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08/26/2005 05:10:42 AM · #76 |
Originally posted by Olyuzi:
I believe it's because people feel insecure and feel the need to have a mother/father figure greater than themselves to "take care of things." It's a way of feeling you have some kind haven in troubled times when you are feeling out of control.
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What if it has nothing to do with that? I hate having anyone "take care of things" for me. I have never looked for a mother/father figure in my life. In fact I delibritely stay away from anyone who is the least bit authoritive or controling.
I have an inner feeling that there is something more then me, then us. This is not to convince you. I know how I feel and I know there is a God. I don't proclaim to know what form this God takes, what (his) will is or the meaning of life. I just know (he) is.
I get very sceptical when people tell me they [know] that there is no God and even more skeptical when they tell me they know what God's will is. But I don't know. How can I know what is in the head of another person? How can I fathom how much they realy know about God or the lack thereof?
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08/26/2005 06:42:03 AM · #77 |
Originally posted by queanbeez:
ok i took the belief test and i am Sikhism? never even heard of it! |
Do you not have Sikhs in the USA?
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08/26/2005 06:52:12 AM · #78 |
couldnt tell ya, like i said i never heard of it...actually half the religions on there i've never heard of..i'm not religious, i believe in God and thats all i need.
Originally posted by Riponlady:
Originally posted by queanbeez:
ok i took the belief test and i am Sikhism? never even heard of it! |
Do you not have Sikhs in the USA?
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08/26/2005 07:30:07 AM · #79 |
in my opinion quean....belief is good, that is a prerequisite. but to merely have belief isnt enuf. we must also accept. do you think satan doesnt think there is a God? he knows there is b/c it is the same God that threw him into hell when he was an angel called lucifer....if you are Christian. IMO.
later gals and guys, make it a great day
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08/26/2005 07:39:05 AM · #80 |
I'm interested as a principal of a school, do USA schools teach comparative religious? In England the different beliefs and values and traditions of all major religions are taught in schools from 5 ot 6 years of age.
For me this is a form of education rather than a religious observation so that students are able to assess these beliefs from an informed point of view. Many students go on to study these at public exam level even if they are not religious themselves.
What happens in other countries?
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08/26/2005 08:56:12 AM · #81 |
you must be Christian. You can do whatever you wanna do, but i asked a question about something else. Didnt ask for your opinion about how i need to accept this and that. I dont mean to sound rude, but i'm so tired of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ telling people what they need to believe and accept. and BTW I dont believe in Satan. So as for God throwing him into Hell? I don't need a storyline. Bottom line is, theres so many different stories and everyone believes that their religion speaks the truth and than everyone argues about it. I dont have one, dont need one, and dont want one. I have God. I believe.
Originally posted by kiropractic:
in my opinion quean....belief is good, that is a prerequisite. but to merely have belief isnt enuf. we must also accept. do you think satan doesnt think there is a God? he knows there is b/c it is the same God that threw him into hell when he was an angel called lucifer....if you are Christian. IMO.
later gals and guys, make it a great day |
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08/26/2005 01:00:38 PM · #82 |
quean...hunny....i said "...IF you are Christian" as well as "IMO" IMO=In my opinion and even said "IN MY OPINION" from the start. I wasnt stating facts...with religion, there are very seldom facts throughout. I did NOT tell you what to think or believe. How can we have an educated conversation about philosophy and religion if you think I want to change you? I have enuf to worry about with myself...just stating what I believe, thats all....and for the 3rd or 4th time (i lose track) it was just my opinion.
Make it a Great Day.
Message edited by author 2005-08-26 14:42:38.
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08/26/2005 04:39:02 PM · #83 |
Maybe it is not which religion you belong to but rather the pursuit of 'truth'.......
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08/26/2005 06:17:53 PM · #84 |
Here's a question I have pondered a lot over a beer or two. God is this great all around being that is all loving, all merciful and the epitome of everything that is good. Why would he want people to worship him? Why would he want people to dedicate their life to him? I'd think if he was this great all around being and not in it for the glory a simple thanks from us would do? Why ask us to worship?
If I were the great creator, I would feel kind of foolish telling everyone they have to worship me, pray to me and go to church every Sunday. Having people dedicate their lives to worshiping me and singing songs about me would be quite embarassing. I'd tell them to quit wasting their time and go have fun. You want to thank me, go be nice to people and do what you can to make the world a happy place!
