From the Heart...What is Religion All About?

Discussion in 'Religion Archives' started by Balerion, Nov 16, 2005.

  1. Balerion Banned Banned

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    I have never been a follower, or a believer in much of anything, and I really don't believe in the religion that is practiced and preached throughout the world. I have known dedicated men and women who believed with all their hearts in their lord and I've always wondered why! Why give your personal life, your lifestyle, to something that we aren't even sure exists?

    I chalked it up to ignorance and romantic fantasy, but it's time I put those thoughts aside and ask to those faithful here at sciforums to tell me, not from the book, not from the pastor, not from the televangelist, but from the heart: why do you believe? What is it all about?

    JD
     
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  3. KennyJC Registered Senior Member

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    I believe the idea of a 'creator' is not such a far-fetched idea, but religion makes him out to be human, in that he can think, feel, love etc...

    If 'he' exists, I pressume it is something we could not second guess, which is why religion is pointless in the end. Also, I doubt 'he' adopts the fatherly figure like religion tells us.
     
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  5. Balerion Banned Banned

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    To soften the question a bit, I would add that I, as well, do not believe a creator would be out of the question. I guess my problems lie in the ideas put forth by the followers of religion.

    See, I'm not blind to the fact that faith saves people, and reading scripture can be the only thing preventing people from falling off their path. The messages in some of the holy texts are great guidlines for living your life and being a good person. These teachings can help everyone, and have helped the addicted get well, and the criminal reform.

    That aside, the question remains, what is religion all about to you all? How does it feel? How does it taste? What is life like when you truly believe?

    JD
     
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  7. c20H25N3o Shiny Heart of a Shiny Child Registered Senior Member

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    I am a christian and therefore hold dear to the message of Jesus. Jesus' message was to live by two commandments that are easy to understand.

    1) Love God with everything you have. We see God in His works as one may see into the mind of an artist by what he paints. Love is also not a hard concept to understand. I love God and give praise to Him for His works of beauty and majesty as creator of our amazing universe.

    Now Jesus said the second commandment was like the first.

    2) Love your neighbour as you love yourself.

    Well if you are humbled as you stand in awe at the creator behind the creation, then one naturally adopts a humble spirit. When walking in humilty one accepts their own fragility and weaknesses. One accepts that they are sons of dust, yet God has chosen us to glorify Him and be the pinnacle of his creative talents. For God it seems that power is perfected in weakness and indeed this concept is mentioned in the bible. Love works best and therefore creation glorifies God properly when pride and arrogance are removed from the equation. God's power or the power of love is perfected in us when we recognise the frailty of our existence. We can take this love and share it with others.

    For me therefore religion is about recognising God as Almighty and Powerful and as the creator of all that there is (including my own person) and loving Him for taking the time to fashion me and giving me all the tools I need to give and receive love. Religion is about recognising the beauty of grace bestowed upon me by a Holy and perfect creator. I am priviledged to be adopted by God as His own child. And as God's child I will do my best to represent Him in this life. I will make a mess of that sometimes. God doesn't expect me to be perfect, but that is the nature of His grace. God is patient, because He wants me to develop into the image He created me in. As a child of God, I know I shall inherit eternal life as any child inherits from their father everything that is their fathers. The glory of what we will be is something to meditate on. I believe we are like seeds in the state we are in now. But one day we will be flowers. The difference between the seed body and the flower body is huge.

    peace

    c20
     
  8. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    For me therefore religion is about recognising God as Almighty and Powerful and as the creator of all that there is (including my own person) and loving Him for taking the time to fashion me and giving me all the tools I need to give and receive love.

    He didn't really do that, did he? You said yourself you were at one time self-destructive.
     
  9. c20H25N3o Shiny Heart of a Shiny Child Registered Senior Member

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    2,017
    I can take a hammer and an anvil and fashion something beautiful to give you (Q) or I can just hit you with the hammer and steal your purse.

    The choice is mine. These days you are much more likely to keep your purse and receive a gift

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  10. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    My point is that you couldn't figure that out for yourself, and still haven't.
     
  11. c20H25N3o Shiny Heart of a Shiny Child Registered Senior Member

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    Figure out what? Sorry you have lost me?
     
  12. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    Your self-destrcutive ways, of course.
     
  13. c20H25N3o Shiny Heart of a Shiny Child Registered Senior Member

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    Lol. Please. Would you like to cite some examples?

