Do you think it is important to learn or educate yourself about all religions?

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Elle

New member
Do you think it is important to learn about world religions or other belief systems then your own?
why or why not?

as an atheist i have taken several world religion classes because i find the history aspect of it interesting. Also i think it's important to learn about other peoples religions/beliefs before you dismiss them.
 
I think it's important to a degree.

Yes, it's very interesting, but if you're living a mainstream life, you probably won't hurt from not knowing who Vishnu is.
 
Absolutely. If I want to fully understand and appreciate another person, another culture, I must be able to objectively learn and respect his or her beliefs. Religion is such a strong force in culture, it affects art, philosophy, medicine, food/cooking, everything. If you don't learn a person's or a culture's religion, you're seeing them in only two dimensions.
 
ignorance is bliss...

my bestfriend in college was an atheist & her minor was religious studies.

edit...who the eff gave me a thumbs down?? jerk
 
I looked up info on a lot of mainstream religions and they all seemed wrong/evil/insane to me.
Once I figured out that atheism was an option, I looked up the arguments and theories about the origin of the world, the origin of life, evolution, and other scientific areas that explain similar things religions try to. The first thing I noticed was that they had sources and experiments, and theories could be demonstrated today and have been recorded as accurate. I look at religion and even though I never thought about it before, I thought "Its just a book. A book backed up by no fact, science, or anything resembling sanity. There are no other books written to back it up. There are no other records of what it says, so how could anyone actually buy into this crap?"

I still can't answer that question, but I am happy as an atheist and have no plans of changing.
 
yes, i do, i enjoy researching tons of different religions in my free time.
two of my favorites to research are Wicca and Buddhism.
i just search the web for interesting facts.
one thing i could not read through was the bible though, it got too boring for me, i prefer to listen to my friends preach at me about how i'm going to hell, i learn a lot about their religion that way. jk, jk, they dont actually say that, but it's implied. i still luv 'em anyway.
 
Yes YES YESSSSS!!!!!!!
I have been in my past Catholic, Lutheran, Wiccan, a Demonolater, Atheist, Agnostic, and Pagan.
I love learning about other religions and it is important to learn about them because they play an important part in politics and culture. Unfortunately some ignorance on the part of the US has caused a rather problematic situation on the other side of the Atlantic. This is a prime example of why we should teach about all religions in detail.
 
Yes, I've already done some of my own research on other religions.
But, in the second semester of school this year, I'm taking a World Religions class. So excited for that. I love learning about different religions to educate myself.
 
Yes.Im an atheist too and i believe that its better to know the religion and debate with that religion so you know whats coming.Also its fun to exploit certain parts of that holy book.

Im a former christian so i know much about that religion.Right now im looking into buddism.
 
As you mention, it is really interesting. But important? Only if there is a reason for you. An awful lot of people simply don't need more than a nodding acquaintance -- no more than they can get from Wikipedia, for example -- to go ahead with their lives. When a question comes up, such as the polite way to deal with a particular person in business or social settings, admitting ones ignorance can go a long way.

The people who look into a great many religions are often seeking one in which they can believe. Atheists generally do not do that. Once we have found an intellectual home in atheism, that's usually enough. For those who still want the social interaction, there are atheist religions. That is, organizations with a spiritual basis that does not require belief in one or more gods. For example, I belong to the Ethical Society.
 
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