination and hostility towards particular groups.

At the end of the day, people will still choose to believe what they believe. I was raised Catholic, and my opinions of the RCC aren't always so nice. But, I need to be mindful of how I go about discussing it...I don't want to hurt the people I'm trying to help. (with my views)

@Quintessence - excellent points, agree! We all think we know better than the next person, what is better for the next person. lol But, we can share our views without appearing self righteous. It is a balance, I guess.

 

[FearGod]

If you are following a particular spiritual path or religion, do you feel the need to correct those who apeak (falsely?) against it?

I have debated from both sides against/for religions before and wondering if you don't bother or if at times, you feel the need to defend your faith? I'm of the opinion that there are times it can be a good healthy exchange and other times, when you are wasting your time.

Just wondering.

Yes, some arguments are a waste of time and the best decision is to smooth away.

 

[Norman]

If you are following a particular spiritual path or religion, do you feel the need to correct those who apeak (falsely?) against it?

I have debated from both sides against/for religions before and wondering if you don't bother or if at times, you feel the need to defend your faith? I'm of the opinion that there are times it can be a good healthy exchange and other times, when you are wasting your time.

Just wondering.

Norman: Hi Deidre, awesome question. Most of the time I let things go when people bad mouth my Church. However, I think sometimes for correction
and for the sake of doctrine I feel compelled to defend my faith. Especially when some people who are not members think they know more
about my Church than I do. I have been a member for thirty years and I think I know a bit about my Church. My Church is a bit tired of people
trying to define what we think we believe and do not believe. Members and my Church would like to have the opportunity which is our right
to tell people what we believe instead of the other way around. For myself, when I feel compelled to defend my Church against false accusations
I do not consider it a waste of time. Yes, it can get old very fast and I have heard just about everything at one time or another about my Church.
I was born into the Roman Catholic Church and when I got older I embraced Judaism with my Father and now I am a long standing member of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I remember when I practiced Judaism, I was call a "Christ Killer" and many other slanderous
remarks. I think if people try to build bridges of understanding there would be less contention between Church's or a faith promoting path that
someone is on. Good Post. Kudos to you.