BLOG PARTY INQUIRY QUESTION!!!!!!!

Have you ever wondered why religious text is considered to be so sacred? Why so many people follow what is written and never seem to question the words? I have wondered this for so many years. So my question is simply this: What is it about the religious text that automatically means that is is holy or sacred? Do people take this as an exact account for their specific deity? Does anyone stop to question any of the words written, or wonder why they were written in the first place? This interested me so much that I decided to look for some answers.

We can all think of many sacred texts like The Holy Bible, The Qur'an, Mahayana Sutras, and even The Torah. Each of the religions that worship these texts all have reasons for doing so. Many people believe that these texts were written through someone as a message from that deity. But does anyone ever stop and wonder if what was written is the truth, or has it gotten a little diluted throughout the years? We can see how many people will object entirely, and wonder why I would ever pose this question. Many people have unwavering faith and would never question that, and I'm not saying that they should; however I do find it so intriguing that these questions don't come up more often. In our text for this class I came across a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson called Flower in the Crannied Wall (Kennedy, Tennyson, 503). This is the poem:
Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower--but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, an all in all,
I should know what God and man is.
This poem poses the question about God, not the scripture or text, and I find that with the author wanting to know "what God and man is" shows that even with these sacred texts in hand there are still people who wonder. We begin to wonder who is God, or whomever your deity is, and that we want to know them personally, not just through text and lectures.

With all the hype about needing to read the scriptures and follow what the sacred texts say, what about God himself? Do people get so caught up in following their texts, that in turn they forget what it is that encourages their faith? I personally think that this happens all too often, and more so than people want to admit. It is easy to get caught up in written words, and forget the purpose behind them, or whom you really worship. An article I recently read proved this exact point. It was entitled "Biblicism: Protestantims's Distinctive Form of Idolatry" by Paul E. Capetz. Capetz shared his story as a Reverend in a Protestant church whom happened to also be a gay man. After his fellow ministers found out his sexual orientation they decided to take away his leadership and have a sort of vote on whether or not he should stay ordained. The people involved in the vote consisted of both women and men, and each of these people consistently said, "But the Bible says..." and "the clear teaching of scripture." Capetz tried to make his point that at one time women did not have a say, but yet they kept on fighting for their rights as equal individuals and now they are treated as such, so therefore being gay is no different a situation. As I read on, I realized just how easy it is to get caught up in the sacred text and forget the person who you truly worship. Capetz makes a great argument for this, "God alone is to be worshipped, not the Bible." This is why I wonder why people put so much stock into scripture and sacred text, wouldn't the protestant God still love Capetz regardless of his sexual orientation? This question may be up to your own personal views, but being as I am a former Christian, I don't think God would condemn him for that.

One thing I have found in my research is that many religious texts are regarded as teachings and ways to stick with traditions from long ago. Yes, I do agree that sacred texts are a way to teach people and to learn from. But sometimes, it can go too far...at least in my opinion. I found an article that gave some insight as to sacred texts as a teaching instrument and thought it was quite interesting. The article "What is Scripture" by Steven G. Smith, argues that sacred texts teach young children the ways of life in their culture and also the traditions that come along. Smith says, "A scripture is not merely a record to be consulted at need; a community maintains a scripture in force as a teaching, an obligatory touchstone for religious thinking, whether or not customs, decisions, or experiences enjoy this status in the community also." Here is where I feel that things tend to get taken too far, if it is not enjoyed to believe in the sacred text, would your deity truly want you to regard them so highly? I understand teaching people how to act, and how to maintain their faiths, but is the scripture becoming too much? Smith again, only proves my point of scripture being taken way too far, "acknowledging scripture as a supreme authority rules out ignoring it or flatly disagreeing with it." I am not saying that scriptures or sacred texts are wrong or even bad, but I do think that many people lose sight of what it is that they worship or truly believe.

As we can see there are many reasons that people put such stock into religious text, and there is nothing wrong with valuing those beliefs. I, however, must say that I think it gets to a point where people begin to forget what they believe or whom they do worship. I think that many people do question what is written, but cannot say that due to the fear of punishment or becoming an outcast. I am glad I was able to get some of my questions answered, but I realize that most of them are personal and many people do not want to share their beliefs or criticism towards other religious texts.

But....for those of you who would like to share, here is a question for you:
Do you think that religious or sacred texts end up being the object of worship, instead of the God or deity? Do you think people stop to ponder what is written, or do they take those words as truth without any question or unwavering faith?