| Does religion discourage independent thinking? | |
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+10CatEyes10736 TPP MandyPerfumeGirl Supernova Impact CeCe Alan Smithee RobbieFTW Forgiveness Man Chris 14 posters |
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Chris Chamber Admin.
Join date : 2010-01-30 Location : Oak Park, Michigan Posts : 23201 Rep : 330
| Subject: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:51 am | |
| Does active involvement in religion or faith come at the price of someone having to sacrifice their independent thinking at the mantle of its principals? | |
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Forgiveness Man …is a Chamber Royal.
Join date : 2010-06-25 Location : Chilling on your sofa Posts : 6657 Rep : 153
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:36 am | |
| Quite the contrary. I have found those who have this grand hatred if anything religious to be the ones who cannot think rationally. Sure, some religious may be like that but that is due to their own problems and not the religion. | |
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RobbieFTW …is Being Fitted For a Crown.
Join date : 2010-01-31 Location : Dearborn Posts : 4152 Rep : 145
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:45 am | |
| I'd say most of the time yes. If you're overly religious, you tend to block out everything else except that which your religion teaches you and won't be as openminded as people who aren't very religious or at all. | |
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Alan Smithee ...is a 20G Chamber DIETY.
Join date : 2010-09-03 Location : 40º44’18.33”N 73º58’31.82”W Posts : 25792 Rep : 381
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:02 am | |
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CeCe …is a Chamber DEITY.
Join date : 2010-06-30 Posts : 11962 Rep : 326
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:24 am | |
| It's why I had to abandon it. | |
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Impact …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-01-31 Location : Rochester, MN Posts : 2570 Rep : 75
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:33 am | |
| Traditions, customs and unwritten social rules tend to discourage independent thinking most of the time. | |
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Supernova The Book Chamber
Join date : 2010-06-22 Posts : 11954 Rep : 182
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:01 am | |
| It depends on the individual. If they're not strong minded in the first place then yes it's very possible, but that exists outside of religion and in every other group of people as well, political groups, social groups, etc., they all have members who let someone else do their thinking and make all their decisions for them. | |
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CeCe …is a Chamber DEITY.
Join date : 2010-06-30 Posts : 11962 Rep : 326
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:13 am | |
| My problem was the opposite, TOO strong minded. The issue I ran into was one of having an entirely different mindset from the core beliefs. I will not give up my own personal standards, opinions & beliefs. I have a mind of my own. | |
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MandyPerfumeGirl …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-05-31 Location : Illinois Posts : 1273 Rep : 26
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:08 pm | |
| - Chris wrote:
- Does active involvement in religion or faith come at the price of someone having to sacrifice their independent thinking at the mantle of its principals?
I think most of the time, no. That would be the definition of a cult member, not a religious person. If a religious person sacrifices their independent thinking, that's an individual decision, that has nothing to do with the religion. | |
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MandyPerfumeGirl …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-05-31 Location : Illinois Posts : 1273 Rep : 26
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:11 pm | |
| - CeCe wrote:
- My problem was the opposite, TOO strong minded. The issue I ran into was one of having an entirely different mindset from the core beliefs. I will not give up my own personal standards, opinions & beliefs. I have a mind of my own.
Wow, CeCe, that's very impressive. Now I'm just waiting for you to give yourself a round of applause. I sense it coming! | |
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TPP …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-12-22 Posts : 1497 Rep : 69
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:39 pm | |
| It depends on the religion and how it's practiced. The Southern Baptist church that we were brought up in at first was very much discouraging...We were told that if we had questions about the Bible, that was Satan tempting us. Pretty much any thing that didn't agree with what the preacher was preaching actually was Satan's work, Satan tempting us.
I don't think all churches are like that though. | |
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CeCe …is a Chamber DEITY.
Join date : 2010-06-30 Posts : 11962 Rep : 326
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:20 pm | |
| - MandyPerfumeGirl wrote:
- CeCe wrote:
- My problem was the opposite, TOO strong minded. The issue I ran into was one of having an entirely different mindset from the core beliefs. I will not give up my own personal standards, opinions & beliefs. I have a mind of my own.
Wow, CeCe, that's very impressive. Now I'm just waiting for you to give yourself a round of applause. I sense it coming! Excuse the hell outta me? | |
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CatEyes10736 …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-01-31 Location : Portland, Oregon Posts : 2665 Rep : 126
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:51 am | |
| No. I consider myself a Christian, but I don't blindly believe everything someone tells me pertaining to Christianity. I come to my own beliefs through my own way of thinking. Sometimes my beliefs go along with what other Christians believe, sometimes they don't. This is probably one reason I don't go to church. I don't like people telling me that I should think a certain scripture means this or that. Why should I believe it? Because you say it? Who are you to tell me what was meant by that? | |
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CeCe …is a Chamber DEITY.
