religion

[the grey seer]

many believe that the truly faithfully are blessed but some are skeptical. so here's my question is reliegon a way of explioting people's ingorance?  

[Yukimura D Sanada]

Jariah Syn

many believe that the truly faithfully are blessed but some are skeptical. so here's my question is reliegon a way of explioting people's ingorance?

some days, some nights some live, some die in the way of the samurai

the answer to that is yes and no :]

religion haw always and will always be a form of control .. but it doenst mean the religion is wrong in anyway razz control can just be part of your beleif haha

i personally have no religion i have a faith there is a difference .. i beleive in God and christianity but i dont consider myself a christian in fact i dispise most christians just because of the setup of the church . but the reason i beleive in their faith is because ive spent the better part of 18 years studying religions, faiths, mythologys, and beleifs and the only one i cannot prove to myself as wrong (infact theres more evidence to it being right) is christianity. but i will agree on your belief that religion is flawed but religion is made up of its followers not so much its gods .... therefore blame the church but beleive in God dont follow man follow God

some fight, some bleed sun up to sun down the sons of a battlecry

 

[the grey seer]

i believe in god but not the bible or any of that because of religion's.... "secrets" and boy lovers  

[Yukimura D Sanada]

some days, some nights some live, some die in the way of the samurai

i believe in the bible for many reasons one of the major ones that proves its accuracy to me is the dead sea scrolls ... theyre a set of writings from the bible original manuscripts found that had been handwriten by the author and there were thousands of hand writen copys of him trying to get it right but in all of them the only difference was off by 4 words wich in a whole book isnt alot and the manuscipts were said to far predate the so called changed versions of the roman catholic bible.

plus i dont see why the catholics would edit the bible anyways nobody but priests could read it for thousands of years it wasnt till a few hunred years ago that they were translated and mass produced by rebels of the church

some fight, some bleed sun up to sun down the sons of a battlecry

 

[the grey seer]

catholics and christians r the same 2 me but the damn book was written in old hebrew people now a days can barly read it even if teir from that regio
no offense  

[shirofoxes]

True, unshakeable faith is an amazing thing. I admire people who can find that kind of pillar in their lives.

On the other hand, religion has been used to explioit people for millenia. The Inquisition is a good example. The priests who tortured those poor people or burned them to 'purify' them truly thought they were doing them a favor.
The Catholic church in general seems like another good example to me (no offense to any Catholic members) because if you do anything 'heretical' the church can excommunicate you and effectively damn you to hell. I think that gives them waaaaaay too much power over their subjects. And besides, what right does some clergyman have to block my way to heaven if I think I deserve to go?
Of course, the only reason this works is not only do they scare people into becoming believers sometimes, but there are always people out there who are willing to follow anyone who takes charge, and often that has to with the church in many people's lives.
*sigh*
I suppose it would be interesting to see what the world would be like if religion didn't exist....  

[the grey seer]

well the law can't do anything about even if they hire ***** my friend from 3rd grade was "touched" by a man of god  

[shirofoxes]

*shudder*

It would be funny if it weren't kinda sad:

Priests (especially Catholics, since it's part of their church law) are very much against gay rights, but then on the news we suddenly hear of all these priests raping or having sexual relations with little or adolescent boys.

evil  

[the grey seer]

hypacrocy i believe it's called 2000 years and they still haven't learned 2 tolerate others  

[Mightyenapup]

I'm not a fan of religion... but I do find it interesting, and always pay attention to it.

Originally, religion wasn't established to exploit people. Originally, religion was actually sacred, but people weren't sensitive--like we are now--to cringe in fear at anyone who would mention the name of a god they didn't believe in. Usually, groups only knew about one god anyway--theirs. I believe that religion was created for two main reasons.

1. Someone or something to turn to for guidance or hope. Times have been tough all around since humans evolved into this 'greater mind'. Sun gods were probably some of the first to be created. As the Agricultural Revolution took place, as humans began to farm and settle, the sun became a very important resource. In winter, when it was cold, the sun also provided warmth. Etc.
2. Someone or something to blame when things went wrong. This follows suit of the other, so... yeah. Nature's really easy to blame because it can't talk back (only whip earthquakes on your a**). What, is the sun going to complain?

