We simply lack systems other than religions that provide religions same benefits
I am empathetic to this point, and I was thinking of this recently too. However, I’ve reached a conclusion that the benefit of having values relatively independent of religion (or even similar communities) is to be able to change and develop your values as you experience more things in life. It feels to me that values in religion may be relatively fixed (I could be wrong).
The sad/hard thing is that the process of changing values or beliefs might be a painful experience, while fixed values could bring more stability. But embracing changes in values could be much more rewarding and beneficial in the long run. It does require a person to be very “strong” though, to challenge themselves on some fundamental levels.
requiring members to buy in to some ethical, ontological, and metaphysical claims is load bearing
This is sad, and I wonder what we can do to make it better.
The sad/hard thing is that the process of changing values or beliefs might be a painful experience, while fixed values could bring more piece. But embracing changes in values could be much more rewarding and beneficial in the long run. It does require a person to be very “strong” though, to challenge themselves on some fundamental levels.
Totally!
Some religions make this really hard. They have a large, firm set of beliefs they want you to explicitly believe.
Other religions make this easier. In them, you can basically believe whatever you want so long as you, say, still perform required rituals, or continue to commit to a small set of shared values that allow a lot of variation within them.
I think the latter kind offers some big advantages over the former, especially given that the world is changing quickly and some values need to shift to adapt to that changing world.
I am empathetic to this point, and I was thinking of this recently too. However, I’ve reached a conclusion that the benefit of having values relatively independent of religion (or even similar communities) is to be able to change and develop your values as you experience more things in life. It feels to me that values in religion may be relatively fixed (I could be wrong).
The sad/hard thing is that the process of changing values or beliefs might be a painful experience, while fixed values could bring more stability. But embracing changes in values could be much more rewarding and beneficial in the long run. It does require a person to be very “strong” though, to challenge themselves on some fundamental levels.
This is sad, and I wonder what we can do to make it better.
Totally!
Some religions make this really hard. They have a large, firm set of beliefs they want you to explicitly believe.
Other religions make this easier. In them, you can basically believe whatever you want so long as you, say, still perform required rituals, or continue to commit to a small set of shared values that allow a lot of variation within them.
I think the latter kind offers some big advantages over the former, especially given that the world is changing quickly and some values need to shift to adapt to that changing world.