Looking Back to 2006: It's All Subjective!

It's All Subjective!
Original post date: June 5, 2006

On Saturday, at one of our local grocery stores, I got into a discussion with one of the courtesy clerks about religion and philosophy. When the clerk learned that I'm a Taoist (a what?), she wanted to know more. After I provided a 5 minute explanation, she looked at me in an odd way and said, "That sounds like a very self-centered philosophy". She went on to talk about people needing direction from others and a rock solid guidance system (i.e., the Bible).

If you think about it, Christianity -- her belief system -- is a lot more self-centered than [philosophical] Taoism. By and large, Christians tell other people what they should think, how they should believe and the forms these beliefs should follow. That's about as self-centered and egotistical as a person can get -- thinking that you know better than another as to how someone else should view the world!

Taoists don't pretend to tell others how or what they should think or believe. We leave it up to each individual to figure out for themselves. There are as many paths to enlightenment as there are people.

The idea that the Christian Bible offers a rock solid guidance system is laughable. If the message contained within is so concrete and definitive, why are Christians always disagreeing with each other on how this rock solid guide applies to the important issues of the day?

In Sunday's Daily World, there is an article about the contentious nature of church alignment over an anti-gay rights initiative that may appear on the Washington ballot this Fall. To wit:

The contentious debate over a new gay civil rights law has carried over to the pulpit, with some churches citing the Bible to exhort voters to repeal the measure, while others cite the same text to argue for its preservation.

As with ALL things human, understanding the Bible is wholly subjective. A myriad of variables impact how each believer will interpret and/or understand any sentence written in this tract. Consequently, it's about as rock solid as quicksand!

Since Taoists don't countenance any dogma nor possess any holy texts, we completely avoid these kinds of raucous debates. The only rock solid edifice in our lives is the world within and around us. And we recognize that each individual will interpret and/or understand the universe in different ways.

To read the intro to this retrospective series of posts, go here.