But as time began to pass, people murdered over disagreements in religion... Religious conflicts are the number one cause of death since "religion" came to be. The Holocaust is a good example that everyone knows. Hitler killed hundreds of thousands of Jews.

Personally, I don't know what I believe anymore. I've been raised Protestant, but honestly, concerning Christianity... I really doubt it...  

[the grey seer]

i agree with the first 1st reason but take some responisiblity 4 #2 people  

[Mightyenapup]

Jariah Syn

i agree with the first 1st reason but take some responisiblity 4 #2 people

Well you can't really expect humans to be humble. Not all of this applies to what we're talking about, but it's a good quote, nonetheless:

William H. Maples, [i]Dead Men Do Tell Tales[/i]

No primate makes a good pet. That includes humans. We and our cousins--the gorillas, the chimpanzees, the monkeys, including the baboons--are a rather uncivilized lot, fiercely proud and independant, but at the same time treacherous, greedy, aggressive, and cruel.

My main point in quoting that is simply to point out or basic human behavior, namely pride. We never want to admit our faults. It's much easier to just point the blame on someone else (which also supports those last four--treacherous, greedy, aggressive, and cruel). It continues to happen every day, around the world. Any idol is generally dead when worshipped, and since they can't defend themselves, being dead and all, it's kind of an easy target. It's actually a pretty good system... if you're into blame and hate and torture, which humans apparently are. We have been for centuries.

Meh, what can I say? More than religion, I dig human behavior. It's disgusting... but it's all true.  

[the grey seer]

isn't a catholic rule 2 not have pride 4 it is sin  

[Doctor_Orc]

Organized religion is a powerful weapon. But so are political parties and sport clubs. Any group in which people invest emotionally is prone to use this affection to manipulate their followers. There are little rational decisions when emotions are involved. The more you like something, the more dependent of it you are eventually become. You take pleasure out of it, and so you keep linked. If it says to you “do such and such because of all the things I gave you, and so I can keep giving it to you” you’ll probably do it with more conviction as more you, love it.

And large scale organizations are scared little things. They sit on top of ivory towers, dispensing illusions in the guise of answers to the basic needs in the Maslow pyramid.
Religions, real religions are alive. People participate in it’s rites and are as important to it as it is to them.  

[Mightyenapup]

Jariah Syn

isn't a catholic rule 2 not have pride 4 it is sin

Indeed, pride is considered one of the Seven Deady Sins, in fact. But people, when blaming others, generally don't think to themselves, "I need to protect my pride." Instead, they generally think more along the lines of, "I hope no one finds out."

Besides, even if people did have the thought of pride running through their head, it's still human nature, which isn't very easy to overcome, with us being humans and all.

Doctor_Orc

Organized religion is a powerful weapon. But so are political parties and sport clubs. Any group in which people invest emotionally is prone to use this affection to manipulate their followers. There are little rational decisions when emotions are involved. The more you like something, the more dependent of it you are eventually become. You take pleasure out of it, and so you keep linked. If it says to you “do such and such because of all the things I gave you, and so I can keep giving it to you” you’ll probably do it with more conviction as more you, love it.

And large scale organizations are scared little things. They sit on top of ivory towers, dispensing illusions in the guise of answers to the basic needs in the Maslow pyramid.
Religions, real religions are alive. People participate in it’s rites and are as important to it as it is to them.

That first part reminds me of gangs, too. I guess (in my mind, anyway) it's kind of fitting to compare political parties and sports clubs to gangs... Many people in gangs started with a want for attention, and the thought of a family--even a gang family, fillied with risk and crime--is comforting to them. I suppose it also has a bit to do with peer pressure.

I don't know about true religion much, though... Rather, I believe that everyone should just have their own beliefs, and not consider them to be "Christian" or "Buddhist" or "Agnostic" or whatever. Almost all religions teach the same values, anyway. Almost all religions preach to love thy neighbor, to be faithful and wise, to not steal or envy, and to enjoy life. You know, all the stuff humans never do willingly.