ANSWERS: 50
  • That would depend on the person and how they choose if they want to be open-minded or not - Religion has nothing to do with it That would be more under human behavior
  • Depends on the religion. In my opinion, the religions that teach people to blindly follow and that they are the only "true" church many times does close people's minds.
  • Some people seek religion to justify their closed minds. Having an authority figure tell you what to believe and what not to believe must be a pleasant relief for individuals who don't want to be burdened with thinking.
  • Religion doesn't have the power over you in that sense. Either you believe in a certain religion or you don't.
  • I see this as a spectrum of possibilities... "primitive" religion tends to close the mind, while "mature" religion tends to open it. Primitive religion is all about beliefs and rules -- clinging to fixed ideas about ourselves, life, and the universe in an effort to grasp onto something "solid" and permanent. Mature religion is all about integration: realizing and expressing our unity with the whole, whether you call that God or "ultimate reality" or Sam the Turtle. This integration is not an easy task, and it requires an open mind and a committed heart. Primitive religion can become mature religion with time and effort. Sometimes people have to start out with fixed rules and beliefs in order to discover the limitations of that approach. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
  • Yes. It has the power to do both. Most religions contain a spectrum from orthodoxy/rigidity all the way to acceptance/liberalism. As a matter of fact, I can't think of one major world religion that doesn't.
  • Why would religion affect that either way???
  • I personally have an issue with the word 'religion,' as I see this describing a man-made organization administering the faith of others. For the purpose of this question I will replace the word religion with the word faith in the Christian God, as this is applicable to me. To answer the question, I would say 'close-minded' in that I have placed my faith in God and have accepted 'the mystery.' I have put aside the need to have all the answers and have replaced this with trust. I don't seek to understand God, as I believe my human brain is not capable of this and God's mysteries will remain undisclosed until things are explained to me in heaven.
  • depends which religion, ie buddhism - open minded usually and christianity can make people very close-minded sometimes, but not always...
  • Closed-minded I guess. After all each religion is sure it has the "one and only truth". So all but one must be false. You can't visualise anyone more closed-minded than a suicide bomber can you?
  • Both ....I think I am open-minded to hear your point of view but close minded if you try to tell me there is no God.
  • after much research on the matter i would honestly say that religious people tend to be close minded as they believe what the bible tells them, if it were god's words to moses ie the 10 commandments how come the bible keeps being revised & updated? does god carry his own typewriter?:) but rather than trail of i'm stating that it's always hard to state a point on religion with a deep believer as they will never listen to reason/science
  • It depends on both the religion and the individual, it can do both.
  • I don't think religion makes people either way- the individual is either open minded or closed minded. What is pretty common is for a closed minded person to use religion to justify their closed minded views. It's very easy to defend an opinion by saying the Bible or Koran says that it is true. Not many people are brave enough to argue against a Holy book.
  • Depends on the person. I am an agnostic and im very open minded.
  • There is possibility that religion makes people more close to what the religion teaches you , depends on what kind of the teaching is. Some religions are primitive. They are many people who become more close minded because they tend to block their mind just to stay faithful for their religion. But, I dont think neither religion make those. People have right to believe what they want, so not all of religious people are close minded.
  • People choose to be open-minded or close-minded. They often just use their own religion as a way to be so.
  • From what I have seen and heard lately, it appears that it makes one closed minded especially if one believes the Bible word for word.
  • Depends on the religion and the person but religions like christianity and islam can make people very close-minded(sometimes).
  • Oh, so sadly closed.
  • Some religious contacts or encounters can make some people become close-minded or it can attract people that already tend to be close-minded. Other people can develop varying degrees of open- or close-mindedness from that exposure. I was raised as a Roman Catholic until I was 11. I think I've become more open-minded than I was then, not because that religion encouraged me to be or because of a philosophically adverse reaction to it, but because of my own life experiences. In summation, I'd say it doesn't necessarily make one close- or open-minded. It depends on the individual and the circumstances.
  • It doesn't make people either thing. People are already one way or the other. In my experience, most people ARE close-minded about most things, but they won't admit it even to themselves. I've rarely seen someone change their preconceptions about much of anything. I've also noticed that while most people think that they or the people who share their opinions are open-minded, they consider those with differing opinions close-minded. Go figure.
  • Most of religion is intended to prevent, rather than encourage, open mindedness. That's the definition of "dogma." There are a couple of exceptions though, like reform Judaism and Unitarian Universalism, where awareness of and reaching out to other religions is encouraged, dogma is eschewed, and participants are encouraged to question.
  • i believe it makes most of them close-minded.
  • Religion doesn't MAKE you do anything. You decide that.
