Adorno, the German Jewish philosopher, once said that there isn't a belief system so pure that cannot be corrupted for selfish aims, and that is as close to a definitive statement about beliefs as I will personally accept. I think that a person who has been tempered by life experience to be selfless, compassionate, just and generous, to live in order to heal and inspire others and bring them joy, will say that their beliefs have led them to that place - whether they believe in Christ, Buddha, Islam, objectivism, communism, Hindu gods, pagan rituals or whatever. Conversely, a cruel and selfish person, someone who is miserly, closed-minded, ignorant, greedy, hateful and fearful will use their beliefs to justify that - even if their behaviour directly contravenes the original essential nature of their beliefs.
I don't know very many people who follow a proscribed set of beliefs like Islam or Catholicism or even atheism (like this manifesto just published today on Salon) who don't try to disavow members who behave badly. They all say that someone who ... cheats, murders, rapes, maims, steals, etc., etc. fill in the blank ... does not belong to their group and isn't a 'true believer/disbeliever'. But they are. They all are.
So, it's not about beliefs. A person can believe anything, or not believe anything. It doesn't matter. What matters in the end is how much we've loved, and how much wisdom we've learned - wisdom being something entirely different than knowledge. The rest is diddly-squat.
I don't know very many people who follow a proscribed set of beliefs like Islam or Catholicism or even atheism (like this manifesto just published today on Salon) who don't try to disavow members who behave badly. They all say that someone who ... cheats, murders, rapes, maims, steals, etc., etc. fill in the blank ... does not belong to their group and isn't a 'true believer/disbeliever'. But they are. They all are.
So, it's not about beliefs. A person can believe anything, or not believe anything. It doesn't matter. What matters in the end is how much we've loved, and how much wisdom we've learned - wisdom being something entirely different than knowledge. The rest is diddly-squat.
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