schimme
Manchester Township, NJ
age: 78
|
Yes,I view religionas AS WHAT others are trying to sell..I MORE MOVE religiom to a patient self made constructive philosophy.. It's more through correcting misunderstandings..Certainly NOT through negative behavior..
|
chinatown_girl
Oyster Bay, NY
age: 18 online now!
|
thanks to those who really did answer the questions, even if just a part of it. a lot of people have unshakeable ideas about religions they dont know anything about. i think it helps everyone if we are knowledgable and not insulting about what others believe it.
|
chinatown_girl
Oyster Bay, NY
age: 18 online now!
|
schimme - could u explain what u mean about religion being what other people are trying to sell?
|
queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
age: 61
|
I have nothing to sell as My belief does not have any rules, except to love others. I do not have any rituals or pray cause a creator knows what I would be thinking so no need. The reason I believe in a supreme being is cause I cannot reasonably believe everything in this universe just happened.
|
starlightnight
Lebanon, KY
age: 30
|
I was raised as a Southern Baptist. My parents forced their religion on me; I still remember the words, "if your going to live under MY roof, you’re going to follow MY rules," followed by swift physical disciplinary action if I objected. Until I was 18, I abided by this religion, and their 'indoctrination' was thorough. I was made to go to church every single Sunday; I only missed 6 during those 18 years due to illness. As I grew up, the only few books in our house were Bibles, LOTS of Jimmy Swaggart propaganda (anyone remember that guy, I sure as hell do), not to mention books by other fundamental tele-evagelists: Billy Graham, Jim Bakker, Moody, etc... I remember one particular claim by Swaggart that any books published by Bantam with a little rainbow icon on the cover (A Bantam New-Age book, which in many instances were about the sciences), were of the 'New-World Order,' which supposedly was part of the 'Devil's plan' to undermine the word of god, or something like that. So, those books were off limits. But I did get to read the Bible cover-to-cover several times, as matter of fact, I was taught to read out of a children's Bible. Cartoons like 'He-Man,' promoted sorcery and witchcraft, so couldn't watch them, if I did I would get grounded for weeks on end, even if I was caught playing with toys of the characters...Needless to say, when I turned 18 I moved out from under that roof. Then I devoured every book I could get my hands on, especially regarding the sciences. I became an atheist, I despised religion (there's lot more to being raised under that roof, which I see no need to go into). After several years, I came across a book by Gary Zukav (of all people, haha) entitled, "The Dancing Wu-Li Masters," which was basically about similarities between physics and 'eastern' philosophies. This sparked my interest in Buddhism, so I started reading about and studying Tibetan Buddhism. The concept of reincarnation interested me. The 'law of conservation of mass and energy,' which has an empirical foundation (empiricism is important to me because my personal history has made me very skeptical of spirtualism and mysticism) seems to support this idea, although I personally believe the 'stream of consciousness' most likely terminates (but I don't hold steadfast to that belief or any belief anymore). I lightened my convictions and became agnostic. Majored in philosophy, and tried to read about as many belief systems as I possibly could, and still do to this day. I don't exactly believe in Truth anymore, just truths, and the idea of a 'Creator' seems too anthropomorphic, although I do tend to think of existence as One (be that the Universe, God, Existence, whatever...) And i love to think about It in as many ways as possible.
[Edited 8/4/2007 1:34:25 AM]
|
chinatown_girl
Oyster Bay, NY
age: 18 online now!
|
thanks snowman, new life and starlight. i wanted to create an exchange about non christian religions and what they are all about since a lot of people have strong views and comments about them -- but probably don't know that much about them.
i think a lot of these religions r earth based, they seem to have holidays or rituals connected to the moon or sun, which means they are in harmony with the earth.
im glad that everybody responded but some people put more focus on what they didnt believe in than what they believe in.
i also like the idea of "do unto others as u would have others do unto u" but thats not what i meant exactly and not enough of a credo for me. the things some people want done to them r definately things i don't want done to me so that's just too subjective. but its a good start.
|