What is so great about "religion"?

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

Since it seems to be a week of "this is a religion, but that is not" It's time to QUESTION EVERYTHING, once again.

What defines a religion: faith that you can feel, an external deity figure, or ages old documents?

what makes Jesus or Muhammad better then Buddha?

God over Odin?

Faith in Deities over Faith over self?

What qualifies an "organized" belief as a religion, but a philosophical faith system falters when compared?

IMO....I don't think you should be judged on the title of your belief system...or even what you believe. I think you shoudl be judged on your faith...and the best definition of faith I have ever come across comes from a source that most "good christians" used to hold in contempt.

"If it sounds good, you'll hear it;

If it looks good, you'll see it;

If it's marketed right, you'll buy it;

but if it's real, you'll feel it." - Kid Rock

so honestly....I would rather have you be able to FEEL it then go into a large building and read from a book. If you can FEEL it...then congrats...I respect you for that....but if your going to go...and your body participates, but your mind is somewhere else, or your heart and soul isn't there.....then why is your body there?

I would rather have a philosophical faith...one where I can feel it...and my faith comes through me personally...then read from a book in an "organized" faith system that stole their traditions and half the ppl in the building are pretenders.

But...I'm all up for discussion...so, anyone else?

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Some people need the structure.. others need the the ritual.

I dated a girl for years that did not beleive in God at all. Yet, she went to Mass once a week. That structured ritual did something for her... a focusing of her life... that she required to deal with everythign that life tossed at her.

We, all of us, have different needs when it comes to dealing with life. Some have Faith in Science.. others have Faith in Man, others have Faith is Self, still others Faith in God...

Blind Faith seems to be the most common... blind to the Faith of others...

Some people jsut need to be led...

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

Some people need the structure.. others need the the ritual.

I dated a girl for years that did not beleive in God at all. Yet, she went to Mass once a week. That structured ritual did something for her... a focusing of her life... that she required to deal with everythign that life tossed at her.

We, all of us, have different needs when it comes to dealing with life. Some have Faith in Science.. others have Faith in Man, others have Faith is Self, still others Faith in God...

Blind Faith seems to be the most common... blind to the Faith of others...

Some people jsut need to be led...

I understand the need for an external focus...and if it is ACTUALLY working for that person, then more props to him/her.

and while I will agree that being blind to another's belief system is a common fault in the majority of the human race...I believe it is just that....being blind to the SYSTEM...not blind to the FAITH. I don't have to understand the system and structure that your faith is based on as long as your faith is TRUE to you....because if it's not...if you don't feel your faith...then it's not real...and your lying to yourself.

[Oh_My_Goth]

Personally I think Religion sucks.....

I am a spiritual person.....

I my experience people who 'claim' to be a certain Religion tend to not reflect that Religions basic structure.....

That is what turns Me off the most about organize belief systems.....The people involved.....

In my opinion Christians make Jesus look bad.....

Buddha is probably hanging his head in shame from all the people who 'claim' to be enlightened.....

& Mohamed is most likely just hiding in a corner completely ashamed of allot of his followers.....

BUT, this is just my opinion

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

Personally I think Religion sucks.....

I am a spiritual person.....

I my experience people who 'claim' to be a certain Religion tend to not reflect that Religions basic structure.....

That is what turns Me off the most about organize belief systems.....The people involved.....

In my opinion Christians make Jesus look bad.....

Buddha is probably hanging his head in shame from all the people who 'claim' to be enlightened.....

& Mohamed is most likely just hiding in a corner completely ashamed of allot of his followers.....

BUT, this is just my opinion

if they were here..now...they would tell us one thing

"guys...seriously....we need to hear more COWBELL!!"

[Simon Bar Sinister]

Instant social life.

[Rev.Reverence]

A religion is a set of beliefs and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, or religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.

In the frame of European religious thought,[1] religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane.[2] Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a "way of life" or a Life stance.

The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. "Organized religion" generally refers to an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity (see religion-supporting organization). Other religions believe in personal revelation. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system,"[3] but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.

Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and faith, a transcendent reality, or one or more deities. Spiritual matters are thus those matters regarding humankind's ultimate nature and purpose, not only as material biological organisms, but as beings with a unique relationship to that which is perceived to be beyond both time and the material world.

As such, the spiritual is traditionally contrasted with the material, the temporal and the worldly. A perceived sense of connection forms a central defining characteristic of spirituality — connection to a metaphysical reality greater than oneself, which may include an emotional experience of religious awe and reverence, or such states as satori or Nirvana. Equally importantly, spirituality relates to matters of sanity and of psychological health. Spirituality is the personal, subjective dimension of religion, particularly that which pertains to liberation or salvation (see also mysticism)

Spirituality as a way of life concerns itself with aligning the human will and mind with that dimension of life and the universe that is harmonious and ordered. As such spiritual disciplines (which are often part of an established religious tradition) enjoin practitioners (trainees or disciples) to cultivate those higher potentialities of the human being that are more noble and refined (wisdom and virtue). Accordingly, many spiritual traditions across diverse cultures share similar vocabulary. Terms such as the "path", the "work", the "practice" are universally applied to the ongoing discipline involved in transforming the coarser energies present in the human soul into more subtle and pleasing ones. As a spiritual practitioner one seeks to become free of the lesser egoic self (or ego) in favor of being more fully one's "true" "Self".

Now look...they overlap.

They are not the same.

The English word religion is in use since the 13th century, loaned from Anglo-French religiun (11th century), ultimately from the Latin religio, "reverence for God or the gods, careful pondering of divine things, piety, the res divinae"

Now if only people who were 'Religious' read the etymology of the word...they may have to change their view.

