tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811366764126767160.post5681213070651467560..comments2022-04-22T19:39:58.544-07:00Comments on What is Spiritual?: The "New" Scientology?Richard Hartyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01308270901432923724noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811366764126767160.post-65947390458619687672008-10-03T23:20:00.000-07:002008-10-03T23:20:00.000-07:00anonymous posted "What you and Bill Maher can't se...anonymous posted "What you and Bill Maher can't seem to grasp is that intelligence has nothing to do with religion."<BR/><BR/>That seems to be obvious.<BR/><BR/>Anonymous posted "Religious beliefs don't have to "make sense" or be logical. By their very nature, they aren't even supposed to, otherwise they'd be science or something else, not religion."<BR/><BR/>And yet, somehow, a religion called Scientology has nothing to do with science.<BR/><BR/>Anonymous posted "Why did you start out with a pretense of open-mindedness and fairness, and then quickly take a sharp right turn into attacking Scientology beliefs and ridiculing and insulting those who choose it as their religion? There was no call for condescention like this:"<BR/><BR/>Open mindedness doesn't mean accepting everything as true. It means taking the effort and time to look at something as if it was true.<BR/><BR/>I can understand how Scientology could provide a framework of change for someone. Most religions have some part of their system that is true and provides insights and growth. Unfortunately this "part" seems to give many of them the right to claim that all of their beliefs are true and helpful.<BR/><BR/>What I have observed is that any organization that is not open to critical analysis will have a built in blindness and will continue to hold on to false and sometimes harmful beliefs, no matter how much nonsense they are based on.<BR/><BR/>There are many things in life that I am willing to accept for what they are. A wonderful piece of music doesn't have to make sense. An experimental expression of art doesn't have to make sense. And even a religious belief that expresses the inner most longings of the human soul doesn't have to make sense.<BR/><BR/>Religion begins to have problems when a particular religion takes these private experiences and either claims that everyone needs to have these or they force everyone to accept them. It is at these points that religion ceases to be harmless. At these points religious claims should be accountable to intelligent evaluation.Richard Hartyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01308270901432923724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-811366764126767160.post-56437248648522286132008-10-03T12:09:00.000-07:002008-10-03T12:09:00.000-07:00Why did you start out with a pretense of open-mind...Why did you start out with a pretense of open-mindedness and fairness, and then quickly take a sharp right turn into attacking Scientology beliefs and ridiculing and insulting those who choose it as their religion? There was no call for condescention like this: <BR/><BR/>"One wonders what causes intelligent people to get caught up in ideologies so deeply that they can't see the contradictions that present themselves in any ideology."<BR/><BR/>What you and Bill Maher can't seem to grasp is that intelligence has nothing to do with religion. Religious beliefs don't have to "make sense" or be logical. By their very nature, they aren't even supposed to, otherwise they'd be science or something else, not religion. <BR/><BR/>Scientology, Christianity, Islam, etc. don't have to make sense. They don't have to be free of contradictions. That's religion. Just accept them for what they are and move on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com