Poll: Openness to Change

[Exaltist Ethan]

Everybody and every thing changes. In fact, in Earthseed, God is change. However, some people are more willing to change their spiritual and religious beliefs than others. For some people, the religion they were raised in is the religion they stick to their entire lives. For others, religion is a lifelong process of self-discovery and actualization, and change is expected upon learning new facts. I'm wondering where most of the people in Religious Forums fall regarding this question. Are you open to change and processing your religious beliefs and practices differently if you found compelling evidence to do so? Or, is the religion you believe and practice now most likely going to be the only religion for you for your entire life?

To answer the poll easier just imagine I'm rating your willingness to change, from 1-5. One being the least likely to change, five being the most. The first option is one out of five, the second is two, the third is three and so on. And of course, to make this thread a bit more interesting, I added an other option who doesn't fit into any option I listed. You may only choose one option, but can change it anytime you wish.

Overall, I would say I am a two out of five. I may change my positions slightly, adding or subtracting small, insignificant things, but overall I would say that my central theology and religious positions are the same and will remain the same probably for the rest of my life. The words I use to describe my theology changes over time but the meanings behind the words essentially stay the same.

TL;DR - How open are you to changing your religious positions? How did you answer the poll and why did you answer it that way?

Thanks for reading this and participating in advance. Remember, this is Interfaith, so no debating! Let us know what you think.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

4/5...since I'm okay with ambiguity and in the meantime, I may encounter information that would change my mind about my beliefs and practices...

 

[Heyo]

I'll probably change my religious position once I find compelling evidence to do so. But I have looked deeply into the existing evidence so, I probably won't change my core position.

 

[crossfire]

Part of my religious practice is exploring points of view that give me the ick feeling in order to understand both the religious position in question as well as to uncover the reasons behind the ick feeling. So yeah, I'm willing to take up and consider different religious positions, keep the ones worthy of keeping, and discard those that are not useful.

 

[idea]

No option for "I have changed beliefs and will change again with new information"

Wishy-washy? Unsteady?
Or meek, teachable.

Use what words you must.

 

[SalixIncendium]

By "religious positions" so you mean beliefs and/or worldview? Or do you mean change religion? I can't answer your poll until I understand what you consider a "religious position" to be.

For quite some time, I sought a religion that would best fit my worldview, and have experimented with different ones and spent a good part of my life not identifying with any.

As far as my worldview goes, that only changes when new information comes available that conflicts with what I hold to be true. Otherwise, it's static.

 

[Erebus]

I'll probably change my religious position once I find compelling evidence to do so.

I guess this is the best option for me to pick? I've certainly changed my position over the years as I learn new things about religion, the world and myself. My religious evolution looks something like this:

Christian
Strong atheist
Pantheist
Satanist
Demonolater
Pagan
Whatever I am now... agnostic polytheist? Vaguely Paganish?

These changes haven't generally been light switch moments, it's been a steady process. However, I can't really go with "I won't change my core position" as I very much have. My sense of morality now is very different than it was during my Satanic phase for example. My perspective on what theism is or can be has changed markedly since my strong atheist phase too.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

By "religious positions" so you mean beliefs and/or worldview? Or do you mean change religion? I can't answer your poll until I understand what you consider a "religious position" to be.

By "religious positions" I meant any of those. Beliefs, worldview or changing religions completely.

 

[F1fan]

This is a difficult set of questions for me because as an atheist I don;t see religious beliefs as much more than social constructs that appeal to humans seeking significance and meaning. If there was evidence than any of the religious concepts were true we would have it by now.

The real question is if some sort of god exists. If there was evidence that some sort of god exists there is a good chance it doesn't work with any religion (of course religions will fight over the rights to the God). So an atheist might accept that some sort of god exists, but this doesn't mean that any religious concepts are brought along if they are inconsistent with the evidence for a god. And if evidence for a god is discovered it will be a judgment of a material world, not the supernaturalism of religions.

So "religious positions" are going to be in a category that may or may not be related to evidence of a god. Most people seek belief as a way to create order in their mind, and offset anxiety. So as time goes on the openness to change will likely be less likely.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

I honestly thought most people would have said one or two. And while I do believe that you may believe in option four, changing is more difficult than one might realize. When I read Religious Debates I almost never see one person changing the opinion for the other, even when the opposition produces viable evidence, and I highly doubt most people would actually change because of it. Of course, what evidence is factual is up for debate, but if anything, debates and showing evidence only further strengthens the opposition to further believe what they are led to believe. You may think compelling evidence is enough, but according to most, there is no compelling evidence besides the evidence they already believe!

 

[The Sum of Awe]

My beliefs have been roughly the same for the last few years. I can't foresee anything changing my perspective much. I think my beliefs have become concrete.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

My beliefs have been roughly the same for the last few years. I can't foresee anything changing my perspective much. I think my beliefs have become concrete.

