Reply #12: If you ask

[SOteric]

what the 'one true' religion is, you ask me to determine which are false.

I believe that no human being (scientists included) has the ability to determine which religions are true or false. It's the Argument from Ignorance.

The act of Vanity is in substituting our judgement or determination for that of God's. If there is a God, and he has a preference for one religion, he gets to make that call, not me. I don’t get to tell mankind (much less God himself) ‘how he ought to be’ and ‘what he ought to do.‘ I certainly don’t get to instruct mankind in what God’s opinions might be.

Moreover, my only yardstick for God’s preference would be the opinions of other people, who are similarly ill-equipt. Even if there is a God and any one religion has merit, we don't have the tools to determine whether other religions are equally true or true to a lesser extent. And we certainly don't have the tools to determine if other religions are false.


'Don't you think that you're unnecessarily overintellectualizing the question?"

You beg the question.

I have no wish to engage in discussion which might seem contentious on this issue, and yet I cannot agree with your suggestion that I've 'overintellectualised.' I do not accept any part of my faith blindly, nor do I allow it to progress unevaluated. I feel far too many people have under-intellectualised their religious belief. Your question touches heavily on that belief.

If the actual, intended question in your poll was "What religion if any do you practise and believe in?" then my response would be that I'm a Roman Catholic. My parents were Catholic, I was educated by Jesuits and at private academies, and I now teach at a Jesuit school.

What you’ve asked instead, violates both my belief and my personal ethic to chose.