{"id":4010,"date":"2018-03-07T21:22:35","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T05:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?p=4010"},"modified":"2018-03-07T21:22:35","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T05:22:35","slug":"disagree-someones-religion-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/03\/disagree-someones-religion-study\/","title":{"rendered":"If I Disagree with Someone\u2019s Religion, Why Should I Study It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Published courtesy of STAND: Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Everyone has a religion even if it is the assertion that there is nothing in which to have faith.<\/p>\n

But when a person embraces a faith, it is because he perceives truth in it.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
The Great Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary (Heracles Kritikos \/ Shutterstock.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The obvious reply to the question \u201cIf I disagree with someone else\u2019s religion, why should I study it?\u201d is the question \u201cHow do you know you disagree if you haven\u2019t studied it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The proper response to \u201cdisagreement\u201d in anything is to \u200bget more information,<\/em>\u00a0and one gets more\u00a0\u200binformation \u200bby studying and asking honest questions.<\/p>\n

A few months ago I was visiting my\u00a0church\u2019s Florida headquarters<\/a>\u00a0from Northern California to do Scientology courses and counseling.<\/p>\n

I called an Uber driver because I needed a ride to pick up some things at the pharmacy and didn\u2019t have a car.<\/p>\n

He was a very nice man. We chatted amiably. Then he offered to take me past the church\u00a0headquarters as a sightseeing activity, as we were close by.<\/p>\n

I told him that would be great and asked if he had ever gone into the church. He told me no, that\u00a0he did not want to be abducted. (???!!!)<\/p>\n

There was a pause as I debated whether or not to make him uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

I told him I was a Scientologist and would not know what to do with him if it ever crossed my\u00a0mind to abduct him.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
The Flag Building, international spiritual headquarters of the Scientology religion in Clearwater, Florida<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

There was the inevitable awkward pause and finally I said: \u201cLook, you obviously have questions. Do you want some real answers?\u201d<\/p>\n

He was so relieved. He \u200bdid<\/em>\u00a0want real answers, but fearmongers had made him hesitate to walk into a church and ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical correctness\u201d pushes the idea that it is impolite to ask anyone about personal things like\u00a0religion, but most people don\u2019t actually mind answering honest questions as long as they \u200bare<\/em>\u00a0honest questions and don\u2019t lead to\u200b ridicule or attack.<\/p>\n

I told him he could ask me anything and he proceeded to unleash a torrent of questions, some\u00a0silly and based on lies obviously invented by someone who knew nothing of Scientology, and others \u200bcurious and open-ended\u2014questions \u200bI might have asked when I first entered the church.<\/p>\n

By the end of the ride we were buds and he stated that he was going to pull out his old copy of\u00a0Dianetics<\/a><\/i>\u00a0and give it another look.<\/p>\n

In short, he was going to find out for himself rather than be a \u201cskeptic\u201d or rely on the rumors of\u00a0others.<\/p>\n

Frankly, the idea that being skeptical makes you smart is completely backward. It means that you have not taken the time to find out or that you, for whatever reason, refuse to believe what you have observed.<\/p>\n

For when you find out about other religions, you will see that we agree on much more than we\u00a0disagree.<\/p>\n

Almost every religion has the idea that we are spiritual beings worthy of hope, love and\u00a0compassion.<\/p>\n

Almost every religion believes that helping others is laudable and one should do it freely.<\/p>\n

Almost every religion has beautiful traditions and rituals and music.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral, New York City<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

And almost every religion has its power to inspire and uplift, whether you are in\u00a0St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral at Christmas<\/a>\u00a0tearing up from the choir, the candles and the immense beauty of the whole scene, or whether you are in a synagogue or mosque feeling the community of spirit during prayer.<\/p>\n

Every religion I know of celebrates the good and kind in ourselves and our neighbors. Religions\u00a0celebrate who we\u200b\u00a0really\u00a0<\/em>are.<\/p>\n

The religious should not be attacked. They should, at the very least, be left to worship as they see fit.<\/p>\n

Religion recognizes that we are all\u00a0one<\/em>\u00a0under the skin that clothes our bones. That is the greatest\u00a0and most important commonality we have. We need religion to remind us of that from time to\u00a0time.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published courtesy of STAND: Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination\u00a0 Everyone has a religion even if it is the assertion that there is nothing in which to have faith. But when a person embraces a faith, it is because he perceives truth in it. The Great Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary (Heracles Kritikos \/ Shutterstock.com) The obvious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1374,1392],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stand","category-tolerance"],"yoast_head":"\nIf I Disagree with Someone\u2019s Religion, Why Should I Study It?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Published courtesy of STAND: Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination\u00a0 Everyone has a religion even if it is the assertion that there is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/03\/disagree-someones-religion-study\/\" \/>\n<meta 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