Do we consider the other side of the story? Sometimes, we feel pretty strongly about our political and religious beliefs if we do not consider the legitimacy of other beliefs. When we explore them, we realize that reasonable people can disagree, that there are (at least) two sides to every story, and that the truth can be more nuanced or situational than we realize. Consider the passionate feelings around controversial issues like abortion and guns. There are legitimate... Read more
“Don’t believe everything you think.” Do we have good reasons for our beliefs? Sometimes, people make pretty strong statements without having objective evidence or subjective experience. I wrote about distinguishing between beliefs and facts here. We can avoid a lot of arguments by asking clarifying questions. Our brains have evolved to make quick decisions with little basis in fact. Our ancestors made instinctive “fight or flight” decisions that allowed them to continue to propagate in the gene pool. Then, the... Read more
Everyone has beliefs, and beliefs are not inherently good or bad, in and of themselves. Beliefs can be problematic when we confuse our beliefs with facts or when we impose our beliefs on others. I wrote about beliefs and facts here, and I wrote about respecting others’ beliefs here. In coming weeks, I will be writing about how to navigate discussions about politics and religion. In my opinion, we can make even the most outlandish claims, as long as we... Read more
In The Way, I suggest that we should hold our political and religious beliefs more loosely. The book describes how the new physics transforms our understanding of the physical universe and how 2,000 years of progress in history, science, philosophy and theology transforms our understanding of Ultimate Reality. In a black-and-white Newtonian universe, there is no paradox. But, in a Technicolor quantum universe, there is a lot of paradox. The universe is a connected field, not a bunch of discrete... Read more
Recall that there are 45,000 Christian denominations, who almost never agree. Imagine that all 2.4 billion Christians agree that we should follow Jesus. What does it mean to follow Jesus? Many of my Catholic friends aspire to be good people and to attend Mass regularly. Many of my Protestant friends claim to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. For 2,000 years, Catholics have believed (like James) that we are justified by faith and works. For 500 years, Protestants have... Read more
In theory, moral relativism is the worst kind of morality. However, in practice, it is the only kind of morality. Some people who have not practiced other traditions wonder if they are legitimate. Were their gods made up? Were their scriptures human inventions? Are they moral without commandments? But, this assumes that OUR gods are not made up and that OUR scriptures are not human inventions. Also, this assumes that OUR commandments are absolute, clear, and unchanging. “Thou shalt not... Read more
Ramana Maharshi, a Hindu mystic, had the following exchange with a student: “Q: How are we to treat others? A: There are no others.” The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as we would want to be treated. The Golden Rule is common to almost all traditions, including Bahai, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Humanism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Scientology, Sikhism, Taoism, Wicca, Yoruba, and Zoroastrianism, among others. In its weak form, the Golden Rule suggests that we treat others... Read more
What is the future of Christianity? Can Christianity be more experiential, more nuanced, and more respectful of science? What is Happening? In the West, we assume that Christianity has dominated world history, and we assume that the United States will always be the leader of the free world. However, if we take the long view, we know that demographers estimate that approximately 120 billion humans have lived on earth and that over half of them lived before the common... Read more
The benefits of exploring other traditions are numerous. So, it is helpful to understand both the similarities and the differences in religious beliefs and practices. In The Way, I describe what Aldous Huxley and others called the perennial philosophy. Huxley believed that the perennial philosophy underlies all religions. It assumes that there is a godhead or ground behind the Universe, that this unity is immanent and transcendent, and that we can commune or merge with the godhead or ground of... Read more
Zen is not concerned with prescription or speculation. I wrote about Zen here and here and here. In these posts, I outlined Buddhist thought in broad strokes. Buddhism aims to reduce suffering, and it is mostly concerned with practice, not belief. There is no Buddhist creed, like there is no Hindu or Jewish or Muslim creed. More important, Buddhist thought expresses the observations of Buddha and his followers. These observations can be verified with objective evidence and subjective experience. Fundamentally,... Read more
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