My views on religious doctrine and beliefs

[robvalue]

As far as I'm concerned, when someone tells me they are from a certain religion, I don't assume anything more about them. I could make a few educated guesses about what they probably believe, but I see no point in doing so. I prefer to allow them to tell me, on an individual basis.

It makes no more sense for me to tell someone what their religious beliefs are than for other religious people to tell them what they "should" believe, as part of the religion. They may share common texts, but it's totally up to each person how they interpret the texts, how much weight they give particular parts of it, what they see as literal or metaphorical, and so on.

All that can be generalised is trends and popular current beliefs; that is mainly what I base my criticism of the religion on. A person might be in a minority with regards the interpretation of their religion, but that doesn't make them wrong, any more than the current majority being right due their numbers. Interpretations change over time anyway, religions are fractured into all sorts of sects, and even within a sect individuals disagree.

The only authority I recognize for one theist telling another they are "not a true X" is if it's a very specific sect of a religion, which has particular "required beliefs" or other criteria to be a member. There is then a clear case; otherwise it's just a load of people throwing No True Scotsmans around.