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08/26/2005 07:50:05 PM · #85 |
I think many people confuse religion (man's interpretation of how to worship) with faith (simple act of belief in something)
I have faith but find the majority of religions abhorrent.
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08/26/2005 07:59:07 PM · #86 |
i agree. usually if you dont believe what they believe than they start preaching their interpretation to try and make you understand. A guy at my work actually started to get physical with another guy because he didnt follow his way of the bible so they started to argue and then it got a little out of hand. It can really ugly sometimes.
Originally posted by Riponlady:
I think many people confuse religion (man's interpretation of how to worship) with faith (simple act of belief in something)
I have faith but find the majority of religions abhorrent.
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08/26/2005 08:46:51 PM · #87 |
The beauty of things is in the beholder's brain ΓΆ€”
The human mind's translation
Of their transhuman
Intrinsic value...
...as mathematics, a human invention
That parallels but never touches reality, gives the astronomer
Metaphors through which he may comprehend
The powers and the flow of things: so the human sense
Of beauty is our metaphor of their excellence, their divine
Nature: ΓΆ€” like dust in a whirlwind, making
The wild wind visible.
ΓΆ€” Robinson Jeffers
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08/26/2005 08:55:21 PM · #88 |
Originally posted by louddog:
Here's a question I have pondered a lot over a beer or two. God is this great all around being that is all loving, all merciful and the epitome of everything that is good. Why would he want people to worship him? Why would he want people to dedicate their life to him? I'd think if he was this great all around being and not in it for the glory a simple thanks from us would do? Why ask us to worship?
If I were the great creator, I would feel kind of foolish telling everyone they have to worship me, pray to me and go to church every Sunday. Having people dedicate their lives to worshiping me and singing songs about me would be quite embarassing. I'd tell them to quit wasting their time and go have fun. You want to thank me, go be nice to people and do what you can to make the world a happy place! |
well said man. I'm a Christian but I often struggle with many of the ideas involving the preaching side of things. I was outside a bar a few weeks ago when some 'fellow Christians' kept on questioning me, asking me how my life was and if I was trule satisfied, because 'most people aren't unless they've found the Lord' blah blah. Just because I'm waiting in line for a bar does not mean my life is unsatisfying, which I felt they were implying. I get so pissed off by street preachers, televangelists, most things of this nature. The ideas in religion are pure, and like most pure ideas, people screw them up really well.
I think humility is perhaps one of the greatest virtues, and a lot of religions preach that but seem to ignore it when it comes to hierarchies etc, and especially, do all this for God. The best way to do anything for anyone (including God) is just treat others well. Period. |
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08/26/2005 09:22:39 PM · #89 |
Originally posted by petrakka:
I'm a Christian but I often struggle with many of the ideas involving the preaching side of things. I was outside a bar a few weeks ago when some 'fellow Christians' kept on questioning me, asking me how my life was and if I was trule satisfied, because 'most people aren't unless they've found the Lord' blah blah. Just because I'm waiting in line for a bar does not mean my life is unsatisfying, which I felt they were implying. I get so pissed off by street preachers, televangelists, most things of this nature. The ideas in religion are pure, and like most pure ideas, people screw them up really well.
I think humility is perhaps one of the greatest virtues, and a lot of religions preach that but seem to ignore it when it comes to hierarchies etc, and especially, do all this for God. The best way to do anything for anyone (including God) is just treat others well. Period. |
Arguably, from the perspective of a believer, the "best way to do anything for anyone" is to bring them to the light. I've listened to many proselytizers in my day, and I can't ever recall thinking to myself "This person lacks humility!" That said, of course it can be annoying to be accosted in that way, but really what's the problem? Let them do what they do, I have the option of walking, is my attitude.
Also arguably, as individuals in the USA, collectively (and I'm not talking religion here) our biggest failing is minding our own business. So many wrongs are allowed to thrive because people look the other way. We are a nation that prides itself on its individualism (or we think we do anyway) and we tend not to react well to people instructing us absent a specific expressed desire on our parts to receive that instruction. And it's just safer not to get involved, right?
