Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[Melissa034]

"THE SHACK" is a good book for anyone believing in GOD, but not necessarily organized religion

 

[Organics North]

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Wow right and wrong.. Kinda open for debate hey? Heck that is the problem with this world. Very few slaughter innocent people in a "holy war" and think they are wrong.. They think they are right! I am not sure we as a species are capable of determining right from wrong. The "mob effect" takes hold of our minds and our species is capable of self justifying just about anything. Maybe only future generations can judge if what we do is right or wrong????

On a personal level, I attempt to reduce my negative impact I may have on our planet, and all of its life forms including humans. The "golden rule" seems like a decent starting place to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Rule

The word "moral" gets my hackles up! Too many political campaigns made me drop that word from my vocabulary....

Personally we aught to stop worrying about other peoples "morals" and really look inward to oneself and those you immediately impact in your daily life to determine how to be "moral".
Heck it is immoral to judge others morals...

Melissa034, with all due respect for your opinion, it is just your personal belief.. Many of us on this non-religion thread are atheists and do not believe in god. Please keep that in mind..

I will refrain from debating your points..

ON

 

[redhen]

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Never mind.. ...

 

[redhen]

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Strange, hes never spoken to me....

Well....., i digress...
there was that one time i had had too much to drink.... but i think i lost too many brain cells that night! Whew...

And really, i never found out if it was really god talking to me or the toliet bowl...

 

[deb1]

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Jesus was Jewish. In John 10:22 he celebrates Hannukah. He even makes statements that are similar to a respected Jewish Scholar, Hillel.

I found this quote on the link that follows.

A basic teaching of Hillel said: ‘What is hateful to yourself do not do to another, that is the whole law, the rest is commentary’ (BT Shab. 31a). Jesus said ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you . . . for this is the law and the Prophets (Matt. 7:12). Both Hillel’s statement "judge not your fellow man until you yourself come into his place" (M. Abot 2:5) and Jesus’ statement "do not judge, and you will not be judged" (Luke 6:37) are based on loving your neighbor.

The reason that Jesus was concerned when the woman touched his clothing was because according to the Jewish religion, a man was not supposed to touch a menustrating woman.

http://www.moshereiss.org/christianity/03_hillel/03_hillel.htm

the link is a pretty interesting discussion on Hillel and Jesus.

 

[deb1]

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Some of the negative reviews that are on Amazone almost make me want to read the book. It seems that some people are offended that the writer pictured God as a black woman. But I am working my way through King's Gunslinger series and I am only on the fourth book so it will be a long time before I get to any more books. Needful Things and The Poisonwood Bible are next on my list.

 

[redhen]

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Some of the negative reviews that are on Amazone almost make me want to read the book. It seems that some people are offended that the writer pictured God as a black woman. But I am working my way through King's Gunslinger series and I am only on the fourth book so it will be a long time before I get to any more books. Needful Things and The Poisonwood Bible are next on my list.

I'll send you the pisonwood bible if you want it..

 

[Organics North]

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Aww come on I liked it..

Then again...Don't listen to me....

.

 

[WyandotteTX]

Hello All. I thought I would chime in here with my two cents for myself I suppose more than anyone else. I am the son of Church of Christ preacher and the entire family is very religious and very into the church scene. I am at odds with them and my own upbringing over the church because I no longer go(went at least 3 times a week for over 20 years). They believe I am a failure because of my lack of faith. Faith is the crux of my issue, I just dont have it to be a believer like they are and would like me to be. I do envy people who have such undying faith in something greater, whether they are christian, jewish, muslim or hindu. For lack of a better explanation I just dont seem to have that gene for unquestionable faith. I dont belittle anyone who has such faith, I am very happy for them that they can find that joy in their life.
I love studying religions whether be animistic or the history of buddhism, I am a fascinated by the concepts. My recent point of attention has been the Aztec religion. Such an advanced society in so many ways but yet so barbaric in their religious customs.
As for Christianity I dont subscribe to the beliefs and more like mantras of alot of organized religions. I have read the bible numerous times, I love reading it. But I feel like its true meaning and what Jesus and his disciples stood for has been bastardized by organizations like the Catholic church and the numerous other denominations of Christianity.
I do agree with alot of the posters in their summation of so much pain and suffering has been caused throughout history because of religions fighting each other and in the name of religion. The Spanish alone did unspeakable things in the name of the church. You can say the same for the Aryans and the thousands of years of oppression put upon Hindus by their caste system. But I dont deny that true believers have obtained much satisfaction and done many great things in the name of charity or compassion. My father in law is a pastor also and he does great things for people all around the world trying to stem the tide of hunger for many who need.
Anyways, looks as though I have rambled on enough for one evening. Hopefully I was on topic to a certain extent haha.
Have a great evening everyone.

 

[Tomhusker]

Bed time right now. Will post tomorrow on this subject. Signature line gives you an Idea though.