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Pastimes : History's effect on Religion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SARMAN who wrote (495)	6/22/2012 10:58:45 AM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 520

I've often thought about that and I don't think there is an easy answer. The world is a dynamic place and changes all the time. You can come up with a set of guiding principles that will remain valid for a long time - but only if they are very broad guiding principles. This makes such principles only useful to people who have the wisdom to interpret them according to the times and have the discipline (or faith) to apply their understanding of the principles. This is very time consuming and it is exhausting to most people. Or you can come up with a more elaborate system that will guide the followers, but become archaic and out of touch with the times rather soon. This is also a great dividing line between the liberal and orthodox interpretations of religion. And let's not forget that all understanding is a form of interpretation and all interpretation is subjective. Here is an excellent book on how subjective interpretation really is: If This Be Treason: Translation and Its Dyscontents ... - Google Books To make it short, translation can be word-for-word, and it will be "pure" but likely indiscernible, or it can be thought-for-thought and then it will not be what the originator said but what the translator thinks he said. To see this for yourself, assume that I describe New York's Grand Central Station as the greatest train station in the world and takes everyone to where they desire. For now let's consider that we are talking to a fellow American in the modern times. Likely he will understand what I mean by this statement, even if he disagrees. But as we move away in time or space, questions will arise: a tribesman in central Burma may wonder what the trains are? Someone else may wonder if the phrase, "takes everyone to where they desire" is literal or figurative. Even when we confine our questions to purely literal interpretations, one may wonder what "the greatest" refers to: is about the architecture of the station? Is it about the number of trains? Perhaps the number of trains is not important and it refers to how many destinations can be reached. Or that all these are too physical and that "greatest" refers to the role the station plays in NYC society. The list can go on. If the speaker is around, then you can ask him to explain. But what if he's been dead for centuries and lived in a different country with a different language, culture, and societal norms? Buddha tried to open the eyes of a few people whom he believed could almost see the truth (in his words, did not have too much sand in their eyes). And even though these were people from his own era and location, they did not get it right. Consistently through out his life he had to correct the misinterpretations of the "experts". The same goes every other religion. Ultimately, you need to distill the religion into a handful of simple principles and use your heart and brain to interpret them. You may not be any more successful than the so called "experts," but at least you will be making your own mistakes and not someone else's. ST