a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3244 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: rd95 and ThatFanficGuy talk religion. Part 1. Older civilizations and the benefits of practicing religion

It's cool bro. It's just a discussion. That said, I'd love for you to reach out to me and share what you find.

If and when you do start exploring, Wikipedia is a great jumping off point. Since you're in college, if you have some room for filler credits, maybe take a class or two on Religious History. I'd actually think that's the best way to start exploring, because you'll get things from a more secular, academic perspective.

If you do go out into the world, visiting churches, mosques, what have you, just be prepared that you might come across some elements that seem a bit weird to you and you might be a bit uncomfortable. That's totally normal. Hell, it still happens to me. The thing is, you're gonna find some things that resonate you and some things that don't. Just remember to be polite and appreciative. These people are letting you into their world.

If for some reason, you want to discuss religions with practitioners but are a little uncomfortable talking to people in person, This Place is a great place to talk to people from all sorts of faiths. To let you know though, you'll find people on there not only from a variety of faiths, but also on both extremes of the spectrum from grounded intellectuals to people who are (in my opinion) a bit too open minded. The Moderators there are actually a very helpful lot and some of them have been at it for over a decade.





user-inactivated  ·  3244 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Religious Forums seems like a fantastic place to go for religions that I can't reach physically. Thank you for letting me know of it, and thank you for prepping me up for the conversations!

It is a discussion, but not just a discussion for me. Like I said, it's important for me to understand it, and the discussion we've made so far has been extremely potent in opening my eyes. If that's a trend, I'm willing to dive deep.

    Since you're in college

I study in Russia, which, of course, has a different system of higher education from the US one. We don't have free classes to attend, barring optional non-free specialization and secondary education courses. I wonder if MOOCs have classes on religion, though. They must have something, must they not?

user-inactivated  ·  3244 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'd be surprised if there weren't online courses about religion. Even if there isn't though, I'm sure if you ask around people could point you in the right direction for books on subjects that interest you.