AS people who are religious....
I found that following my religion years ago gave me a loose framework, I didn't take it all in completely but it did make me question things about life, death and the things we cannot see but could be there, like ghosts and things. For that reason, it was helpful at the time, later I found it to be a kind of entrapment.
Never have.
Ah, then there is our difference. I don't believe in worshipping one being. I see it as self-development mainly these days. I am not sure that I truly worshipped a Being before, I think I was under some illusions and now I am just open to experiencing my life and being open about what, if anything is after the physical life.
Don't misunderstand me, I have had deep religious experiences that others would describe as experiencing God, however, I have no proof that they are anything more than something in my brain even though years ago, I would have said I KNOW I experienced Him. Dark Night? False belief being wiped away? I don't know, but I feel content that it will all work out somehow.
What I meant about ceding your beliefs was not specifically directed to you. I see many Christians who know nothing about their religion and/or add things in order to make it more acceptable to modern thinkers. Frankly, I find it sacrilegious and utter crap.
When I made a statement about "Being" it was a bit of a misnomer. Being implies existence, existence implies life, life implies death. I do not worship a dead Lord.
I might be considered "blind" or "sheep" by some atheists as I won't question my beliefs, but why should I? I was atheist for a long time in my life. Now that I am a theist, how can I revert? Especially, now that it all makes sense.
Ironically, I'm sure I'd be labeled an atheist by Christians. Oh well. Ha.
Please, if anyone can, give me a genuine and INTELLIGENT reason why any religion is true or why you should pick one.
Guess what? Atheism causes war too. How many people died during Communism? You've obviously been swept into believe that Televangelism and their marketing is what religion's all about. Scientology is definitely not a religion. How can it be considered one?
I've realized that there is no need to explain to people why when they're not interested to begin with. When I would explain my beliefs to a person I knew, he just picked at it. What's the point of going on any further? Religion is not politics. When it becomes one, then will the negative come out. I could try and show you reasons as to why your belief in religion is incorrect, but what's the point? Will you suddenly begin to believe? I doubt it. So to me, it is vain talk.
My religious\spiritual journrey.
Born - Mormon
15 - Hard Atheist
16 - Hmm.. Necronomicon? Dunno exactly what religion that fits into. Bad times that was.
17 - Agnostic
18 - Pantheist\Mystic
19 - Pantheist\Taoist
20 - Re-explored Mormonism and Buddhism
21 - Pantheist\Neutral Monist\Aesthetic Realist as it sits now. Technically a Soft Atheist as well. I share some Buddhist and Taoist beliefs too... Really I've captured a lot of core spiritual teachings related to peace and calmness and behaving rightfully from many religions I've encountered in my life. I do have a problem with holding contempt against many people in the world, which is detrimental to myself in the end. I'm working to end that.
Current belief clarification:
Pantheist - I believe the universe as a whole, and the energy associated in its being (even matter is primarily composed of energy), is the closest thing to a "god" there is.
Neutral Monist - I believe everything in the universe - Physical, Mental, and Supernatural - is comprised of one substance: Energy.
Aesthetic Realist - I'm not a member or student, I've given them no money. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetic_Realism
Soft Atheist - I do not have a belief in an entity or being that is "God", I only believe that Energy is the closest thing to "God" that actually exists.
First of all, there has not been a true Communist society on the face of the planet that has lasted more than a couple weeks. Communism is an economic system where every person in the entire society is equal. The only way Communism can exist is in junction with a Pure Democracy (not a Republic like america) where every citizen votes to make decisions that affect the whole society, and there are no real "leaders".
Secondly and most importantly, it was not Atheism that caused a war. I assume by "communism" you mean the Soviet Union and Stalin's rule? If so, Stalin did not declare war against anyone, it was Hitler that declared war on Stalin, violating their pact. It is true that Stalin did kill many of his own people in purges, but this had nothing to do with religion, it was because Stalin was a FASCIST DICTATOR! Fascist dictators do this sort of thing.
Note: In a true Communist Democracy, there are obviously no dictators. The supposed "communism" that existed was warped from Marx's and Lenin's teachings. The Fascist governments of the Soviet Union, Korea, China, and Vietnam were falsely LABELED communism in order to seed disgust of the word into the public.
