Henry Bemis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> COMMENT: In the OP "religions" referred to
> alternative *institutional* religions. To suggest
> that "religion" encompasses all metaphysical and
> philosophical positions and worldviews, including
> "atheism," is a stretch to say the least. Although
> there may be such broad definitions in some
> contexts, that is certainly not the context of the
> OP, or of the Board generally.
The OP said (in a responding post) that "religion is important in my life." The question posed is specifically about "religion" more broadly, which the OP is requesting information on. If it can be assumed that Mormon religion constitutes only a tiny part of what we understand as "world religion," then expanding the OP's present dimensions of the question "what is religion?" is directly appropriate to answering the OP's query.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_religionFrom this article: "[…] almost every known culture [has] a depth dimension in cultural experiences […] toward some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life. When more or less distinct patterns of behavior are built around this depth dimension in a culture, this structure constitutes religion in its historically recognizable form. Religion is the organization of life around the depth dimensions of experience varied in form, completeness, and clarity in accordance with the environing culture."
When I did a Google search for the definition of religion, these excerpts express what I was trying to express:
Religion is:
"...a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe"
"...concern with the ultimate meaning of human existence"
"...a comprehensive worldview, or 'metaphysical moral vision' that is accepted as binding because it is held to be in itself basically true and just even if all dimensions of it cannot be either fully confirmed or refuted."
"The very attempt to define religion, to find some distinctive or possibly unique essence or set of qualities that distinguishes the religious from the remainder of human life, is primarily a Western concern."
"[…]a relatively-bounded system of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence, and in which communion with others and Otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiments, and knowing."
> __________________________________________
>
> I highly recommend that you read the following two
> books, which I guarantee will provide you with a
> solid base for determining what the optimum
> religious path for YOU might be:
>
> 1) STAGES OF FAITH: The Psychology of Human
> Development and the Quest for Meaning, by James W.
> Fowler (a standard text in study of
> religion/religions studies classes, from high
> school age through graduate levels).
>
> 2) THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF CHILDREN, by Robert Coles
> (which shows how all humans, regardless of their
> religious backgrounds, develop their own,
> individual, spiritualities from birth through
> adulthood).
>
> COMMENT: Rather than take these recommendations
> solely upon your own (religious) authority
This is not my "religious authority"--both of these books are generally used as college texts in colleges and universities throughout the United States, in addition to their use as general audience, regular, non-fiction books.
> why don't you summarize the points in each that you
> believe are particularly enlightening.
I do not have the ability to do this. Both books deal with Western culture situations at large, and I have no idea if the concepts can be effectively synopsized (I doubt that they could be here).
[I am, and have always been (since I got these two books under discussion, by Fowler and Coles) interested in how the generally-applicable points would appear if the specifics were broader: African animism, for example....or Japanese/other Asian cultures (highly dependent on "orders from above")....Russian culture (because Russian culture depends so heavily on outside, "miraculous" or "fairy tale"-type intervention in order to solve realistic, real world, problems (Russian children's literature is heavily constructed on these kinds of outside interventions, while American children's literature, on the other hand, teaches the values of self-direction, logically figuring out how to evaluate and deal with a problem, practical info on how to survive in a crisis outdoors, etc.), and so on.]
> Or at
> least tell us why "your recommendation" out of
> millions of books in theology should be taken
> unquestionably at face value.
Neither of these books are about theology. Fowler's book is about "the psychology of human development and the quest for meaning," which is a universal human topic--in this case, seen through the prism of human development stages from earliest childhood, to adulthood, and then over the course of that person's adult life.
Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at Harvard, and his previous books in this series are: THE MORAL LIFE OF CHILDREN, and THE POLITICAL LIFE OF CHILDREN. This book on THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF CHILDREN does attempt to broaden the research and conclusions beyond stereotypical American forms (specifically: one of his main research subjects was into the spiritual lives of Hopi children).
> My guess is that
> there are many more people who would "highly"
> recommend any number of books containing Mormon or
> Christian apologetics that will "make everything
> clear."
I don't know what this means.
> After you read these two books, you will have a
> much stronger realization of "where" you are right
> now, and where you (unbeknownst to yourself) are
> likely heading.
Because these books study the effects of religion, but in no way are they promoting religion--they are simply explaining what they have learned from their research studies ABOUT the effects of religion on ordinary people.
> COMMENT: I thought you said no proselytizing!
I am not proselytizing.
> This is like a Mormon recommending a book by Hugh
> Nibley or Truman Madsen.
I am a nevermo, and although I have seen the Nibley name before, I have no idea who he is, or who Madsen is.
> Tell us what these authors have to say that will
> enlighten us about religion.
The authors are not enlightening anyone about religion, they are explaining the EFFECTS of religion on people, and how humans who have been exposed to religions of different types develop over time, from childhood to very late adulthood.