Comparing And Evaluating The Scriptures

No one is likely to dispute that religions profoundly affect our lives in innumerable ways, . Disagreements emerge, however, when we attempt to evaluate those effects, and when we attempt to determine religion's proper place in our lives, in our society, and in our troubled world. As we all know, responsible judgments in regard to these complicated matters, though fundamentally important, are difficult to formulate and defend. In fact, even purely personal decisions about religion are not always easy. So, during normal times, many of us choose to live our lives without ever seriously considering some of religion's more complex issues. This limited outlook, however, is beginning to seem less appropriate given today's world ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? some aspects of religion's role in current events truly are disturbing. How should we respond to this situation? Wouldn't it be worthwhile for everyone to think through our religious traditions one more time, fromthe beginning? Isn't it possible to resolv