God and religion-what's it all about?

[Cloudbringer]

Originally posted by tracey: don't even go there. thy're all completely MAD. yes you heard it here first. and yes, they will object, but, hey, i haven't met a sane religious person yet, and i guess i never will. just be happy you're not embroiled in that sort of lunacy. if there ain't a problem, don't try and fix it. on a more serious note. people turn to god and religion because they can't face the prospect of death, they're frightened of their own inner turmoil, they can't believe this is all there is, it gives them licence to proclaim war and death on others' because they believe in the afterlife, it means they don't have to actually DO anything constructive in the here and now, it gives them a sense of power of others' also a superiority. (the list is longer, but i think this is sufficient). personally, i prefer people who can think about life, the universe and everything without a god concept. they're far more trustworthy as individuals and less likely to do something silly because they think god has spoken to them. (moses and jesus would have institutionalised within seconds - 'i'm hearing the voices again, aaaaaaargh'). so. enjoy your sanity. it might not last long -hahahaha no offence anyone, but he did ask.

Tracey.. this was, without a doubt, incredibly rude and appears to be pure flamebaiting, so I won't dignify it with any in-depth answer. I don't think you really want one, anyway. Oh, wait.. I can't answer in depth.. according to you, I'm 'insane' and only worried about dying.... I'm religious!


Tuor, the above quoted post is one reason why many of us who are faithful in our religious beliefs and practices don't make a big deal of it in public. We are apparently a good topic for insults and bashing. Check out many of the posts by Yorick and Fljotsdale in a thread called 'Yorick?' Some of what you seek is there.


Mouse, very balanced answer, as usual. Thoughtful at all times, dear rodent!

Cloudy

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Raindancer of the Laughing Hyenas Clan
CloudDragon of the OHF
Storm-Queen
Raven's Cloud
StormCloud of the Black Knight: Heart Mind Soul Forever
"To sleep, perchance to dream..."

[domingo]

When you think about why we are put here from a christian point of view ... we are put here to grow and become more like Christ ....... If God sheilded us from all of these wrong doings we would never grow and our progression would stop .... just my 2 cents

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You can only call someone something so many times before they become that which you did not wish them to be!
Bad things happen to bad people!

[Cloudbringer]

Originally posted by Moridin: tracey: I am an atheist (actually more agnostic) and have many atheist friends and I would argue that not believing in a God does not make you any more trustworthy or stop you from doing something silly. I actually find it quite the opposite. These of course are my views of the people I know and not of every atheist. I too don't understand the entire God concept. I will not state my opinion on the topic more than that. I will not and cannot prove or disprove that a God(s) exists. I find it futile and a waste of time to attempt to do so. If a person believes in God then so be it, they must have some reason for doing so. It might be to escape the reality of their life, it might be b/c they feel very deeply that they are touched by God. I don't know. Maybe there is a God, maybe their isn't, I am not going to try to convice others one way or the other.

Moridin, I really appreciate the way you stated this. Nice job and I respect your opinions all the more for the way you present them!

Cloudy

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Raindancer of the Laughing Hyenas Clan
CloudDragon of the OHF
Storm-Queen
Raven's Cloud
StormCloud of the Black Knight: Heart Mind Soul Forever
"To sleep, perchance to dream..."

[tracey]

deep sigh of despair.

why, oh why.........

actually, i cou;dn't give a toss either way. everyone should think what the heck they like. no one knows or will. i've had sooooo many debates about it since a very young age it no longer interests me at all. so. although not intended to be a flame, i would go aling with the idea that you should probably do it yourself.

the rest of us are far too jaded and/or mad.



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offended mistress of the illuminati

[Yorick]

Originally posted by tracey: on a more serious note. people turn to god and religion because they can't face the prospect of death, they're frightened of their own inner turmoil, they can't believe this is all there is, it gives them licence to proclaim war and death on others' because they believe in the afterlife, it means they don't have to actually DO anything constructive in the here and now, it gives them a sense of power of others' also a superiority. (

How would you know? This is pure speculation on peoples motives without any substanciation. You are not talking from experience and are in no way qualified to speak on why a religious person believes anything. Speak for yourself, on why you do not, rather than presuming to JUDGE, BELITTLE and show extreme INTOLERANT DISRESPECT to beliefs that define millions of individuals the world over. The majority of individuals throughout history.

