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

It's not really OK with me, although there is nothing I can do beyond trying to persuade people that the bible is fiction and that religion of any kind is false and verges on the point of contradicting the very creator the claim to know and love (if a creator exists).

I don't see how anybody could be OK with religion since even today, it creates violence and adds to the intellectual dysfunction of society... Not so much where I live, but around the world, even perhaps in some secular societies.

All this because of a 2,000 year old game of chinese whispers and the human urge to belong to something.

I'm hopeful that religion will continue it's slow decline though, and that we will at least learn to think for ourselves in the future.

 

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My belief has nothing to do with your objections to my belief.

Believing in a creator has little to do with chinese whispers. Conviction comes from within. It comes from recognising that this whole universe deal is pretty crazy, like a giant cosmic merry go round where we are the kids fortunate to have got a place on the ride. It is all too cool and our existence all too sacred for their not to be a holy plan. I am excited by it all. Don't confuse me with people who make decisions for others. I am just excited by life. I believe it has been created by the God of the bible. I believe Jesus came to redeem us from death because God loved us. God's love for us was in Jesus. God's seal of approval on all of us. God's covenant with us in His blood itself, in the flesh, in Jesus. This message holds a very powerful meaning. Love is great indeed and God is love.

peace

c20

 

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So lets say a cloud of logic covers the planet and tommorrow every religious person wakes up and realizes organised religion for what it really is - Do you honestly think the world would be worse off? I don't. Many people say a nation without religion would be a wreckless one, however I point them too the great secular nations of the world and that myth is isntantly dispelled.

So then other people have made your decision for you. Therein lies the control that religion has over peoples minds - That is the intellectual dysfunction I was talking about.

 

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By organised religion you cannot mean me. I'm quite disorganised. Since I am not yolked to 'organised' religion, I doubt I would miss it either.

C20: Don't confuse me with people who make decisions for others.

KennyJC: So then other people have made your decision for you. Therein lies the control that religion has over peoples minds - That is the intellectual dysfunction I was talking about.

No. I make the decision for myself. No one is 'controlling' my mind. ""I am"" in control of my mind. 'Me'. You would have it appear that I am brainwashed but that is not the case. I perceive God as a patient loving all powerful, all encompassing holy spirit. I believe Jesus had full revelation of God's spirit. It is evident from the writings about Him that He did. I felt the spirit poured out on me when I asked. Jesus promised the spirit would come after he had gone. I have become a part of the prophecy. Not special in and of myself, but grateful to be a part of 'the life' nonetheless.

But now you will say that I am delusional

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peace

c20

 

Religion is all about attaining happiness, just like what everything else is about.

 

I'm religious because I know that there's some kind of higher power out there. There are too many wonders in this world for all of this to be coincidence. I mean, the human body is made so that we have everything we need. Also, there are hundreds(maybe thousands)of ruins that seem to have advanced architecture for their times. If we all started out in some primal form we wouldn't have the facilities to create such wonders at so early a time. And there are millions of people across the world who say they've seen angels or have seen some other divine event occur or have been the recipients of miracles that have no scientific explanation. People who were thought to be 100% hopeless cases have made complete recoveries and it was found that most of those people were religious and were praying when they became terminally ill. Also, there have been millions of ghost sightings so that's a big sign that there is indeed at the very least an afterlife. My mom said that soon after her dad died when she was little she had a dream where her father came to her bedside and told her he loved her then disappeared then she woke up. One of my relatives was instantly healed of a severe medical condition after praying on a Jehovah's Witnesses Bible.

 

c20H25N3o - Of course I am going to say you are delusional. You believe what is written about Jesus to be true but what religion celebrated December 25, even before Jesus was supposed to have been born? Where did the Christians get the "born of a virgin" idea? Were the "three kings" the real stars of the story?

And that is ignoring all of the other well publicised stories in the bible which are known to be fictional.

Lucidfox - It sounds like you are seduced by mystery and so I guess religion is right for you. Perhaps you would also feel at home in the Pseudoscience forum. What is so surprising about dreaming about a lost loved one? Many dreams can be attributed to acts of God by the derranged christian. Many ghost sightings are in fact by people in bed, in the dark either when dreaming or feeling scared by the darkness. Or as is mostly the case, they are fakes.

Come on, you have to do better than that. People get over illnesses, wether they pray or not - What relevance does this have?

 

Sorry, friend, i think your post came before me and the previous one posted

 

Woah, woah, WOAH!

OK, this is the debate I was hoping to avoid. I want all the agnostics and athiests on THIS side of the room, and all the religious folk on THAT side of the room...ok? Good.

Now, to clarify, I am not interested in your textbook answers as to what your religion is, but what your religion means.

I do not care who the "holy father" is, or who "we worship in the name of..." I care only, for the sake of this inquiry, as to what your religion means to you in your life as a whole.

For instance: is there a peace of mind knowing that there is a higher power above you? Like, does life feel better now as opposed to before you had faith? Does the world seem smaller and safer to you because of your faith? How does your everyday life become affected by your belief?

Again, I do not care about what you believe in; you could follow Satan or Buddah, Jesus or John Tesh...it doesn't matter. Set aside those preachy things and break it down to the core...tell me how you feel and how your life is because of this. Do not lecture me on the love of Christ, because that isn't the topic.

And please, do not turn this into a debate on whether God exists or not; that is a topic for another day. The agnostics and athiests (such as myself) can leave for now (except for me, cuz' I started this thread!)

JD

 

In a nutshell I have found peace through my faith.

peace

c20

 

In a nutshell I have found peace through my faith.

Escapism comes in many forms and are used by those who are unable to face reality.

 

Yes ooh reality, well scary

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