Religion: why you believe what you believe, and how can you prove it.

Originally Posted by Geronimo420

I'm an Atheist (no God) Although I have some Goddesses in my garden. I have no problems tolerating other peoples religions and practices as long as their religion or religious authorities don't preach for intolerance. The real problem : Extremist movement are abusing of religions to fill-up empty heads and turn them into terrorist.

its not that i have a problem with religions, but just most of them have a plot, if you would agree. power and recognition, thats what its all about. exceptions would be like buddhism, and most eastern religions that are more like ways of life, and dont follow the guide lines that most do(require you to pray, give 10% of your salary, all that stuff). theism is just flawed in my own opinion, you own one of the most powerful objects in the universe but then praise a being that you cant prove existed, thats my definition of "flicking off" the "god" they thank all the time, by not using something he supposedly blessed you with. the brain is still a mystery, who knows what kinds of abilities we may have, better yet how evolution will take course and better our species. yet a majority of us spend time studying someone who supposedly lives in the sky. i was in an airplane yesterday, cant say i flew threw heaven or anything, but im sure if i told that to catholic priest he'd try to burn me if he could. its just a huge conflict between science and faith, one has proof, the other does not. the right answer is so obvious, but so much of our population follows the road that should be less traveled, this known to be religion.

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

I have this bit saved to my RIU notepad because I post it so often...


It's fine to believe something on faith IF you understand what that means. It means you are not allowed to debate your idea, because you can not support it. It means you are not allowed to use your ideas to influence any sort of social or public policy, because you have no justification. You can not expect your faith to have value to anyone but yourself. You have the right to express, explain and celebrate your belief and then sit down and be quiet because your idea amounts to wild speculation. Speculation is not afforded certitude. When the idea of God acquires more support than the idea of leprechauns or the tooth fairy, you might then have something more to say.

well that just summed up about everything i believe about faith. priests should wear shirts that say "im gonna fill your mind with bullshit, but dont ask for amy evidence". +rep for that one.

The interesting thing about my religious beliefs is this....I don't have to prove anything to you or anyone else for that matter. The religion and lifestyle that I live is about compassion for one another, for the planet that we live on, and most importantly ourselves. If it is proof you are looking for, then you have to find it. Read, study, ask the questions you have, find the answers. Science is a good place to start, however, science couldn't explain everything I needed to know. For me it wasn't a matter of "You have to see it, to believe it" it was a matter finding compassion....and I'll be honest...finding compassion doesn't always come easy. Oh, and by the way, not all religions teach that you'll "burn in a pit in hell". Hope this helps in some way.

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

There is nothing wrong with seeking the opinions of your peers. What other choice does the OP have, go to a church and ask? Should he call the prayer line? Do cannabis users become unqualified to speak about their own beliefs? These things would be crazy.

Never said it was wrong m8, just highly not idea place. I mean this place has the attention span of a 8 year old with adhd. Your not gonna get anything of merit or relative to merit.

Cannabis Users are a wide realm I get that yes. But I would like to think when your sick and you need advice, you go to a Dr. and not the homeless wisemen down the road. But, to each their own.

Its mostly a poke of fun, if your remove it from context, well then it can be whatever you would like it to be. I mean he asked why I believed in what I believed in and I told him the skittles riddle Don't take my post to heart. Its comical advice, do what ya will with it

Again, like I said, I didn't say to not pick and probe the community with religious question. I recommended he chill and hinted that its just not the ideal place to ask such questions.

Go to church and ask??? Might be an ideal place to start....certainly better than a canna forum.

I mean if you want to know about a certain dr in life....would u go to a hospital or a graveyard????????

Or per say a famous musician....would you go to a landfill or maybe a museum???? Just sayiinnnnnn

Originally Posted by crazyhazey

its not that i have a problem with religions, but just most of them have a plot, if you would agree. power and recognition, thats what its all about. exceptions would be like buddhism, and most eastern religions that are more like ways of life, and dont follow the guide lines that most do(require you to pray, give 10% of your salary, all that stuff). theism is just flawed in my own opinion, you own one of the most powerful objects in the universe but then praise a being that you cant prove existed, thats my definition of "flicking off" the "god" they thank all the time, by not using something he supposedly blessed you with. the brain is still a mystery, who knows what kinds of abilities we may have, better yet how evolution will take course and better our species. yet a majority of us spend time studying someone who supposedly lives in the sky. i was in an airplane yesterday, cant say i flew threw heaven or anything, but im sure if i told that to catholic priest he'd try to burn me if he could. its just a huge conflict between science and faith, one has proof, the other does not. the right answer is so obvious, but so much of our population follows the road that should be less traveled, this known to be religion.

