Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[redux]

That's why I think that no one religion is right and one wrong. I think they were all inspired by the same source.

 

[mom'sfolly]

You guys have suggested a lot of interesting books. I'm going to have to see if my local library carries any of them. They seem to have good book buyers in the fiction department, I'll have to see if the non-fiction section does as well. I'm looking forward to reading some of the books.

I've also been reading a lot on the web, sort of surfing from points that are being touched on here. I've been reading a lot of the evangelical movement within the US military, and lots of bits and pieces on different religions. I also have picked up my copy of the Bhagavad-Gita and comparative religions book from college. I remember reading the B-G, sort of, but I certainly don't remember reading it well enough for all the marginalia I've found in my own hand writing. Guess I'm getting old.

I was still mostly a Christian (although skeptical) when I was in college, and taking a world religions class from a Jewish professor (who if I remember correctly was also a rabbi) certainly gave a different perspective of Jesus and Jewish movements of his time. This discussion about being non-religious has me looking at religions again.

I know of people who have left one faith to take up an entirely different one, and I wonder how that path works. I guess I can understand moving from Baptist to Methodist, but moving from Christian to Ba'hai is harder for me to understand. I don't understand how someone can completely reject one belief system and find it invalid, but can find faith in another system. For me believing in Odin and Freya is as difficult as believing in only entering the kingdom of heaven through Jesus Christ.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
The source is peoples NEED to believe in "something"..
not sure why people have that need...

 

[redux]

Quote:
The source is peoples NEED to believe in "something"..
not sure why people have that need...

I don't know but it is nearly universal.

 

[redhen]

mom'sfolly :

You guys have suggested a lot of interesting books. I'm going to have to see if my local library carries any of them. They seem to have good book buyers in the fiction department, I'll have to see if the non-fiction section does as well. I'm looking forward to reading some of the books.

I've also been reading a lot on the web, sort of surfing from points that are being touched on here. I've been reading a lot of the evangelical movement within the US military, and lots of bits and pieces on different religions. I also have picked up my copy of the Bhagavad-Gita and comparative religions book from college. I remember reading the B-G, sort of, but I certainly don't remember reading it well enough for all the marginalia I've found in my own hand writing. Guess I'm getting old.

I was still mostly a Christian (although skeptical) when I was in college, and taking a world religions class from a Jewish professor (who if I remember correctly was also a rabbi) certainly gave a different perspective of Jesus and Jewish movements of his time. This discussion about being non-religious has me looking at religions again.

I know of people who have left one faith to take up an entirely different one, and I wonder how that path works. I guess I can understand moving from Baptist to Methodist, but moving from Christian to Ba'hai is harder for me to understand. I don't understand how someone can completely reject one belief system and find it invalid, but can find faith in another system. For me believing in Odin and Freya is as difficult as believing in only entering the kingdom of heaven through Jesus Christ.

Thats right...if i dont believe in christian God... WHY would i believe in Thor and Diana and Freya??
Again.. ALL just fables...​

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Quote:
Because we have imaginations and poor night vision. That which we do not understand is scary, so we invent easy explanations.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Because we have imaginations and poor night vision. That which we do not understand is scary, so we invent easy explanations.

Yup..
and i think this Heaven belief this stems from that... fear...
fear of the unknown after death...
thats why sooo many people cling tooth and nail to their religion.. they NEED that security about heaven..life after death and all...
Sad to say... they get a big suprise when its that time.. that always makes me kinda sad for them..

 

[mom'sfolly]

I think the faith that you get to see your loved ones again would be immensely comforting. I'm just not able to truly believe it. I also think that for many people being good and decent because it is the right thing to do is not enough. They need to believe that someone is counting their good deeds, sacrifices and not taking the easy way. They need to believe that they will be rewarded if they do things right.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Quote:
The source is peoples NEED to believe in "something"..
not sure why people have that need...

People have to have a way to explain things. If something bad happens,..it was gods plan or it was karma,..etc.,...... Myself I can't bring myself to believe those kind of things anymore. I only believe in morality,..you know what is good and what is bad, and you yourself have to live with what you do. As far as bad things happening,...stuff happens and I don't think any of us have any control over it. To me it is like common sense,.

I have always felt, and this is just my opinion, that people that have the need to have religion in their lives,..has to be weak,..and afraid to face the truth. I think that we are no better than anything else on this planet and I believe we have a connection to the planet because we are part of it,...and yes I guess it is almost spiritual. It's a Mother Nature thing.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I have always felt, and this is just my opinion, that people that have the need to have religion in their lives,..has to be weak,..and afraid to face the truth.

Just shows how different people perceive things differently. To me it has always had a very arrogant side to it. A need to feel superior to everything else on this earth of ours. Very much a "God exists and he created ME and is so interested in everything I do that He spends every moment paying attention to ME and MY life because I am so SPECIAL and UNIQUE" -kind of thing. People do NOT want to hear that they are no better than everything else on this earth. They WANT to feel entitled and they use religion to help them feel that way. I think humans are perhaps the only ARROGANT species and I sometimes wonder if eons from now some spacecraft will hover over our plant and some little green fellow will make note that Earth has FINALLY gotten over her infestation of homo sapiens and is recovering nicely, a la a Twilight Zone episode.

Rusty​