Which tribe has truth?

A ‘discussion’ I had with someone on Gather got me thinking and thus writing.

A question formed and that is the lead in to this brief essay: Which tribe has truth?

I am defining the word ‘tribe’ in this context to describe each and every religious community.  Each one I am calling a ‘tribe’.

Now each of these tribes has a core set of beliefs, a tale that tells who they are.  Those tribes of literary inclinations have created a book, a set of sacred scriptures.  Thus, I ask: which set of sacred scriptures is true?

I see the problem with a tribal mind is that the words supporting one specific tribal mind supports any other specific tribal mind – hence their worthlessness as an offering to solve the question of what is truth and where can it be found.  Tribal minds can yell at each other but they can not hear each other.

I will quote from he who inspired me to make my point.  He excellently expressed the tribal mind and the tribal belief in exclusivity.

He wrote this:

“Like I said guys, that Book is not a simple piece of literature. It says that if you come looking to see what God has to say to you, you will hear Him. It says if you come for some petty or selfish reason, you will hear semi-nonsensical gibberish.

You may have seen one side of that claim come true, and so nothing is revealed. You are perfectly free to check out the other half , but that would require a different mindset. Unless and until you do that, you really can't know the offer is malarkey. If you think it through, you'll realize that is a rather sophisticated conundrum you're in. You simply can't approach it's resolution as an ego. Pretty crafty idea, huh?

There it sits. The big bad know-it-alls can't know it all. You can theorize. You can bitch. You can stupidly point at all sorts of irrelevant stuff people might have done. You can say what you saw so far.  But there it sits.”

Now watch what happens when I put his words into the context of one specific tribe:

“Like I said guys, New Testament is not a simple piece of literature. It says that if you come looking to see what God has to say to you, you will hear Him. It says if you come for some petty or selfish reason, you will hear semi-nonsensical gibberish.

You may have seen one side of that claim come true, and so nothing is revealed. You are perfectly free to check out the other half, every other Sacred Scripture, but that would require a different mindset. Unless and until you do that, you really can't know the offer is malarkey. If you think it through, you'll realize that is a rather sophisticated conundrum you're in. You simply can't approach it's resolution as an ego. Pretty crafty idea, huh?

There it sits. The big bad know-it-alls can't know it all. You can theorize. You can bitch. You can stupidly point at all sorts of irrelevant stuff people might have done. You can say what you saw so far.  But there it sits.”

Now to beat the dead horse watch what happens when I make this alteration:

“Like I said guys, the Koran is not a simple piece of literature. It says that if you come looking to see what God has to say to you, you will hear Him. It says if you come for some petty or selfish reason, you will hear semi-nonsensical gibberish.

You may have seen one side of that claim come true, and so nothing is revealed. You are perfectly free to check out the other half, every other Sacred Scripture, but that would require a different mindset. Unless and until you do that, you really can't know the offer is malarkey. If you think it through, you'll realize that is a rather sophisticated conundrum you're in. You simply can't approach it's resolution as an ego. Pretty crafty idea, huh?

There it sits. The big bad know-it-alls can't know it all. You can theorize. You can bitch. You can stupidly point at all sorts of irrelevant stuff people might have done. You can say what you saw so far.  But there it sits.”

Do you get it?  The statement from one tribe proclaiming and asserting exclusivity to their tribe as the only source of truth is indistinguishable from a statement made by someone in a different tribe proclaiming and asserting exclusivity to their tribe as the only source of truth.

Exclusivity works for each and every tribe and thus is a concept that is useless and irrelevant.

This planet is made up of many tribes.  There is no way to honestly and objectively to ascertain which tribe is exclusively true.  The idea that there is only one true faith is an assertion that requires an emotional tie to a specific group.  If you have that emotional tie- generally formed from your birth into a family that is a member of a specific tribe,  then the proclamations of that birth tribe feels right.

 But each tribe proclaims they have the truth.  The one you were born into and the one someone else was born into.

My tribe is all of humanity.  My idea of the Divine is that the divine inspires all of humanity.  The fact is undeniable that ALL tribes make the claim that they were inspired by the divine.

I have no trouble studying any one single book just to see what it specifically has to offer but I can not accept the idea that it is the exclusive source of Divine truth. 

I can’t not because I can’t imagine it, but I can’t because the facts don’t add up.  I have read the other books and I have heard the others when they claim that they have the truth.

I just can’t find a way to say that any one and only one is exclusively the only truth.  There is no way to tell that only one tribe has the truth.

Hence it makes more sense to say they all are inspired which is exactly what they all claim to be. 

The hypothetical of only one is a logical possibility but a statement that in the context of the real world can not be demonstrated.  There is no way to tell.

Thus, the only conclusion I reach is to accept the most inclusive answer – the Divine has inspired everyone.  Each tribe, each scripture offers a piece of the truth.