It's an odd thing when a human presumes a vast majority of humanity to be mad. Who is actually the paranoid maniac?


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I am the walrus!.... er, no hang on....

A fair dinkum laughing Hyena!

[Tuor]

I did ask everyone to be polite remember. So come on no flaming and no knocking each others beliefs I'm just interested in what makes my friends, and fellow forum members tick.

Otherwise this will get deleted and that's the last thing I want. Thanks for the posts so far.

I discern between spirituality and religion.
My thinking is...Your spirituality belongs to you, You belong to a religion.( though some say they have a religion, it has them too) The individual mentality as opposed to a group mentality.
Religious individuals can practice spirituality, dont get me wrong.

I practice eclectic shamanism, and I claim all religions as my own, to study and find for myself what beliefs serve a purpose in light of logic, intuition and conscience.

BTW Tracey, I can see the jaded perspective as well, alot of religions have plenty of bad to go with the good. I'm not offended my a religous cynic, considering the evidence one could present concerning the bad of religion. You have a right to your beliefs, as I have a right to mine, even if some people are offended by them.

[John D Harris]

Tuor,
I believe in God, I look around I see no other alternative. Take life on this planet, we must be in the correct location in the galaxy. To close to the center to much radiation, gravity, Gamma waves and other life threating things. To far out on the spiral arm other life threating problems. There must be the right kind of star, in how ever many types of stars. The correct distance from the star.(As per the quantum physicists that have more letters behind their names then I care to mention and are paided to thunk about these type of things) Now we have to have the right elements, (out of 150+- # of elements) in the right proportions at the right location in order to mix and make the correct compounds. (there are a whole bunch of other factors that I have left out for simplicity's sake)Even now we can mix the correct chemicals together in the right proportions to make amino acids nessesary for life, but it doesn't come to life. There are people with "super computers" trying to find that spark of life for the amino acids but they can't find it.
The same quantum physicists are trying to figure out the big bang. They can tell us the effects of the big bang to a certain point back in time, but they haven't a clue as to what the cause was.

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Crustiest of the OLD COOTS
Airline ticket to Afghanistan $800
High powered rifle with scope $1000
Hotel room with roof access $100
A clean Head shot on that sack of Horse Manure Usuma Bin Laden PRICELESS!

[AzureWolf]

My views are very much the same as Tracys in this matter. And remember Yorick those views are OUR opinions. We are entitled to them as much as you are to yours. Are you saying we are not allowed to say these things?

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"I was born of darkness. My fathers eyes closed before mine opened. I am not of this world or the other, and I have the right to be what I am..."

Overlord of all that I behold and anything that i happen to not notice either.

Founding Hamlet of the HADB.

[Liliara]

Originally posted by Tuor: I personally don't believe in God, or anything else probably mainly because I can't reconcile myself to the thought that if there were a God he would let so much unpleasantness happen in the world.

I don't know if this has been answered, I justwanted to put my 2 cents in on this question:

Suffering is not what the Lord wanted for his people. At creation everything was perfect (Genesis 1:31). But with sin's presence in the world, the perfection of God's creation came to an end. Hardship, pain, and suffering came to the world and it's people ( Genesis 3:17-19).

All people must live in this world where sickness, death, pain, and temptation are used by Satan to destroy us. Even those who have been redeemed of their sins through faith in Jesus Christ will live in this world and are subject to it's eveils ( 1 Peter 1:3-7).

It is not until we are completely free of this world that we will be free of our sufferings ( Hebrews 10:32-39). Thanks be to God that through his son we will be realeased from this veil of tears to find perfection in heaven.

::steps down from her soapbox::

I hope this helps.



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Captain of Bouncers, Boogre Bar

LH Member


"I've had it up to here, listening to a small segment of people try to put down America! America's the greatest land on Earth, and we oughta be proud of what we have! I'm proud of America, I'm proud of our people, and I'm gonna prove it. We're American and DAMN proud of it! Frankly I'm getting a little ticked off...go ta ****"... Dink (if anyone knows who originally said this, please let me know!)