All the religions say the same thing

If I had to pick just one, and I don't believe that I do (don't take direction well, I'm afraid), I would pick Shinto. Pretty and unobtrusive little shrines, mostly outdoors, appropriate to the blessings asked or thanked for, and no social or government stigma attached to attendance or lack thereof. Actually, no government function at all, no socially controlling dogma, and no exclusive use (dad likes me best) clause.

But it isn't what we want that matters, it is the truth that matters.

If a cliff exists and someone is walking towards it; Is it the truth that matters or is it their preference that matters? Do you think the cliff will disappear if they don't like cliffs?

'Truth' has nothing to do with religion. Truth is all about empirical proof, as in 'beyond a shadow of a doubt'. Religion is not interested in truth... religion by definition is interested in 'faith'. Faith is believing in something in spite of your valid doubts.

Thank (insert your preferred Deity here) that your assigned jury is instructed to base their decision on 'truth' rather than 'faith'.
 
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All the religions say almost the same things, but I still believe being Christian is the best way to go. Most of the religions say don't lie, don't steal, don't have sex until married, don't hurt others, and so on.

I have picked Christianity because inside me I know that being Christian is right. What do the rest of you think?

I was unable to find the equivalent in Christianity that that I found in Islam.
8:39

And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allâh) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allâh Alone [in the whole of the world[]]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allâh), then certainly, Allâh is All-Seer of what they do
2:193.
And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allâh) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allâh (Alone).[] But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zâlimûn (the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc193

http://www.ummah.com/what-is-islam/quran/noble/

Tafsir.com Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Tafsir.com Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Tafsir.com Tafsir Ibn Kathir
 
All the religions say almost the same things, but I still believe being Christian is the best way to go. Most of the religions say don't lie, don't steal, don't have sex until married, don't hurt others, and so on.

I have picked Christianity because inside me I know that being Christian is right. What do the rest of you think?

I was unable to find the equivalent in Christianity that that I found in Islam.
8:39

And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allâh) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allâh Alone [in the whole of the world[]]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allâh), then certainly, Allâh is All-Seer of what they do
2:193.
And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allâh) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allâh (Alone).[] But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zâlimûn (the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc193

http://www.ummah.com/what-is-islam/quran/noble/

Tafsir.com Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Tafsir.com Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Tafsir.com Tafsir Ibn Kathir


Part of the problem, not part of the solution.

I don't give a flying fuck what your god says. If that makes us mortal enemies in your book then you are more primitive than I.

Get it through your thin, narrow minded skin that you do NOT have the right to dictate the belief systems of your neighbors. If you have a problem with their behavior, take it up in the political arena and leave the dictations from your god in your place of worship. Your desire to convert or kill is not promoting the survival of the species - your thinking will sooner or later be relegated to a quirky chapter of mankind's history. Count on it.
 
I'm sorry, but I could never worship a "god" who could damn his followers to eternity in his own personal torture chamber named "Hell".

I don't think anything you could do is worthy of eons of torture with no hope of release.

Again, ignorance is no excuse.

If you're damned, it's because you choose to be.

Since you "know" avatar, tell us

Why does god need religion to teach about god when god can just speak and all will know god and god's desire?

Is it possible that religion is based on belief--that is no religion is knowledgable and therefore drown in ignorance themselves?
 
Since god can only be heard in one's mind how do we know the difference between god and mind?
 
'Truth' has nothing to do with religion. Truth is all about empirical proof, as in 'beyond a shadow of a doubt'. Religion is not interested in truth... religion by definition is interested in 'faith'. Faith is believing in something in spite of your valid doubts.

Truth is absolute and therefore independent of what you or I "believe" it to be. Empirical proof is only as good as those interpreting it and is therefore subject to the world view of whoever is observing it. Faith can be believing in something in spite of your valid doubts like you said but not always and does not necessarily mean that what you have faith in is false.

Thank (insert your preferred Deity here) that your assigned jury is instructed to base their decision on 'truth' rather than 'faith'.

Except that much of the time, the jury has to have "faith" to believe you are telling the "truth." ;)
 
if they are looking to get to heaven based on their own works then none of em is going.

By whose actions shall my life be judged then, The Light? I have no desire to spend eternity with a bunch of life-long evil doers who knew the magic words that permitted them to escape the burden of their sins and harm to others. Nope, you go on ahead to this sort of Paradise by yourself and enjoy. I won't be joining you or anyone else who is "in on a pass" after a life of spreading despair and waste.

I'd a whole lot rather be in Hell with those who tried to do right and yet failed to attain Heaven, as they did not happen to have a magic formula for escaping personal responsibility.

If this choice confuses you, I can explain to you a second time more slowly.

So you would rather spend eternity with sinners that didn't accept Jesus rather than sinners that did?

Everyone has a free will. Sounds like you are just prejudice towards Jesus.

I have considered doing up a thread on what I believe, as my religious nature is somewhat unusual. But whether or not I "accept Jesus", the notion that your very own personal evil does not disfigure you in the eyes of God sickens me.
 
'Truth' has nothing to do with religion. Truth is all about empirical proof, as in 'beyond a shadow of a doubt'. Religion is not interested in truth... religion by definition is interested in 'faith'. Faith is believing in something in spite of your valid doubts.

Truth is absolute and therefore independent of what you or I "believe" it to be. Empirical proof is only as good as those interpreting it and is therefore subject to the world view of whoever is observing it. Faith can be believing in something in spite of your valid doubts like you said but not always and does not necessarily mean that what you have faith in is false.

