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CallaFirestormBW -> RE: That multifaith God - Why should we worship him? (8/13/2009 4:32:43 PM)
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The thing is, I think everyone should have the right to worship any way they see fit, and any-thing- they find relevant. Heck, worship a Twinkie if you think you can see the Universe in there somewhere -- the thing is, the Baha'i that I've known aren't really into proselytizing and they don't try pushing their beliefs out as laws that people who aren't part of their circle have to follow.
The thing that I've sort of picked up from the Baha'i I've known is that there isn't really any dichotomy between the aspects of their belief -- it isn't as contradictory as it seems, once you add in the realization that God is -supposed- to be beyond understanding, and the (simplified) belief that all gods are just GOD, within the limits of perception of that culture... so it really is just sort of an expansion of the Trinity concept in Christianity (Catholicism), where GOD is Father (YVHW), Son (Christ), and Holy Spirit... three god-ish parts, but in reality, only one GOD... like if you could take of your hand or your eye and leave them somewhere to do their thing, but still have them be -you-. So basically, the concepts of Baha'i can be broken down into "meditate and pray to understand GOD", and "until you can understand GOD -- which isn't going to happen-- it doesn't really matter which -face- of GOD, represented by god and explained by X Prophet, you focus on, because in the end, they're all just GOD anyway."
Really, there are a lot of religions out there, and I've already conceded that, though I don't find 'god' an interesting concept, I -do- see some benefit to the ritual and community that encircle religions. Beliefs are basically -opinions- that we develop a fixation on, and that's fine, as long as we don't drag someone -else- into our delusion by force, or by passive-aggressive manipulation (ie, making "morality laws" that basically enforce our religious beliefs as civil laws... for our own good, of course). Beliefs can be identified, if we're willing to be honest with ourselves, by looking to see what ideas we cling to, and know we would -continue- to cling no matter how much solid evidence was provided to refute it. I see them in me. I don't have the 'god' issue -- something might, some day, sway me, and if it does, I'll know it... but I have other things that I do -believe-, and where you could talk until you were blue and you'd never really sway me, even if I stopped arguing. However, I don't think that the general population should have their morality legislated just so we don't make one or two groups uncomfortable by having to see, hear, or be exposed to things that -they- don't like. The Baha'i that I've known haven't been into worrying about other peoples' morality -- they're more interested in doing what they can to understand God, because the ones I've known have had this idea that if they could understand God, they'd finally understand the scope of human behavior, too, and all the things that seem 'off' would make perfect sense.
So, long story short... yeah, they should be able to worship anything that they believe in...
DC
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