universalism

"While the human mind and inclination occur in an innumerable variety, four broadtypes of men may be recognised for practical purposes : the man of action, the man of emotion, the mystic or man of spirit, and the philosopher or man of intellect. Religion must offer a path for each type to follow, suited to the nature of each type. Ancient religion in India offered four such paths, known as Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga. These paths transform the selfish to the selfless and lead to Yoga or Union or Realisation of the ultimate Truth.
"It is imperative that all these Yogas should be carried out in practice. Mere theories about them will not do any good. ... Religion is realisation, not talk, nor doctrine, nor theories, however beautiful they may be. It is being and becoming, not hearing or acknowledging; it is the whole soul becoming changed into what it believes. That is religion"

-- Swami Vivekananda

The idea here is that there is such an enormous variety of people in the world, that it became imperative to have a variety of religions as well. So it is logical, then, that no one religion could "satisfy" every single person that has ever existed. Well, noone said God was logical.

http://www.wku.edu/~jan.garrett/urrd.htm

this is an interesting article to read, though with some flawed thinking. Here's what i learned:

exclusivism - my faith is the only true faith. All other's are totally and completely wrong

preparationism - all other faiths are good in some ways in that they are getting those people ready for the ultimate faith, which is mine. There are bits and pieces of good stuff but they do
not have the full understanding yet.

....what happens now is that you say "wait, if my faith is the ultimate one, and if that exists in the world, then what's the point in all these other 'preparatory' religions still hanging around?
It still leads you to the need to change other people and starts to lean right back into exclusivism.

relativism - seeking to find inhereent value or goodness in every religion, including your own.

I particularly liked this part:
"The Christian religion is in every moment a purely historical phenomenon." Thus "it is subject to all the limitations to which any individual historical phenomenon is exposed, just like the other great religions." For Troeltsch all religions were products of particular historical events "which gave them their unique substance and form"; therefore none could claim absolute legitimacy. Later he wrote,
Christianity could not be the religion of such ...mighty spiritual power and truth...if it were not, in some degree, a manifestation of the Divine life itself. The evidence we have for this remains the same . . . it is the evidence of a profound inner experience. This experience is undoubtedly the criterion of its validity, but . . . only of its validity for us. . . . It is final and unconditional for us because we have nothing else . . .According to Troeltsch, it is also possible that
other . . . groups . . . may experience their contact with the Divine Life in a quite different way, and may themselves also possess a religion which has grown up with them, and from which they cannot sever themselves so long as they remain what they are . . . .

Religion is at it's core a very personal journey. No two people can feel the same way about a God or about what it means to love. Wait, is this true? This has alot to do with philosophy, and the idea of universal forms (thanks plato from last night). Is there a universal idea of truth, or God?
...It goes on to talk about how religions have borrowed from each other all through history and how cultures are no longer exclusive to themselves.

sycretistic universalism - here's where things, i thought, got kind of hairy. The thinking here is that every religion can be melted down into particular ideas that are universal to all religions, that at the root they are all the same. As a result, we should be all smiles and rainbows.

....but we're not. Most of the critiques about universalism were good (i need to check some of the facts on the religionsthat I shamefully know very little about). I think the danger here is putting to much stock in yourself, and what you can understand. God is not something you should put in a box, because he does not fit inside of there. We are not the smartest of people and our own experiences are flawed through perception. It is not us but God who causes any change, who shows any glimpse of truth in a world of unsurety. But hey! How can we know for sure? Are we hooked on a feeling, that tingling in the back of your head when you think you're doing something extra-religious? I guess we'll just have to believe.... yeah im not satisfied either.
I dont want to give up control. I want to be able to understand the concept of infinity, and time, and being outside of time. Where is the line where you have to stop and say "i cant go beyond this." and give the wheel to your higher power? im glad that the heatwave is done because i can actually think now. anyway. more later on.