True Religion

[Riverwolf]

You made an analogy with a purely aesthetic preference.

Have you seen the sorts fanaticisms and classisms that can surround the quality of food?

Consider that we have the phrase "good taste" to refer to opinions that we tend to think are somehow more "refined" or "sophisticated", and "bad taste" to refer to opinions we tend to think of as "base" or "low-brow".

 

[Fool]

What is the true religion?

anything that is altruistic

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Not sure if there is a "true" religion but the best belief system is one that helps you become a kinder & more compassionate individual.

Namaste

 

[Riverwolf]

I don't believe that the binary status of "true/false" is terribly applicable to religion. It's too deeply personal and dependent on individual and/or shared community experiences, and so can never be truly universal.

Calling religions true or false is too "No True Scotsman" for my understanding.

 

[Deeje]

What is the true religion?

It is the opposite to false religion. There is only one true God and he knows the difference.....but we can sometimes make grave mistakes about it. He allows this because what we choose to believe, is who we really are. That is why all judgment by God is fair. He allows us all the freedom to be who we really are.
How could we possibly make excuses to him?

 

[Riverwolf]

It is the opposite to false religion. There is only one true God and he knows the difference.....but we can sometimes make grave mistakes about it. He allows this because what we choose to believe, is who we really are. That is why all judgment by God is fair. He allows us all the freedom to be who we really are.
How could we possibly make excuses to him?

Who's making excuses?

 

[Deeje]

Who's making excuses?

The ones who will answer to him on judgment day by saying that they never knew him because he never showed himself.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

God. Buddha. Ordin. Vishnu. Nature. Etc. Are not the True religion.

The true religion is Your life. Your lifestyle. Your worldview. Your reality. Your life.

And no one elses.

 

[LuisDantas]

The ones who will answer to him on judgment day by saying that they never knew him because he never showed himself.

I keep forgetting that there are still people who believe that might conceivably happen.

Don't you find the idea self-contradictory?

 

[Riverwolf]

The ones who will answer to him on judgment day by saying that they never knew him because he never showed himself.

Well, seeing as I don't have a clue which "true" God, of the many who have claimed this title, you're talking about, I don't think that's entirely unreasonable.

Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, the "true God" is only "true" in the sense that he's the one who originally held the name, but because the name was hijacked from him by a young foreign usurper, we can't call him that anymore without confusing people. We have to use his other name, Tiw (more commonly rendered Týr). Beyond that, he's still one God of many, and I don't really worship him myself, since I'm not a king, general, lawyer, or judge.

 

[arthra]

What is the true religion?

Jiddanand,

Thanks for posting and starting this thread!

I was interested in searching some of the Baha'i Writings on this subject and would like to share a few lines here on true religion...

"....It involves the acquisition of praiseworthy attributes, heavenly illumination and righteous actions in the world of humanity. This pathway is conducive to the progress and uplift of the world. It is the source of human enlightenment, training and ethical improvement; the magnet which attracts the love of God because of the knowledge of God it bestows. This is the road of the holy Manifestations of God for they are in reality the foundation of the divine religion of oneness. There is no change or transformation in this pathway. It is the cause of human betterment, the acquisition of heavenly virtues and the illumination of mankind...." (and) "True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men, the cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities; but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitation, negligent of the reality which unifies; so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - , p. 237)

 

[Jiddanand]

Jiddanand,

Thanks for posting and starting this thread!

I was interested in searching some of the Baha'i Writings on this subject and would like to share a few lines here on true religion...

"....It involves the acquisition of praiseworthy attributes, heavenly illumination and righteous actions in the world of humanity. This pathway is conducive to the progress and uplift of the world. It is the source of human enlightenment, training and ethical improvement; the magnet which attracts the love of God because of the knowledge of God it bestows. This is the road of the holy Manifestations of God for they are in reality the foundation of the divine religion of oneness. There is no change or transformation in this pathway. It is the cause of human betterment, the acquisition of heavenly virtues and the illumination of mankind...." (and) "True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men, the cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities; but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitation, negligent of the reality which unifies; so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - , p. 237)

Welcome!!!

