Quote:
Marc Abrams wrote:
Willi:
I do not think that it is fair to say that religion is not about enlightenment. Religions truly believe that they provide enlightenment to others.
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I was referring to "enlightenment" in the sense of the term in the historical description "age of enlightenment". Which happened in Europe and which meant enlightenment away from religious practises (such as burning witches, buying indulgences, Spanish inquisition etc.).
As I pointed out, not all religions have gone through such a modernization.
You seem to use the term as a personal experience. That is different. But here too, the same applies: Not all religions believe in individuals experiening "enlightenment". In case of your non-bowing gentlemen, you can read islamic scriptures to the gazoo, but you won´t find anything about enlightenment -- his religion is about *submitting* under a god (islam means submission), following the ancient rules, and hoping for a lenient judgement after death.
So please do not make simplistic assumptions like that. Just because A and B both call themselves religions, that does not make A = B.