A person with an absolute faith in it's imaginary friend will refute your scientifically accurate argumentation using faith to deny science evidence just like you would invoke science to deny the accuracy of their belief. A sort of western country Yin-Yang (literally meaning "dark and light" )

Originally Posted by BackyardBuds

The interesting thing about my religious beliefs is this....I don't have to prove anything to you or anyone else for that matter. The religion and lifestyle that I live is about compassion for one another, for the planet that we live on, and most importantly ourselves. If it is proof you are looking for, then you have to find it. Read, study, ask the questions you have, find the answers. Science is a good place to start, however, science couldn't explain everything I needed to know. For me it wasn't a matter of "You have to see it, to believe it" it was a matter finding compassion....and I'll be honest...finding compassion doesn't always come easy. Oh, and by the way, not all religions teach that you'll "burn in a pit in hell". Hope this helps in some way.

saying you have faith is like me saying the cookie monster is the real jesus christ, you know that stuff isnt true but somewhere in your developmental stage someone got into your head. i will only look towards science for knowledge, if i want to get in touch with my spirit ill smoke me a fat bowl of dmt, but thats whole other subject. there cant be a god if there was a holocaust, WWII, or any other genocide/atrocity. but anyone will tell me, when something good happens, "god did it", but when something bad happens, "everything happens for a reason". why did the holocaust happen? was there anything good that came out of that?

and its obvious not all religions say your gonna burn in a fire pit, in almost every other religion there is some sort of motif to get to an afterlife, and there are also punishments for not doing things. its all the same shit, one religion came from another, that one came from another one, any way you put it. now, continue to tell me you believe in texts that date back thousands of years ago, and them tell me you believe every last thing in that book you live by. if you truly think its right, your interpreting something completely different.

At some point a person will make a decision in whether or not to believe in God. If a decision is made to believe in God, they make the mistake in thinking that they need to pick a religion and follow it. A religion that is eventually chosen is based off what the person believes to be "common sense." The scriptures are where people learn of these beliefs. Wherever people learn beliefs now and days, the original source is the scriptures. But did "God" himself write all these different scriptures that contradict each other then toss them to the masses? No. These stories are created by man, passed down generation by generation, thus also being distorted even further by man as its being passed down. This happened till the advent of an actual writing system and printing press system came about. Then the stories or "scriptures" were written and copied. Thus by choosing a religion you choose an alternate government that was also created by man...

Originally Posted by crazyhazey

title says it all, im just curious how people can look into ancient text and find their purpose in life?

I don’t think very many people actually find their life purpose in the literature. The literature allows them introspection so they can make their own decision.

especially since most of these books go by life thousands of years ago.

This is the problem with the majority of religious people…not being able to see this fact, that is. There are a lot of people, however, who do understand that many of the things in ancient religious text are the byproduct of the culture those thoughts were cultivated in. I personally always keep that in mind, and I feel it helps me weed out what is important to take out of the text.

most of you also cherry pick the books you live by also, but why only live by some words and not the others? if these people made this book and you completely take their word without any of their proof, doesnt it defeat the purpose when you reject on fallacy but accept another? how do you go about judging what is morally right in the books you live by, when you base your morals on said book?

I do tend to cherry pick. I am guilty but find nothing wrong with it. Also, I will never reject other philosophies. I will ALWAYS find the common thread between religions. Like I said above, religions are cultivated in many different cultures. Humans all have a decent natural instinct for the “good and just” and it is those commonalities that I focus on.

I look at religion like martial arts and cooking.

Who is the best Iron Chef? Chef Marimoto…seamlessly blending traditional Japanese cuisine with Western flavor and flare.

Who was the best martial artist? Bruce Lee’s philosophies will always make him the greatest martial artist of all time. He knew that there is a lot of traditional mumbo jumbo that you have to disregard to find the true power in the technique. Kicks from tae kwon do! Punches from boxing! Stick fighting from Escrima! Bruce trained with masters of all martial arts, picking up valuable technique as he went.

also, has anyone ever taken into account, when someone believe they spoke to "god" or some other "higher being", do you ever wonder if this person may have been schizophrenic? possibly even on drugs, or maybe just dreaming? how do you live by the words of something that has no proof, and ignore something that shows evidence of proof like science?

Here’s my theory. Let’s use the old Jewish account of Moses for an example. He spoke to God, right?

Sometimes I feel like God speaks to me, and all of us, through instinct and intuition. Moses lived around 970 bc according to scholars. That’s a long ass time ago! Let’s be real. Mankind is stupid so how stupid do you think we were then? People could not even read inside their head as of a thousand years ago.

So Moses was a Jewish nomad. Sure to make plenty of contact with neighboring cultures and picking up useful things along the way. Greek historian Herodotous, just about 300 years after Moses, noted the Assyrian nomads throwing cannabis bushes on hot stones and inhaling the vapors.

Moses spoke to God through a burning bush. But literally? Most people believe that. Not me. I believe he inhaled the vapors of a burning bush, gained deep introspection life, took that as a sign from God (who’s to say its not?), and claimed that he personally spoke to God.

I don’t believe in the stories of the bible, but I do believe in Jesus.

I don’t necessarily believe that Jesus was a magical healer and direct decendant of God. I think he figured out some things, like a shaman. And the Jewish people of the time were so amazed with his ability to wrap up ankles and heal the blind, (Cannabis=glaucaoma meds?) that they called him God.

I definitely believe the dude was alive. And he treated people awesome. He hung out with thugs and whores but he never judged them and they changed just by hanging with the guy.

I know you don’t want to hear about faith. Most people can easily say they just have faith in the dude. I can too, BUT I have a reason for it. I see in my daily life how treating people like I want to be treated makes people glow and smile.

I believe that all of us have God juice in us. We just gotta tap into it and just start by being cool!