Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Yes, you are correct about branching and that is why I have referred to Theravada Buddhism which is usually regarded as the nearest to the original. There's not necessarily any harm in 'branching', especially if one 'branch' feels right for you but you have to be careful what you call it. I'm not sure about 'basic belief structures' remaining 'intact'. I suppose that they are there to research but I think that many modern interpretations of religious creeds have moved a long way from their origins.

It doesn't really matter to me because I believe that we should each seek our own truth. I'd rather stand up for my final Judgment and be condemned for my own errors of belief and behaviour than ones given to me by someone else. That would really be a bummer wouldn't it? You can imagine the response - 'But I was only doing what he told me to do! Please don't send me down there.'

 

[curliet]

I'm trying to think of a way to say this without it looking as though I'm interjecting politics into this thread, but I really am not. And I'm also not advocating one way or the other of thinking regarding the pressing issue at hand. But I need to say this.

I've been watching the national news. And am appalled at what I'm seeing regarding the politicians that are screaming at others such things as "baby killer!" etc, because there is a perception that abortion might be paid for with public funds in the new health care reform bill. (remember that I am not posting regarding the bill) The thing most disturbing is that these people are threatening death, throwing bricks through windows, becoming increasingly more violent. And the main impetus is the abortion issue. Now we all have our own belief about abortion, I'm not advocating either way regarding that either. But abortion has become an issue due to the fact that the church has issued it's edict that sex is meant for procreation and that abortion interferes with that. So, for that reason abortion is a sin. Ok, no problem with that theory. But what gives the right to any person, especially someone who is supposedly a well educated, professional, and presumably Christian person, to threaten or act in violence to someone over a perceived issue like this? This is one of the things that turns me against a religion that claims to follow a doctrine of peace and tolerance.
Sorry that I threw this into the mix, not really meaning for it to be inflammatory and hope that you will all see what I am trying to point out.

Another thing that bothers me about most organised religion and haven't seen mentioned here yet is that there are all those televangelists out there that are using 'religion' to get themselves rich. I'm supposing that there are some who are legitimate, but I can't see where you need to have a Crystal Palace, or lots of fancy bling, or tons of teased hair and makeup in order to spread your message.

Okay, enough from me on that, I could go on and on and say too much. I don't mean to offend, truly.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

My mother always said that she believed the Bible was written by man, for man, and not dictated by God as it is implied.

I think the implication that it was dictated by God is there because all those centuries ago, people communicated by word-of-mouth or written word, so they assumed God had to "speak" to these writers. How else could they communicate? However, ever since first hearing about Moses and how he came to write his books (he is, I believe, the author of the book most folks call "Genesis") I have always had a different view of how that came to be. I don't think God "spoke" to Moses. I think he sat him down on that mountain top and, using the sky as a screen, he SHOWED Moses how the world began and poor Moses had to figure out how to explain what he had seen. So here was this poor guy who spoke a language that had no words for or understanding of things like basic cell structure and how cells split and grow--here is this poor guy trying to write about these concepts for a world that had no more understanding of this stuff than he did! He made all kinds of mistakes--honest mistakes born of not understanding what he had seen. I figure God KNEW this would happen and was not concerned about it.

WHY wasn't he concerned? Because he knew that when he created us, he built in the need to question EVERYTHING. If you've ever spent much time with small children, you know what I mean ("Why, Daddy? Why?" ad infinitum.) I don't think He ever intended any of those books to be cast in stone. Correct me if I am wrong, but the only thing we ever had that was actually supposed to have been written by His own hand were the tablets that contained the 10 commandments. All the rest was written by PEOPLE and therefore riddled with errors. I think He expects people to FIND the errors and THAT is how science was first born--people questioning things that didn't make sense in those books and trying to find the truth! He just gave us a place to start, knowing that all of science and philosophy would be the result!

It is also why I do not allow anyone to put themselves between me and my Creator. It's one-on-one between me and Him and I think that is how it was intended to be. It is much harder this way in many respects but more honest and open, too. It is why I am a solitary practitioner.

All of this is JMO, of course.


Rusty​

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Quote:
I am glad to see that I am not the only one who is worried about this. I was told last week by some one who lives in the bible belt that the area where I live (PA) is part of Soddom and Gommorha and should be wiped of the face of the earth. The person speaking was speaking very matter of factly that the coasts were dens of sin and the heartland had a moral obligation to cleanse them. It was utterly terrifying for me. The person did not know where I was from and assumed they were speaking to some one of similar beliefs......

I don't care if people dance around trees or worship Barney (yes there is a small sect of people who worship Barney) whatever you believe is cool with me as long as it doesn't harm me. I am afraid we are very close to that tipping point.

 

[Wifezilla]

Violence has been threatened against both sides of the political spectrum. There are always nut jobs on both sides. I do think there is some pot stirring being done for very specific purposes...so be very careful about jumping to any conclusions.

 

[curliet]

yes, I'm sure that you are correct and I thank you for pointing that out. I guess the point I was going for was the fact that religion seems to be the starting point for the one argument.

 

[Organics North]

That's funny worship barney! Funny thing is when that show first came out many years ago, I had a friend say he would not let his children watch it.. He said "their is something just not right with that purple dinosaur."
I must admit the Jim Jone's of the world are always in the back of my mind. Being a parent I just want to be sure my children are never tempted to drink the Kool Aid!

curliet,
I have a strong personal opinion on how religion and politics have intermingled in the last decade or two. I find it VERY disturbing. I believe the founding fathers of our country mentioned something about the separation of church and state.....

I personally consider self righteous derived HATE to be one of the most dangerous forms of hate.. Unfortunately, it is my opinion that much of the hate in this world is derived from misguided religious followers.

I hope everyone here finds peace, love and self confidence on their own personal paths. I wish you all the best of luck on your quest to wipe your lives clean from emotions such as guilt, fear and hate!

Me, I am doing very well with quite a bit of internal peace and lots of love for everything natural around me. I have NO guilt for not belonging to a religion, and I have no fear of death. I am a "works in progress" and trying to wipe my life clean from hate. It is hard to do when you see so many people being hurt by others.

ON

 

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
Bingo!

 

[curliet]

I need to reply here.

I want you to be sure that you understand that I wasn't bringing the political issues into the thread, and they should not be here! I was commenting about the fact that religion was a factor in some resulting actions. Please don't use this as an excuse to discuss those issues here.

 

[Wifezilla]

Religion is used as an excuse for violence. So is politics. Just pointing out that simple fact. Whenever you hear of incidences like you posted about, you have to keep a cool head and investigate the true source of the problem. That is all I am saying. It is not some excuse to drag up politics, it is just stating facts.