Join date : 2010-06-30 Posts : 11962 Rep : 326
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:56 am | |
| - CatEyes10736 wrote:
- No. I consider myself a Christian, but I don't blindly believe everything someone tells me pertaining to Christianity. I come to my own beliefs through my own way of thinking. Sometimes my beliefs go along with what other Christians believe, sometimes they don't. This is probably one reason I don't go to church. I don't like people telling me that I should think a certain scripture means this or that. Why should I believe it? Because you say it? Who are you to tell me what was meant by that?
Exactly. | |
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GrayWolf …is Authorized.
Join date : 2010-09-03 Location : Lakewood, OH Posts : 881 Rep : 36
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:21 am | |
| Religion tries to lay out golden rules for every or most aspects to life and to get people to think a certain way, but it is up to each individual to decide how much they wanna buy into it. Some people need religion to make them stronger. Some need to walk away to be stronger. So yeah it tries but if it actually does then that's the persons fault. | |
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Forgiveness Man …is a Chamber Royal.
Join date : 2010-06-25 Location : Chilling on your sofa Posts : 6657 Rep : 153
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:28 am | |
| I think what people consider "open-minded" is their own views and anybody who disagrees with them(ie religious people) are close-minded. If you don't support this social cause, you're close-minded. If you have found a traditional value that it has become inconvenient to remember to be still useful, you are close-minded. In other words, people consider themselves bastions of open-mindedness and anybody who disagrees with them is close-minded. That's been my observation at least. The idea that religion really fosters close-mindedness is ridiculous. Of course, I think the idea of always having an open mind is a bit ridiculous; if your mind is always wide open, you'd never have anything you believe in. Therefore I say we all are close-minded to quite a degree. I think religion offers much more Independent thinking than anything else. I could go on all day so I'll cut myself off. | |
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Impact …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-01-31 Location : Rochester, MN Posts : 2570 Rep : 75
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 10:31 am | |
| - Forgiveness Man wrote:
- I think what people consider "open-minded" is their own views and anybody who disagrees with them(ie religious people) are close-minded. If you don't support this social cause, you're close-minded. If you have found a traditional value that it has become inconvenient to remember to be still useful, you are close-minded. In other words, people consider themselves bastions of open-mindedness and anybody who disagrees with them is close-minded. That's been my observation at least.
The idea that religion really fosters close-mindedness is ridiculous. Of course, I think the idea of always having an open mind is a bit ridiculous; if your mind is always wide open, you'd never have anything you believe in. Therefore I say we all are close-minded to quite a degree.
I think religion offers much more Independent thinking than anything else. I could go on all day so I'll cut myself off. On the reversal side, if your mind is always closed or "made" about everything (even the things you aren't familiar with), then you never evolve. One can believe in things, or have certain principals, without still refusing to consider, ponder or even accepting the alternative. | |
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Forgiveness Man …is a Chamber Royal.
Join date : 2010-06-25 Location : Chilling on your sofa Posts : 6657 Rep : 153
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:48 am | |
| - Impact wrote:
- On the reversal side, if your mind is always closed or "made" about everything (even the things you aren't familiar with), then you never evolve. One can believe in things, or have certain principals, without still refusing to consider, ponder or even accepting the alternative.
And I think religion can perfectly foster such a mentality of considering the alternative much more than anything else. The idea that religion inhibits independent thinking seems itself to be a closeminded attempt at refusing to consider an alternative. I got no issues with questioning religion. I just give equal time and question those who question. | |
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TPP …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-12-22 Posts : 1497 Rep : 69
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:22 pm | |
| - Forgiveness Man wrote:
- I think what people consider "open-minded" is their own views and anybody who disagrees with them(ie religious people) are close-minded. If you don't support this social cause, you're close-minded. If you have found a traditional value that it has become inconvenient to remember to be still useful, you are close-minded. In other words, people consider themselves bastions of open-mindedness and anybody who disagrees with them is close-minded. That's been my observation at least.
The idea that religion really fosters close-mindedness is ridiculous. Of course, I think the idea of always having an open mind is a bit ridiculous; if your mind is always wide open, you'd never have anything you believe in. Therefore I say we all are close-minded to quite a degree.
I think religion offers much more Independent thinking than anything else. I could go on all day so I'll cut myself off. I disagree. I think that any one who says "my way is the only right way" is close minded. That's all. If your religion leads you to believe that you have a monopoly on "the way to heaven" or fellowship with God, then that's closed minded, IMO...Not all religions are like that, but some are. | |
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Nystyle709 ...is a 20G Chamber DIETY.