Thank (insert your preferred Deity here) that your assigned jury is instructed to base their decision on 'truth' rather than 'faith'.

Except that much of the time, the jury has to have "faith" to believe you are telling the "truth." ;)

Let's start with the dictionary definition of 'empirical':

empirical |emˈpirikəl|
adjective
based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic : they provided considerable empirical evidence to support their argument.​

'Truth' can only be asserted and evidence considered 'provable' when an event has been observed by several reliable witnesses or can be repeated more than once in a controlled environment.

Religion does NOT get to include 'truth' in its dogmas. No religion does because the basis of all religion is its Creation Story. Was the Earth and its life created in six days or is our home and existence the result of water + chemical reaction + time?

Since there are no reliable witnesses to creation and since creation can't be repeated in a laboratory setting, every sentient being on this planet must decide, in the privacy of their own mind, how it is that he or she came to be based on the evidence they find along the way and their own personal faith (belief in evidence and theory in spite of the lack of truth-providing 'proof').

Based on provable evidence, Evolution can no more lay claim to 'truth' than can The Bible, but in the humble opinion of this average Joe, Evolution fits the evidence that I can observe with my own mind better, so that is the theory on which I choose to hang my hat of 'faith'.

The real question before the world today is: Can we live in peace in spite of our difference in personal, un-provable opinion as to how we got here?
 
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Many religions teach about truth, I doubt they're talking about scientific truth (what is empirically proveable). IMO religion teaches about spiritual truth which is not proveable but can be experienced in the here and now.

In Buddhism, we would point to the truth of impermanence. We would point to the truth of suffering, the truth of the causes of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering and the truth of the path that leads to the cessation of suffering and we would call that the Four Noble Truths.

'All men are created equal' is held to be a self-evident truth in our country. It can certainly be argued that inspite of being American we don't all come into life with equal freedom and endowments. Some of us are better off than others.

Buddhists would say we are equal in that we all have buddha nature and we would call that truth.

We discuss the truth casually. No wonder we disagree as to what truth is.
 
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The "truth" that religions can provide for us has nothing to do with cosmology.

If a religion has a truth, it's the truth it can teach us about surviving the HUMAN CONDITION.

Mostly the "truth" religion provided for mankind was that society's truth for how that society would structure itself to survive as a civilization.

And the societies with the most humane AND PRODUCTIVE system for getting people to treat one another with some kind of compassion, seem to survive the longest, and they also seem to attract the most followers.

Oh, usre religions which spawned warrior cultures can come and go, but the religion which influences people to be the most cooperative spawns the most people, and inevitably those societies end up winning in the longer run.

When the Viking gave up their warrior religion for a Christianity, they did so because they saw that the Christian religion ended up making society wealthier than their religion based mostly on plunder and mayhem.

Hell, the whole reason the Vikings plundered Christendom was because that religion has already spawned a society that was more productive.

Religions, just like people, have different maturity levels.

Eventusally those religions best suited to the mindset of adolescent teens are abandoned because they do not give the people what they need.

Ultimately what this keeps proving to us is that it is COOPERATION, not competition that advances societies
 
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This whole arguement goes right back to the fundemental question


What purpose does RELIGION have?

There is to much metaphysical mumbo jumbo here, folks--not enough "how to live" arguements forming.

We can only live this life based on the information given to us, if god, or the way or Buddha wants us to prepare for the afterlife, then god, the way or Buddha need to get off of their asses and tell us. Else, it is best to assume they o not exist and live this life.

I said LIVE THIS LIFE!-- How can one prepare for what we do not actually know. And again, belief is not knowing.
 
This whole arguement goes right back to the fundemental question


What purpose does RELIGION have?

There is to much metaphysical mumbo jumbo here, folks--not enough "how to live" arguements forming.

We can only live this life based on the information given to us, if god, or the way or Buddha wants us to prepare for the afterlife, then god, the way or Buddha need to get off of their asses and tell us. Else, it is best to assume they o not exist and live this life.

I said LIVE THIS LIFE!-- How can one prepare for what we do not actually know. And again, belief is not knowing.

It's not the purpose it has that I see... it's the purpose it had.

I've already stated my opinion: Religion is merely one of the tools, like Survival of the Fittest is a tool, that life has at its disposal to grow a living planet into a Sentient World.

As long as nobody is willing to go nuclear over their belief system, the Children of Earth will one day reach the stars.
 
This whole arguement goes right back to the fundemental question


What purpose does RELIGION have?
There is to much metaphysical mumbo jumbo here, folks--not enough "how to live" arguements forming.

We can only live this life based on the information given to us, if god, or the way or Buddha wants us to prepare for the afterlife, then god, the way or Buddha need to get off of their asses and tell us. Else, it is best to assume they o not exist and live this life.

I said LIVE THIS LIFE!-- How can one prepare for what we do not actually know. And again, belief is not knowing.
our
The purpose of a spiritual path is to develop positive qualities and eliminate negative ones. The purpose of religion is to become enlightened so that we are increasingly skillful in benefiting ourself and all others.
 
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All the religions say almost the same things, but I still believe being Christian is the best way to go. Most of the religions say don't lie, don't steal, don't have sex until married, don't hurt others, and so on.

IMHO your opinion is wrong because if you compare The Religion of Peace with other Religions you will know that it has nothing together with Religion, but more with a Political Movement.

Motto: Kill the Infidels, Sura 9:5

Quotes from the Qur'an
 

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