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I was thinking the other day about how people interact with their gods. This thought may or may not have been spurred by the series of Test Matches now taking place between Australia and India, or it may be completely unrelated (1). I'll leave that to the reader.
Now I am not a religious man, nor a pious one, nor a spiritual one in particular. I am I suppose a Protestant atheist. I live in what I think is still probably a broadly Christian country - in outlook, if not in faith - but one which is pretty secular and multi-faith. However, I am not close friends with very many people who practice a religion that is not Christianity. I have a couple of close friends who are Jewish but either atheists or agnostics or the like or not particularly devout. I think I have a friend who is a practising Buddhist but she might just be Buddhist curious.
But all the people I've ever had a serious conversation about how they experience their god have been monotheists and almost all Christian.
So my model for how people who are devoutly religious is very Christian centric. That there is a single God, who is personally interested in you as an individual and with whom you can be in communion. This God is likely to have some instruction for you personally on how to live your life. That instruction might be best accessed through a personal process of meditation or through communal worship. It might best be supported by ritual and ceremony or not. It might be delivered to you directly from God or by the intermediaries in a priesthood but you are engaged in some dialogue with God.
I think, based on very limited knowledge, and mostly by looking at the outward appearance of Jewish religious organisations that Judaism has a similar approach and similar divisions.
I've no idea on Islam and beyond the monotheistic faiths I'm not even sure I have the tool kit to think about the question. How do Hindus view their relationships with their pantheon of gods? Is a relationship with those gods that important to the? How do the practitioners of Shinto or Australian Aboriginal Peoples experience their religion.
No idea.
I'm not burning with a desire to know. I'm not about to go an seek out this knowledge. I merely that my world model is narrow here. Hey ho.
(1) actually it was prompted by reading the Twitter feed of a Scottish rugby player and noticing his public declarations of faith.
Now I am not a religious man, nor a pious one, nor a spiritual one in particular. I am I suppose a Protestant atheist. I live in what I think is still probably a broadly Christian country - in outlook, if not in faith - but one which is pretty secular and multi-faith. However, I am not close friends with very many people who practice a religion that is not Christianity. I have a couple of close friends who are Jewish but either atheists or agnostics or the like or not particularly devout. I think I have a friend who is a practising Buddhist but she might just be Buddhist curious.
But all the people I've ever had a serious conversation about how they experience their god have been monotheists and almost all Christian.
So my model for how people who are devoutly religious is very Christian centric. That there is a single God, who is personally interested in you as an individual and with whom you can be in communion. This God is likely to have some instruction for you personally on how to live your life. That instruction might be best accessed through a personal process of meditation or through communal worship. It might best be supported by ritual and ceremony or not. It might be delivered to you directly from God or by the intermediaries in a priesthood but you are engaged in some dialogue with God.
I think, based on very limited knowledge, and mostly by looking at the outward appearance of Jewish religious organisations that Judaism has a similar approach and similar divisions.
I've no idea on Islam and beyond the monotheistic faiths I'm not even sure I have the tool kit to think about the question. How do Hindus view their relationships with their pantheon of gods? Is a relationship with those gods that important to the? How do the practitioners of Shinto or Australian Aboriginal Peoples experience their religion.
No idea.
I'm not burning with a desire to know. I'm not about to go an seek out this knowledge. I merely that my world model is narrow here. Hey ho.
(1) actually it was prompted by reading the Twitter feed of a Scottish rugby player and noticing his public declarations of faith.
