If you are one religion, do you read, and accept other religious works?

[BSM1]

[

quote=Gjallarhorn;3264908]Can't tuck in an already tucked in child.

[/QUOTE]

That's better than what I had.

 

[Reverend Richard]

I read and appreciate unless the teachings are terrible. I generally tend to enjoy scriptures from Eastern religions as they are less likely to focus on how everyone is evil and going to hell.

I find myself leaning in that direction as well. Although I was raised as a conservative Christian, I grew weary of the Abrahamic view of God. I still read the Christian bible, but I find I no longer take it literally. I find Hindu and Buddhist scripture much more applicable to daily life.

 

[Jainarayan]

I read eastern scriptures and philosophies: Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Confucianist, etc.; some biblical: the gospels, some books of the OT like Proverbs and Psalms, I want to get a copy of Ecclesiastes, but that's about it; I've never read the Qur'an, but I would like to, to see it for myself. I would like to read the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, but it seems hyooge!

 

[Sir Doom]

Without reading something, how can one place the correct value on it? Its hard enough even when you have read something!

 

[Sha'irullah]

I view religions as man made and look upon them as personal opinions based on ones understanding of god. Scriptures are often corrupt and int his day and age we have finally outgrown them.
I hold two primary holy texts as 99% accurate in regards to god. The Shiva-Rahasya Purana and the Quran. Although I have read others I do not view them in a negative light, I just rank them according to intellectual, scientific and personal interpretive accuracy. I look upon religions with a deistic viewpoint and I often measure them up to unfettered Islamic viewpoints in regards tot he nature of god.
I am quite flexible in how I view other religions LD

 

[Penumbra]

To further elucidate my question, I would like to clarify one thing first. I do not mean to necessarily accept that other religions or their works are true. I am just curious however if you generally would read various religious or non-religious works from other traditions, and value their wisdom and teachings. Or would you typically disregard them?

I've not religious, but I've read several religious and non-religious works.

Basically, things like:
-Hebrew Bible
-New Testament
-Christian Apocrypha
-Qur'an
-Bhavagad Gita
-Ten or so of the Upanishads
-Some Buddhist Sutras
-Tao Te Ching
-Some New Age writings
-Writings of Stoics, and other Greek and Roman philosophy
-Other philosophy in general (Emerson, Nietzsche, Kant, Camus, Anscombe, MacIntyre, in particular)

I generally adhere to the idea of accepting that which is useful or apparently true and disregarding that which doesn't appear to be. In general, I view the bulk of them in negative terms but there are a few in particular, especially the Greek and Roman ones and to a lesser extent some of the East Asian ones, along with some of the philosophical writings, that I find to be valuable.

 

[Orias]

If you think about it, all religion is the same thing, just repackaged in various ways to fit the individual perception.

When it comes to accepting something, it all comes down to how easy it is to resell it.

 

[Maija]

Yes I have read upanishads, the bg, quran, the bible and many bahai texts

 

[Vinayaka]

I don't read outside of my faith, even my sampradaya with it. It's (all I need and more) all right there. I'm in a monogamous relationship with my faith. But the teaching is to respect all people, regardless of faith, so I do that.
I don't read much, period, as my path is more experiential than scriptural. But there is other reading we can try to do, like reading people, reading situations, reading my own mind for better understanding of why we're here. There is a lot more to life and faith than books.

 

[Maija]

I don't read outside of my faith, even my sampradaya with it. It's (all I need and more) all right there. I'm in a monogamous relationship with my faith. But the teaching is to respect all people, regardless of faith, so I do that.
I don't read much, period, as my path is more experiential than scriptural. But there is other reading we can try to do, like reading people, reading situations, reading my own mind for better understanding of why we're here. There is a lot more to life and faith than books.

Unfortunately, some reading may be required when starting a relgious journey on a new path, ie for the seeker. but once you know the basics i agree with you. i also try to read because it makes up for the absence of strong spiritual community and kinship- i dont have a temple close by or many devotee friends

 

[Vinayaka]

Unfortunately, some reading may be required when starting a relgious journey on a new path, ie for the seeker.

Absolutely ... some reading. Other than going to various places of worship one at a time, I can think of no other way to be a seeker. Maybe if one lived in a metro area you could do that. It would be fun. In fact I did actually go to a church back when I was a 'seeker', at about age 16. We left half way through the service, my wife, me and the guy who is now reincarnated as my son. There were no mosques, gurdwaras, or synagogues around.