  • The answer you search for is impossible... There is no way to isolate that one factor to know if that is the only contribution that makes one open or close-minded. You are trying to simplify a complex state that is rooted in cultural...econmomic...educaional background or lack there of...religious orientation ( not to mention...fundamentalism...Moderate...Liberal) Do I need to go on...? A better question is...Is it a contributing factor?
  • most of my family are close minded anyway
  • Open to the real truth.
  • ppl are the way they are with or without religion. I was open minded before I found Jesus and I am still open minded. ppl kill ppl ::: religion doesn't kill anyone
  • Close-minded... for example, one of the other answers here: "Open to the real truth." This comment suggests that the poster is right, and EVERYONE who disagrees is wrong. That is the definition of close-minded.
  • When someone "knows" the "truth" they are almost by definition discounting other peoples beliefs out of hand. Almost all religious people are closed minded when it comes to their faith, morality, and dogma. Beyond that it really depends on the person.
  • the human species seems to have a gift of concocting all kinds of psuedo realities.. whether based on Facts or at least some form of evidence,to support that reality does not appear to enter the typical mind of the faith based religions. Which as evidence shows throughout all history, causes nothing but misery, ignorance,and violence and holds humanity back from exloring our wonderful universe which requires an open and intelligent mind.
  • That solely depends on the believer, and partially on the religion. For example, Fundamentalism is usually a more strict approach to religion, and several of its members believe that truth is simple that even the least intelligent can understand it fully. There are other religious that understand that truth is a very complicated matter and understand they dont contain the full truth, and recognize the truths in other religions also. Unfortunately, the more close minded religious folk are the ones who are the most outspoken, and instill the wrong idea about religion.
  • It depends on which religion and the individual in question.
  • from personal experience, closed....but i'm sure that doesn't speak for all religious people out there.
  • Neither. Religion is used to reinforce all kinds of things. Frequently, it reinforces reactionary behavior, which makes it popular for people like Sarah Palin to use for demagoguery. But it's pretty hard to imagine people like St. Francis of Assisi, who opened one of the first interfaith dialogues, or St. Patrick, who condemned slavery 1200 years before pretty much anyone else did, doing what they did without religious faith. Of course, religion has been kind of lost as an institution that people take seriously, so such things are more rare nowadays. Even believers in God tend to see excessive religious faith as either backwards or schizophrenic.
  • I don't know because I hate religion. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and do not adhere to any religion. Religion is just about man's efforts to come to God, while Christianity is God coming down to man thru the person of Jesus Christ, being sinless, and paying the ultimate penalty for our sin, and restoring our relationship with God for all those who confess their sin and trust in Him.
  • You'd anticipate the former, but usually end up with the latter! ;-)
  • It depends on the religion and how they interpret the text. Misinterpretation or the lack of knowledge of your own religion is results in people killing or attacking in the name of their faith.
  • Depends on what type of religion. I know of one that comes to mind, each time I hear the word religion. And it would be open-minded if people would live by it. It's called "Pure Religion". What is that you say??? Just read in the book of James chapter 1 V-27. After reading, ask yourself. Dose your religion do this? http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201-27;&version=9;
  • Open-minded because we perceive not only at the human level, but also from God's perspective.
  • That depends on the person. I know really open-minded Christians who hang out and drink with their Muslim friends. But, I also know another person who always declares "God is first, before all!" THe person's got their priorities all messed up, putting God before his/her family and hygiene. The guy ain't open to criticism either.
  • Neither... Right minded!
  • Neither. It makes them righteous if they've been given the gift of grace and found salvation through Christ's atoning sacrifice. I guess that makes them "right" minded.