    Thanks

    c20
     
  14. duendy Registered Senior Member

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    if i'm religious i am into th Re;igion of the EARTH....you know, here/HOME which INCLUDES universe

    i am fasinated by mythology, cause i know very much how the stories we tell ourselves informa our views of reality

    so i try and payattention to what certain belief-structures are saying

    i was always askin questions as a kid...why tis why that, what' happen if you put tomato paste, grass, nails, cow poo, paper, etc etc etc in a pan and cooked it.i used to drive mum mad askin here about all teseweird recipes and imagined she could tell me...haha.drove heremad

    school was a killer. didn't dig this chileat ALL. and tried to crush my natrual inquisitiveness as is its fukin way

    then at 15 i was turned onto LSD, and POW.... it was tose experinces that really startd th juice of inquiry flowing agin

    i have trouble wit patriarchy and teir 'God'--i see 'him' as an upstart who tried/tries to downgrade and even totally dismiss GODDESS--a concept far more anceint than the idea of a sky-god 'Father' on hih. why? cause the understanding of tis planet being Mother Earth is widely and anceintly recognized globally. forthis is our home

    when you lookat patriarchal religion--let's take Cristianity. it has no mention of Goddess except in the insipid de-wild image of te Vrigin Mary---ie., the recptacle for 'His' seed. sexuality is guilted abot....did Jesus hve sex....??? no--all of that is demoted to 'hell' to teir creation the'Devil'...any sex not for procreation--ie., children and women as the patriarchs' property is deemed evil. thus so are people of sam sex having sex!

    Christians perseucted pagans, many of whome wished to participate in thew wonders of ature, usualy inspired with various psychedelic and solanacious subtances. WHY were they tortured, and burned and hung, etc..? cause the DISOBEYED the 'FATHER'. THAT is evil. THA reveals the U T T E R hypocrisy of their commandment 'Love They Neighbour'...should have read ''errr dont TORTUREyour neighbour only if he beliefes in Jeeeesus....or whatever. awful

    they lied to the people. they claimed thatbread and wine/water wouldgive them a sense of Jesus--of the spiritual. well no it doesn't. its been known for primeval times it is PSYCHEDELIC food that gives THAT experience. that give deep speitual awe and interelatedness with Earth Universe and Community and ones own Being......all that has been snidely hidden frm th people. And the Chuch has stolen vast lands and possessions from the people, the greedy institution it is. it is a HYPOCRITEof the highest order

    Now it has become all mateialistic hasn't it. Sciencism rules and like the Institution it 'rebelled' against seeks to totally control people, ature, women , animals for its own greed and power
     
  15. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Because life is absurd and strange, you might as well have strange beliefs if you like them.
     
  16. KennyJC Registered Senior Member

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    Love is the overriding theme here I feel. Just because we (theist, atheist and agnostic alike) feel love, and claim this to be the greatest feeling a human can feel, does not mean this is our quick dial communication with God and what we share with God. What is love to God? How can something advanced enough to create a universe like the one we inhabit feel such a simple thing like love or pain. Our brains are tiny and we are attempting to walk a mile in God's shoes by understanding love he 'feels'.

    I just don't see the relevance between love and God, hatred and 'Satan'. It all seems rather primal and simple to me as we are still trying to make sense of our feelings.
     
  17. c20H25N3o Shiny Heart of a Shiny Child Registered Senior Member

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    Jesus walked more than a mile in our shoes. He set an example. His power came from His humility before His Father and His obedience even unto death which proved His humility. He taught us to pray 'Our Father ...' thus encouraging us to be united as children of God as He is. God's love is very clearly demonstrated in Jesus.

    peace

    c20
     
  18. duendy Registered Senior Member

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    you are stuck on 'God as creator'

    this gives you image of a superior haughty being who is sooo beyond love

    ie. it is dissociative. it is a distant concept. thats the danger of it
     
  19. c20H25N3o Shiny Heart of a Shiny Child Registered Senior Member

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    It is you who projects that image on to God. Not me.

    c20
     
  20. KennyJC Registered Senior Member

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    And like I have said, If David Blaine was alive 2,000 years ago, they would be calling him the 'son of God'. Imagine if who you are worshipping was nothing more than a magician, or perhaps just a decent guy who had a delusion at the same time.
     
  21. c20H25N3o Shiny Heart of a Shiny Child Registered Senior Member

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    2,017
    If we all saw David Blaine really crucified, spears in his side and really buried and then we saw him again apparently alive and then we saw him ascend to heaven, and then we received the Holy Spirit as he promised after he left and so on then we may well call him the Son of God. But his name was Jesus, not David Blaine.

    peace

    c20
     
  22. KennyJC Registered Senior Member

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    There are numerous explanations for that, the simplest one being that it is a myth. Another simple one being that he wasn't dead in the first place. Or being the showman he was, perhaps it was staged with the help of his followers. It is rather a fitting end to a story which was fabricated from birth to death. There are dozens of explanations which are far simpler than him coming back from the dead and zooming up through the sky to heaven (lol).
     
  23. c20H25N3o Shiny Heart of a Shiny Child Registered Senior Member

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    2,017
    Sure there are. However the books from the old testament predicted the coming of the Messiah and prophesied about His mission. I believe it. That's ok with you though eh?

    peace

    c20
     

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