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This thread is inspired by a very short debate between Maggie (Dark_Angel_32189) and I that was stopped because it was off-topic. But I would like to discuss this further, as opinions vary greatly on this. I'll start off by defining both spiritual absolutism and spiritual relativism.

Spiritual Absolutism: You find this a lot in Christianity, and in fundamentalist views in any religion. Basically, people who believe this believe that there is one absolute truth, and that their way is the absolute truth. They believe that if you don't follow their way, then something different will happen to you, or you won't go somewhere (like the Christian heaven) when you die.

Spiritual Relativism: This is often found in the Pagan community. They believe that anything (quite literally anything) is possible. "Anything to make you happy, right?" They believe that their way could be the right way, but so could any other way. Their way is their way, and anyone else's way is fine, too, just not for them.

Now, my opinion on this is as follows: One should have a degree of spiritual relativism in their life, to the extent that they're not preaching that their way is the only way, and that they recognize that other ways are just as valid. However, complete spiritual relativism isn't quite necessary, because (using my example from before) if someone claims a pink breakdancing spider descended from the heavens and told him "Worship me, for I am your god!" or something like that, I would be a bit concerned for their sanity. XD Also, quoting a comment on a video about this on youtube, "There is an absolute truth, question is, what is it?" My truth might not be the absolute truth, so I shouldn't go around saying that it is. Same goes for any other belief.

I'd like to hear other's opinions on this. And perhaps a friendly debate; which brings me to my last point. This can turn in to a debate, and that's fine. But as soon as people start fighting over something, I will have a mod lock this thread. Happy ranting! ^-^

In my point of view there are usually more relativisms than absolutions, but there are some of those too. Perhaps our relativity is our personal gateway to those absolutions, which is often beyond the grasp of our usual perceptions. I think it is a bit more complicated than that, but I only have a few minutes to write this up so I'll rant more later.

Also, if one believed in a pink breakdancing spider, how is this person less "sane" than somebody else of a more established belief? As long as the person isn't claiming the spider to be the one true way, accepts it as their own personal path, and doesn't harm anybody in the process, how wrong is it really? I don't think it is. What makes believing in totem animals and Otherkin any less "weird" than this? Sure, the fact that the spider is pink and dancing sounds silly, but to the individual there may be some meaning behind this. It could just be their interpretation of God. For example they might have a connection with spiders, maybe they love to dance, and the pink is the color of a sunrise *shrugs* If it benefits them then I don't see anything wrong with it. There is also the possibility that they're "crazy", but I don't think we can draw that conclusion from the fact alone.

Anyway, I'll have more to post later.

I believe in both personally. I believe there is an absolute truth that every religion in the world is trying to grasp. But human beings being the imperfect creatures they are, are unable to perfectly interpret this truth. What we get instead is a reflection of that truth through a broken mirror.

There is a Taoist metaphor which I can't find right now but sums up what I'm trying to explain. Imagine that this great spiritual truth is a steadily flowing river and we (being humanity) are standing at its bank. Though we can gaze at the river, we can never look at it all at once, nor from every direction. If we try to grasp the water, we break its flow, and we have only managed to capture a small bit of that. By taking the water in our hands we attempt to define it. This is organized religion in my opinion.

Thus no belief is a perfect belief. This was how I summed up my spiritual beliefs for several years, choosing to practice nothing but research everything. But the lack of direction was killing me, and thats when I was called to Wicca. I still believe that no belief can perfectly capture this ultimate truth, but Wicca doesn't really claim to like other religions, and because it one where you can easily adapt certain things to it and has very few strict guidelines as to what you must do on a spiritual level it appeals to me.

I think its important for a single person to find answers for themselves from the divine. I also think they should do a lot of research in order to understand what things appear again and again in religions around the world and to better understand the areas that overlap. These, I think, are the closest we will ever get to the truth; other than what we find in ourselves.

I too think too much relativism is a bad thing, just as too much absolutism is a bad thing. While absolutism is a good thing for the practitioner it can very easily be a bad thing for those practicing around them. I do believe that new deities may show themselves, but thats the sort of thing that should be taken with a grain of salt. In seems that in both cases theres the issue of blind acceptance. In the case of absolutism, you're blind to every other belief around you and blindly accept your version of the truth as 100%. In the case of relativism you blindly accept another persons version of the truth.

It's a fiction piece, but I'd like to recommend you guys read "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett - it has a few interesting ideas about how gods come in to being, and how "powerful" or "real" a god is based on its following. And hey, it's Terry Pratchett - he's just awesome all round. :XP:

In terms of the absolutism/relativism, I think I'm more... relativism with common sense? Hahah, if that even counts. I believe in acceptance, but I'm always going to analyse things subjectively and make my own judgement. If that judgement falls outside of relativism then... oh well. I think I'm just rambling now...