I came across religion scholar Reza Aslan's essay explaining why he was a Muslim today. The essay didn't really answer the question.
Essentially, Aslan seems to believe that all religions essentially have the same message. He freely admitted that he did not subscribe to the truth claims of Islam and simply found the language of Islam to provide helpful metaphors for the supernatural.
It may be the way my mind works (largely binary) but I have a hard time understanding the mindset of identifying with a religion that makes specific truth claims while rejecting these truth claims. At the same time, this seems to be common with a lot of people. It might make more sense with a religion like Buddhism that doesn't make such specific and strong truth claims, but many people do it with Christianity as well. Aslan is a smart guy and has probably forgotten more about religion than I will ever know, but I simply don't get his stance. Can somebody help me make sense of this approach?
Essentially, Aslan seems to believe that all religions essentially have the same message. He freely admitted that he did not subscribe to the truth claims of Islam and simply found the language of Islam to provide helpful metaphors for the supernatural.
It may be the way my mind works (largely binary) but I have a hard time understanding the mindset of identifying with a religion that makes specific truth claims while rejecting these truth claims. At the same time, this seems to be common with a lot of people. It might make more sense with a religion like Buddhism that doesn't make such specific and strong truth claims, but many people do it with Christianity as well. Aslan is a smart guy and has probably forgotten more about religion than I will ever know, but I simply don't get his stance. Can somebody help me make sense of this approach?
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