Why study religious traditions?

Here's our first guest post. Thank you, Timmy B.

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This question was posed in class on Wednesday: "Why study your own
tradition, and then why study the traditions of others?"

As opposed to simply following the rules and rituals of our tradition,
it's important to study it, to ask questions and sometimes challenge it.
This allows for a deeper understanding of the tradition of which we are
a part. Taking a critical eye makes us question not only what our
tradition tells us, but it leads us to question what we truly believe.
Some people, upon this inspection, find that their current tradition
does not fit them in the slightest. So, they change to one in which
they believe, and thus can participate actively.

That, then, would be one example of why studying other traditions would
be beneficial; perhaps this other tradition better suits your essence.
However, let's take for an example a dedicated worshiper of her faith.
Being involved in her faith requires attendance and understanding of the
tradition. Knowing other traditions will help her appreciate at a
deeper level the faith she harbors. This will also increase her comfort
in being around people of different faiths. This aspect is huge,
because most faiths are, at their very core, based around an idea of
love. You can then expand that to acceptance of others, tolerance, etc.
Being able to see the CONNECTION between her faith and the faith of
others is the best way to make connections, to learn even more about
them and their faith. But the initiative needs to be taken to learn.

Who knows what could be accomplished if the religions of the world
focused on their similarities rather than differences? Current wars
would end, for starters. Since a vast majority of the world belongs to
one faith or another, this huge percentage would be under the influence
of leaders who are now actively seeking out to help each other. The
power behind this could stop most world issues we can think of now.
But, people like their differences. These differences define them. We
like to feel special. Some take this need too far and take action to prove
that their different way is a BETTER way...which of course is
ridiculous.

So, study as much as we can...the more we know, the better things can
be. We've a long way to go, but it's just taking that first step that
seems pivotal.

Timmy B