View Full Version : Religion, theology and Philosophy
Let me hear your opinion about these questions. Are you are religious person? Do you believe in god or in a higher power? Why? Why not? Do you care about the religious rites and rules as they are laid out by most church institutions? Why are we here? Is there a why in the first place? What's out there? And how did it come to this? Was our universe crafted? Will we last?
Quite alot of things to think about I know but I wanted to stir some discussion here :)
I believe in G-d. Beyond that, my religion is more spiritual than institutional. I do not go to Temple. Too many hypocrites go there. I have gone to mass and shared many religious protocols with different people to decide if I wanted to change my faith. I am still a Jew and found no real "faith" that I could build my own with.
I believe that we are here to learn from eachother and to grow with our mistakes. Our true successes and failures are those that we create in our hearts and in our souls. If we fail, we fail ourselves, not another person or task. I do not believe that wealth is a form of success.
I do not believe that G-d handles our lives like puppets. We are given choices. With each path we choose our fate is formed. But I do believe that we are given chances to change our fate along the way.
In the end.... I don't know. Do we go to Heaven or Hell? Do we start another lifeform? Are we reborn to correct our sins? Is there nothing after our body ceases to exist? I have no answer to these.
Diva,
I agree with you that we are here to learn, about us and that surrounds us what or whoever that may be. However I do not believe in a god as we the concept today. Yet I am willing to accept that there may be something or someone 'above' us that currently elude us. Whether that is a god-like figure as we like to depict nowadays or some universal 'dictator' is yet to be discovered.
Jennafer
03-31-02, 12:38PM
I believe in good and evil, positive, negative, etc... but I believe they are both good and necessary for the other to exsist and survive. I don't believe in a 100% holy god. But a 50% creator of the Universe. Why the creation? I have no idea. I try to think of the basics of what all life forms do. Survive and reproduce. I don't think we could ever know why and it's probably uncromprehendable beyond what our minds could understand or we'd probably go insane. Considering we only use _% of our minds anyway, I think if we did use anymore we'd freak out. :eek: :confused: My theory is to try to do things for the positive reasons and try not to create bad karma or harm to anyone. Sorda Buddhist, but I'm not into the reicarnation thing too much. I like to learn a little from every religion and try and figure out what works for me and my life and live to my rules of morality and not someone elses. *peace sign*
I believe in good and evil, positive, negative, etc... but I believe they are both good and necessary for the other to exsist and survive.
What's good if there is no bad to compare it with? I agree one cannot exist without the other or you would have to redefine them
Considering we only use _% of our minds anyway, I think if we did use anymore we'd freak out. :eek: :confused:
Lol, how real is the danger of mental overload :D
I like to learn a little from every religion and try and figure out what works for me and my life and live to my rules of morality and not someone elses. *peace sign*
I like that attitude! Too often people digest other's opinions without bothering to make their own.
I believe in God, and my spiritual faith is solid. I do beleive that we choose our own paths. I do not believe in the Church system. It is corrupted in the worst of ways. But I do believe that religion is a way of giving kids structure. Only if done in the right way.
I believe we are here to better ourselves. We learn from our good deeds, as well as our bad. I guess you'd call it Karma.
Mmm, is there something wrong me or my browser but I am getting to be akward on this one: why do you all call god 'g-d'?
Originally posted by SysLord
Mmm, is there something wrong me or my browser but I am getting to be akward on this one: why do you all call god 'g-d'?
You know, I am so glad you asked. I was brought up this way and yet I couldn't recall why. When you asked it gave me a reason to look it up.
The basic concept is that Jews do not write the name G-d in full on
disposable media such as pieces of paper or more recently, on-line. Books are OK as these are not regarded as disposable. This is to avoid the possibility of disrespect being given to G-d by throwing the paper in the garbage etc.. In fact, when Jewish prayer books etc. are no longer serviceable, they are first stored until there is a sufficient number of them, and then they are respectfully buried (rather than burned, thrown in the garbage etc.).
Now I know and now you know, too!
Well I got to respect that! Even tough it sounds a bit odd to me :)
A rabbit hiding colored eggs is a bit odd to me... So we're even!:cheesy:
Sterling
04-01-02, 02:34PM
Never argue about sex, politics, or religion....well, we already did sex and politics on the board, so here goes:
I don't believe in God, and I believe that religions are fundamentally dangerous and counterproductive.
Very few things have caused more or bloodier conflicts than religion.
I believe that requiring a religion to tell you what is right or wrong is a broken philosophy, because it removes morality and replaces it with the wrath or reward of a supernatural entity - you don't do the right thing because you think it's the right thing, you do the right thing because you don't want to be punished in the afterlife.
Religion has stunted scientific advancement, from Galileo being forced to recant his assertion that the Earth orbits the Sun, to the Kansas school board banning the teaching of the theory of evolution.