  • the idea and concept of religion is a creation of confusion of Lucifer. Let the truth be known. Seek truth. Seek and you shall find. The Holy Father, Lord in Heaven, King of the Universe, is the One True G-d, IS THE LIVING G-D. HALLOWED BE HIS NAME. youtube.com/daanielsong YOUTUBE>Interview with an Ex Vampire tp://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/world/essays.htm http://www.atgpress.com/kifap/britcol/b1.htm --"When Cornwallis surrendered to Washington he surrendered the battle, not the war. Read the Article of Capitulation signed by Cornwallis at Yorktown (footnote 3) Jonathan Williams recorded in his book, Legions of Satan, 1781, that Cornwallis revealed to Washington during his surrender that "a holy war will now begin on America, and when it is ended America will be supposedly the citadel of freedom, but her millions will unknowingly be loyal subjects to the Crown."...."in less than two hundred years the whole nation will be working for divine world government. That government that they believe to be divine will be the British Empire.""-- --- ...Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the LORD. Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins" "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more-- {12} cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; {13} cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. BODIES AND SOULS OF MEN. the illuminati, "the enlightened", they follow Lucifer, "the light bearer" and if you haven't read, most of our "presidents" were masons/illuminati and were loyal to the "british empire" though really if you've seen this video, when people swear allegiance to the "crown" they swear allegiance to a corperation that rules the world basically and as you can guess, is controlled by Lucifer. On http://www.illuminati-news.com/Articles/149.html Illuminati Document, Presented by Wes Penre, Apr 09, 2008 Introduction by Wes Penre, Illuminati News I can't guarantee the authenticity of this document, although the context pretty much describes the truth as it is. We don't know when it was written and exactly by whom, but it looks like it was composed by a British person if we look at the spelling of words, which is British English. This information was sent to me by someone who for obvious reasons wants to be anonymous. This person gave me this reply when I asked if he/she could verify the authenticity of it: THE SECRET COVENANT An illusion it will be, so large, so vast it will escape their perception. Those who will see it will be thought of as insane. We will create separate fronts to prevent them from seeing the connection between us. We will behave as if we are not connected to keep the illusion alive. Our goal will be accomplished one drop at a time so as to never bring suspicion upon ourselves. This will also prevent them from seeing the changes as they occur. We will always stand above the relative field of their experience for we know the secrets of the absolute. We will work together always and will remain bound by blood and secrecy. Death will come to he who speaks. We will keep their lifespan short and their minds weak while pretending to do the opposite. We will use our knowledge of science and technology in subtle ways so they will never see what is happening. We will use soft metals, ageing accelerators and sedatives in food and water, also in the air. They will be blanketed by poisons everywhere they turn. The soft metals will cause them to lose their minds. We will promise to find a cure from our many fronts, yet we will feed them more poison. The poisons will be absorbed through their skin and mouths, they will destroy their minds and reproductive systems. From all this, their children will be born dead, and we will conceal this information. The poisons will be hidden in everything that surrounds them, in what they drink, eat, breathe and wear. We must be ingenious in dispensing the poisons for they can see far. We will teach them that the poisons are good, with fun images and musical tones. Those they look up to will help. We will enlist them to push our poisons. They will see our products being used in film and will grow accustomed to them and will never know their true effect. When they give birth we will inject poisons into the blood of their children and convince them it is for their help. We will start early on, when their minds are young, we will target their children with what children love most, sweet things. When their teeth decay we will fill them with metals that will kill their mind and steal their future. When their ability to learn has been affected, we will create medicine that will make them sicker and cause other diseases for which we will create yet more medicine. We will render them docile and weak before us by our power. They will grow depressed, slow and obese, and when they come to us for help, we will give them more poison. We will focus their attention toward money and material goods so they many never connect with their inner self. We will distract them with fornication, external pleasures and games so they may never be one with the oneness of it all. Their minds will belong to us and they will do as we say. If they refuse we shall find ways to implement mind-altering technology into their lives. We will use fear as our weapon. We will establish their governments and establish opposites within. We will own both sides. We will always hide our objective but carry out our plan. They will perform the labour for us and we shall prosper from their toil. Our families will never mix with theirs. Our blood must be pure always, for it is the way. We will make them kill each other when it suits us. We will keep them separated from the oneness by dogma and religion. We will control all aspects of their lives and tell them what to think and how. We will guide them kindly and gently letting them think they are guiding themselves. We will foment animosity between them through our factions. When a light shall shine among them, we shall extinguish it by ridicule, or death, whichever suits us best. We will make them rip each other's hearts apart and kill their own children. We will accomplish this by using hate as our ally, anger as our friend. The hate will blind them totally, and never shall they see that from their conflicts we emerge as their rulers. They will be busy killing each other. They will bathe in their own blood and kill their neighbours for as long as we see fit. We will benefit greatly from this, for they will not see us, for they cannot see us. We will continue to prosper from their wars and their deaths. We shall repeat this over and over until our ultimate goal is accomplished. We will continue to make them live in fear and anger though images and sounds. We will use all the tools we have to accomplish this. The tools will be provided by their labour. We will make them hate themselves and their neighbours. We will always hide the divine truth from them, that we are all one. This they must never know! They must never know that colour is an illusion, they must always think they are not equal. Drop by drop, drop by drop we will advance our goal. We will take over their land, resources and wealth to exercise total control over them. We