What is your religion?

[Tentacruel]

Here's something that has always puzzled me about the concept of god. Religious people say that god is perfect, and that everything he creates is perfect. But if a concept was perfect, I mean truly perfect in every way, how would one be able to question it? How could you possibly try to disregard something that is flawless? Just something I had on my mind.

 

I... disagree with that notion.  Perfection is not really a concept that we can understand, as in practical terms it's either completely subjective or impossible.  So, to say that we can't question something that is perfect, while an interesting thought, is not necessarily true.

 

Also, the general consensus among said religious people is that humans were purposely given free will and the ability to make that distinction for themselves.

[Smear]

Perfection is not really a concept that we can understand, as in practical terms it's either completely subjective or impossible.

[Tentacruel]

Perfection is not really a concept that we can understand, as in practical terms it's either completely subjective or impossible.

 

 

But he's, in a matter of speaking, a god.

His intellect is far beyond our comprehension. 

[vla1ne]

But he's, in a matter of speaking, a god.

His intellect is far beyond our comprehension. 

That's only because our frail human thoughts are unsymmetrical in form, and his are in perfect balance.

[Smear]

But he's, in a matter of speaking, a god.
His intellect is far beyond our comprehension. 

Pfft, give me a wig and yellow contacts and I'll be the most perfect motherfudda out there.

[ListenToLife]

Isn't there a rule against Religious arguments somewhere? O.o

 

I don't believe in the big bang theory. I believe that there is a higher power . in my mind there has to be a creator to make it logical to me without mr losing what's left of my mind

 

There's a lot more evidence for the Big Bang than there is for a God (assuming you dont turn to Logical Fallacies as 'Evidence'; eg the Watchmaker Argument)

 

Atheism is denial.

Theism is belief.

Anti-theism is an opposition to belief but not necessarily denial.

Agnosticism is neither belief nor denial but uncertainty.

 

I'm pretty sure you've got Atheism and Anti-theism mixed there. Merely from the latin they are based upon; 'Anti-' being a prefix for 'against' (anti-christ, antagonist, etc) while 'A-' is a prefix for 'without' (apathy, amoral, atonal, etc), you can see that your definitions are rather nonsensical. 'Anti-theism' literally means 'Against god', while 'Atheism' would literally mean 'Without God'.

In fact:

[spoiler=Quote from RationalWiki about anti-theism]"Antitheism is outspoken opposition to theism and religion. It is a subset of atheism which holds that theism and religion are harmful to society and people, and that if theistic beliefs were true, they would be undesirable. Much like Evangelical Christians and other religious fundamentalists, antitheists believe they have The Truth about religion, and they work to bring that "truth" to as many people as possible; antitheists not only don't believe in God, they make it their business to make sure that nobody else does, either. Antitheism asserts that religious and theistic beliefs are harmful, and that in areas where theism is innocuous, it should be discarded by people in favor of humanism, rationalism and other alternatives. Not all opposition to religion is necessarily anti-theism, as one can be opposed to a particular religion without being opposed to religion in general."[/spoiler]

 

Anti-theism is a subset of Atheism; one that is particularly opposed to religion and theism as a whole.

[chairman ali]

People here seem to be forgetting that God is not religion but a spiritual bond. Many of you might have heard of the same stories from people of different religions. Buddhists reach a state of total enlightenment called 'Nirvana'. It is when one sees everything as it truly is. One has the ability to control everything within and defy the laws of physics and nature. Nirvana is a spiritual bond with God. It is the point where you truly understand the world and how it works. This only happens with dedication and obeying what you believe in.

 

The same story goes throughout the Islamic world too. In the Shia Islam we have 12 Imams, just like in Christianity they have 12 Apostles. They are 12 people who carry out the message after the death of the Prophet. In the Qura'an we have a passage that says,

{بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَى أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ}

{Originator of the heavens and the earth. Whenever He decrees a thing, He says to it, “Be,” and it becomes.}

 

I mention this passage because when getting closer to God your spirituality awareness rises and you start to want to purify yourself. (You will never know until you start being spiritual.) In Islam we have something called 'Dua'a', it is to ask Allah (God) for a certain thing. Obviously you won't get it overnight. But if you keep on rising in your spirituality then if you ask Allah to give you something |He says to it, "Be", and it becomes|. That is why I added this part. The more spiritual you become the more your energy flow is directly from God. And so this is where another passages talks about the devotees being true to Allah and so he will lend them his powers. You see many enlightened Buddhists because they devote their times to understanding life and surrendering to the life force. There are a lot of 'Sayids' in Islam that are the same. And by the way, let me make something clear. Those long bearded assholes with no moustaches and a shaved head are NOT muslims. They are called Wahabists. They were set out by the Zionist Lobby to let the two groups of Muslims (Shias and Sunnis) fight each others. It is also what George W. Bush said. He said that the United States will not go to the Middle East and fight, he will let Muslims kill each other. I will stop talking about conspiracy theories because this is not the point of this post.

