From today's KOAA website (local NBC affiliate station based in Pueblo CO)

I hope they get grated cheese in the mess hall for the Pastafarians!

Also, the VA added the Wiccan Pentacle to the symbols it permits on gravestones back in 2007.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18274639/

One of the most fair and balanced assessments of different spiritual paths is, believe it or not, The US Army Chaplain's Handbook. Maybe it should be required reading in our schools. But knowing the intolerance we're faced with every day, it would probably be banned. Here's the handbook's take on Wicca.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_usbk.htm

What is truth?

My late Uncle was a chaplin in the Air Force. He would have had a huge problem with this. He was a religious intolerant!

And from the link above:
These distinctions are not particularly important to the military chaplain, since it is unlikely that enough members of any one Tradition would be at the same base. Worship circles at military facilities are likely to be ad-hoc cross-Traditional groups, working out compromise styles of worship for themselves and constantly adapting them to a changing membership. Therefore, the lack of strict adherence to the patterns of any one Tradition is not an indicator of invalidity.

In spiritual belief and faith, "truth" is rather subjective, no? I don't even think that "truth" is an appropriate word to use in spirituality, even though many make claim to it. Non sequitur, IMHO.

I guess the question was more to what anyone's concept of truth is. My thoughts were that a belief system based on opinions - for lack of a better word - would be kind of wasted time. If what one believes is not based on truth, that one would be like a fast flowing stream of water - fluid, inconstant, unreliable, unable to stand a serious test of the belief.

I believe truth is absolute. An example: a water molecule is made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen. Any other combination is not water. That's a truth and I wouldn't say that it is subjective.

For truth to be subjective it would not be truth. Truth is. Truth has no exceptions.

I just get thinking about this kind of stuff is all. I miss someone thinking about this kind of stuff to explore the thoughts in more detail. Thanks for your response Capt. I appreciate your thoughts.

Ron - I loved that you said " a belief system based on opinion would be a waste of time. " Does this mean a belief system based on faith not rooted in fact?

What is truth? Who can say?

I think I posted this elsewhere on these boards. I read an account of a Canadian Indian (or indigenous person) having to testify in court. When asked if he swore to tell the truth he replied, "I cannot tell you the truth. I can only tell you what I know."

Nothing is absolute .... not even vodka! That's "Absolut".

I'm going with this one. Thanks, Zap , for the reality check and the smile!

MG, if the faith is not based on truth - yes indeed. (A fact would be truth in my mind.) If, as the good Capt. pointed out, nothing is absolute you would have no fact (ie: truth) to base any belief system on. I would wager that a devout Muslim would say that his/her belief in based in truth - that it is not just one person's opinion so to speak or based on an untruth. To rely on something uncertain would be unwise in my mind. There could be no trust in that effort - no comfort to be found - if one was not relying on truth.

As I mentioned I believe that truth is absolute. The math used to compute trajectories for space travel would be an example of an absolute truth. Heck, any of the mathematical constants would be absolute and based entirely on truth.

Belief does not create truth. Unbelief does not destroy truth. Whether I believe pi is 3.14..... or not doesn't change the truth it embodies. It's a much bigger thing than what you or I "think" in my mind. Truth is knowing. Truth is not a guess. Truth is not approximate. Truth is not "close but no cigar". Truth is exclusive. Truth is narrow. Truth is accurate. Truth is precise.

I'm not saying this to convince any one to see things my way. I get clumsy trying to explain what I think at times so thanks for your patience with me. I just appreciate the thoughts offered on the subject. And, indeed, thank you for offering your thoughts. It makes me think more about the subject and leads to a better definition in my mind.

I dunno Ron......This is really interesting stuff for us to ponder over. Is there only 1 truth? Many truths? None? Are truths mutable? I guess I fall on the side of human beings having the ability to create their own realities, limited only by their mortality, and even that is still up for grabs in this universe of "infinite possibilities" that quantum physical science has been exploring. Paradigms shift.......it was "truth" to a lot of people over a long period of time that the earth was flat. There are lots of different kinds of love, hate, fear......why not truth? I think I'd get bored with only 1 truth. But it would damn sure make things a helluva lot easier around here

Ron, it's a good thing you're not a student of Quantum Physics, one of whose underlying precepts is that an atomic particle can be in more than one "place" at the same time.

Maybe Keats said it best: Beauty is truth, and truth beauty!


mikey

I could live with Keats' philosophy. I could live with lots of things. Quantum Physics is just an example of something that could lead us to a greater awareness of our existance. Then again, Arlo said something like "live now, love now, serve now......don't wait to understand". I think that's pretty good advice......