In what way religious truth differs from normal understanding of truth?

What is truth? What may seem true today may not seem true tomorrow, even though the subject under consideration is the same. Material truth is in constant flux: we are born, we experience life then we die. I would rather say that my view has changed due to my experience, or my view on the subject has changed and I see a different facet or side of the subject. Like ancient Rome, we expand or die (mature or wither).

Some may say the same of spiritual Truth since we mature and it is our understanding of Truth that changes, not the Truth itself. I like to think of it as my "code" (the language that compiles and operates to produce my actions) is being "debugged" and refined to produce more elegant and efficient use of my being. That is why I react differently at different times to the same stimulus. Some call this maturity, but it also is in a state of flux.

I do not think of the Great Truth as a rock upon which the Rosetta stone of my life is written with ever more clarity and maturity, but rather as something like the physical laws that control the actions of the universe. They are constant but our understanding of them is always being improved through constant observation and experimentation.

Now the Great Question: do I make myself or am I being created by Another? We start out as children with a seemingly blank sheet. The sheet is really not blank because the fabric of that sheet itself is fabricated by our genetic code. We look at the world as it is presented and as we understand it as is taught us by our parents, siblings, friends, religious personages and the like. We are not aware of anything but the material truths presented. At that point we are being created by the beliefs of the past which has been handed down for ages (traditional or orthodox belief).

Then as we continue to interact with the material world, we begin to see paradoxes or inconsistencies between what we were taught and what really seems to be happening. This presents us with a crises and perhaps an opportunity to establish ones own truth or understanding. This is a very personal thing and each of us matures in certain areas faster than others, thus we can not judge our worth by the seeming worth of any other mortal. All is in flux, such is life.

Religion is but a construct or justification by the material person to explain what is happening in the material. It is codified and one is expected to adhere to those precepts or be separated from that group. Even religions based on faith that there is a caring God is based on the witness of ancients who may or may not have known what was really happening. Thus again such a religion is based on the past exploits of people.

Bottom line: either one believes there is a motivating, self aware force that is creating a reality for Its own purposes, and you are included in this "inside joke"; or, one believes in nothing but what they are taught by humanity, religious or not.

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