Edit: Before anyone makes the ignorant comment about Hitler being atheist, Hitler was a Catholic and had the support of the Vatican in eliminating the Jews. More precisely, the Vatican had a platform of non-involvement; though that's not to say they didn't like the idea.
The time has come to embrace your Mormanism
Doesnt make you a bad person
Face it you aint gettin a planet
Those arent for skeptics
but you might land a bride
retrace your footsteps and find the Lord
dont lay on your death bed all stressed out
because you doubted the truth
find it
walk out into the woods and pray about it
look into the heavens
The light that shines is the mothership
_________________
ALT+F4=Life
First of all, there has not been a true Communist society on the face of the planet that has lasted more than a couple weeks. Communism is an economic system where every person in the entire society is equal. The only way Communism can exist is in junction with a Pure Democracy (not a Republic like america) where every citizen votes to make decisions that affect the whole society, and there are no real "leaders".
Secondly and most importantly, it was not Atheism that caused a war. I assume by "communism" you mean the Soviet Union and Stalin's rule? If so, Stalin did not declare war against anyone, it was Hitler that declared war on Stalin, violating their pact. It is true that Stalin did kill many of his own people in purges, but this had nothing to do with religion, it was because Stalin was a FASCIST DICTATOR! Fascist dictators do this sort of thing.
Note: In a true Communist Democracy, there are obviously no dictators. The supposed "communism" that existed was warped from Marx's and Lenin's teachings. The Fascist governments of the Soviet Union, Korea, China, and Vietnam were falsely LABELED communism in order to seed disgust of the word into the public.
Edit: Before anyone makes the ignorant comment about Hitler being atheist, Hitler was a Catholic and had the support of the Vatican in eliminating the Jews. More precisely, the Vatican had a platform of non-involvement; though that's not to say they didn't like the idea.
You can argue what communism is and it will not matter because I can argue what religion is and it will not matter. Just like us not living in a true democracy, it does not prevent us from calling our society a democracy.
By the way, that is not what I meant. Communism is destructive to religion and it cannot be dismissed. Systematically shutting down temples and mosques, forcing people to not follow their faith, and limiting the amount of people who practice/preach seems to me like a "War against Religion."
You make a point about Stalin being a fascist dictator. If a madman decides to wield the "Sword of Allah", how can you claim it was a strictly religious act and not a political one? After all, a politician can influence his people to do what he wants; what more so of one under the guise of piety? What kind of war would it be? There is nothing religious about such a war.
Doesnt make you a bad person
Face it you aint gettin a planet
Those arent for skeptics
but you might land a bride
retrace your footsteps and find the Lord
dont lay on your death bed all stressed out
because you doubted the truth
find it
walk out into the woods and pray about it
look into the heavens
The light that shines is the mothership
YOU IDIOT! You religion was made by someone who had been diagnosed with SCHIZOPHRENIA! That AND he had previous convictions for FRAUD!
far out, you'd think most people would see that it was BS when they were told about the "golden book" that was locked away and no-one was allowed to see it, let alone the part that says "FEED ME %20 OF EVERYTHING YOU OWN!! !"
_________________
I'm not sure exactly what it is i want, but i know that i want it now. (Dylan Moran, "Like Totally..." live)
Doesnt make you a bad person
Face it you aint gettin a planet
Those arent for skeptics
but you might land a bride
retrace your footsteps and find the Lord
dont lay on your death bed all stressed out
because you doubted the truth
find it
walk out into the woods and pray about it
look into the heavens
The light that shines is the mothership
YOU IDIOT! You religion was made by someone who had been diagnosed with SCHIZOPHRENIA! That AND he had previous convictions for FRAUD!
far out, you'd think most people would see that it was BS when they were told about the "golden book" that was locked away and no-one was allowed to see it, let alone the part that says "FEED ME %20 OF EVERYTHING YOU OWN!! !"
I ask for an intelligent response and someone from the most ridiculous of religions replies to me telling me some stupid crap about owning a planet in a fantasy land. What the hell do you expect me to say?!
