Defending the Faith

I think people feel the need to defend their faith because they identify who they are by what they believe.. Their faith because kinda them.
So any disagreement is perceived as a personal attack. Not just a questioning in order to understand or a difference of opinion.

My sense is that this really comes back to identity. If I am defending my faith, I might really be defending myself. One generally identifies with a faith. "I am a (blank)." To question a closely-held and cherished belief, especially one that cannot be proven through rational means, is to attack the believer. That might not be the intention, but it is the experience of that faith's defender.

It is not true of everyone, but true, I suspect, of that very vocal minority. If you are talking about my faith, you are talking about me. You are talking about the people I love. If you undermine my faith, are a threat to my faith, then you are a threat to me and my loved ones. It may not be a conscious thought on the part of the defender, but I think that is what is going on.

Sometimes, those aspects of identity can't be teased apart.

Just as Jedi ministers do not 'preach' (you can only 'preach' to egos), the defending of the Jedi faith may as well be a little quieter than other traditional defences.

As Jestor pointed out, the best defence of ours is to simply and unpretentiously answer peoples' questions without proselyting. After that they are capable of forming their own opinions. The Jedi do not convert ; we may have ambassadors, but have no need of missionaries.

Whereas I would defend against the slander of my friends, the Jedi faith in itself needs no defence :


I become a much more able defender of the faith by accepting that there shall be those who will not accept it. I would not permit the abuse of my friends - or anyone else - were I in a position to put an end to it, but the Force bears no insult. Just as Jedi do not have "sin", we do not recognise blasphemy either ...

OB1Shinobi wrote: there is no way anyone can attack my religion

Because

Alexandre wrote: but the Force bears no insult. Just as Jedi do not have "sin", we do not recognise blasphemy either ...

I went to quote OB1, and Alex clicked 'submit"...

SO, I'll leave these here...

People associate themselves with an idea so much, that to insult the idea, feel like insult to the person... :whistle:

We all have egos. The ego, while it has its cons, is used as a tool... thus it is the hammer to the nails that are the ideas we create to identify aspects of our human experiences. Many such ideas are created out of our beliefs, and our beliefs created out of ideas. Any typical organized religion is founded upon such ideas interbreeding the beliefs that associate with them - all aspects of the ego. So - if one attacks their religion, one is attacking their beliefs, and thus, one is attacking their ego. To know this for sure, upon realizing that people feel the need to defend when their egos are feeling threatened in general, when they react very defensively when their beliefs are questioned, they are merely attempting to protect their ego... because that is where they have placed their beliefs in question.

Song lyrics heard on my drive into the office this morning


"Aggressively, we all defend the role we play"

I agree with a lot of the thoughts here..

I think if someone is defending their religious beliefs so vigorously then there must be a lack of self confidence there wrapped up in their ego.

I don't know...

I think we need all kinds. I agree Jedi don't necessarily go all out, but the world is made up of lots of people...there might be something more there that they need to express. I remember Joseph Campbell saying we had to say yes to life, to live, to go to war and fight the fight, to LIVE in our age...maybe this is part of that.

We are not discussing all kinds though, just Jedi and our need for, or lack thereof, our own apologetics...

Yes to.life, yes...

The fight we need to fight, is for life, for your right...

My ego doesn't (shouldn't) need to be fought for...

i will say this; if i see a thing that i feel is wrong and imposes its wrongness somehow in violation of others will and without their complicity

i have no compunction against taking up a fight if it comes to a fight.
thats also part of the jedi path for me.
notto go around looking for trouble but to be unafraid or to be deliberate with my behavior when trouble appears

in this way it can be said i would be defending my religion

but the TENENTS of my religion, the ideas and belifes and the rules that i aspire to
are sufficient of themselves and need no defense

because i am confident of this i do not feel any special compulsion to prove them
or to prove myself in their name