Differing Spiritual beliefs..your thoughts

[Libersolis 0]

Let me preface this post by saying a few things...

My wife and I share many common interests and share many common values, as I am sure most of you do with your spouses. It is only natural that we are drawn to those with whom we can connect on basic human levels.

WIth that being said one of the basic things we do differ on is how we view the world and the universe. We both probably identify ourselves with Buddhism, but as you know Buddhism covers a wide range of subjects dealing with everything from spirituality to science and pyschology, and it is in these areas that we most differ.

As I have grown older, and especially in recent months I have found myself intrigued by science and more importantly the scientific method. While not perfect by any means, I believe it gives us humans a fair shot at learning about ourselves and the universe surrounding us. I try to look at most things in life from the perspective of the scientifc method and generally regard science to be the most plausible way to find truth. That being said I do acknowledge the fact that there is much that is unexplainable given our current knowledge, but I lend that to the fact that we have not yet discovered a method or do not have the technology to find out the truth about the unknown, much in the same way a human being living 10,000 years ago would have had no way to know the composition of a star or to know that the earth rotates on an axis.

My wife on the other hand is a very spiritual person and her interest in Buddhism tends to gravitate more towards the spiritual aspects of it. She also believes several things out of faith which I find hard to accept because of direct scientifc evidence to the contrary.

We had a discussion the other day about nature, life and the possibility of life on other planets, and she told me that she believes that the earth is hollow and that people live inside and that the core is acually a sun. Now I had not actually heard this before, but given the nature of my thinking, I found is hard to believe, as I still do seeing as there direct evidence refuting such a claim and that the hollow earth theory is almost universally rejected by the scientific community.

Now if I believe it or not isn't really the issue. The issue is that my wife does believe it and I want to respect those beliefs, no matter how far they may differ from my own. I told her that while I was skeptical of such a claim I would do research on it, because I feel that I at least owe her beliefs respect.

I guess my question is.. what is the best way to deal with such things? Have any of you had experience with beliefs of such a differing nature, be they religious, social or political?

Edited October 13, 2006 by Libersolis

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

...she believes that the earth is hollow and that people live inside and that the core is acually a sun.

My grandmother once told me (when I was very young) that I should watch what I say and not even joke about events that I don't want to really see happen because there is a holy man who lives inside the earth and every now and then he raises his hand and says tathaastu (Sanskrit, means "and so it will be"). So if I say "i wish he was dead" and if my timings fukced up and the holy dude decides to say tathaastu right at that moment, the poor mofo dies.

When I got older, I realized my grandmother never actually believed it but the point was to have us watch what we say and not joke about the inauspicious.

I guess my question is.. what is the best way to deal with such things? Have any of you had experience with beliefs of such a differing nature, be they religious, social or political?

Of course. No 2 people are alike, there will be differences. How you deal with it depends on the nature of the difference? There is nothing wrong with healthy, hearty, even heated debate among people who love each other. As long as the debate is not disrespectful, like don't say she's stupid or anything. And if you're not into the whole hearty debate thing, just ignore it. What do you care if she thinks the earth is hollow anyway?

[chri'stina 190]

Now if I believe it or not isn't really the issue. The issue is that my wife does believe it and I want to respect those beliefs, no matter how far they may differ from my own. I told her that while I was skeptical of such a claim I would do research on it, because I feel that I at least owe her beliefs respect.

I guess my question is.. what is the best way to deal with such things? Have any of you had experience with beliefs of such a differing nature, be they religious, social or political?

It matters if you are passionate about the subject or not. If it doesn't bother you that she believes the earth is hollow, in the big scheme of life, just ignore it for now. Maybe she will investigate more about the earth's core or you can just kindly point out things you found while researching her beliefs. But you both share Buddhism even though you are interested in different aspects of it.

Of course, Sujeet and I have had debates about things in life. Social is one major one. We are from two very different cultures. Some things he thinks are really weird, I think are normal. Some things he thinks are normal, I think are strange. But they aren't such huge issues to fight about. Like I said, in the big scheme of things, what does it matter as long as you share some kind of foundation (like we share Christianity, you share Buddhism).