You have a good view point.
However I defined True Religion as "A set of predefined activities and practices which, when properly performed, lead to Prosperity and Emancipation".

After a good research on this subject and practicing those specified set of activities I believe that everyone shall agree to this definition.

Religion has to provide the above mentioned services namely the Emancipation and the Prosperity. So the Religion which provides these both is certainly the True Religion.

Thanks!!!

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I don't believe that the binary status of "true/false" is terribly applicable to religion.

It's applicable to any factual claim, so it's applicable to any religion that makes factual claims. A few don't, but most do.

It's too deeply personal and dependent on individual and/or shared community experiences, and so can never be truly universal.

It can be dependent on many things. Even if the day-to-day experience of a religion doesn't focus on its claims being true all the time, that experience often takes various facts as given that underpin the other aspects of the religion.

Calling religions true or false is too "No True Scotsman" for my understanding.

So when a religion claims as one of its tenets that it's true, you disagree, or at least consider it wrong-headed? You disagree with those religions?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

However I defined True Religion as "A set of predefined activities and practices which, when properly performed, lead to Prosperity and Emancipation".

Such as breaking out of jail to dig up buried treasure?

Your definition strikes me as useless and not particularly applicable to religion.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

After a good research on this subject and practicing those specified set of activities I believe that everyone shall agree to this definition.

Wow, did you ever guess wrong.

 

[Ouroboros]

What is the true religion?

The one you haven't look into yet.

 

[rusra02]

What is the true religion?

The proper worship of the one true God.

 

[Riverwolf]

It's applicable to any factual claim, so it's applicable to any religion that makes factual claims. A few don't, but most do.

I believe we've been down that road before. I disagree that "most do", since I include the thousands of indigenous traditions that people assume are "unimportant", but in this case, I'd direct the application to the claims themselves, independent of the religion surrounding them. Despite what literalists perceive, it's entirely possible to follow plenty of religions without certain events having been literally true.

The paradox of atheistic theism is becoming more and more a thing, which I'm very pleased to see.

It can be dependent on many things. Even if the day-to-day experience of a religion doesn't focus on its claims being true all the time, that experience often takes various facts as given that underpin the other aspects of the religion.

So when a religion claims as one of its tenets that it's true, you disagree, or at least consider it wrong-headed? You disagree with those religions?

The claim, yes. The religions themselves, however, are just what they are. Consider that I disagree with many things the US government says, but to call the US government itself as inherently "true" or "false" doesn't make sense. (Would this be semantic sense? I'm not actually sure.) This analogy is mostly compared with organized religions, since they're the ones that do the majority of fact-claiming.

Or, back to religion, let's consider my religion: Heathenry. Heathenry is 100% decentralized, with no central authority, no single organization that speaks for everyone, and very little in the way of a priesthood. Heck, the first Heathen temple in a thousand years isn't even built, yet.

Now, being a Heathen, I obviously don't think it's "false". I don't think it's "true", either, because as I said, I don't think this status can apply to religion, but put that aside for a sec. There are Heathens who make fact-claims all the time, such as various bare minimum requirements to be "Heathen", whether it's open or closed, etc. I firmly make the fact-claim that Heathenry is open to all, thus strongly believing the fact-claims that it's closed to be false. But, though I STRONGLY disagree with that idea that it's closed, that doesn't mean I believe the Heathenry people who believe otherwise follow is somehow "false Heathenry". They're still Heathens. They just also happen to be highly misinformed.

Wow, did you ever guess wrong.

That, we agree with.

 

[Hockeycowboy]

What is the true religion?

Worshipping the God who created everything, Jehovah. The Israelites did it first. The book about their worship has spread thruout the Earth, and available in a language near you. Odds are, YOUR language.

You'd expect this from a book by a real God.

(IMHO)

 

[Jiddanand]

I am not Satanist..