If you say religion is not for me that seems odd in the following way. Religions make assertions about God, Christ, how one comes into relation to God through Christ (or some other way), etc. Now it seems to me that either God is real or not, either Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity who rose from the dead or he is not, and either Christ has established the Catholic Church and sacraments as the way to be in relation to God. If these things are all true, then everyone should be a Catholic, and if they are false, then no one should be a Catholic. I don't see how these things can possibly be a matter of personal preference. These are claims that something is true, and these claims are either true or false.
3 comments:
To paraphrase John 20:29
Because certain things exist, I believe in them. Blessed are those who believe even when those things don't exist.
But Victor, the same can be said of any body of knowledge.
It does not seem odd to say that, for instance, politics is not for you. Politics is pretty much defined by the existing political parties, and the most important politicians. In a world where you do not find them attractive, politics is not for you. Or in a world where you find them attractive, but you do not think that you have the right attributes for such activities.
Many politicians will say that everything is political, or that democratic politics is for everyone. But most of them just want you to help them to become more powerful. And there is an argument to be made that those with no interest in understanding social issues have no duty to vote if they cannot be bothered to vote. Similarly, why should everyone be interested in religion? Cannot God take care of those who slip through the net of established religion?
OP
" I don't see how these things can possibly be a matter of personal preference."
Truth is not a matter of personal preference.
Reality is what reality is. Yes, that is a tautological statement. Tautological statements are true statements that might be considered trivial, yet they remain true.
However, all human beings are limited. Our ability to determine, absolutely, what is and is not true is very limited.
The true nature of the underlying reality is not a matter of personal preference.
One's judgement about what that true nature of the underlying reality is, however, a personal judgement, one could say, a personal preference.
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