| | I dare say we need to present them with the truth.
I am certainly not an expert, but it seems that many of the moslems are indoctrinated in their mosques, and essentially told what to think. Many moslems you speak to preach the same propaganda, like 'Americans are terrorists because they bombed Hiroshima' (I know I am generalising, I am sure not all moslems are like this).
The fact is, the individuals in the Islam faith seem unwilling to form their own opinion, lest they are deemed unworthy. The solidity of their faith defines their character. They would go so far as to blatantly ignore facts presented to them on the basis that simply not believing them is enough.
I don't pretend to know how to solve the problem, however it seems we need to not stir up their religious fervour, but communicate to them as trying to help.
Of course, when they don't believe it is helpful, what do you do?
One school of thought says to leave them to it, it is their right. Is it their right to be indoctrinated, to have lies told to them each day?
Believe it or not, I don't have a serious problem with having religion in society. Most people who join a religion are in need of purpose, or are especially distraught and looking for something to believe in. Theoretically in a religion (at least some) they learn to feel important, and worthwhile.
This effect is important, and while some go to therapy, some go to church. Unfortunately, there are far worse things that religion provides.
One of the main premisses of religion is to believe in something which cannot be proved. This is a part of the problem, and it is a perversion of the discovery process.
To be creative we need to think outside our normal boundaries. Christopher Columbus believed India could be reached by sailing west, while most people at the time believed he would fall off the earth. Believing in something that seems irrational is part of discovery.
Luckily for Columbus, the 'edge of the earth' theory was easy to disprove. Unfortunately, the 'no God exists' theory is impossible to disprove. This is where the mistake comes in.
Because we cannot prove a God exists, people elevated belief into something to be treasured, to be valued above all else, whereas before it had simply been a step in discovery, a necessary but not implicitly and uniquely valuable thing. For while belief is good, it must be tempered with reason.
This transition of belief's value is what causes the problems of today with religion. Knowledge is power, and the pursuit for knowledge is the only thing that can liberate humanity.
Instead of religions sharing knowledge and working to advance humanity, they are pitted against each other, each saying they are the only way.
With any unproved theory, one must realise the possibility or it being incorrect. To assume a theory is correct is blatantly wrong. Even with an unprovable theory, one mustn't stop thought in different directions.
While religion dictates a moral standard to life, and a God who judges, that is simply a theory among theories, all of which needs substantial research.
At least to my limited experience, some theologicians seem to imply that the indescriminate desire for knowledge is something which is part of the problem. It seems to me some even blame progress, or evolution as they term it, for society's lack of morals.
For progress to happen you need collaboration and motivation. Generally the predominant motivation is jealousy, which definitely isn't a good trait. Jealousy can be seen as the predominant instigator in war, which has in turn driven much of humanity's progress.
To me, jealousy is a problem, not progress.
The other need for progress is collaboration, since alone we can only achieve so much. Some theologicians seem to imply that the sharing of ideas is something bad, a form of communism.
Realise this, if we hadn't shared ideas, how long would it have taken humanity to discovery fire. Without the sharing of ideas, we would live as the animals do, each to his own, and relationships would only be dictated by survival.
Surely anybody deeming this sharing as bad would be deeming the fundamental nature of any sort of civilisation as bad.
These theologicians, only a small percentage luckily, contradict themselves, because religions like Christianity abdicate 'spreading the Word', and this is sharing ideas.
Stemming from this argument one can see that progress is something to be heralded, at least when not driven by jealousy.
As for modern religions, we need somehow to point out that believing in a theory shouldn't exclude all other theories, and belief is a step toward toward discovery, not an end it itself.
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