_________________
I'm not sure exactly what it is i want, but i know that i want it now. (Dylan Moran, "Like Totally..." live)
YOU IDIOT! You religion was made by someone who had been diagnosed with SCHIZOPHRENIA! That AND he had previous convictions for FRAUD!
far out, you'd think most people would see that it was BS when they were told about the "golden book" that was locked away and no-one was allowed to see it, let alone the part that says "FEED ME %20 OF EVERYTHING YOU OWN!! !"
Surely, was such a response necessary? If Fred2670 is playing the role of a troll, then who is the idiot? He would not be the only in the group.
i was raised a Christian but the easiest label to apply to my personal beliefs would be as a "death worshipper"
a basic summary of some of my views:
we came from nothing and we will return to nothing, death is everywhere and has been with you since birth, every moment of your life is a gift from death before it takes it away. life is a gift and is subservient to death all that is will one day cease to be, death is the alpha and the omega. if all existence was eternal then life as we know it would be chaos, death is the balance. death and death alone is eternal. only by truly and wholly accepting death as the master of all existence can we truly appreciate all the amazing gifts death brings us though our life's. in death we are all equal, by respecting those around us we honour our lord.
Compare above statement with this one:
You want reason for religion,but then you negatively label religion (in general),and in a sense you already demonstrated that you don't want any reason for religion,and that your question from above is purely rhetorical.
"Give me honest and intelligent reason for religion,so that I can deny that this reason is honest and intelligent" is most likely rationale for above statement(I believe).
That only depends on your personal definition of Communism.
Self professed Communist societies lasted for decades,and some (like North Korea) still exist today.
Communism as official state ideology starts with Vladimir Lenin,not Stalin.
Read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War
this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_ord ... nd_in_1939
and this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khalkhin_Gol
Off course not....
Mao was also a 'Fascist dictator',this has nothing to do with religion:
http://www.tibet.com/whitepaper/white7.html
The Chinese Communist Party considers that its ideology and that of religion are two forces that cannot co-exist and occupy the same spot at the same time. ... the differences between the two (ie, science and religion) can be likened to those between light and darkness, between truth and falsehood. There is absolutely no possibility to reconcile the mutually-opposed world views of science and religion.
This Communist Chinese view was all-pervasive. In Mao Zedong's own words, "... but of course, religion is poison. It has two great defects: It undermines the race ...(and) ret*ds the progress of the country. Tibet and Mongolia have both been poisoned by it."
By the middle of the 1950s, the Chinese authorities realised that religion was the principal obstacle to their control of Tibet. Therefore, from the beginning of 1956, a so-called "Democratic Reform" was carried out, first in Kham and Amdo, and later (in 1959) in Central Tibet. Monasteries, temples, and cultural centres were systematically looted of all articles of value and then dismantled.
As a matter of fact,Mao's statements are almost identical with statements of many 'new atheists' on this forum.
As for Soviet Union:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecutio ... viet_Union
All this,off course have nothing to do with religion....
Note:In a true Christian society,there is obviously no violence.
There is also a "Christian communism":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_communism
But violent,oppressive Communism known to most of us was inspired by something else...
As Lenin once said:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/autho ... lenin.html
Vladimir Lenin
Hitler was baptized as Catholic,in same manner that Joseph Stalin was baptized as Orthodox,or Richard Dawkins was baptized as Anglican.
I believe that Hitlers 'religion' was closer to Wicca then to traditional Christianity.
Here is about Hitler:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitl ... us_beliefs
Sweden had platform of non-involvement...though that's not to say they didn't like the idea...
_________________
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"
Jack Torrance
"Give me honest and intelligent reason for religion,so that I can deny that this reason is honest and intelligent" is most likely rationale for above statement(I believe).
Or perhaps you're misunderstanding me or even twisting my words?
The reason i stated those negative things about religion is so i don't have to bring it up again and again. People can take those things into consideration and then give a proper response.
_________________
I'm not sure exactly what it is i want, but i know that i want it now. (Dylan Moran, "Like Totally..." live)
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