Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Organizing Religions

Religions are very complex things and people live them in very different ways, so, I don't think it is possible to exactly categorize each kind of religion. But in a very superficial, incomplete and simplified way we could say that:

  1. Chaos / anarchy - needs obedience
  2. Judaism and Islam mainly preaches faith
  3. Christianity mainly preaches love
  4. Budhism mainly preaches release
  5. Skepticism mainly preaches understanding
  6. Understanding just understands the sea of ignorance in which we are, and attempts to sail it as well as it can.
Ok, so this is just a caricature of religions and ways of seeing the world. But my point here is that what a religion actually preaches and what it promotes are two different things. For instance Christianity preaches love, but it actually promotes obedience. Buhddism preaches release, but it actually promotes love. Skepticism preaches understanding, while it actually promotes release (emotional release). And Judaism, although it preaches faith, in fact it promotes obedience. So we can see these religions or ways of seeing the world as a kind of steps in a ladder that come all the way from chaos to understanding.

Of course, all of this is wrong. Mainly because religions preach and promote lots of different things and people that practice them live them in very different ways. In any case, it seems an interesting, perspective, because, even if highly incomplete, it gives a kind of draft, a gist, that has some insight to it.