Vitality Of Religion As Part Of a Culture

[devonin]

Originally Posted by coldsunlight

Since there are nothing right, wrong, normal, or abnormal, religions can't be judged as right or wrong either.

I think you'll find that most religions disagree with this assertion. There are plenty of things that are right, wrong, normal or abnormal. You can't claim subjectivity of everything, or everything is completely random and meaningless, so the discussion becomes moot.

Without religions, many people cannot live. They cannot sustain from the awful events happening everyday, they cannot put aside a sorrow such as somebody's death.

So you're saying that religion is a crutch for the weak who can't find meaning in their own existance, and need there to be something else to tell them why their life has meaning? That doesn't sound like a positive thing.

Originally Posted by Zythus

In the inquisition era in the 1300's, philosophers had already started upon the concept " did god create humans or humans created god?"

Just a note or two. The Episcopal inquisition was the 1100s, the Spanish Inquisition was the late 1400s/early 1500s, and the concept of "God created man or man created God" dates back to at least Aristotle (340s BC) (Is it right because the Gods will it, or do the Gods will it because it is right?)

but what I find significant is that how we can justify the existence, our very life with an unstable gamble of which came first, god or human.

What you're really saying here is that you find it interesting that people can believe in a God without proof for the existance of that God, and while that is certainly an interesting question, it isn't quite the question you seem to think you were asking. A lot of people are (Sounds so perjorative but it isn't really) sufficiently weak-willed that they can't bear the thought of being solely and individually responsible for their actions.

By believeing that they will be rewarded when they do the right thing in the face of a desire to do something else, or that other people will get punished for doing bad things to them, it makes it much easier for them to get through their life. If you are special, and have your own special and unique meaning and purpose, and everyone who wrongs you, when you are too weak to stop them, will get eternal punishment, suddenly life is a lot easier to cope with.

Does being multicultural mean that we have conflicts 24/7?

Now -this- is a MUCH better question, and one that I think really should have its own thread. How can we reconcile respecting the beliefs of others with the idea that some of those beliefs are diametrically opposed to your own. If you have a belief that says all X must die...how can you successfully interact with X and both respect their belief while still having yours respected?

It's the "Cultural Mosaic" versus "Cultural Melting Pot" and ooh, there's the thread title...brb making new thread *grin*