宗教和自由

(這個題目有點太大了,不過題目的作用是吸引讀者.所以先來個大題目吧.)

凡是在西方國家生活了一段時間的人或早或遲都會碰到宗教這個問題.大家原來在中國大陸受的都是無神論教育,最多有點"封建迷信"的傳統,對於來頭不小的各路宗教還是很不熟悉的.

我在澳洲呆的這麽些年,在各種不同的場合,碰到過很多試圖給我傳教(主要是基督教)的人或者和我探討宗教問題的朋友.我的好友中也有每周去教堂的信徒.

其實,宗教如同其它的很多個人權利一樣,是每個人自己的選擇.它應該是一種人生哲學,而不是任何比個人人生哲學更高的東西.

但宗教本身似乎總是要發揮其超越"個人人生哲學"的作用.它有擴張性,有"MISSION",那就是在還沒有信教的人群中傳播其思想;它對社會一直在發揮某種影響,比如對很多事情,各教會的發言人都會出來評論,呼籲,表達一番.媒體對於宗教領袖的觀點總是留有特殊的報道空間.(遺憾的是首席科學家或者諾獎獲得者一般沒有同等的待遇. 通常教授們的觀點僅在其專業領域得到尊重.)

有一回在朋友的勸說下,我去了一次教堂,是那種又唱又跳,看上去比較現代的那種.除了覺得該類教堂的運做有點象個商業公司的感覺以外,讓我真正無法忍受的是他們的宣講者(MINISTER或者PASTOR)的發言.無論他們如何循循善誘,如何平易近人,如何引經據典,我隻覺得他們如同揮舞著大斧的士兵,試圖在我思想的森林裏砍伐出一條他們認為正確的道路.

或者說他們如同牧羊人,在帶領台下的羊們走向一個草更綠的地方.

然而人們真是"羊"嗎?

其實曆史是普通人創造的,宗教要生存,已經把自己改變得很多了.隻要看看他們500年前1000年前的作為方式和現在的對比一下,宗教被社會的發展改變得很多.那往後看,幾百年後看今天,他們的某些行為又會得到什麽樣的評價呢?

現代社會,每個人的生活能夠保持自由的方麵是很少的.出門購物,你麵對的是一個跨國公司給你編的網,回家看電視,你麵對的是廣告,政治和娛樂明星的轟炸.上班工作更不用說,老板是一句頂一萬句的(除非你想炒了他).我們能保持自己自由不受侵犯的地方,隻有自己的思想了.(幸虧沒有"政治學習"了.:))

那在這個周末,你可以坐在自家院子裏,享受你一點很小的自由的時候,為什麽需要去一個威嚴的地方,讓別人剝奪掉你最後的這點自由?

[小小艾]

頂風靈子的回帖！
KNOW ME BEFORE YOU JUDGE ME.
真心希望你有時間看看這本書（以下鏈接可以ON LINE閱讀）：
http://www.livingwater4u.com/reader/b_youziyin/youziyindex.htm
看完之後再下你的結論也不遲。：）

[風靈子]

如果你願意用心去讀讀聖經，在你自己自由的思想空間裏細細體味其中的話語，再想想"know me before you judge me"這句話，你可能對到底是什麽剝奪了你的自由會有不同的領悟，也會發現你可擁有的自由其實可以不止那麽一點點。不經意路過，隨便地說說。-一個曾經的無神論者但現在對自由深有體會的人。

[虔謙]

Inereting.
Not higher, not lower, faith (I would not say religion) IS part of life; and from certain perspective, faith is life.
Regards.

[uh-oh]

敏感話題。
各類教不要傳到國內，準變味。

[jwayne_1]

religion is necessary for many people, for some reason.

[怕疼的鯊魚]

淺薄

[壞小貓貓]

To hey3g,

"It is quite obvious on how religion has changed over history.Based on that trend, it is reasonable to expect that religion will have looser influence on people's life, although I am not saying it will disappear anytime soon."

I don't quite understand what your "looser influence on people's life" means.

Religion changes over history are sort of illusions. If you really study the Bible, Koran or ancient Egyptian Religions, and the history of the churches, you will find that basic faith or religious principles never changed, what changed are the perceptions and understandings of them.

And the reason of that to the religious people is simple, “we are not God(s)”.

Anyway, my way of judging the world is that you have to fully understand it to be critical or the judgments is kind of fragile.

[hey3g]

To 壞小貓貓, thanks for your input. Just want to make some simple clarification:
1. I did not want to involve the strict definition of "philosophy" in this post. What I mean for 個人人生哲學 can be rather more conveniently understood as personal view of the world or personal practice and belief.It is my wishful thinking that "religion" might be better to be a personal view or practice than what it is now.
2.It is quite obvious on how religion has changed over history.Based on that trend, it is reasonable to expect that religion will have looser influence on people's life, although I am not saying it will disappear anytime soon.

[Darwin]

I just back from US,you are right,question for the pastor:why God help just christian or not all their child include African people.
The answer is : pastor is a drover,he just stake out just his kine.
To compare the oriental civilization and western civilization,you can see what is the religion...

[壞小貓貓]

To DuProcess,

"Religion is merely an expression..." is an understatement.

Here is the quote from Wikipedia:

"Religion is a system of social coherence commonly understood as a group of beliefs or attitudes concerning an object, person, imaginary being, or system of thought considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine or highest truth, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions, and rituals associated with such belief or system of thought."

As you can see it, of course it is "not an end itself", but it is much more than ”..the means to the end".

[壞小貓貓]

To hey3g,

I understand where you are coming from, but whatever you exprienced has nothing to do with "Freedom and Religion". Some people say, "I believe in God, but I don't like its fan-clubs." makes sense sometimes.

And also if you think that the religion is a part of personal philosophy, then, I think you are fundamentally wrong.

Even though that religion and philosophy have some overlaps, they are two different types of systems as I explain them below:

First, religions have rituals, there are ceremonies for important life-events and important times of the year in religions whereas philosophies don't have.

Second, philosophy tends to emphasize just the use of reason and critical thinking whereas religions might make use of reasons, but they also rely on faith, or even use faith to the exclusion of reason.

Third, in religion, reasoned arguments are ultimately traced back to some basic faith in God or religious principles which have been discovered in some revelation; where philosophors base their reasonings on rational arguments.

Finally, most religions tend to include some sort of beliefs in what can only be described as “Miracles” which are common features that you never find in any philosophy

Knowing that, you might have better understanding of why "The fan-clubs do what they do."..

To imply religon' invalidilities with its changes through the years is kind of naive. If it is really that simple, religons have gone long time ago.

[世道變了]

嗬嗬，請保持冷靜的頭腦和正常的思維去對待你看到的一切：）

無論你麵對的是什麽，思考和分析都會對你受益無窮！

[hey3g]

I was thinking that what I wrote here might offend you after I read your comments on another lead. Did not anticipate that I got your new comments so quickly.:)
Thanks for the words, really! I agree with you about the "SAME THING" and "the means to the end".That is what I believe too. :)

[DueProcess]

Despite the fact that you are my new buddy, and the fact that I've enjoyed everything you've written so far, I CANNOT agree with you on this one. No offense.
A sheep does not have to follow the herd, but that doesn't mean it's headed in a different direction. You may want to choose to reach a point on your own initiative, but that does't mean those who take a different path are not aiming for the same thing. Religion is merely an expression, it is the means to the end, not an end in itself. Don't defile the end simply because you do not agree with the means. hehe