Join date : 2010-03-16 Location : New York Posts : 27030 Rep : 339
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Forgiveness Man …is a Chamber Royal.
Join date : 2010-06-25 Location : Chilling on your sofa Posts : 6657 Rep : 153
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:05 pm | |
| - thepossiblepolice wrote:
- I disagree. I think that any one who says "my way is the only right way" is close minded. That's all.
If your religion leads you to believe that you have a monopoly on "the way to heaven" or fellowship with God, then that's closed minded, IMO...Not all religions are like that, but some are.
Lots of people say "my way is the only right way" in regards to lots of things. Let's face facts, contradictory views cannot all be right. People don't tend to believe that their way is wrong. Hence it's not closeminded to believe that your way is the only right way; I'd argue that each and every person alive believes the exact same thing whether they admit it or not. As for "the way to heaven," it's closeminded to not even entertain the possibility that they just MIGHT be right but that your way of "any way to get to heaven is good" is the ONLY right way instead. (At least by the definition you just set up.) Closeminded is a term people just seem to try to use to label people they disagree with; we're all guilty of it. But sorry, religion is no more a bastion of closemindness than anything else. | |
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TPP …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-12-22 Posts : 1497 Rep : 69
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:31 pm | |
| - Forgiveness Man wrote:
- thepossiblepolice wrote:
- I disagree. I think that any one who says "my way is the only right way" is close minded. That's all.
If your religion leads you to believe that you have a monopoly on "the way to heaven" or fellowship with God, then that's closed minded, IMO...Not all religions are like that, but some are.
Lots of people say "my way is the only right way" in regards to lots of things. Let's face facts, contradictory views cannot all be right. People don't tend to believe that their way is wrong. Hence it's not closeminded to believe that your way is the only right way; I'd argue that each and every person alive believes the exact same thing whether they admit it or not.
As for "the way to heaven," it's closeminded to not even entertain the possibility that they just MIGHT be right but that your way of "any way to get to heaven is good" is the ONLY right way instead. (At least by the definition you just set up.)
Closeminded is a term people just seem to try to use to label people they disagree with; we're all guilty of it. But sorry, religion is no more a bastion of closemindness than anything else. IMO, it's not the idea that you hold that makes you closed minded, its the belief that everyone else is wrong. I personally am agnostic, I don't believe that humans can "know" what happens after we die, but I'm willing to accept that someone else believes that they do, and that perhaps there are people who some how do. ANYONE could be right, imo. You could be right, but it's not my opinion that you are. Holding an opinion doesn't make someone closed minded, imo, but thinking that your opinion is fact, does. Also, just because someone is closed minded,that doesn't make them bad or "wrong" imo. It just means that their mind isn't open. A religion that teaches "this is the way, the only way, the right way" period would of course foster closed mindedness, IMO, but I don't care what someone else believes, closed minded or not, until they try to force their view upon others. | |
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Forgiveness Man …is a Chamber Royal.
Join date : 2010-06-25 Location : Chilling on your sofa Posts : 6657 Rep : 153
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:40 pm | |
| ^^^^^If people aren't wrong to be closeminded, then maybe fostering such a mentality isn't the worst thing. Somebody who truly believes in something over somebody who is wishy-washy about everything? Take your pick.
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TPP …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-12-22 Posts : 1497 Rep : 69
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:12 pm | |
| - Forgiveness Man wrote:
- ^^^^^If people aren't wrong to be closeminded, then maybe fostering such a mentality isn't the worst thing. Somebody who truly believes in something over somebody who is wishy-washy about everything? Take your pick.
As long as they aren't hurting other people, they are free to believe what they want and I refrain from judgement...either way. | |
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Shale ...is a Chamber Royal.
Join date : 2010-09-27 Location : Miami Beach Posts : 9699 Rep : 219
| Subject: Re: Does religion discourage independent thinking? Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:26 pm | |
| - thepossiblepolice wrote:
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IMO, it's not the idea that you hold that makes you closed minded, its the belief that everyone else is wrong. I personally am agnostic, I don't believe that humans can "know" what happens after we die, but I'm willing to accept that someone else believes that they do, and that perhaps there are people who some how do. ANYONE could be right, imo. You could be right, but it's not my opinion that you are. Holding an opinion doesn't make someone closed minded, imo, but thinking that your opinion is fact, does.
Also, just because someone is closed minded,that doesn't make them bad or "wrong" imo. It just means that their mind isn't open. A religion that teaches "this is the way, the only way, the right way" period would of course foster closed mindedness, IMO, but I don't care what someone else believes, closed minded or not, until they try to force their view upon others. I totally agree with this, does that make me closed-minded? | |
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