The Pope came to Quebec and apologized for behaviors of others (The religious workers that harmed the native populations.). It is important to remember that religion is to help us be better but we as people who follow any particular religion (Muslim, Catholics, Christians, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, etc...) know that it is more of a guide to something better. It doesn't give us the right to be "better than others" or disrespect the lives of others.
Deeper than all of the recitations and memorizations is a meaning behind the prayers that lead to thought and thought leads to positive actions that improve our world (Its great if you have a religion but half of prayer is about self-reflection. Formally or informally and that is where the hypothetical miracles occur. When we look inward in prayer to understand the outward {self reflection that gains insight. Needle in camel of eye because of the distractions of life.}.)
Each religion has its own wisdom and each religion leads to insight of life and the nature of the universe. The apology of the Pope (I like this pope because he is trying) is an attempt to recognize the pain caused during an era where we didn't respect all of the flavors of man/woman that God (Intelligent Design) created (I'm thinking more spiritually here based on my own subjective but well thought out beliefs.).
As a wiser people (In some of the population's case) we have come to accept that these changes do not define the value of people and that our ultimate goal is a universal respect for all people and their inherent right to exist/thrive (i.e. as written in our cultural artifacts such as "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness"). We must respect difference in order to respect the inherent truth of each religious vantage point that leads to greater knowledge. Knowledge as awareness that creates insight/wisdom (Different roads but the same end goals. See All Faiths).
I say that as a person who respects all the world's religions (At least the one's that make us better and bring something positive) that you can learn something from each. I may be a cultural Catholic but believe aspects of different religions that have inherent truth within them. This may be the reason why some religions resonate with some people and don't resonate with others. It is often based in how they were socialized to think about religion and subjective "truth". There is depth and wisdom that move beyond the "practice"/routine of worship and that leads to greater awareness and acceptance of what is "to be". (Its a little like that saying "We can't control the winds but we can adjust our sails". Religion is about adjustment to life's rough and tumble.)
"To be" are those things we don't understand and we are not able to control. It is a kind of belief/"faith" that there is some purpose in life and some pattern to the world. Religion creates order out of the chaos of the unknown. "To be" is the hope of some future end positive state. (Dang....we in the philosophy now!!!!) One could make an argument that the goal of all religions is to create inner peace and belief in the purpose of our existence (our lives, happenings, events, histories, etc...)
(Ok I know its kind of spiritual. Its sort of interesting to think of how we create reconconcile with each other after horrendous acts of history. Constant arguing just leads to more conflict and arguing. As in all bad acts there is a time to argue and a time to put down one's grievances. That is why hindsight is often more accurate than foresight. The people who did these bad things seem to be lacking that awareness and insight into the inherent beauty of life. Some have changed many years later.)
Yikes the article wasn't supposed to have a spiritual/religious bent to it. I say that as not a particularly religious person. I have my beliefs and I kind of am not as rigid as many about them. Sometimes that is good and sometimes that is not so good. Depends on how you look at it. To me religion, science, social understanding, philosophy, etc. are all reaching to describe and understand those central things that make us essentially human (Our ability to think abstractly and self reflect. BTW this is just sort of philosophy of religion from my perspective. Its not an advocation of any particular religion but how different religions also have value in understanding our world.)
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