h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Last week I was invited to participate in an inter-faith youth forum organised by the Jubilee committee. 80 people of the Christian, Bahai, Zoroastrian, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim faiths, aged around 16 to 24 were put into groups of 10 people to discuss the roles of religion in every day life. Later, we also discussed the pros and cons of faith-based charities, and the ways in which religion inspired people to give service to the community.

One thing I think wasn't discussed enough was the following question:
"Are people for religion or is religion for people?"
No one seemed to have much to contribute on that matter.

If the latter is true, then I guess it doesn't matter what your religion is, as long as it brings out the best in you. But if the former is true then a fair number of the people at the conference are, as another participant pointed out, "all going to hell."

Hi there!
I'm not really much of a religious person-in that I don't
go to church (I used to-but...)
but I feel as if I believe in God in a way-and this will probably sound silly-but if there was no God I wouldn't have
found/been given h2g2.
h2g2 saves my life-It gives me hope and a place to reach other people-and lets me know all people aren't horrible.

I see this as a place to try and change people's views on life etc-and a place to educate some people.
Long live h2g2 and the wonderful
researchers.
sorry if I'm rambling!

Primord

Hello!

Well, what a fascinating question. I've studied Western religious mysticism for years and the more I study, the more I think that most organised religions are seriously barking up the wrong tree - the faiths have got crystallised into things they were never meant to be - and used to control people.

'Religio' I believe is Latin for 'I bind' - which is not what a spiritual faith is about. As one great Jewish prophet said 'And the truth shall set you free.' Unfortunately the religion that got fixed around him forgot that!

I studied New Testament Greek to try and work out what the Bible actually says - and believe me, some of the accepted translations are seriously screwy!

This is probably a bit intense...but it's my real hobby-horse!

I see religion as a way to try and be a good person-by following the 10 commandments you can be decent-and that's what I think is important.

Yes, it's so simple isn't it? Gets so complicated by people saying 'You have to do it MY way or you're wrong.' The older I get the more I see how daft that is!

Maggy:
>>I studied New Testament Greek to try and work out what the Bible actually says - and believe me, some of the accepted translations are seriously screwy!<<

That reminds me of the interpretation of the Qur'an that says something along the lines of "if you get into heaven, there'll be lots of virgins waiting for you".... The word usually translated as "virgins" could also mean "grapes" or such other things.. which our society doesn't find quite so disturbing in a religion....

Know what you mean; I spent ages arguing with an RE teacher over "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". He was convinced that the meaning was literal, whereas, having studied that portion, I thought it was going on about monetary compensation.

Hi Mayt,
I believe religion is for people, not vice-versa. It's more of a psychological thing, giving people something to believe in and an excuse to do good and to make the world a better place. But if God exists in our minds, doesn't that mean that he exists anyway? By believing in something you make it real?

I did think that.... Now, I'm not sure what I think.

I know a liberal rabbi who figures that God is just whatever created the universe....call it a force or a being or whatever. But that doesn't explain why we should pray to it!!!

I'm not sure I like the thought of that -- liberal preachers who don't really believe in what their faith teaches.... Laypeople, that's alright, but the leaders... I think they really need to believe everything the faith is, otherwise they just seem to be, well... I don't know the word to explain what I mean...

Insincere?

Could be......but I think the way he justifies it is to explain that he just interprets the teachings in a way that makes sense to him. I guess I can identify with that, since I have a problem with the idea of God as a great big man....

Heh heh...

I don't think God is the old man with a beard, it's more like a force. But people can identify with the idea of God if they think of him as a man with a beard. Maybe dogs would think of God as a dog with a beard (although dogs have hair all over, I suppose).

It still doesn't explain why we should pray to that force though....do you think of it as a force with awareness, like a person, or as something completely different? I wouldn't pray to the laws of physics even though I agree that they're in charge of what I can and can't do, but I guess a force with awareness would be very different.

Hrm... That's probably not the right question to ask *me*, because I don't really pray..... The Christian idea is, God is like a father. Like a father, he wants to hear things from *you*, from your mouth, because he cares about you. Even if he knows what's going on, it is still nice to hear from you. So in praying, you are just talking to God, like you would talk to anyone else. The entire Christian idea is God as a supreme being who cares very much about you. Well, at least that's Protestant/Lutheran... I dunno about Catholicism... They seem to do some things different from the way I had learned.

I probably do think of 'God' as a force with awareness rather than just a physical force - more of a spiritual force. Maybe the fact that you can't prove the existence of a God is a test of faith. You can easily believe that 2+2=4 when it has been proven. But to believe in anything spiritual you only have blind faith, so you really have to think about it yourself and that's why religion can be so personal and psychologically rewarding. I don't know about Catholicism either, but isn't that more about worshipping the Virgin Mary than a supreme being?