Religion?

Vinyl Scratch wrote:


It means I have the freedom to not worship anything. Jeez.

The Raddest wrote:Yeah. There is an increasing number of non-believers these days, because the world is becoming more secular. Each religion can be traced to an older, root-religion. Islam and Christianity stem from Judaism, and all three borrow concepts from Zoroastrianism. Buddhism and Baha'i from Hinduism, etc... It doesn't take much to realize that these concepts were put together by men who were simply trying to make sense of life without the aid of science... and that belief and faith are simply something imprinted upon you from your upbringing. You believe because your parents did; you are a victim of circumstance. You happen to have been raised by people who were raised by similar people, etc...
And when you look at all religions in the world, there's no way of picking out a correct one. You might pick one whose views align with your own, morally, but why leave in the part of worship? Why not just follow your own code of morals?
I'm not saying that religion hasn't helped people live better lives, or find a sense of purpose, or improve other peoples' lives-- A lot of good has come from it. A lot of bad things have come from religion, but I won't get into that, as religion isn't as much to blame as people themselves are.

I just think atheism is the logical choice, nowadays.

Vinyl Scratch wrote:

The Raddest wrote:Yeah. There is an increasing number of non-believers these days, because the world is becoming more secular. Each religion can be traced to an older, root-religion. Islam and Christianity stem from Judaism, and all three borrow concepts from Zoroastrianism. Buddhism and Baha'i from Hinduism, etc... It doesn't take much to realize that these concepts were put together by men who were simply trying to make sense of life without the aid of science... and that belief and faith are simply something imprinted upon you from your upbringing. You believe because your parents did; you are a victim of circumstance. You happen to have been raised by people who were raised by similar people, etc...
And when you look at all religions in the world, there's no way of picking out a correct one. You might pick one whose views align with your own, morally, but why leave in the part of worship? Why not just follow your own code of morals?
I'm not saying that religion hasn't helped people live better lives, or find a sense of purpose, or improve other peoples' lives-- A lot of good has come from it. A lot of bad things have come from religion, but I won't get into that, as religion isn't as much to blame as people themselves are.

I just think atheism is the logical choice, nowadays.

This pretty much my train of thought. I'm just afraid to post in threads like this for fear of offending someone of a different opinion.


It all comes down to different strokes for different folks.

Vinyl Scratch wrote:

It all comes down to different strokes for different folks.

Bear Grylls Bear wrote:
I can't agree with Catholics on the need to confess sins to some guy and the thought that a collection of cells is a human being, and the need to pray to saints, baptism at birth, thinking communion is LITERALLY the blood and skin of Jesus every month, the pope and other saints/whatever being spiritually superior to us mortals, and wow, pretty much EVERYTHING.

Pariah wrote:Just a show of hands, does anyone believe in the teachings of Yeshua without the whole church bullshit? (please dont get pissed, I just cant say anything else)

I mean, when you boil it down to what he actually taught, its more just how to live life as a good man than how to worship. I see Christ (if anything) as purely an example for people to follow, not as the son of an almighty power, just as a dude who liked tolerance. That and the sheer amount of hypocrisy associated with the Catholic church is astoundingly annoying to me. Incidentally, thats why if any religious system were to ever appeal to me, it would be judaism.

Those would be my thoughts.

Wacco wrote:

Pariah wrote:Just a show of hands, does anyone believe in the teachings of Yeshua without the whole church bullshit? (please dont get pissed, I just cant say anything else)

I mean, when you boil it down to what he actually taught, its more just how to live life as a good man than how to worship. I see Christ (if anything) as purely an example for people to follow, not as the son of an almighty power, just as a dude who liked tolerance. That and the sheer amount of hypocrisy associated with the Catholic church is astoundingly annoying to me. Incidentally, thats why if any religious system were to ever appeal to me, it would be judaism.

Those would be my thoughts.

I'm with you on that. Obviously, a man-made religious institution is going to have problems, there's no way of avoiding it. I just take the belief system and live by it.

Nogbad The Bad wrote:wow, this topic is suprisingly un-flamed
good job sec


AVE GLORIOSA IN NOMINE SATAN!

Mrs. Terry of Hat wrote:I am going to read all of this thread when I have time, haha.

I'm Buddhist. That's about it. It's the only organized religion that makes any sense to me and always has. I don't believe in God though, some Buddhists do.

Chewy wrote:Buddhism sounds interesting, I've been meaning to look into it but still haven't gotten to it yet.


I like the whole peace of mind through freedom of any cravings thing, makes a lot of sense to me. Kind of weird how a lot of potheads say they're Buddhists since that kinda contradicts it.

Mrs. Terry of Hat wrote:Oh man, the precepts beyond five are really honestly just for monks. I don't follow a strict Buddhist branch...I still drink, I eat meat if it's offered to me (but so did Buddha). I follow a general philosophy of Buddhism, I don't follow a specific branch. I do follow a lot of the Dalai Lama's philosophies however, and agree with his branch of Buddhism more than any other. Unless you follow one of the very conservative branches, Buddhism is more about the beliefs and philosophies than following a bunch of rules.

I love all of the books by Lama Surya Das, and they are really easy to find (Barnes & Noble usually has at least a few) and he is a great teacher. He is a Western Buddhist and really lays everything out so it's easy to learn and understand the basics. "Awakening the Buddha Within" is my favorite of his and a perfect place to start! I also really love "Buddha Is as Buddha Does," also by him. And The Dhammapada is the closest you will find to a Buddhist "bible." It's just a book a Buddha's teachings, there is a lot to learn from that. Those three books are a great starting point

Mrs. Terry of Hat wrote:In that case, my answer is that it's just a game, lol. Just cause you play shooter games doesn't mean you shoot people in real life xD

bomb shark wrote:

Mrs. Terry of Hat wrote:In that case, my answer is that it's just a game, lol. Just cause you play shooter games doesn't mean you shoot people in real life

right *finishes reloading*

Nogbad The Bad wrote:*grins happily to himself*



they will never know!

ThePeavstenator wrote:

Nogbad The Bad wrote:*grins happily to himself*



they will never know!

I know what you did.

Pariah wrote:Mrs. Hat, hats off to you (pun intended). I've never seriously studied buddhism as a theology, but of all philosophical paths it is definitely my favorite. I was very fortunate when I was younger to visit a monastery in California and learn from the monks there, and I loved it. I know very little about Buddhist creed beyond the obvious, but the techniques I learned about mastering one's emotions and self have been immensely helpful. So its nice to see another person who believes similarly to myself.

Elraptor wrote:Religion: the time sink of the masses.