in reply to Semantics, Shemantics
in thread Religion in the Monastery.
I usually sum up my own definitions with three levels.
Polite form:
I am very accepting of other peoples' faiths and even their religions. I've informally studied quite a few religions, treating them as mythologies, just because every Genesis-like story and every Leviticus-like rulebook has some interesting comparative value. However, I'm deeply distrustful of any church, thanks to the introduction of mob psychology to an otherwise straightforward subject.
Hardline cynic's form:
I express these solely to extend a fertile ongoing conversation here. I don't put bumper stickers on my car, as that just gives someone else a reason to hate me. I rarely describe my faith or religion or church to people, because most people don't want their faith to be challenged. I find proselytization to be obnoxious, and the dogmatic indoctrination of children to be horrid.
"Orthodoxy means not having to think." --Orwell
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