 

This is why your religion doesn't have to do with God. Not only Christians will go to heaven. Not only Muslims will go to heaven. Those who do good will go to heaven. It is about what you do that takes you to that place. The mass media corrupts peoples thoughts by showing dumb people who know nothing about religion. They bring people to talk shows that aren't intelligent enough to calculate 2+2. They do this so that people ignore reading about the religions and what they preach. You have to look at religion as a set of morals and rules. If you dislike a religion because one of the morals don't go with what you want to believe in then read another. Don't just completely close out all religions because you read one or you used to be in one which you didn't like. Read. And read the reasoning behind it, not just the morals. Understand why it is set there.

 

Don't let the media bash God and specify him as 'religion'. No. God is a spiritual bond, NOT A RELIGION.

[vla1ne]

People here seem to be forgetting that God is not religion but a spiritual bond. Many of you might have heard of the same stories from people of different religions. Buddhists reach a state of total enlightenment called 'Nirvana'. It is when one sees everything as it truly is. One has the ability to control everything within and defy the laws of physics and nature. Nirvana is a spiritual bond with God. It is the point where you truly understand the world and how it works. This only happens with dedication and obeying what you believe in.

 

The same story goes throughout the Islamic world too. In the Shia Islam we have 12 Imams, just like in Christianity they have 12 Apostles. They are 12 people who carry out the message after the death of the Prophet. In the Qura'an we have a passage that says,

{بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَى أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ}

{Originator of the heavens and the earth. Whenever He decrees a thing, He says to it, “Be,” and it becomes.}

 

I mention this passage because when getting closer to God your spirituality awareness rises and you start to want to purify yourself. (You will never know until you start being spiritual.) In Islam we have something called 'Dua'a', it is to ask Allah (God) for a certain thing. Obviously you won't get it overnight. But if you keep on rising in your spirituality then if you ask Allah to give you something |He says to it, "Be", and it becomes|. That is why I added this part. The more spiritual you become the more your energy flow is directly from God. And so this is where another passages talks about the devotees being true to Allah and so he will lend them his powers. You see many enlightened Buddhists because they devote their times to understanding life and surrendering to the life force. There are a lot of 'Sayids' in Islam that are the same. And by the way, let me make something clear. Those long bearded assholes with no moustaches and a shaved head are NOT muslims. They are called Wahabists. They were set out by the Zionist Lobby to let the two groups of Muslims (Shias and Sunnis) fight each others. It is also what George W. Bush said. He said that the United States will not go to the Middle East and fight, he will let Muslims kill each other. I will stop talking about conspiracy theories because this is not the point of this post.

 

This is why your religion doesn't have to do with God. Not only Christians will go to heaven. Not only Muslims will go to heaven. Those who do good will go to heaven. It is about what you do that takes you to that place. The mass media corrupts peoples thoughts by showing dumb people who know nothing about religion. They bring people to talk shows that aren't intelligent enough to calculate 2+2. They do this so that people ignore reading about the religions and what they preach. You have to look at religion as a set of morals and rules. If you dislike a religion because one of the morals don't go with what you want to believe in then read another. Don't just completely close out all religions because you read one or you used to be in one which you didn't like. Read. And read the reasoning behind it, not just the morals. Understand why it is set there.

 

Don't let the media bash God and specify him as 'religion'. No. God is a spiritual bond, NOT A RELIGION.

by your definition, every single religion that ever was, could be reclassified as a spiritual bond.

[chairman ali]

by your definition, every single religion that ever was, could be reclassified as a spiritual bond.

Religions are doctrines or "rules". Worshipping a god doesn't require rules. It just requires a method. It depends what kind of method you choose.

