In the modern world, spirituality is becoming not just a personal quest but a powerful foundation upon which beliefs and views are built.

Absolute Belief: The Perils of Closed-Minded Spirituality

In the modern world, spirituality is becoming not just a personal quest but a powerful foundation upon which beliefs and views are built. People who are deeply devoted to their religious faith perceive it as an indisputable truth—confirmed by personal experience and tradition—that leaves no room for doubt. Such conviction transforms into a principle that defines their entire worldview, where every alternative perspective is seen as a dangerous challenge to their sacred foundations.

The main idea here is that absolute trust in religious dogmas leads to closed-minded thinking, in which the world is viewed in black-and-white terms. This stance not only rejects and excludes alternative opinions but also creates an atmosphere of intolerance, where any deviation from one’s own truth is treated as an error. In this context, the spiritual experience becomes an arena of confrontation, where the pursuit of “true knowledge” is intertwined with the risk of imposing one’s righteousness on others.

In conclusion, when faith becomes absolute, it often closes off a broader view of the world and the possibility of dialogue. This one-sided perception, though charged with passion and a sense of sacrosanctity, can lead to conflicts and irreconcilability. However, a deep awareness of this phenomenon offers the chance to reflect on the importance of remaining open to new ideas and discussions, so that the spiritual quest does not turn into an isolated, hostile stance devoid of growth and mutual understanding.

What leads religious people to highly value their own beliefs while rejecting the views of others, and how does this reflect on their spiritual perception?

People who are deeply convinced of the truth of their religious faith tend to regard it as absolute and irrefutable. For them, faith is not merely a collection of hypotheses or dogmas open to revision, but an actual truth confirmed by personal spiritual experience and tradition. It is exactly this confidence in the unconditional correctness of their beliefs that compels them to reject alternative viewpoints, considering these to be erroneous and even dangerous. For example, one source writes:

"If I assert a religious truth, then everyone who disagrees with me is in religious error. No matter how humbly and graciously I may utter these formulas, I cannot help but pronounce them, for they are embedded in the very religious belief that possesses me. And in this there is a great and responsible claim. And when humility and graciousness leave the believer, he can always fall into religious intolerance and belligerence, as we see throughout the history of humanity." (source: link txt)

This statement emphasizes that at the heart of such views lies not only the desire to possess the truth but also the necessity to exclude any possibility of error, which directly affects the spiritual perception of the world. The way of thinking becomes closed, and spiritual vision narrow and categorical when all of reality is viewed through the prism of one absolutely true faith.

A similar attitude is further illustrated by the following observation:

"Everyone is blind. 'Each of the ignoramuses clings only to his own opinion and sees only a part, and overall sees nothing.' It would have been a parable about religious tolerance if Buddha had concluded it with: everyone is right in their own way. This is by no means a parable about religious tolerance. On the contrary, it is a call for the radical rejection of all other viewpoints." (source: link txt)

Thus, absolute trust in one’s religious convictions not only fosters closed-minded thinking but also affects the spiritual perception of the world—transforming it into an arena where every alternative perspective is perceived as a threat or error. Ultimately, such a stance breeds religious intolerance and conflicts, as people feel the truth of their faith to be the fundamental support for their existence and understanding of spiritual order.

Supporting citation(s):
"If I assert a religious truth, then everyone who disagrees with me is in religious error. No matter how humbly and graciously I may utter these formulas, I cannot help but pronounce them, for they are embedded in the very religious belief that possesses me. And in this there is a great and responsible claim. And when humility and graciousness leave the believer, he can always fall into religious intolerance and belligerence, as we see throughout the history of humanity." (source: link txt)

"Everyone is blind. 'Each of the ignoramuses clings only to his own opinion and sees only a part, and overall sees nothing.' It would have been a parable about religious tolerance if Buddha had concluded it with: everyone is right in their own way. This is by no means a parable about religious tolerance. On the contrary, it is a call for the radical rejection of all other viewpoints." (source: link txt)