This isn't true of all cultures, of course; in many of them deference is given to the elders, for example, and they make their opinions known whether requested or not, at least within their defined social units. Personally, I've always been interested in hearing what others think, even if it's passionately expressed, even abrasively expressed at times. If I shut myself off to this, how can I ever grow?
R.
Message edited by author 2005-08-26 21:23:54.
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08/27/2005 06:51:58 AM · #90 |
Originally posted by bear_music:
[quote=petrakka]This isn't true of all cultures, of course; in many of them deference is given to the elders, for example, and they make their opinions known whether requested or not, at least within their defined social units. Personally, I've always been interested in hearing what others think, even if it's passionately expressed, even abrasively expressed at times. If I shut myself off to this, how can I ever grow?
R. |
I didn't get an answer to my previous post about teaching about other religions in US schools. Do I assume no religious education or knowledge is taught? If you don't know about other religion, how can you grow?
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08/27/2005 05:50:31 PM · #91 |
bump 'cos I would love an answer to my questions about religious education in the USA.
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08/27/2005 05:55:43 PM · #92 |
There is no religous education in the US in public schools. If your parents send you to a private school they will teach you about the religion that sponsors that school, but that's it.
You learn the religion your parents teach you and when you are old enough you can look the rest up on your own.
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08/27/2005 06:30:47 PM · #93 |
Thanks louddog. I wonder how many people do bother to find out about other religions in order to understand them? It just really surprised me when someone posted that they had never heard of Sikhs and this is a well known religion in the UK.
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08/27/2005 06:45:07 PM · #94 |
There is a God, there is a Devil, I do have a spirit guide and have met him twice. I do live in a battlefield where heaven and hell fight on a daily basis, and the Black Hills are a sacred ground that has been overrun with greedy, evil, men that only know of the area from old western movies.
Can you prove me wrong?
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08/27/2005 06:50:20 PM · #95 |
Originally posted by swinging_johnson_v1:
There is a God, there is a Devil, I do have a spirit guide and have met him twice. I do live in a battlefield where heaven and hell fight on a daily basis, and the Black Hills are a sacred ground that has been overrun with greedy, evil, men that only know of the area from old western movies.
Can you prove me wrong? |
Why should I want to??
And where are the Black Hills?
P
:)
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08/27/2005 07:02:32 PM · #96 |
I have a hard time understanding why most of the more common western religions have people literally living in a sort of fear that if they do something wrong they burn in hell for all eternity. Even as a kid, I was really kind of taken aback by that whole concept. If God is a loving God, would he want me to be afraid that if I did things that displeased Him, I would be cast aside?
I guess as I get older I feel a lot more comfortable questioning religion as a whole. I agree 110% that religion and faith are two totally different animals. I consider myself to be quite spiritual, but not religious at all. I don't go to Sunday services, because the thought of spending a couple of hours with the "Sunday christians" who dress up and go to church because it's a social event and a who's who showcase literally turns my stomach. I don't read the bible over and over again, because I've read it a few times already and each time I get more questions than answers. I took a couple of college courses on the bible and the life of Jesus just to glean some answers to the questions I had asked over the years.
I do pray, often. I talk to whatever spiritual entity exists that helps me feel more centered. I ask for guidance and I ask for peace in the decisions and choices I make. I know that I am personally responsible for them, not "God" or whatever you'd like to call him/her/it.
Over the past couple of months, I've reached the decision to NOT worry about the afterlife. I have too much going on in the CURRENT life to worry about what happens after I die. I hope that it will be nothingness...just like going to sleep forever. I don't want to be concerned about whether or not I go anywhere, be it heaven, hell, purgatory, or valhalla. I just try to be a good person, treat others with kindness and respect, raise good kids, and I hope that when I go, I leave my mark by the help I've given others. I guess that's kind of an agnostic viewpoint, but that's where I am at this point in my life.
Message edited by author 2005-08-27 19:03:05. |
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08/27/2005 08:10:11 PM · #97 |
There are many paths but only one way........
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08/28/2005 12:01:29 AM · #98 |
Originally posted by Riponlady:
And where are the Black Hills?
P
:) |
The Black Hills, which is located in South Dakota, USA, has been traditionally my peoples sacred area, and now is pocketed with mines which produce differant ores, amongst them...
uranium.
If you look at the Black Hills from outer space, looking down, the hills resemble a human heart.
Message edited by author 2005-08-28 00:02:26.
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