Cafeteria religion "shoppers"

This is a suggestion for those of you who think that religion and spirituality is something that you "shop" for the "best" or the "right one for you." I'm not going to argue with you, but offer you a point to keep in mind.

You should tend to pay attention to scriptures or sacred writings that describe people, places and events that really existed. That is the first step toward distinguishing between mythologies and faiths.

I've written explanations that the Bible is a record, written with a succession of hands, that records actual events with actual people in actual locations.

I've pointed out that the Qur'an is likewise referencing the real events of the Bible, and revelation is given to the Prophet (PBUH), a real person whose life and relationship with God was documented and observed by many people of his time.

Traditional Buddhism is also based on the existence of a genuine person, Siddhārtha Gautama and his life and teachings are recorded by and attested to by contemporary monks who lived and worked with him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha

Even though I am a Christian, I have regretted that the Chinese abandoned to such an extent under Communism their following of another real, genuine, having actually lived real person, Confucius.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius

Confucius actually lived and existed and his descendants know who they are and are alive today. Thus even though he was more of a philosopher and moralist than advocating a religion or view of the Deity, I have never had any qualms about recommending to faithless shoppers for a faith or code of conduct that they look at him because he is not a science fiction fantasy but someone who actually existed in real life and has proven morality and value over the ages.

I thus give these examples to point out that you must, if you are a "shopper" for faith or "spirituality" or a life philosophy, only look to those faiths or philosophies that are based on real people with contemporaries who can attest to their spiritual and moral relevance. Otherwise you tend to equate mythologies, fantasies and self delusions with a book of scripture. That is simply like comparing apples and oranges; they are both writings, but one is based on a real person and a real relationship with the divine, while others are pagan, ancient or modern, fantasies and imaginings.

Pew Research study

I was happy to see many church parking lots filled this morning as I was out driving. Being in Mississippi it's mostly the Baptist churches that I see locally, including a large one right down the road, and it's a blessing.

The "Mobile Press Register" newspaper had a great article called "Faith Matters" in its Religion section on Saturday, and it reports that Mississippi has the highest number of believers per capita in the USA at 91 percent, with Alabama the 2nd most believers at 86%. The South and the Midwest should be very proud of holding fast to their beliefs and trust in God. It's one reason I settled here for the past year plus, because I weary of the unbelieving and cynical north.

By the way, the article correctly points out a problem with the Pew methodology about tolerance of "other religions." Many respondents thought "other religions" refer to other denominations of Christian faiths, so their expression of support does not mean that one should conclude that "anything goes" when a high level of belief in alternate "ways to God" is expressed. I know some in the media have liked to spin that part of the survey so that it looks like most Americans think, "Woo hoo, as long as they are 'spiritual' then their religion is as trustworthy as mine." Er, not so much. I figured that would be one of the spin objectives of this survey and I was right. In fact it is the Baptists, who I much admire for their faith, who have been pointing this problem with the survey out in the press.

Greg Smith for the Pew admits that the word "religion," as in "other religions" "was not defined for the respondents" and that "researchers were limited by time" and that "researchers plan to explore the matter in the future." Gosh, that's good of them. I guess they have plenty of time to spin the results to the media to make it look like Christians think good pagans are on the right track, but they did not have time to "define religion" in the margin of questionnaires (it would have been really hard to add a whole sentence that would explain if you meant other denominations within your basic faith of Christianity, Islam or Judaism or not). Wow, that took a whole lot of thought.

Question: Does a Jew feel different about salvation of other "denomination" of Jews (Orthodox, Conservative or Reform) versus a completely other religion like Hindu?

I mean, how difficult would it have been to print an example like that to define if you meant "other religions" to include "other denominations of the same basic faith" or not?

But hey, the secular spin organizations look for whatever grist for their mill that can mushy up faith and belief in God.

So that gripe aside, I applaud, as I have been, those people of the USA who have held close and dear to their faith and trust in God, and that is at least good news from this "research study."

Einstein letter

I had a quick look at an article about a letter that Albert Einstein wrote a year or so before his death where he referred to God and scripture in disparaging ways. People have leaped onto this, just as they have on his previous favorable comments about God when he was younger.

Are you all total idiots? Do you not understand that even a genius like Einstein goes through phases of life and thought too? It's like you have been glued so much to TV that you think everyone is cut out of celluloid at birth and just gets wrinkles needing botox as they age. You have no concept of how people have cycles and moods throughout their lives, and have moments of feeling one way or the other about many things, including God. Einstein had relationships with people, including a woman, near the end of his life that he did not have in his earlier days. His day to day involvements would also inform his mood about God. When people, even geniuses, have challenging personal situations, they start to look for wiggle room in their belief in God and his instructions for humans as expressed in the scriptures. Who cannot understand that? Goodness. I really despair of where human insight and intelligence has gone.