Why THIS religion and not THAT religion?

[Fluffy]

Okay, so if that's the case, if reason is shunned in matters of religion, why do you (if you're religious) choose your particular religion over any other?

I do not feel that reason is shunned. I have thrown away many of my beliefs simply because I felt that I could not logically support them.

Are you convinced your religion is more reasonable than another? And if you use reason to distinguish between two religions (in other words, to determine which is "more believable") are you in fact contradicting the idea of faith by using reason at all?

I consider what I think to be the most reasonable system of beliefs that I have come across. Why else would I hold to them?

I don't really view reason as flawed by I do view my reason as potentially flawed. Perhaps this is what people mean when they say that reason is a flawed tool. I would also describe it unnecessary in so far as some of my beliefs don't exist in my head because I have reasoned them out but simply because I want to believe in them. I make no claim that they might be true and I am in fact one of the first people to point out that they might be false. Somebody could convince me using reason that my beliefs were flawed simply because I couldn't actually believe in something that seemed unreasonable.

I don't really see why you view the supernatural as unreasonable. By the supernatural, are you referring to that which we cannot perceive through the senses? If you are then what is the relationship between what is "reasonable" and what is "true", in your belief system and do you feel that the natural is more reasonable and more true than the supernatural? Why or why not?

 

[Hacker]

That's why I chose U/U, because I can't say for sure which religion is correct. But I do have respect for those who walk by faith in regards to religion, it's what makes sense to THEM, and in many cases, one is conditioned into this belief since they were children depending on the parent's faith. My problem is, is that I just can't believe that some of these religions claim hell to be the sentence if one doesn't ascribe to the belief,examp(muslim, christian). I think it's absolutely terrible.

 

[Bishka]

My problem is, is that I just can't believe that some of these religions claim hell to be the sentence if one doesn't ascribe to the belief,examp(muslim, christian). I think it's absolutely terrible.

Not all Christians think that way.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

Okay, so if that's the case, if reason is shunned in matters of religion, why do you (if you're religious) choose your particular religion over any other?

Technically I'm not of a particular denomonation. I also do not believe in everything that any particular church I've attended ascribes to. My basis for what I believe is my understanding of the Bible. My undersanding is open to change the more I study the Scriptures.

I recently took an online test ( http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html ) that would show me what my "denomination" would be and I came up as 100% Orthodox Quaker.

Who knew?

 

[Faint]

In which case, I'd point out that the metaphysical is not equivalent to superstition either.

Start here.

I'd like to hear some specific examples of what he thinks is superstition in some religions.

Well, there's God for one.

I'm sure we'll agree that superstition is common enough in religions, but whether it's part of all of them or a necessary part of any of them is something yet to be determined.

Tell me some religions that don't involve any superstition. I'm curious.

 

[Katzpur]

Okay, so if that's the case, if reason is shunned in matters of religion, why do you (if you're religious) choose your particular religion over any other?

Because it makes sense to me. In Mormonism, there are very few missing pieces of the puzzle. There are no contradictions, and very few unanswered questions. The God I worship wants us to understand Him. It was never His intention to be as much of a mystery as most Christians have made Him. He loves all of us equally, and while He requires us to acknowledge His Son as our Savior in order to attain the fulness of salvation in the next life, He has formulated a plan whereby every single solitary individual who has ever lived will have an opportunity to make an informed decision about Jesus Christ before standing before Him to be judged. How much more could we ask of Him?

And if you use reason to distinguish between two religions (in other words, to determine which is "more believable") are you in fact contradicting the idea of faith by using reason at all?

Quite possibly I'm contradicting the idea of relying on faith alone by choosing to believe as I do. But Mormonism doesn't pit faith against reason. It stresses the need for both. Which, of course, is just one more reason why it's more reasonable that the rest.