Constant Musings

Faith is a fascinating thing. It comes in so unbelievably many shapes, and there is a mind-boggling diversity of rituals, traditions, scriptures, values, ceremonies, beliefs…

Consider the following list, for example, and how different many of these belief systems are:

Christianity (with various denominations)
Baha’i
Confucianism
Hinduism
Judaism
Islam
Zoroastrianism
Buddhism
The beliefs of ancient cultures such as Mayas, Egyptians, etc
Jainism
Shinto
Native American spiritualism
African, Amazonian, and other tribal religions, Australian aborigines, New Zealand Maori

And so on and on and on and on…. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of belief systems. According to some researchers, there are 19 major world religions, subdivided into 270 large religious groups. And an unimaginable 34,000 separate Christian groups have been identified (many being independent churches). That’s just Christian groups, mind you – you get the picture.

They all have in common a longing for answers, for guidance, for reassurance, for consolation, for hope…. All of these have their own structures, ethics, philosophies, leaders, scriptures, places of worship, etc.

But which one is right? Which one is wrong? Are they all right, or could they all be wrong? Who is to say?

Looking at the various forms of faith and considering the distinct differences in the multitude of religions worldwide, it is hard to ignore the role humans have played in shaping both faith and religions. It seems in most cases the terms faith and religion are, for better or worse, inseparable. But does faith require religion? Does being religious make a person’s faith better, or worse, or have no relevance? There don’t seem to be any easy answers to these questions.

I read a definition of religion that simply defined it as follows: “religion is any specific system of belief about deity, often involving rituals, a code of ethics, and a philosophy of life.” Seems fair enough, and very encompassing. But couldn’t the same definition be applied to the term “faith”? I do not think so, as a person can probably have faith in a deity without necessarily requiring rituals etc.

In any case, with such an endless number of permutations in rituals, structures, philosophies, scriptures, beliefs etc, I have long wondered how much of all that is really the will of a deity (or deities), and how much is simply human conjecture, interpretation, and elaboration?

We may never know the answers to any of this, but I think it is every single person’s intellectual duty to at least ponder such questions. Blindly accepting any concept presented to you, in whatever context, is just plain intellectual laziness. Many people may disagree, but I do think in the end, one should subject religion and faith to the same rigorous “tests” applied to other concepts. In science, there are methods and protocols for testing hypotheses. Why should religion and faith be excluded from such probing? Some may counter this by saying about religion or faith (in the famous words used by a Supreme Court judge once) “I know it when I see it”, or I guess with religion the corollary would be “I know it when I feel it”. Others may say, “you just have to have faith”. Again, I think these are intellectually lazy excuses. If you really, truly want to believe in something, what better way to achieve that goal than to see if it stands up to real, unbiased scrutiny?

Like I said – faith is a fascinating thing.

Having said all that, here’s another picture I took in Bali, showing one of those many facets of faith. Bali’s principal and official religion is Hinduism, but it is different from Indian Hinduism (again – what caused these differences? Were they a deity’s wishes? Maybe, maybe not.) The Balinese worship the trinity of Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, as well as other gods (such as the gods of earth, fire, water, and mountains, the god of fertility, rice, etc). I have never seen so many temples, not even in India. There is a temple at literally every street corner, house, etc. Amazingly beautiful structures, and the incense and flowers you see in this picture play prominent roles in their rituals.

(oh and please forgive the watermark in the picture but I’ve started to find some of my photography being used without my permission and without attribution).

click for full size