Religions of all kinds have one purpose, to save the soul from torture and destruction upon death. Or even during life.
But all religions rely on the knowing of cause and effect, the anticipation of consequences. Such a thing is not part of the soul. That is part of the spirit.
So how can religions aim at saving souls when they demand souls to perform what is not in them? Spirits could perform, but it is not the spirit but the soul that can be lost.
So, are all religions a failed concept categorically?
Dear
anotherlife
I would advise to make three distinctions between:
2. the religion (which is a cultural language for laws)
1. the universal self-existent laws that govern human nature and the world *independent of manmade expression* of these principles and process
and
3. the history, current practice and evolution of how these religions are exercised in real life
I think you are talking about level #3.
And you are questioning the effectiveness of using #2 if it is corrupted so much by #3 that it is hopeless, so why bother.
From the very beginning, of course, since humans are selfishly biased toward ourselves, and we are not infinite, perfect or omniscient to understand all things or treat others equally as ourselves, we can never fully grasp #1 which is infinite eternal and beyond our finite perception and ability to understand and express in limited words.
But the same is true of our limited science vocabulary, or knowledge in medicine that is still sorely lacking or ignored when we know better than to do things that damage our health. Even Math, as objective and neutral as a language can get, is limited and has to evolve and grow to express values and relations in a consistent way to communicate accurately.
All these systems evolve to express greater understanding as humanity develops. We still use systems in #2 (whether religion, science, art or other expressions) to share experiences and gain greater understanding of #1 while we learn and teach from problems with #3 that help us t ok grow and develop as we go.
To appreciate what works in religions, I focus on which teach skills or process of SELF Correction.
Ex:
A. Meditation is a universal process.
But Buddhism focuses on teaching discipline to meditate inward on what is causing conflict suffering and attachment to past emotions INSIDE the mind, so this can be let go in order to think more objectively to solve problems effectively.
This is a combination of
1. A universal process the mind already does to try to understand and fix problems, out of desire for peace and satisfaction and wanting to avoid stress and prevent inconvenience and worse problems
2. The teachings in Buddhism
3. The actual practice and what has become religious tradition and cultural ceremonies around the family community or national culture
Buddhism recognizes human limitations, and provides teaching on inner understanding by self checking to grow to more mature awareness by detaching from issues from the past holding us back instead of learning from them and moving forward.
B. Christianity teaches several levels of prayer to correct oneself first, and healing the mind body and spirit while addressing the same in RELATIONS with neighbors
www.christianhealingmin.org
Because we are not perfect, we make biased decisions that cause conflicts or even injury wrongs or damage to ourselves and others. So Christianity teaches of higher forgiveness and transformation by grace given through Christ Jesus as the central connection between man's conscience will and laws (including #2) and the universal laws (#1) where receiving this spiritual connection brings higher peace as represented by the Holy Spirit. Again, it is because we will experience faults and flaws in our relations, that we need to learn Forgiveness in order to make Corrections that restore and heal relations. Faith in Christ makes the connection between our individual inner process, and the impact on relations with neighbors as well as collective salvation of all humanity by breaking the cycle of karmic bondage from the past.
The Correction process in Christianity is given in Matthew 18:15-20, James 5:16, Matthew 5:44 and other verses where forgiveness is required to be forgiven, and we correct ourselves if we want others to do the same, by the Golden Rule of reaping what we sow.
Again, three levels of the universal laws, the expression of them through religious language and symbols, and the physical practice expression and changes in relationships and historical development and outreach in the real world.
C. Constitutionalism
ta
Takes the belief in equal due process and equal protection of laws to a public level with govt. I don't know anyone who can perfectly assume and treat all people to be equally innocent and deserving of equal protections until proven otherwise. Every human I have ever met will put their beliefs and interests first, as the default position, then add in other people while defending themselves and their current commitments first. That is human nature to prioritize with these biases that will skew our perception of laws and justice toward what we want.
Yet we all want a govt, which is run by flawed biased people, that reflects what we want equally as our neighbors biased toward themselves and their party interests. Is this not a seeming hopeless task to keep using govt when it is inherently flawed and will get biased toward whichever group dominates?
This is by far the hardest most impossible to expect people to really uphold "equal justice under law" and respect and protect equal rights for all citizens.
But the Constitutional system has built in process for "petitioning to redress grievances" using free speech and free press.
Again, these democratic principles and process are universal to all humanity #1.
Our Constitutional laws #2 are limited and were written only to apply to US govt, before "equal protections" were amended to apply to all States (14th Amendment) and later all public institutions receiving federal or tax funding (Civil Rights Act).
Now we face the challenge of expanding these protections to parties, people, corporations or other collective institutions, by voluntary compliance by the Golden Rule of equal respect for others as we want protections for ourselves.
So level 3 the real life practice is an ongoing struggle to achieve the ideal of "equal justice and protections of the law" that Constitutionalists believe and preach.
Does this mean it is hopeless?
Yes and no.
Because we are going to be politically biased and flawed, we will rely on all groups to protect and represent the interests of their members. Then work on collaborating between Religious and Political groups to agree on corrections and public policy.
All religions are limited and we are flawed in practice of any of them
But we can still use Religions as tools to coordinate between people by groups with a common language and cultural community between them.
Not perfect. But like an orchestra with diverse instruments, if we organize by section we can make sure every group plays their part "in harmony" in tune and in timing with everyone else. The music on the page is written to work out. The playing is never 100% perfect, but when we stick to our parts, we can identify and correct errors *by listening and correcting each other*, and make the symphony work.
Not by trying to defeat each other as hopelessly imperfect. But helping each other to achieve common ideals and goals, knowing we are flawed and our systems are not perfect. But respecting each other's commitments, and making the most of the talents and resources we have, for the best interests of both the individuals and collective society for the sake of common humanity.
