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

Originally Posted by BigJon

No offense homie but imo, you're Christian. Maybe even moreso than a lot of the self-righteous ones who scream it at the top of their lungs. Nobody needs a book to be nice, but our world has created humans who are so attached to their ego that they dont often realize how often they put themselves before others.

idk about that, i dont like to categorize myself, but id just say i know how it feels to be have problems and anyone with common morality should know that helping our species as herd is nothing but beneficial(depending on how you help someone of course). i think being christian constitutes one to believe in a higher being and deny many common facts, im simply not that type of person. i dont exactly put myself before others, but if im not too busy i will be glad to lend a hand.

Originally Posted by BigJon

Unless you understand and read old time greek, one may not fully understand the book of John

Unless you understand and read ancient hebrew, one may not fully understand the old testament/torah.

etc etc...

Religion is just a big game of telelphone. But I like to read. and I like to ponder on the spiritual so I read as much as I can get my hands on so I can put it together for myself. Some people dont need to but I personally need emotions to be put into words and ideas that I feel but never verbalized often come to light through the reading of old texts.

all you really have to know is the religion all of it came from really, hinduism is the base religion and many follow. once youve read whatever propaganda hinduism is, youll probably realize your religion is a knock off, its like drinking pepsi, then drinking coke. you notice their similarities, but theres just a different tag on the front. any knowledge is good though, always read and continue to use your brain as your "god" wanted you to, dont waste it asking for forgiveness and thanking someone for supposedly dying on a cross for your "predetermined sins". people have died worse deaths i believe, for many good causes, but i dont go to an establishment to praise him/her on sundays, or write a book about said person and how they were so inherently good they could only be related to god. i hope you have as much fun putting together the puzzle that is "the right religion", doubt there is or ever will be one(besides pastafarianism of course!).

Originally Posted by BigJon

Its not diversity in religion that's bad, it's people focusing on the differences and labeling those differences as bad because they dont understand it.

But with understanding comes enlightenment. This is why I like to know my friend's past, histories, back grounds, family life, etc. So that when they say really ignorant shit, I can look past it and chuckle at it.

some religions seem to emphasize shunning a non believer though, this i know to be true. i know people can interpret things differently, but i think it takes a lot to push someone to homicide, and maybe even suicide to kill any non believers, a prime example of how religion diversity could cause problems, and how religion is basically mind control.

Originally Posted by Growman3001

I highly doubt people pick a religion based on how they can be different...

not what i said, although i guarantee some people who love attention have done so for this reason. all religions originated from another, saying your one of them is just another way to make yourself diverse, im not saying this is their goal but i feel like whoever created these knockoff religions probably wanted to be different from the one they copied, and loosely base all the stories from the original book, and maybe change some names or places here and there. but still, they're basically all the same, its like one person wearing multiple masks.

Originally Posted by crazyhazey

not what i said, although i guarantee some people who love attention have done so for this reason. all religions originated from another, saying your one of them is just another way to make yourself diverse, im not saying this is their goal but i feel like whoever created these knockoff religions probably wanted to be different from the one they copied, and loosely base all the stories from the original book, and maybe change some names or places here and there. but still, they're basically all the same, its like one person wearing multiple masks.

Well of course you have your minority...

Tom Cruize
Madonna

Most people choose a religion because they actually believe what is being feed to them...

"knockoff religions" are created by members of an earlier religion that no longer believed everything the original religion told them. So they edit the religion to better suit their beliefs and then call it their own...

If that is what you mean, then I agree with you...

The lack of mind control is actually the problem in virtually all cases. Lack of mental discipline. The heart of all these issues is the willingness to surrender the mind to ideas with no support. Accepting answers to questions which have none, and pretending they must be right. In most cases, the problem can be distilled down to the inability or unwillingness to think. It's that simple. Not to say a thinking man must be atheist, but if a person is truly conscientious there is rarely a problem no matter their beliefs.

Originally Posted by BigJon

And that's where the catholic guilt comes in!

When I say to myself that I think Christians need to do more guilt and less praise, at the same time I'm sitting here feeling guilty for even having the thought.

...good for you! Well done!

Originally Posted by crazyhazey

just another way to call yourself different really, doesnt mean shit. you can just say you believe in a handfull of life lessons, but some people want to categorize themselves and create some sort of diversity, which will 99% of the time lead to conflict when speaking about beliefs.

this is a quote....

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

Not to say a thinking man must be atheist, but if a person is truly conscientious there is rarely a problem no matter their beliefs.

...well said. That pretty much sums it up - put your brain to good use and don't be a dck.