'I bveleive in god, but not in religions'

I hate this statement. people who say this sometimes piss me off more than people who actually stick with a religion. that includes some of my best friends and mother.

God is part of religion. every religion has another god. People follow a religion due to faith, and/or family direction. Wihtout religion, there are no gods. Gods cannot work wihtout religion, because religion is waht sets down an interpretation of god.

So to believe in a god, but not religion, is jsut pure evidence that humans need some sort of 'god' to stay sane, even if their god is the most irrational of all, ie, based on no scriptures, no evidence, simply the idea of a god.

How can someone wade around in such blatant ignorance. people who do have religions, they at least have been conditioned that way, as it is natural for humans to be. but for someone to then reject religion, in a hope of being less ignorant or something, but then still believe in teh central essence of god, is the msot extreme you can get to believing in A LIE TO YOURSELF!

In the end, a religion is simple a widely accepted interpretatino of the spiritual nature of the human world. if you dont rollow a religion, you are actually following a religion with the specific interpretation of your self. Believing your corrct when everyhting points against you is jsut ignorance. if you follow a religion, then at least you have heaps of people who follow the same thing, and theres written accounts of your religion ands tuff. but when your on your own, you have nothing.

like, if the best colour was blue, and tehres groups of heaps of ppl whoprefer certian colours. you decide to think of a certain shade of yellow no one else follows, because YOU think its right, from no basis except that it holds the GOD idea, and it still lets you control your world in the way you want it to (which is what religions dissalow).

so doesnt that make it lazy to do thsi too? caus u cant be bothered following the rules of a religion, you take the bits you like (god, which leads to afterlife)

I beleive that humans need gods to make life run more comforably. atheism is a depressing belief. its exposing of truths and harshness of the world. whether its right or not, most people would prefer to beleive in somehting that makes them happy when theyre down, not something that can take away happiness when it is there. and so tyhey follow a god figure. caus a god can fix everything, and a god loves its people, and a god can bring afterlife, and everyoen realyl wants afterlife caus no one can bear the incomprihensible nothiness of the atheist belief of death.

greek and roman religions put people down, said gods were good and u gotta live for the gods otehrwise theyll fuck use up. and said they were going to some dark underworld for teh afterlife. that failed.

Eqyptian religions made everyone work all day, for teh phaero, and recieve no love in return from their gods. htey had to work for their gods so that their gods felt sorry for them. that failed too.

Christianity. mmm. god that loves everyone. if your good, yull go to heaven, the ultimate paradise, for teh rest of your death. ideas of love. god forgives everyone, god doesnt spite people. I gotta follow a few rules tho, but thyre beneficial in teh end so thats ok. hey this is catching on, the people like this one, i think it will stay a bit longer.

new age god fearing religion. ok tehre the idea of god, the ideas of a soul, and of god omnipotence, which puts us in ourplace, and keeps the universe from being the infinetely complex matrix that it is. I can go to heaven if i want to as well. WHAT? NO RULES?? w00t!!! the religion of tomorrow.

*vomits*
Im a strong atheist.

shit i wrote a bit.

 

yea, too bad your opinion is wrong, eh?

 

its as correct as your is in determining its correctness.

 

Some people acknowledge that existance of a god but don't agree with the dogma and bullshit that surrounds alot of religions. What is wrong with that?? What they really say is they believe in god but don't follow a particular religion or that they don't believe in the following of religions. I agree with you however that some people do need the idea of gods for that comfort factor.

 

Yeah, I have to disagree with you Stoner. I think many religious folks hang on to their traditions because they are afraid to be wrong with so many people telling them to 'be saved'. But those who take a stand to separate themselves from a religion and then find a belief in some higher force through their own independent investigation aren't generally looking for a security blanket. I do agree that certain angles of the atheistic veiwpoint are depressing, once such assertion is simply that nothing has purpose. That's really what it boils down to. Do you beleive in purpose or not?


When water flows to the sea it flows for a reason. There is gravity working in concert with an inert set of topographical and geological factors which can be described as 'why' water takes the course it does. All of science can be summed up in determining why this happens or that happens. All the root of all these sciences is the ultimate why. Is there one or isn't there?

