In the comments to The Two Religions, J. Lynne brought up something that I’d like to address:
I’ve even come to the conclusion, as my Buddhist step-grandmother once said, that most religions worship the same God, but we all need to worship differently.
This is a key distinction between liberal, personal practice of religion and conservative, political practice of religion that is not always appreciated by the non-religious. While we may think that our religious practice is the best for ourselves, in our context and our situation, that does not mean that we think that religion is best for everyone. People respond to the numinous in many ways, and what might work in one context may not work in another.
This notion is offensive to fundamentalists of all stripes — and many monotheistic moderates — who are used to thinking of their God as being complete, perfect, and unchanging. And God very well may be those things (even though I doubt it). But such people completely miss the point that humans are incomplete, imperfect, and mutable, and thus the character and nature of our response to the numinous might need to take on different forms from time to time, place to place, even person to person.
Once someone challenged my acceptance of the validity of other religions as being mere tolerance in disguise by saying “but you have your religion, so you must think it is the best, and everyone else’s is inferior.” That’s no more true than saying I believe web development is the best profession for everyone because it is the profession I chose. I don’t evangelize my religion because it suits me; if it suits someone else, then they will find it as well. But for me — in my context and my situation — my religion works.
That’s also the reason I take great pains to defend Christianity from those that slander the religion based on a subset of the religion’s purported followers; I know many Christians. I realize their sincerity and the importance their religion has to them, that it has changed their lives for the better and they do not seek to harm or oppress anyone. And while I may quibble with details of cosmology or morality, it works for them and they do not deserve the blanket condemnations they receive from many quarters.
Everyone responds differently, not everyone can have or should have the same priorities or the same beliefs.
Very well said!
I like your distinction between how your occupation and your religion are the best for you, but that’s not necessarily so for anyone else. I think that atheists, like Christians, are often “spoken for” by the loudest amongst them, and those individuals do not necessarily represent their belief systems well. It’s difficult for anyone in a more moderate position to understand the extremists of either belief system. That’s why posts like this are so important.
Shouting from the tops of mountains “My religion is great and yours sucks/is misguided/will lead you straight to hell and damnation” is a horrible way to share your faith. There can’t be just one answer or one religion. As a believer in God, I am often surprised and delighted that there are so many different paths available. Find what works for you, in this space and time, and let others find what works for them. “Lord, protect me from your followers” http://www.thudfactor.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
What a boring world it would be if we all believed the same thing. I can’t help but think that God (or whomever or whatever you choose to believe in) must delight in diversity. Why else would there be so many different ethnicities, cultures, religions, etc.? Heck, anyone who considers the age-old battle of the sexes must realize that God has a sense of humor.