[vla1ne]

Religions are doctrines or "rules". Worshipping a god doesn't require rules. It just requires a method. It depends what kind of method you choose.

the 10 commandments weren't rules? the fact that god killed a TON of people for not following him in the bible wasn't foced acceptance? I don't want to point only at the bible, there've been a ton of religions that had those same rules, but to say that the bible is not a set of stories about how god was killing people who didn't follow him and his rules is kind of like skipping half of the bible in favor of the light and fluffy stuff.

[chairman ali]

the 10 commandments weren't rules? the fact that god killed a TON of people for not following him in the bible wasn't foced acceptance? I don't want to point only at the bible, there've been a ton of religions that had those same rules, but to say that the bible is not a set of stories about how god was killing people who didn't follow him and his rules is kind of like skipping half of the bible in favor of the light and fluffy stuff.

There you go you seem to be answering your own questions. The ten commandements are from the bible.(I don't know, is it? I don't know much about christianity) The bible is associated with Christianity, a religion. I don't really know what the 10 commandements are but as far as it being associated with the religion then it has nothing to do with reaching Nirvana, or the point of enlightenment.

[vla1ne]

There you go you seem to be answering your own questions. The ten commandements are from the bible.(I don't know, is it? I don't know much about christianity) The bible is associated with Christianity, a religion. I don't really know what the 10 commandements are but as far as it being associated with the religion then it has nothing to do with reaching Nirvana, or the point of enlightenment.

Even if Nirvana is about enlightenment, Buddhism has zero gods at all so your first post about the definition of god as a spiritual bond doesn't work with Buddhism. and even then, Buddhism still has tenements. Nirvana does not involve gods, but we already know that much.

 

Everything else you've described so far is a trait of pretty much every religion or god to ever be worshipped, so if you're going to use the argument of god not being a religion you need to define in detail what/ who your god is. Until then, it's pretty much up to whoever you're discussing your god with to describe them. and that's never a good start, as has been proven with the earlier misunderstandings.

[chairman ali]

Even if Nirvana is about enlightenment, Buddhism has zero gods at all so your first post about the definition of god as a spiritual bond doesn't work with Buddhism. and even then, Buddhism still has tenements. Nirvana does not involve gods, but we already know that much.

 

Everything else you've described so far is a trait of pretty much every religion or god to ever be worshipped, so if you're going to use the argument of god not being a religion you need to define in detail what/ who your god is. Until then, it's pretty much up to whoever you're discussing your god with to describe them. and that's never a good start, as has been proven with the earlier misunderstandings.

The life source is considered to be the idea of existence in Buddhism. Energy, perhaps. Buddha was a Theist. He believed in many Gods. Buddhism is only the teachings of the Buddha, even so he did not teach about Gods. That is why Buddhism has a variety of different beliefs. Some Buddhists believe in God, others believe in the life source. 

 

In the end, I still say that God is a spiritual bonding. You just have a hard time understanding it. You don't need to go through any religion to spiritually bond with god. I don't see why you don't understand that. It is perhaps because you do not believe in God. Maybe that is the reason why you have to tie God to religion because that is what you kept on believing all this time.

[vla1ne]

The life source is considered to be the idea of existence in Buddhism. Energy, perhaps. Buddha was a Theist. He believed in many Gods. Buddhism is only the teachings of the Buddha, even so he did not teach about Gods. That is why Buddhism has a variety of different beliefs. Some Buddhists believe in God, others believe in the life source. 

 

In the end, I still say that God is a spiritual bonding. You just have a hard time understanding it. You don't need to go through any religion to spiritually bond with god. I don't see why you don't understand that. It is perhaps because you do not believe in God. Maybe that is the reason why you have to tie God to religion because that is what you kept on believing all this time.

You can believe in whatever god(s) you want. just be prepared to define your terms and bring proof if you discuss that god(s) to anybody else. Spiritual bonding is pretty much on the same level as voices in your head as far as the level of proven evidence goes.

 

I don't believe god exists because not one single god, no matter where they're claimed to come from, has had a noticeable effect on this world in any area of knowledge. I'm open to any idea of god, but if it doesn't have solid proof, then it just goes in the same category as all the other gods.

[Ice Kirby]

As said by a great prophet of our Lord; Flying Spaghetti Monster...

