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4.1 Religious
Methods and Practices
Version 1.5 August 2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (Previous Version)
These are the questions we ask in
the introduction (Section 0.1.6 – paragraph 21):
What good is religion? Should it
remain totally personal? Should all religious matters be kept out of
politics? Should we move towards abolishing all religions or try to merge
them into one? Are there any similarities between religions? Does religion
cause more harm than good? Do we need religions to define or express our
values? Do you have trouble explaining your religious or spiritual
experiences or practice in a modern sceptical world? Do you have the
feelings but not the words? Do you have a religious background, but find it
harder to believe? Do you feel lost, because without religion there is
nothing left of value, nothing good, nothing to live for? Do you have doubts
about your religious leaders, but don't know what to do? Â Can you have a
religion without a god? What is religion anyway?
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This Chapter covers some of the common themes in religion
and discussion of religion. These include the types of religious followers,
the structure of religion’s core narrative, other key components or religious
traditions, the main ways people interpret religious texts, how religions
define but don't justify values, the different emphases on beliefs and
practices, how religious people can look at their own religion, what we can
learn from religion, and what religion really is.
Most people’s understanding of religion is woefully
inadequate, because they have not been exposed to a global perspective of
religion in its philosophical, scientific and historical context. In
subsequent Chapters we cover indigenous, eastern, western, and modern
approaches to religion, and the specifics of the major world religions. This
Chapter avoids those specifics to provide an overall structure.
Understanding the similarities between
religions enable us to be more tolerant of others of different faith or no
faith. It also allows us to re-assess our own faith, or lack of it. All of
us, believers, sceptics and non-believers, benefit from a better
understanding of religion.
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We propose to look at the common themes in religion under
the following headings:
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1. Religious Adherents:
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How do we deal with the hypocrites and socialites?
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2. Religion’s Narrative:
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How did we get to where we are?
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Is it reasonable to break down this area
into these topics at this level?
Click on feedback, or add a comment below, to
tell us if you agree or disagree, or suggest improvements.
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3. Religious Components:
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Consider texts, rituals, sacred places, etc?
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4. Beliefs and Practices:
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What do practitioners emphasise?
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5. Religious Interpretations:
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Must we take the texts literally?
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6. Religion and Values:
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Does religion provide values?
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7. Internal Assessments:
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How can we assess our own religion?
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8. External Assessments:
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What can we learn from other religions?
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9. Nature of Religion:
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What constitutes a religion?
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10. Spiritual Experiences
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What are these, why do they matter, how do they differ?
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11. Religious Promotion
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Is religion presented honestly and in a reasonable way?
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12. Religious Communities:
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Does community matter more
than details of beliefs?
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As stated in the chapter overview, this is the current
summary of our conclusions in this area:
Religions address our ultimate meaning and purpose, who and what we
are, our origins, suffering, and how we are to live, by providing narratives
and role models demonstrating or prescribing certain values, but these
must be interpreted in the light of other truths, so religion is more of a
practice than a set of dogmatic beliefs.
 more                                                             Statement
21
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especially Parts 2, 3, 4 and 5, especially from non-Anglos, on
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religions, and modern responses to religion, and
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