This thread is created to separate what started in topic regarding 'no gender equality in Islam'.
The main difference between a spiritually wise and a religious people is that a spiritual person understands why s/he following certain path and her/his action in daily life are based upon his proper understanding of righteousness, but a religious person, on the other hand, is the one who blindly follows her/his perception of a religion.
Now the question arises: Is one better than the other?
Definitely spirituality is better than religion as you can see religion causes a lot of conflicts among people. If all these religious people, who are fighting today, were spiritually wise, there wouldn't be any religious fights in the world.
Let's take examples of homosexuality and polygamy. A spiritual person would understand that even though s/he may not agree with these, the other people have right to do so as long as these actions of other people do not harm someone else in any way. But a religious person would use religion as an excuse to harm a homosexual person and to justify polygamy, although s/he doesn't even understand why a religion is saying homosexuality is wrong and polygamy is right.
The difference here is that my understanding does not affect anybody else's life and those who think they have right to kill others do affect other people's life and kill them,which is really brutal...
Everything you do in life, and everything that happens in your life will be affected by someone else. What is done by others may harm you as a result of that.
Like the example i used in another thread; if you got kids, their going to learn from their teachers, their teachers get their curriculum off the government, so if you don't agree with the idea of homosexuality, then your kids are being taught that its all good and theres nothing wrong with it.
Now i have a right to teach my 'kids' my understanding of morals, not the morals of the government which keep changing. Morals are morals, and they should be kept constant. It's only the media who decides what morals are, so if someone grows a beard - they shouldn't be looked at others as a terrorist, but thats what media does. Even though this guy might have been minding his own business. The same for a woman in niqaab, or even hijaab - the sisters in France are banned from wearing that at school! Now who's deciding that? Aren't they the one's who are forcing people to change their morals, even though it doesn't harm them in any way?
If we all remain quiet and leave morals to be altered, their going to be altered by someone somehow or another. So who is the one who decides them?
Should parents have the right to program their children with their individual moral code if it contrasts drastically with society at large? It is an interesting question and one that certainly falls on a spectrum.
At first glance, the answer that comes to your mind is probably "yes". They do have the right to teach their children their code and values. And with most parents, I'd agree.
But what of Jehovas Witnesses who teach their children not to accept blood transfusions (and perhaps die as a result)?
And what of the people claiming to be muslims who teach their children to hate Jews and engage in terrorist activity?
And what of the people who claimed to be Christians who taught their children that savages (natives or blacks, take your pick) are beneath them and witches are to be burned?
And what of people who call themselves CHristians today who teach their children that homosexuality is a mortal sin and that homosexuals are vile. Ponder the children of Fred Phelps. Oh how I feel for them, if they ever break free of the brainwashing and look back on it.
And what of relgious parents of all stripes who teach their children not to associate with people not of their faith?
As I said, it is an interesting quandry. Some of these teachings border on child abuse, but most are protected as rights of the parent.
I always feel sad when I see very young children so utterly brainwashed. I feel a little the same when I see fundy children so indoctrinated that they will likely never break free and think objectively about their belief system. Hit them young, before they develop any critical thinking skills, and they are usually gone for life.
Last edited by Pygoscelis; 02-19-2007 at 05:26 PM.
That goes for anyone, they don't have to follow any religion to be like that. This can be the biases the parent gives the child from a young age, so the children today are brainwashed by the media to believe muslims are terrorists. Not just the children, but even adults.
So it's not just religion that's like this. But it's the world we live in.
Should parents have the right to program their children with their individual moral code if it contrasts drastically with society at large? It is an interesting question and one that certainly falls on a spectrum.
At first glance, the answer that comes to your mind is probably "yes". They do have the right to teach their children their code and values. And with most parents, I'd agree.
But what of Jehovas Witnesses who teach their children not to accept blood transfusions (and perhaps die as a result)?
And what of the people claiming to be muslims who teach their children to hate Jews and engage in terrorist activity?
And what of the people who claimed to be Christians who taught their children that savages (natives or blacks, take your pick) are beneath them and witches are to be burned?
And what of people who call themselves CHristians today who teach their children that homosexuality is a mortal sin and that homosexuals are vile. Ponder the children of Fred Phelps. Oh how I feel for them, if they ever break free of the brainwashing and look back on it.
And what of relgious parents of all stripes who teach their children not to associate with people not of their faith?
As I said, it is an interesting quandry. Some of these teachings border on child abuse, but most are protected as rights of the parent.
I always feel sad when I see very young children so utterly brainwashed. I feel a little the same when I see fundy children so indoctrinated that they will likely never break free and think objectively about their belief system. Hit them young, before they develop any critical thinking skills, and they are usually gone for life.
I agree it's complete brainwash. It's strange and sad religious people claim to unite you with God and yet have no godly characteristics within themselves.
That's why they like to attract young people as they are much easier to brainwashed.
Blind faith will not get you anywhere. People simply need to stop and think if their actions really make sense. One way to see if our actions make sense would be to see if I would want this to be done to us. Although it may not always work, but it may help "normal people" understand whether or not their actions make sense...
Everything you do in life, and everything that happens in your life will be affected by someone else. What is done by others may harm you as a result of that.
There are different ways we are affected by other people's actions though. If you affected by observing me, while I am simply minding my business, it isn't the same as if come up to me and do something, e.g. physically or verbally abuse me.
format_quote Originally Posted by Fi_Sabilillah
Like the example i used in another thread; if you got kids, their going to learn from their teachers, their teachers get their curriculum off the government, so if you don't agree with the idea of homosexuality, then your kids are being taught that its all good and theres nothing wrong with it.
Now i have a right to teach my 'kids' my understanding of morals, not the morals of the government which keep changing. Morals are morals, and they should be kept constant.
You child might be only one of the few kids in his/her school to follow a separate lifestyle. So just because you want to teach your child something unique should not affect rest of the kids in school either. So you have a choice to advise your child's teacher not to teach him/her anything you don't want him/her to learn. But you have no right tell th teachers to teach other kids as same as what you want your child to learn.
format_quote Originally Posted by Fi_Sabilillah
It's only the media who decides what morals are, so if someone grows a beard - they shouldn't be looked at others as a terrorist, but thats what media does. Even though this guy might have been minding his own business. The same for a woman in niqaab, or even hijaab - the sisters in France are banned from wearing that at school! Now who's deciding that? Aren't they the one's who are forcing people to change their morals, even though it doesn't harm them in any way?
Well this is pretty sad that it has come to this.
format_quote Originally Posted by Fi_Sabilillah
If we all remain quiet and leave morals to be altered, their going to be altered by someone somehow or another. So who is the one who decides them?
No morality doesn't change. With time, people are simply realizing that whatever people do within their own space is their own business as long as they don't interfere with other people's freedom...
Now the question arises: Is one better than the other?
It depends on the individual's own perspective and their own definition of spirituality and religion.
Definitely spirituality is better than religion as you can see religion causes a lot of conflicts among people. If all these religious people, who are fighting today, were spiritually wise, there wouldn't be any religious fights in the world.
I do not see religion as simply an Identity. I see it as a mind set. As such, there is no difference, to me, between spirituality and religion.
As far as my stance on what parents should/should not teach their child(ren), it is entirely upto them.
There is no rule set in stone commanding any of us to or not to teach others, whether they be our children or not, since it is upto the individual(s) concerned.
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
I think this could be a major difference between religion and a cult. In cults, usually the brainwashing is needed. Nobody is supposed to think rationally.
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