4.0.1 Religious Structures and Practices - Overview

Version 1.4 November 2016                                                       (Previous Version)

All religions have a range of followers whose commitment varies.  Some are there purely for social reasons, others are outright hypocrites.  We treat with respect those who sincerely believe.

§    In all major religions, sincere followers can be fundamentalists, fanatics, traditional or liberal. 

§    All major religions have over time used different methods to develop and spread: for instance both Christianity and Islam have expanded by the sword as well as by non-violent persuasion. 

§    All religions have leaders and adherents who make mistakes and do bad or stupid things. 

§    Some modern ‘religions’ are based on pseudoscience, blatant lies, or hidden half-truths. 

§    The most harmful religious cults will not tolerate dissent and are closed, exclusive or secretive.

●  For many people, the principle religious activity is the acceptance of a set of beliefs, in God(s), prophets and associated myths.  They believe acting on these beliefs saves us in some way.

●  On the other hand, for many people, religion is principally a practical discipline of meditation or prayer or service, like behavioural guidelines, rather than a fixed set of beliefs.

All traditional religions have a common structure:

●   an explanation of our origins, an explanation of suffering, of why were are in need of help;

●   a set of rules or guidelines for behaviour, to reduce suffering or obtain redemption;

●   a process in which the believer becomes a new person, liberated from sin or suffering; and

●   sources of inspiration, exemplary models, in the form of prophets or teachers.

These components form a grand narrative, specifying or illustrating a set of values and purportedly providing the sense of meaning and purpose which followers obtain from religion. 

To describe and express these, all major religions have sacred texts or revelations, and sacred rituals, which often re-enact the past, to connect people to the sacred, and mystical traditions.

Religions appeal to our sense of connectedness or a universal longing, and our natural, innate caring that motivates most of us to be good.  Religions claim they know how to express these best.

Some religions don't have a God, and those that do have a wide variety of different understandings of the nature of God  (e.g. a transcendent, supernatural, personal god, OR an impersonal, distant creator OR an immanent force for good), and religions have different reasons for believing in God, which all change over time and vary between believers, even within the same religion.

Many religions tell us that we are continually being watched, by God(s), angels, the fates, or some life force.  All our good and bad deeds are recorded, no matter how secretive we are.  This record is used to determine whether we go to heaven or hell, or what body or caste we are reincarnated into.  This provided part of the religious force that generated social cohesion in ancient societies.

We work through the next level of detail on each of the above issues (more).  After considering this evidence, we’ve looked for a way to state our conclusions briefly, and we come to the following summary.

Is this the best way to state our conclusions in this area?  Click on feedback, or add a comment below, if you can improve the substance or the phrasing.

   more                                                                                                          Statement 21

All major religions have some guidelines covering: truthfulness, a prohibition against at least some violence, controls on sexuality, sexist rules that oppress women more than men (and the constraints on men are often also crippling), and the Golden Rule (treat others as you wish to be treated).