If only religion was as simple as barbecue sauce....then we could make our own, to our own taste and it wouldn't matter....not a great analogy I'm afraid.
To each their own. You wanted to know why, and that's my answer. It may not be enough for you, but that might be one reason why it doesn't interest you or why you have a difficult time understanding the concept.
We can adjust to any major change in our way of living.....new spouse, new house, new country, new language....and we will, if we want to....or are forced to due to circumstances beyond our control.
Are you physically alone?...spiritually alone?.....or personally isolated by your own choices? Was it circumstance or choice that led you down the path you presently follow?
I'm surrounded by family and friends who care about me, and I contribute to their lives as well as those I interact with on a daily basis. I have a career in helping people heal as well in patient care. I have communities I am part of that keep me happy, too (including this lovely place with such fine individuals as yourself). I guess the difference is that I took my religious practices and dropped the unnecessary bits, then grabbed ones that I could utilize in my day to day life. I dropped the religion and replaced it with character building traits and practices that help me to improve in tangible ways. My walk is less of a religion and more of a spiritual path.
In regards to my relationship status, I'm a single guy, though I'm in no rush to get into a relationship. I'm happy with myself in my current life situation, and if I share that with someone, that's good too. I'm pretty open to whatever road my life goes down, but I don't feel lonely.
As for what choices have led me to go down my current path, we are talking almost a decade of spiritual growth that have led me down this path... I just don't have the time or investment to write an essay of all of that information, nor could I convey everything in my life that has transpired in a way you'd be able to understand from my subjective perspective. It's my life's story, and only I will ever be able to understand that.
Again, I do not see your analogy as applying to something as serious as religious faith. This to me is a life or death decision that has implications far into the future. Of course I cannot impose my views on anyone else but I can offer them, as my Master did.
That seems like your problem in not being able to try and consider things outside of your particular worldview, though I could just be making an incorrect assumption. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.
What you say reminds me a lot of my mom, though. This is why I don't tell her about these things... If I did, she would stress herself out at the concept of me suffering torture for all eternity. She could never remove herself from her world view far enough to be able to try and consider things from a perspective she doesn't have an interest in. As far as she's concerned, things of "the world" (things outside of the bible) are also of Satan, and that's all she needs to know.
As for myself, I'll just quietly do my own thing and continue to contribute to people in my life in the most positive way I can. It makes for a happy, fulfilling life, and that's all I need.
I cannot make a commitment to something that is half-baked....I have to know what I believe and why I believe it....and it cannot be subject to change on a whim because the God I serve never alters.
Fair enough. Keep in mind that this thread is asking for why people who are syncretic do what they do, though, and that's all I'm sharing (from my limited perspective)
What we know in the world is always changing on a consistent basis, though... Never changing means stagnation to me, and what you see as half baked I see as ever evolving. I want to continue to grow as a person and be the best version of myself that I can be. That requires challenging myself and my notions of what I thought I knew, and adjusting when I'm wrong. Better information cultivates better understanding, and old information becomes outdated as new things are learned. Change is exciting, it's not to be feared.
The golden rule is not a law that was binding on everyone.....nor is it a religion...it is as you said a "concept"....a very old and beautiful concept that was incorporated into Bible teachings.
What you said was "How many versions of religious truth can there be?" The golden rule is a religious truth in the context that I provided. You can deny that if you want. I can't make you consider things you aren't willing to consider.
But in this illustration, there is only ONE very valuable diamond, buried in a pile of broken glass....and we have the task of finding it. Do we need help? I believe so, because without an expert opinion in identifying an uncut diamond from a piece of broken glass, how would we ever know? There are many showing us their uncut 'diamonds' but unless we can tell the difference, they may all look the same.....this is where actions speak louder than words.
But your example is contrived... Where you see one objective truth, I see many subjective experiences. Some of them are more true than others, but they all have value to some extent. I don't need one ultimate truth, because ultimate truth can never be understood. It's a pipe dream; a concept that has no tangible value. It's impossible to understand objective truth from the perspective of a subjective being such as myself, and to say otherwise immediately throws up red flags for me as someone trying to take me for a ride, given my past experiences.
Not only that, but in your example you say that there needs to be an "expert opinion" to verify such a stone's value. There are plenty of people out there who would lie about the value so they could take it for themselves. Why would I trust that when I can just learn to appraise it myself and find out what it's selling for in the market currently? Self sufficiency is invaluable, and prices fluctuate in value just like truths. Even the most priceless diamond on earth will cost a different amount a year from now than it does right now, and if an even bigger diamond is found later, the original "perfect diamond" will drop in value in light of this better diamond. Science does this all the time with every new discovery...
I guess I look at truth more as a valuable rock of many rather than some single, perfect diamond. I'm a rock hound at heart, and I enjoy traveling far and wide to search for rocks of varying types. It's a leisurely, low stress activity that I do on my own time, just like when I educate myself on things. True, I could find a low grade piece of jade, but you know what? When I find a better piece, I can chuck that old thing aside and replace it with the better one.