 

"Our saucer which art in a colander, draining be Your noodles. Thy noodle come, Thy meatballness be done on earth, as it is meaty in heaven. Give us this day our daily sauce, and forgive us our lack of piracy, as we pirate and smuggle against those who lack piracy with us. And lead us not into vegetarianism, but deliver us from non-red meat sauce. For thine is the colander, the noodle, and the sauce, forever and ever."

Ramen.

[Death Metal]

Agnostic/LaVeyan

 

Loosely followed however, they don't play a major part in my life by any means. I see Gods as a beings beyond comprehension, there could be one to as many as millions with us being none the wiser to their existence. However, they could also be a figment of our imagination, anything is a possibility. 

[Mehmani]

[spoiler=Quote from RationalWiki about anti-theism]"Antitheism is outspoken opposition to theism and religion. It is a subset of atheism which holds that theism and religion are harmful to society and people, and that if theistic beliefs were true, they would be undesirable. Much like Evangelical Christians and other religious fundamentalists, antitheists believe they have The Truth about religion, and they work to bring that "truth" to as many people as possible; antitheists not only don't believe in God, they make it their business to make sure that nobody else does, either. Antitheism asserts that religious and theistic beliefs are harmful, and that in areas where theism is innocuous, it should be discarded by people in favor of humanism, rationalism and other alternatives. Not all opposition to religion is necessarily anti-theism, as one can be opposed to a particular religion without being opposed to religion in general."[/spoiler]

 

Anti-theism is a subset of Atheism; one that is particularly opposed to religion and theism as a whole.

 

If you directly define Antitheism, you find that it is merely a distaste for God, not necessarily a denial of his existence. The man who coined the term was outspoken against religion, but did not wish to force his beliefs on others. He was a huge anti-totalitarian writer, after all.

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

@ListenToLife: "Theism" doesn't mean "God". Oh, and if you EVER use the phrase "rather nonsensical" again, I SWEAR that my as of yet undisclosed deity or deities of choice will smite you.

Seriously though, Rakim, you made some great points. Although, I would look at your water analogy a different way. I view the idea of a god in the same way you'd view the idea of the poison in the water; incredibly unlikely, and so you have faith that it isn't there, not the other way around. I would say it's a bigger leap of faith to believe that your water has been poisoned than to believe it hasn't.

Tell me why it is that you can presume so far as to assign probabilities to the matter of whether a deity exists or not, but cannot presume so far as to commit yourself to either theism or atheism. One of the two is the right answer regarding the higher truth value involved. Agnostics pretend to adhere to this truth value by avoiding making an incorrect assumption, but they left the true or false question blank, so they're incorrect no matter what because of their fear to make a judgment.

[GiggleCrap]

I’m a catholic person. I respect my religion and other religion also.

[L0SS]

Tell me why it is that you can presume so far as to assign probabilities to the matter of whether a deity exists or not, but cannot presume so far as to commit yourself to either theism or atheism. 

But I have; I'm an atheist, through and through. 

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

@Plainview: Okay, but to be an atheist through and through is to view the idea of a god as impossible, not just incredibly unlikely as that acknowledges the possibility as per agnosticism.

[L0SS]

@Plainview: Okay, but to be an atheist through and through is to view the idea of a god as impossible, not just incredibly unlikely as that acknowledges the possibility as per agnosticism.

Wait, was there a point at which I said otherwise (genuine question)? I was merely turning your idea of poisoned water on its head in to what I see as a more logical way of looking at the scenario. I never suggested that I agreed with said sentiment. As I've said before, I dislike the label; but I am in no way convinced by or compelled by the idea of a higher power. Nor do I see any evidence as to its existence or even it's relevance to the universe as we know it.  The idea of a god goes against everything we know about the universe, and the laws of physics, time, and matter. Of course, there is no doubt that we will learn and discover more in those fields, but there is nothing to suggest that the idea of a matter-less, timeless higher power will be the result of our discovery.

 

Hope that sets the record straight.

[TTR~]

I'd say I'm agnostic. Nothing has really proven itself for me to believe in a higher power or to disbelieve it. Honestly, I'd love to be Christian because that's what I was raised but it's just hard to believe in.

I am scared about the afterlife, being that if there is none then there would be nothingness, which scares me a great deal. On the flip side, if Christian afterlife is real I am scared I'd be going to hell. I believe that deep down a lot of people believe in the Christian and Jewish God solely because they are scared of the afterlife.

[Dad]

I'm a baptist Christian, since 91'.