Religion has also caused great suffering on a personal level. Think of the Catholic priest that tells the rape victim she'll go to hell if she has an abortion. (I'm not singling out Catholicism here, every religion has a similarly bad story to tell based on blind application of ideology.)
Is it possible that there is a God? Yes, of course it is. It's also possible that the entire universe was created three minutes ago by my brother's goldfish, Flippy. However, all of the available evidence is consistent with the much simpler hypothesis that neither of these is the case, and that instead there simply is no God. Therefore, I apply Occam's razor, and take that view.
On a message board like this, any topic should be eligle for discussion :)
I agree with most of what you say. Too many wars have been fought under the banner of religious issues and too often religion and church rules are used to cover up abuses. However, I do think one does have to admit that religion can also bring comfort and strength to alot of people, albeit not myself. As Karl Marx said: 'Religion is opium for and from the people'.
I don't subscribe to "organized religion". If it helps other's out ... then, it's a good thing. For me to judge anyone's beliefs in this matter is asinine. I do however judge thier actions.
I used to struggle with my spiritual/religious, idententity/beliefs. Having been at times in my life an athiest, an agnostic, religious and at one time void from all concern on the topic.
I went on for years with the logic of "I won't believe it till I see it", i.e. UFO's, ghost's etc.
Now ... I believe in God, not so much as a tangible being, more like a benevloent entitity. Like a spirit that resides in ALL people. Strangely enough, I do find God in other people, even myself on good days. The same can be said for evil.
I percieve God as good, able to help me do things I think "un-do-able." Unusually dependendable, not giving me what I want but, what I need.
I usually don't attempt validation of my beliefs, choosing instead to give my experience. My experiences aren't right or wrong, they are what happened. This helps me out with the whole I won't believe it till I see it thing.
My proof is simple, I am still alive. This is enough for me. This was the circumstance of facing mortality/reality, totally helpless and at the mercy of "whatever".
It has taken 1 death, (clinically) and 2 near death experiences for me actually believe in something more powerfull than myself. The one time I was found clinically dead, all I remember was seeing a light and being drawn toward it only to be resuscitated before anything noteable happened. I choose to believe it was the brains normal physical function of dying due to lack of oxygen, nothing heavenly or "God-like" at all.
I can't explain "it" other than this is what it took for me to know that I have the will to live either by instinct or other. Kid's, family, etc. are good reasons to keep the will to live but, for me not enough.
I truly believe:
- There is God/good and evil in each of us
- I am only happy when I do "God's" will (usually the opposite of mine)
- Everything in my life is on loan and I have to treat it that way
- Everything happens for a reason, good or bad
- ABBA made the best music in the universe (I am singing Dancing queen right now)
- If I lead a good life chances are it will set me up for the most cozy afterlife
Damn good topic! I have that just getting out of church feeling now:shutup:
DC, you mirrored my thoughts [except for ABBA]. I believe in Karma. If you do good, you are 'rewarded' by recieving good. If you do something evil you will get evil back, ten fold. Sometimes it happens right away, sometimes it builds. But it always happens. I try to think good thoughts and not wish bad things on another person. Otherwise I'll get it back plus more. It happens every time.
The topic is only as good as the responses, DC. Damn good response!
GLADIATOR
04-05-02, 01:20PM
This is a GREAT thread, that needs time to digest and respond.
As a tired old man, and before I retire to bed. I add the main philosophy of the Jewish and my religion.
"Do not do unto others, that you would not like done unto yourself."
If everyone thought like that, before acting against others, well, what an improved people we would all be.
Great Thread SysLord, Great post DC
Originally posted by GLADIATOR
"Do not do unto others, that you would not like done unto yourself."
I think that sums up perfectly what most contributors said, the only difference being that for some it's part of a religious concept or world-vision, for others not. For me it's the essence of humanism.
Originally posted by GLADIATOR
"Do not do unto others, that you would not like done unto yourself."
If everyone thought like that, before acting against others, well, what an improved people we would all be.
This is my Mantra. I try to live my life to that quote. My father raised me on that belief and it's never steered me wrong.
Sterling
04-05-02, 04:15PM
This is fine, but only tangentially related to religion.
I don't need a religion to teach me basic moral principles like that. The problem with religions is that one minute they say something sane like "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", but the next minute they're telling you that women and homosexuals are second-class citizens, and may God strike you down if you think otherwise.
Jennafer
04-05-02, 05:56PM
I disagree with that quote. Mine is "Do unto others as they would like to have done to themselves, not what you would like to have done to you" Why? Because everyone is different and might not like the same as you. And then you're not doing something for the sole purpose of a return, but just because...
Are you not judging the cover before the book here Aus? take alook inside, you might like what you find!
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