will deceive them into accepting laws that will steal the little freedom they will have. We will establish a money system that will imprison them forever, keeping them and their children in debt. When they shall band together, we shall accuse them of crimes and present a different story to the world for we shall own all the media. We will use our media to control the flow of information and their sentiment in our favour. When they shall rise up against us we will crush them like insects, for they are less than that. They will be helpless to do anything for they will have no weapons. We will recruit some of their own to carry out our plans, we will promise them eternal life, but eternal life they will never have for they are not of us. The recruits will be called "initiates" and will be indoctrinated to believe false rites of passage to higher realms. Members of these groups will think they are one with us never knowing the truth. They must never learn this truth for they will turn against us. For their work they will be rewarded with earthly things and great titles, but never will they become immortal and join us, never will they receive the light and travel the stars. They will never reach the higher realms, for the killing of their own kind will prevent passage to the realm of enlightenment. This they will never know. The truth will be hidden in their face, so close they will not be able to focus on it until its too late. Oh yes, so grand the illusion of freedom will be, that they will never know they are our slaves. When all is in place, the reality we will have created for them will own them. This reality will be their prison. They will live in self-delusion. When our goal is accomplished a new era of domination will begin. Their minds will be bound by their beliefs, the beliefs we have established from time immemorial. But if they ever find out they are our equal, we shall perish then. THIS THEY MUST NEVER KNOW. If they ever find out that together they can vanquish us, they will take action. They must never, ever find out what we have done, for if they do, we shall have no place to run, for it will be easy to see who we are once the veil has fallen. Our actions will have revealed who we are and they will hunt us down and no person shall give us shelter. This is the secret covenant by which we shall live the rest of our present and future lives, for this reality will transcend many generations and life spans. This covenant is sealed by blood, our blood. We, the ones who from heaven to earth came. This covenant must NEVER, EVER be known to exist. It must NEVER, EVER be written or spoken of for if it is, the consciousness it will spawn will release the fury of the PRIME CREATOR upon us and we shall be cast to the depths from whence we came and remain there until the end time of infinity itself. and it seems in response to this leaking an anonymous posted a commented Xianist says 12/15/2008: This article is really just a synopsis of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion...it's nothing new or astounding. Have you ever thought that maybe you've been fed disinformation on purpose? You're not any different then William Cooper. Quite possibly you're already working for us and you don't even realize it. It's as plain as black and white. You either accept this, join us, or perish. It is what is meant to happen. It's humanity's destiny. Evil is good, and good is evil. We are the yang from ying in this world. Without us you would be a mindless drone in "utopia" always worshiping God without really loving him as the great architect of the universe. We bring the order in society. We've created the balance. The very toothpaste, which you use (hopefully multiple times) on a daily basis, could be infecting your body with all of the horrendous materials we've crafted. Our diseases have been pushed into absoluteness. There is nothing that our sinister tentacles have not infiltrated. Why do you think so many believe and trust the FDA? If only they knew the ingeniousness behind the booster shots, flu shots, antibiotics, and their biological mutations. We're profiting from the death of your family, friends, children, spouse, and even you. Ever been to the doctor? Had surgery or have been in the Emergency room? Remember the saline drip? You were never asked for your consent to push this cold clear killing agent into your blood. But, you were led to believe it was to rehydrate your body. As if your body doesn't naturally do so already! Look at the society you live in. Who are the new icons in America? Not politicians, hardly athletes, but your musicians, especially rap artists. We have controlled the African population in the American states so well. We've glorified their impoverished lifestyles. Their purposes are to only breed like the cells of an infectious disease, and completely waste any money we've given to them on a slew of material objects we've designed solely for them. We build them up, making them feel like they have equality. Even gave them a TV station to reach the masses of Africans to continuously force down their throats what, how, and why we want them to act. We've given them their own magazines, as if we actually care about their culture. They have been our best test subjects aside from a few of our own. Our very existence was created by God, for God, of God. We cannot be destroyed without first destroying the great architect of the universe, which is the definition of impossible. My brothers are the ones who serve you at the banks, create your food, made the vehicle you drive, the house you live in, the clothes you wear, the movies you watch, the books you read, the music you listen too, the fragrances you wash with, absolutely everything in you, on you, around you, we have created. God may have made you in his image, but we bred you into existence. What is imperative is that you know the extent of our ownership over you, namely your soul. You have been given a number. We have been given the master list of the numerals enlisted for death. Our savvy is death. Our secondary aptitude is control. Together we have become the unstoppable force, blowing in the wind, inhabiting every shadowy corner of the world. We are that unspoken word, ready to be spoken, but only when we determine the time is right.
  • There are mystics and literalists in every religious tradition. The literalist tends to restrict their belief to creed and/or dogma. The mystic in every tradition has in some way had a direct experience with the "divine" . That being said you can have an open or closed minded literalist, and you can have an open or closed minded mystic.
  • Open-minded if a certain belief is taught with respect towards others. And close-minded if a certain belief is shoved down a person's throat.
    • Jenny_Rizzo
      Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
    • Jenny_Rizzo
      It doesn't get any clearer than that. https://www.adventist.org/en/
  • depends on the person since everybody is different
  • Does a book make you smarter or dumber? Depends on the book and especially the interpretation. Same with religion.

Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC

Answerbag | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy