Religion

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Where in the bible did you find the "war is punishment thing?" Is THAT really in the bible? I have only read the part about Jesus.
The other half is so violent and all those stories about people getting punished for not believing in god...thats most definitely not MY god. I don't know if I believe in god but there MUST be something divine that controls the universe...the entire evolution seems like it was on purpose. I mean us humans are "designed" to use tools and such. I think we live to evolve. The big question is just...have we evolved at all? I mean what has happened in this century? We have landed on the moon, we have cars, we have nuclear power. But have we become better persons? Have we learned?

 

Hmm, are we really that much more "civilized" then other species ? Just because we don't understand other animals doesn't mean they're primitive you know. The one step that allowed us, humans, to "rise" above the others is agriculture, which gave us time to think, to settle down, to denounce our instincts.

But you guys have been reading way to much SF-novels. What do you think that other 90% percent'll allow us to do ? Psychokinesis ? Telepathy ? Very appealing idea, but try not to lose perspective here.

 

Agreed on that one, just forgot to mention it in my post

 

Actually, you are both half-right. We only use around 8% of our brain AT ANY ONE GIVEN TIME. There is no part of our brain that is never used. No part of your brain is inactive over a good enough period of time, but at any one given time, you are only accessing certain memories, certain thoughts, certain facts. So, you see, there is no "mystery" part of our brain, like in junk DNA.

Amon-Ra

 

With the brain, it's like with the rest of the body. When did you last use your muscles to their limit (just short of snapping). In my job more than once I managed to get me into some deadend road just before a big deadline. In those days I tend to run my brain at higher than usual activity to find some way out. And I'm very happy to go back to normal because afterwards I'm burned out like a chinese cracker after the explosion.

So while each region of the brain will be used just like each of your muscles, the intensities do vary. And some people do manage to get by in a very energy conserving manner.

 

getting onto the topic

religion is mass ignorance

 

Uh-oh trouble is brewing. Close the topic before we begin to argue. Quick!

 

I vote we just ignore the potentially insulting remarks above and let this topic die as it probably should have quite a while ago. If you really want to argue about religion, go do it on teentalk.com. I'm sure they'd love you.

 

I do believe this is the 'What Nots' section, so I suppose people can post about whatever they like. If you don't like the topic, don't post. If you have nothing constructive to say, don't post.

 

Ok, ok, I'm just saying this can be a very touchy subject. If we can debate this without hostility then it could be quite fun, but it has a tendancy to deteriorate into insults from time to time.

 

Um.
Sorcerer, time to cast that topic closing spell you love so much.

 

I think whether or not you believe, or at least have an idea of belief is the most important thing!

There is no "right" religion in my opinion. If it gives you something to believe in, keep you going, and rationalize the experiences you have in life...Then it's a good thing.

I don't agree with killing in the name of a particular religion or discriminating against different sects...Intolerance of divergent philosophies is probably the worst characteristic of religion.

Think of it - It's even rampant in RPG's...My paladin wouldn't think twice of defiling a temple to an evil deity, nor would I expect an evil priest to do any less. That's all well and good for a game, but I don't think it has a place in Real Life.

There's too much other crap we have to deal with without blowing holes in one another over the concept of God and religion.

There's my nickel...

 

Why's everybody here screeming for the sorcerer to start cencoring?!? Be happy, he doesn't do it by standard!!

 

Well, I admit that I am biased about religion. I've had bad experiences that makes me real mad sometimes.

You see, once upon a time I too followed dogma, be it the dogma of science or the words of people I thought I could trust.

Is God's work really all around us? Then in the parlance of the D&D alignment system he isn't good, he is neutral. What better reason than to be an animal? An animal though pathetic is free of bullshit, and we know that whatever they do cannot be termed good or bad, just animal nature. Just like what happens to us.

We fool ourselves into thinking that just because we can think we are higher beings. We think that because of our convoluted morality we are superior to everything else (animals, heathens, infidels, non-believers). Religion promotes this. Why else does Islam and Christianity say that non-believers go to hell? Why else does Buddhism and other mumbo-jumbo promote itself as the true way?

I'll tell you why. It's because everything religion tells us, we WANT to believe in. When a person WANTS to believe in something badly enough, he can do ANYTHING.

Sometimes I emphatise, other times I am filled with anger. Let's say you have someone you love slowly succumbing to illness. He or she knows she is dying. You love him/her. She knows no religion and she is scared of what will await her. Memories of nightmares return, and once again she is afraid of the dark. She knows she is never returning to the world she knows. When she asks you "What is going to happen after I die?", what will you tell her?

Will you tell her you don't know and leave her to face her fears practically alone? Will you tell her that she will cease to exist when she has yet to live her life in full? It is at times like these when we want to believe in something greater than our pathetic existence. It would be SO easy to lie, to tell her stories of angels and gods who love her and that she is returning to their arms, if only so that she has less fear of death. Would it not ease her mind as well as yours if she believed it?

We tell ourselves many other stories. Stories like these can cause much harm and hurt. The truth although harsh is free of bullshit. If you are not strong enough to face the truth about your existence and your condition, how can you say you are better than an animal?

I am still alive, but I nearly died once. The only thing I remember was a perfectly mundane dream I had either while slipping away or while being revived, and nothing else other than that. No bright lights or tunnels like they tell it in reader's digest. I can understand why some people would lie to promote the idea of an afterlife though. They can't bear the thought of non-existence, although I can tell them that there is a very high chance of exactly that happening. If it's any consolation though, I'm sure that your last moment will be free of pain no matter how you die.

How painful it is to exist, to see yourself in the mirror, to manipulate tools, to triumph over animals and the elements and nature, to savour life by fucking and eating good food and breathing good air, only to come to know that your existence is only temporary.

Many of you cannot accept the truth. So you lie and you perpetuate it with roundabout logic and dogma and groundless belief. Is belief really that important? Or is it a crutch?

 

Personally I like to hear about how people feel about spirituality whether they believe or not. I'm not sure why hostility enters threads such as these.

Well, I guess I do, this is a sensative topic to many people. I just think that we have a group of people here who are mature enough to handle the sensitive issues. I find it great that some of the earlier posters on this thread can share their innermost thoughts with us. It definately makes me feel closer to the group. I get really pissed off when someone just disregards the emotion that is carried in the message and makes ignornant, immature replies.

 

You make me sad, Rakanishu.

In answer to your question, yes, I would. If that were my daughter, or my mother, or even a perfect stranger, I would. How could I be so cruel as to let anyone spend their last moments in terror and confusion, when a few words from me could let them rest more easily. I would give whatever comfort I could to her, regardless of my personal beliefs.

 

Ahem, in the case which I mentioned and you brought up, yes I would lie too. Does that make you happier?

I know and in fact recognise that there are times when prayer can be useful. There are times when I myself felt like praying (really rare occasions nowadays), but since there is no god it is useless and so I don't do it. What a great pity.

Sigh. Oh well. If there's one thing you cannot take away from a human it's his imagination.

 

I feel better now. Thank you...

 

Bwahah!

I feel all glowy!