We share the same beliefs but that doesn't mean we don't sometimes debate about that either, the little things . But we don't feel like it's a bad debate, but a healthy debate. We are both very passionate about our beliefs and that's one reason why we had to be with someone who had similar beliefs. Otherwise it'd be a stressful marriage if we married someone with very different beliefs, because of how important our beliefs are to us.

[Libersolis 0]

I am glad my wife does have such strong beliefs, it makes our conversations interesting. The great thing about it is, it really gives me a chance to see things from a totally different perspective and to explore ideas and beliefs that I might not have otherwise taken the time to study.

[Welshcookie 17]

Politically speaking we are like chalk and cheese.

Our first 6 months together was a feisty affair Although we still enjoy healthy debate there are now 'no go' areas because we both know the other will never change their view so we have to agree to disagree and just respect that.

We have challenged each other on the way we think about some issues and both of us have changed our views over the years on certain things......a different perspective is always interesting....

[Libersolis 0]

Politically speaking we are like chalk and cheese.

Our first 6 months together was a feisty affair Although we still enjoy healthy debate there are now 'no go' areas because we both know the other will never change their view so we have to agree to disagree and just respect that.

We have challenged each other on the way we think about some issues and both of us have changed our views over the years on certain things......a different perspective is always interesting....

Just curious how do you guys differ politically?

[Welshcookie 17]

Ha.....let's just say I am far more 'liberal' than he is ..... we also have diferent views concerning guns (that has become one of our no go areas along with the death penalty)

[Ban Hammer 12,878]

Ha.....let's just say I am far more 'liberal' than he is ..... we also have diferent views concerning guns (that has become one of our no go areas along with the death penalty)

being that he's military i can guess what his answers are

[Welshcookie 17]

don't you just know it... love 'im....

[Pigu 0]

I could not romantically love someone with strong, unquestionable, irrational religious beliefs. Ever. It says very powerful things about who she is as a person, what her priorities are, and whether she can deal with difficult circumstances with rationality or just with drama.

[Libersolis 0]

I could not romantically love someone with strong, unquestionable, irrational religious beliefs. Ever. It says very powerful things about who she is as a person, what her priorities are, and whether she can deal with difficult circumstances with rationality or just with drama.

Well most religious beliefs are irrational by nature. Faith in and of itself is irrational according to what we know as human beings.

I have to disagree that someone's belief system about the nature of the universe is directly related to what their priorites are and how they deal with things. I find that while science and reason hold the most appeal for me, my wife is often able to make better decisions than myself based on her spiritural beliefs. ( Her diet, how she manages money, he interactions with other people ect.) I would much rather be married to a kind loving person who believes in the tooth fairy than an atheistic jerk.

Edited October 13, 2006 by Libersolis

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I would much rather be married to a kind loving person who believes in the tooth fairy than an athiestic #######

Amen to that

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I could not romantically love someone with strong, unquestionable, irrational religious beliefs. Ever. It says very powerful things about who she is as a person, what her priorities are, and whether she can deal with difficult circumstances with rationality or just with drama.

Well most religious beliefs are irrational by nature. Faith in and of itself is irrational according to what we know as human beings.

I have to disagree that someone's belief system about the nature of the universe is directly related to what their priorites are and how they deal with things. I find that while science and reason hold the most appeal for me, my wife is often able to make better decisions than myself based on her spiritural beliefs. ( Her diet, how she manages money, he interactions with other people ect.) I would much rather be married to a kind loving person who believes in the tooth fairy than an atheistic jerk.

Religion should not provide explanations of the physical world as factual that contradict science. The point where science (finite) cannot go (infinite) - the mysteries of life - that to me is what spirituality is about.

[Reba 2]

my husband and I share most of our spirituality, but our political and cultural differences sometimes have caused heated arguments. I'm a bit more liberal, raised by hippy freaks, and he was raised by rather conservative Southerners. We agree to disagree and move on.

Another thing we disagree on is a certain publisher and their writers who will write and print just about anything whether its historically sound or not And the people who take it as gospel, because "its gotta be true, it was published" But that's a whole 'nother topic

[isleta521 5]

Everyone should believe in something. I believe I'll have a Beer later on after work!!