[Rev.Reverence]

God was created so he could be debated.

you said 'He' ...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Now look...they overlap.

They are not the same.

Now if only people who were 'Religious' read the etymology of the word...they may have to change their view.

But what is it's common use? How a word was used hundreds of years ago has very little to do with how it is used to day in most cases.

[Rev.Reverence]

But what is it's common use? How a word was used hundreds of years ago has very little to do with how it is used to day in most cases.

Without this:

"reverence for God or the gods, careful pondering of divine things, piety, the res divinae"

A religion becomes 'some things that we do'...

Interesting thought as well is that a person can follow the philosophical aspects of Buddhism and not follow the Religious practice. Would you agree?

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I see people who do it all the time... with many religions.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

you said 'He' ...

How is that funny? Are you mocking his perception of what God is?

[Rev.Reverence]

I see people who do it all the time... with many religions.

Were you addressing the first or second point or both?

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

The second

[Rev.Reverence]

How is that funny? Are you mocking his perception of what God is?

I actually perceived his statement to be a mock at the existence of G*D in general...

God was created so he could be debated.

Note that he sais G*D was created...inferring 'by man'.....

I was helping him mock OTHER people who put a gender to something that is so expansive it could not have a gender...

'cause if you think there is but 1 G*D & it is a male...your wrong. The books back me.

[Msterbeau]

Instant social life.

Perhaps not as sarcastic as it seems. A place to hang out with like-minded people is not the worst reason I ever heard to go to church. It's pretty much my reasoning. That, And I often take away something useful from the sermon.

[Rev.Reverence]

I meant "he" in a generic sense. The question of a potential god's sex doesn't interest me. It seems interesting only to feminists who want the possibility of a female god only as a means of representing gender equality. Why they don't argue that the Devil could also possibly be female too is telling as well.

Personally, if I were a woman, I would not want the god of the Old Testament to be a member of my club.

Oh...then I'll just sit here and mock the people who say "My G*D is The G*D & HE is beyond Human comprehension"..

'Cause those people need to be mocked...the statement contradicts itself.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I meant "he" in a generic sense. The question of a potential god's sex doesn't interest me. It seems interesting only to feminists who want the possibility of a female god only as a means of representing gender equality. Why they don't argue that the Devil could also possibly be female too is telling as well.

Personally, if I were a woman, I would not want the god of the Old Testament to be a member of my club.

I feel the same way. It has always amazed me when people have tried to use a mirror to envision God but don't even think to use it to envision the Devil.

Rev.. what books do you have that not only have proof that a god exists... but proof that there is more than one of them?

Personally, I don't think that simple concepts like male and female can apply to something as all encompassing as a God.

[Rev.Reverence]

I feel the same way. It has always amazed me when people have tried to use a mirror to envision God but don't even think to use it to envision the Devil.

Rev.. what books do you have that not only have proof that a god exists... but proof that there is more than one of them?

Personally, I don't think that simple concepts like male and female can apply to something as all encompassing as a God.

Once again...we arrive at the same conclusion using different words.

Do you see up there one post above you...it's cool if you and I were writing at the same time and all ... but that is not cool if you just skipped what I just wrote.

[Scales]

I w*uld say I am a scientific person with spiritual experiences. There's nothing wrong with believing in and doing spiritual things, praying, do rituals, ect; I half-believe in a lot of weird shit, you practically have to with as weird as the world is.

Most of my friends and family are C-chan, they have been enveloped into it, raised into it, they're perceptions are saturated with it. They get into debates with me that go nowhere which I expect; it's not simple breaking years of social conditioning that folklore is real, especially when community runs the pollutants like a tax-free engine on every other street.

Religion taken seriously is dogma waiting to happen; religious laws will be taken so seriously by religious people that these people will try to make them become societal laws: See U.K. and Islam.

This is prolly why parody religions/religions which don't take themselves seriously have become more popular over the years, Ex: J.R. B*b D*bbs.

Just my two cents.

[jynxxxedangel]

I don't think people are born with true faith. A person who has truly been lost, or has been unsure, has the purest of faith, once it's found.

Ask me about my Langston Hughes-esque* experience with the Pentacostal church in West Virginia, sometime.**

I was told I was EVIL by the preaching evangelist himself, for actually admitting I didn't "feel the Spirit of the Lord" at a tent revival-- in front of hundreds of people. My family and I were spurned by the entire community and congregation because of it. I was treated like a bastard by my family because of it for many years after. I lived through mental and physical torture for many years because of this incident.

Now, I am a true believer, because I have seen the lowest places of humanity, and yet absolute miracles have happened right before my eyes. No one can ever TELL me when I am supposed to feel something. The Mysteries have unraveled in their due time. So mote it be.

* http://www.continuinged.ku.edu/hughes/files_city/church.html

** My experience was slightly different, because I ADMITTED in front of the congregation that I felt NOTHING. Young Mr. Hughes didn't admit anything until his guilt overtook him, and he told his uncle of his doubtful feelings. Still, upon reading this chapter of his autobiography years later, it hit home.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Personally, I don't think that simple concepts like male and female can apply to something as all encompassing as a God.

Once again...we arrive at the same conclusion using different words.

Do you see up there one post above you...it's cool if you and I were writing at the same time and all ... but that is not cool if you just skipped what I just wrote.

Why are you trying to find a problem with me?

[jynxxxedangel]

:jerry :popcorn

Ooops, those smileys don't work here..

[Der Nister]

I forsee another thread lock down in the future.

[Hellion]

I forsee another thread lock down in the future.

Me too.