You are one of the most sincere, open and honest people I've ever met on these forums, and I happen to agree with most of your beliefs too. Thanks for your participation in this thread, your vote on the poll and in the forums generally. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

You are one of the most sincere, open and honest people I've ever met on these forums, and I happen to agree with most of your beliefs too. Thanks for your participation in this thread, your vote on the poll and in the forums generally. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts.

Thank you for the compliment!

I will admit that I do not agree with your theological view that the universe is 'becoming God' or changing into God, I believe God is all there is. I'm curious which of my beliefs you do find agreeable.

 

[bobhikes]

Other

I am open to change and looking forward to gathering me more information that can point me towards the truth. Why else would I peruse the RF.

 

[Vinayaka]

I'm the only person to select the first option (so far). Not a perfect fit but very close. I wouldn't change a thing, as I'm perfectly happy with the religion I have. I'm not about to get divorced for the same kinds of reasons. As to something logical that makes more sense, I don't operate from that frame of reference so that option was irrelevant to me.

 

[vulcanlogician]

I went with option 4.

I am an atheist. But if God ever poked his head out of the clouds and announced his existence, I'd be remiss not to reexamine my beliefs. But after seriously considering logical arguments on the matter for 20 or so years, I doubt I'd be amending my religious views in lieu of such an event.

 

[Truthseeker]

TL;DR - How open are you to changing your religious positions? How did you answer the poll and why did you answer it that way?

I'll change my positions once I find compelling evidence to do so. It seemed to be the closest to me position. I've been a Baha'i for over 52 years, and have had doubts at times, and I went out of my way at times to see if the Baha'i Faith was not a true Revelation of God. I am almost certain that I'll be Baha'i the rest of my life. However, I am also changing my understanding of what the Baha'i Revelation is saying, though they are pretty minor. The essential core of what the Baha'i message is saying will remain.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

Thank you for the compliment!

I will admit that I do not agree with your theological view that the universe is 'becoming God' or changing into God, I believe God is all there is. I'm curious which of my beliefs you do find agreeable.

I believe God is all there is too, my idea ultimately isn't really that things are "becoming God" (even though I say this a lot) but rather things are "becoming more divine" with time. God has, is and always will be as reality, but our efforts are creating a more divine God. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Yes, my signature says, "God is what reality is becoming" because my idea is that the active divinity of human participation of nature is creating God, but I interject and intertwine the ideas of "becoming God" and "becoming more divine." God is reality, reality is becoming more divine, and I think you'd agree with this to some degree.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I believe God is all there is too, my idea ultimately isn't really that things are "becoming God" (even though I say this a lot) but rather things are "becoming more divine" with time. God has, is and always will be as reality, but our efforts are creating a more divine God. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Yes, my signature says, "God is what reality is becoming" because my idea is that the active divinity of human participation of nature is creating God, but I interject and intertwine the ideas of "becoming God" and "becoming more divine." God is reality, reality is becoming more divine, and I think you'd agree with this to some degree.

Hmm. In my view God is timeless, and all moments past, present, and future are One. God does not change.
And I always interpreted divinity as wholeness, what does it mean for God to become more Divine? How can God become more God?

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

Hmm. In my view God is timeless, and all moments past, present, and future are One. God does not change.

I would argue that the time dimension of this Universe proves that God changes, because everything in the Universe is forever changing in some way. If God is everything and everything changes, then God changes. I would even go further and say that if God does not change, it cannot really be God.

And I always interpreted divinity as wholeness, what does it mean for God to become more Divine? How can God become more God?

Extropy. Right now entropy is several thousands stronger of a force than extropy. Some rudimentary forms of extropy does exist in nature: the Higgs-Boson particle, the way the Sun is revolving around Sagittarius A*, the way the Earth is revolving around the Sun, and so on, but humans have created an order unlike anything else, probably ever, with governments, science, religion, among other things, that increase the order, the extropy of humankind. But we are not done, and we won't be done for a very long time. Reducing the impact of entropy means cars don't break down anymore, humans don't age, paint doesn't fade, and the list goes on. By creating the technology to prevent good things from going sour, or fixing the things that do break down, we establish an order throughout Earth that effectively says to everybody else that Earth is ours, its our sovereignty, and nobody else can have it.

This is what it means to be divine as humans go, effectively making God more Godlike in the process. Eventually we'll expand our operations to more planets, more star systems, more areas as we establish a human sovereignty throughout space and begin to create technology that will make more life on planets which may have none now. We have a lot of work to do to being and becoming more divine over time. Eventually, we'll create a technology that does all of this for us, and reality itself will manifest much more life in unique and creative ways. But for now, we're just really lucky to be in the position we're at right now.

So, upon further understanding and discussion with you, we don't believe in the same God. However, unlike most theists I don't think your nuts in your idea to understand God. You seem to be very similar to me, but you don't ascribe to the idea of process philosophy or process theology. And that's fine. But it's much easier to understand your God, and at least make sense of what you're saying, rather than taking a look at various religions which go nuts when describing God and the divine. You are a theist but you don't make stuff up, and that's why I enjoy talking with you, because I believe we have a mutual respect and understanding towards each other, even if we have certain disagreements about it.