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Universalist Philosophies in Religion

kyuuei

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Just a curiosity factor here. Universalism is the concept that all humans are experiencing the same Supreme Being.

I've written on my philosophies before on this matter but I want to know:
1. Are you a Universalist? If so, to what extent?

2. A brief description of your thoughts and/or why you came to that conclusion

3. If you are not a universalist (aka atheist, religious, agnostic, etc.) have you entertained the idea of universalism?

Note: I am not talking about agnosticism when I say universalist.. I've always understood agnosticism to be skeptical of a God. More of a "If a God exists, I can't see it or prove it, nor have I experienced it. But then again, we thought the world was flat for a while so.. eh." I have this mentality on UFOs and such, but that's another story.
 

Charmed Justice

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Are you a Universalist? If so, to what extent?

It seems as though no matter how far apart ancient tribes were from each other in a geographical sense, they presented with similar ideas of god, existence, and ethics. I specifically find Native American, West African, and tribal Taiwanese cultures intriguing in their similarity of spiritual expression. I'm Universalist in the sense that I believe that whatever is, if anything, is for us all.

If you are not a universalist (aka atheist, religious, agnostic, etc.) have you entertained the idea of universalism?


I identify as agnostic, but there are different types of agnostics. At the extreme, closed agnostic(essentially an atheist). I consider myself to be a spiritual Agnostic(apathetic) who has always entertained the idea of universalism--even as a Christian. I never believed in "our God" vs. "their God". My spiritual feelings and beliefs have always essentially been holistic, so I can't really say how I came to feel as a I did.
 

redacted

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There are things that all human minds have in common, just biologically speaking. So I think the set of possible experiences of God or whatever is limited. But there are always going to be different interactions between genetics, experience, and spiritual beliefs -- there's no way two people will have exactly the same spiritual experiences. That being said, I think there are certain experiences that can be lumped together that significant percentages of the population have in common.

Anyway, I tend to have little patience for unfalsafiable claims (like there being a God or not). I go with what seems likely or useful to me, based on my subjective experience of the world. It's useful to me (or at least creates the least amount of dissonance) to reject God as a useful concept in my life.

I don't think atheists and those who believe in God are that fundamentally different, though. So, in some senses, I am a universalist (like, we all believe one member of the set of possible beliefs). But in other senses, I think no one has any exact spiritual experiences in common. I guess it depends on how you frame the question.
 

01011010

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1. Are you a Universalist? If so, to what extent?
No, but if I were to believe in a higher power I'd go with this theory since it makes the most sense.

2. A brief description of your thoughts and/or why you came to that conclusion.
One belief system isn't going to appeal to all people. Many religions and faiths on the other hand, has a much better chance of reaching as many people as possible.

3. If you are not a universalist (aka atheist, religious, agnostic, etc.) have you entertained the idea of universalism?
I'm becoming a reform Jew, but will remain atheist and agnostic. In Judaism's opinion, all religions will lead to god. This is why they don't proselytize. They also believe religion isn't needed for reaching whatever salvation may or may not exist. That's rather universal, don't you think? :)
 

antireconciler

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One belief system isn't going to appeal to all people.

Although, the universalist might say that exactly one belief system is exactly what is currently appealing to everyone :D but you can imagine some find different ways of articulating it and don't recognize counter-systems as part of the one and same system. It becomes much much easier to do this when we allow our system to devour and incorporate contradiction itself, for now it binds elastically to every "refutation" and takes it in as a part of itself. In other words, our system becomes one which becomes. It becomes organic.

That transition feels really really good. >.<
 

01011010

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Although, the universalist might say that exactly one belief system is exactly what is currently appealing to everyone :D but you can imagine some find different ways of articulating it and don't recognize counter-systems as part of the one and same system. It becomes much much easier to do this when we allow our system to devour and incorporate contradiction itself, for now it binds elastically to every "refutation" and takes it in as a part of itself.

Touche.
 

phthalocyanine

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1. Are you a Universalist? If so, to what extent?

i guess i am..in the sense that i believe that all people who believe in a force or being of 'good' are connecting to the same source.

2. A brief description of your thoughts and/or why you came to that conclusion

always seemed natural to me, since childhood. it never made sense that there were all these separate, mutually exclusive entities out there with essentially the same roles and functions. i tend to see this pluralism in a vedantic sense; people may experience different facets of something that is ultimately unified.

3. If you are not a universalist (aka atheist, religious, agnostic, etc.) have you entertained the idea of universalism?

since i answered that i am a universalist i'll talk a bit about entertaining agnosticism.

i consider myself an agnostic theist... i believe in my heart that i have experienced something i could call god, but my rational brain has yet to truly prove or disprove anything to me on the matter.

i want to believe in it; i believe in human goodness at any rate, and my intuition definitely leads me to the philosophical side of life, but the Ti side of me is forever skeptical of anything that can only be 'proven' by subjective experience...as strong as some experiences have been, i still entertain the possibility that it might have been self-created and not of some divine origin.

this skepticism doesn't change how i feel about humanity and my role in society, however. even if it were proven that god did not exist, i wouldn't suddenly throw my beliefs out the window. i might take some time to reflect on just what some of my experiences were, but i wouldn't stop believing in individual or collective goodness.

as i age i expect some of these answers to change.
 

Feops

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Not a universalist.

Atheist, so I haven't entertained the notion personally, but I have been exposed to some more universal religions (bahaii?) and find their general acceptance to be refreshing and productive. I'm of the belief that most if not all religions were grown upon one another, over many generations and layers of interpretation, and that the changes made were based on the projected desires of the people. Thus, if one region or religion is intolerant of some or all others, that speaks poorly to their people as their faith is an extension of those feelings. That a group would feel that all others will burn in hell for eternity, and worse, wish it, speaks very poorly.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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Just a curiosity factor here. Universalism is the concept that all humans are experiencing the same Supreme Being.

I've written on my philosophies before on this matter but I want to know:
1. Are you a Universalist? If so, to what extent?

2. A brief description of your thoughts and/or why you came to that conclusion

3. If you are not a universalist (aka atheist, religious, agnostic, etc.) have you entertained the idea of universalism?

Note: I am not talking about agnosticism when I say universalist.. I've always understood agnosticism to be skeptical of a God. More of a "If a God exists, I can't see it or prove it, nor have I experienced it. But then again, we thought the world was flat for a while so.. eh." I have this mentality on UFOs and such, but that's another story.

I am a Christian, and I believe in the literal resurrection of Christ and all that. However I think that God has revealed Himself to all people in some form or fashion. Many of the various faiths around the world are just trying to describe what they have perceived about God. I believe in the teachings of the Bible, but I do not believe that Christianity or any religion can contain the entirety of God.

Here are some scriptures (NLT) that my belief is based on:

"The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world." John 1:9

"From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God has made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God." Romans 1:20

"God has made everything beautiful in its own time. He has planted eternity into the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." Eccls. 3:11

"Since we know that God is always right, we also know that all who do what is right are his children." 1 John 2:29
 

antireconciler

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"So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God." Romans 1:20

I like that. There's a sense in which atheists should give themselves more credit for the work they are doing because there is something divine and beautiful in rejecting bad reasoning. They in fact do the work of God, by which I mean the work of Reason. Whatever other means they ground their efforts in fall short of recognizing themselves for their efforts, and no one can know God but by recognizing their community, their likeness, with others.

"... we also know that all who do what is right are his children." 1 John 2:29

I really like this too. It's a beautiful summary. The way of knowing you are His is through knowing what you are doing is right and good, that is, through recognizing yourself and what you are doing for what it is and no less.
 
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