Religion is often about Ritual, and although rituals have some value, they can also make life meaningless and empty.

Date:   11/11/2008 10:41:04 PM ( 16 y ago)

Ritual is an attractive thing for humans, we crave the way it brings our mind peace and a sense of purpose and unity. They createe a sense of community. Rituals have value, as long as they do not take the place of reality when reality is needed.

An example of how rituals can make some things meaningless was raised in a movie I was watching recently -

--------------Here is the FABLE:

A young Muslim couple was getting married... they were EXPECTED to go through the usual routine, the rituals, of their culture's marriage ceremony.
The groom asked if it would not be better to DECIDE if some of the rituals should be done or not, depending on the couple's preferances.

One issue is the kissing of the Koran. The groom offered this wisdom:
"If the couple DECIDES to kiss the Koran during the ceremony of marriage, then it means that they see the Koran as a blessing that they will use all their lives, so it is BETTER to let the couple DECIDE if the Koran should be kissed during the wedding ceremony"

The Father of the bride said it was a dangerous thing to let the couple decide about kissing the Koran. He said young couples would start to forgo that part of the ceremony.

The wise young groom replied that "if people DECIDE to kiss the Koran, then that means they are solidly Muslim people, and when couples decide NOT to kiss the Koran, then it would be a futile and meaningless ritual to do so".

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And that is the fable for today. It's meaning is that when RITUALS are followed, the actions in them lose their validity ; there are certainly many young couples who are kissing the Koran at their weddings, but do not actually consider it very important.

If the RITUAL was abandoned, then couples who CHOSE to kiss the Koran at their weddings would be showing their endorsement of the Koran in a very realistic and meaningfull way.






 

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