Is It Insane to Believe Your Religon is Exclusively True?

[RockFan89]

I can hold beliefs from each of those if I so chose, without contridicting myself. For example, as I've stated before, I consider myself Christian Atheist. I believe in the morality of Christ, while remaining a non-believer.

You believe the parts of Christ's morals that you like. You don't believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation or that unbelievers will spend eternity in Hell. These are things Jesus preached. Picking and choosing what you like about each religion is utterly meaningless. Tell me, is there anything that Jesus preached that you would not believe in if Jesus had not said it? Simply agreeing with Jesus does not mean you are taking something from Christianity.

Pluralism is the closest it gets, and it just believes that every way of faith is a legitament path- which doesn't mean that every religion is %100 true.

A path to what? Heaven? Salvation? Peace? Enlightenment? Because I guarantee you not every religion leads to all of these.

It though that may be irrational, it's not delusional.

So if I believe that one religion has the exclusivity of truth I'm delusional, but if I believe in a form of pluralism I'm irrational

Christians believe in Christianity, and Judaism. And Islam consider themselves to supercede Judaism and Christianity. And thank you for assuming an alterior motive.

Not sure what ulterior motive you thought I thought you had.

And, If you had read what I wrote, maybe you would have noticed that I claim that only Exclusivists with a poper knowledge of the world and it's religions are delusional.

I did read that, so I'm not sure why you think that would somehow nullify my argument.

In otherwords I'm attacking idiots, and musing about whether or not some of them may need proffesional help

Okay, I'm pretty sure they don't. Just because people don't see the world the same way you do doesn't mean they need help.

A large portion of Christians have an inclusive belief system.

Not sure what you're talking about. True Christians believe that there is one way to salvation and that is through Jesus Christ.

And insulting Pluralists for "no back-bone" is a little pissy considering, unlike Exclusivists, Pluralism hasn't gotten anyone killed.

Really? That's you're argument? This belief hasn't gotten anyone killed therefore it is superior to one that has? Just because people twist theology for their own purposes does not mean that original belief system is flawed. You can make a better argument than that.

There is a God in Islam

I know, did you read what I wrote. That line is one of the central pillars of Islam.

Atheism means lack of belief in God only, there are some that do believe in an afterlife

First time I have ever heard that second part, and I listen to people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennet. None of them have ever left open the possibility of an after life. I guess it's one of those things I've been arguing against: picking and choosing what parts of each religion you like.

Hell, plenty of Buddhists are Atheist.

Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion, so it's hard to put it in this category.

I guess you're among those that can claim ignorance

Well, if you're expecting me to know about every conceivable combination of beliefs out there, including irrational and self contradictory ones, than I guess I can't stop you from claiming that I am ignorant.

And if "just because a religion can stumble upon a truth doesn't give that religion legitimacy" is the way you really think about things, you should examine that thought more. Comparing the human population of a perfect God's world to a broken clock....

Yeah that is the way I feel about a lot of things. Just because I agree with some things of a religion doesn't make it legitimate. There are probably things that Hitler and I agreed with, but that doesn't make him a legitimate source of truth.

And if we were to examine the logic behind your belief of inclusiveness, it's self contradictory because you are excluding exclusionists. How is the belief that one's religion holds the exclusive source of truth different than your belief that such people are delusional? Both beliefs exclude others.

 

[The Big Gunnzbowski]

Simply put, no. But to answer the question more clearly, it's ignorant. Believing in a religion, totally throws out any other belief system that differs from your own. Christians believe that Muslims are totally wrong and vice versa. I think that the word "belief" is a very strong one. An opinion is something that you feel based on limited information you may have on a particular subject and that you're basing your opinion on your ability to logically consider all aspects of a subject.

A belief is something that you strongly defend and believe in and is very difficult if not impossible to prove to be wrong. Someone who believes in something, most of the time, can not be swayed away from their feelings on the subject. An opinion, is something that can be changed, should something prove different than what you thought.

Religion, much like politics, is a VERY touchy subject from all sides. Here's a doozy for ya... Today, at work, me and a customer were discussing the current economic climate. Another customer overheard and said, and I quote, "I'm a Christian, so I don't judge, but I cannot believe we have someone named BARACK OBAMA... BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA in our White House. It's scary!"

How's that for a contradiction? People that openly contradict themselves while expressing their beliefs are a HUGE peeve of mine...

My original point though, is that it's not so much insane to believe that your religion is exclusively true, so much as it is ignorant. ONE belief can't be entirely true unless their is substantial and irrefutable proof to back it. And let's face it... There's no such thing when it comes to Religion!