Lets look into our sciences for some explanations. Matter and energy behave using some very basic rules (and some more compelx rules) but at the end of it all you have entropy and chaos. Black holes and supernovas. Extremes exist everywhere. In between these extremes some amazing thigs happen that culminate is a super advanced, conscious, chemical assortment that can manipulate energy and move matter all of it's own accord. I have studied the physics of the universe and I can find no support whatsoever that such a thing would happen for no appearant reason. I have studied the biological systems of this planet and can come up with no rational explanation why these things would evolve for 'no reason'.

There is reason, I think, and it is reflected in the ordered complexity that manifests itself in life and the life webs which encircle this planet (and probably many, many more planets).

This doesn't bring by comfort. This doesn't answer my questions or make any more or less happy. It just opens more questions to which we will probably never have the answers. But to proclaim you know what god is, or claim that you do not beleive in something (and you don't know what it is) takes just as much faith as any religion. No one knows and the only fools are those who claim they do.

 

What is wrong with now unless we think about it?

 

god didn't make religion, and god didn't say we have to follow a certain particular religion either, the religion itself may say that but that would make it more of a cult. Way back in the old days people disobeyed god, he decided not to help us as much. So we invented religion as a way to get back that connection with god. Im one of those people you spoke of, who doesn't follow a particular one, but i don't interprate things for myself either, i believe what's true & wan't to hear what they all got to say about it. After all, they've been here longer than i have, most of them anyway. I believe if you choose one over the other, you close your eyes to what ever truth another may allow you to find.

 

while there is nothing to stop anyone from being offended
by whatever they see fit to be offended by
there is both no natural requirement for nontangable forces
and beings to not exist and equaly none for ANY system of
belief to have the slightest idea what it is talking about.

=^^=
.../\...

 

i beleive in a god. but i dont think he is the god that the masses depict him as. i beleive in a higher power of existance, but i dont beleive everything i am told. i find the answers to all of my questions within my own mind. not from a book. as many answers as the bible provides, the more questions it raises. the bible is an imperfect vision of the teachings of jesus christ...written by mankind. there is no true divinity within these teachings.
i beleive in a god, but i will not follow the ignorant masses

 

Actually, science never asks why, it asks how. Big difference, since "why" is a value laden question and science just wants to know what's going on. I don't believe in ultimate meaning, but so what? Who defines their life by that anyways? More important (by a lot) is the meanings of family friends, work, entertainment, and knowledge. These are tangible things. I doubt many people really base their lives on some ultimate meaning for the universe.

And stonerbill, I disagree with you also. I think people who are throwing off the shackles of religious dogma while retaining a belief in god is a good thing. It's spiritual evolution, moving away from archaic population controls and moving towards a more enlightened state. a non-dogmatic god is not harmful to anyone, and moves you that much closer to finding god within. I doubt it's something people consciously decide, you know, deciding to "evolve spiritually" but I think that's what it is.

You say a non-dogmatic god is based on nothing and is thus the most irrational. This is better than being stuck on the writings of some sheepherders from 3000 years ago. I look at the Eastern mystical religions and they base their ideas on their inner meditations. The Hindu gods are not meant to be seen literally but as symbols, like poetry. They are parts of the Ultimate Reality (we call it God in our culture), not the real deal. In a sense they are more like angels or saints, but more like literary constructs to explain a point. So in a way, when people in the West move towards a non-religious non-dogmatic god, its more like going back to basics and leaving the old, archaic notions of God behind, in favor of a more realistic one. The non-dogmatic God in the West is like the Ultimate Reality/Brahman/Tao sort of thing in the East. And it's about damn time. Those Bronze Age war gods are a real pain in the ass.

 

religion is man made..........god intended friendship,something more than stupid ceromonies and tradition....god is more than that!ppl try to put god ina box!i dnt like that at all!

 

well...
check out _why religion matters_ by huston smith (i borrowed a copy from my local public library)
www.hustonsmith.net
& may be some snippets over at www.csp.org as well

shalom

 

iv never herd of him!?

 

I am a strong believer. I have very few rules, really just two that I think are mandatory for me, the Wiccan rule, "If it harm none, do what thou wilt.", and a more modern one from W. Glasser's book, 'the choice theory', "Do not try to change anyone but yourself.'
I accept your belief, and hope you accept mine.