Hi everyone,

[anwin]

Hi everyone,

I am new on these boards and hope to contribute to the Religion & Ethics discussions. Are most people here Christians? Any Hindus, Muslims..Buddhists etc? Any atheists?

Can we discuss all religions and general spirituality or is it usually only about Christianity?

Best Wishes.

anwin

 

[Sonny Clark]

Hi everyone,

I am new on these boards and hope to contribute to the Religion & Ethics discussions. Are most people here Christians? Any Hindus, Muslims..Buddhists etc? Any atheists?

Can we discuss all religions and general spirituality or is it usually only about Christianity?

Best Wishes.

anwin

Welcome aboard. I'm glad you joined us. There are many topics to discuss, including religion. Find one or more that you think that you'd be interested in, and just jump in. Enjoy your stay and have fun.

 

[Moonglow]

Howdy

 

[Ringel05]

Hi everyone,

I am new on these boards and hope to contribute to the Religion & Ethics discussions. Are most people here Christians? Any Hindus, Muslims..Buddhists etc? Any atheists?

Can we discuss all religions and general spirituality or is it usually only about Christianity?

Best Wishes.

anwin

Discuss...... Good luck.......
Welcome to the insane asylum.

 

[Dajjal]

There are a handful of Muslims, several atheists, and there are a couple of oddballs like me who studied the occult.

 

[anwin]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your comments.

Like most Hindus I am a believer that all religions and all deities are only different paths to the same goal. Different religions are born out of different cultural and social situations and are therefore tailored to suit that community, that situation and time.

The basic Truth is however the same and lies within us all.

Even science which is often seen as conflicting with religion and spirituality....is just another path to the truth. So...everyone is on the same journey.... only from different directions and there are no conflicts essentially.....except due to our misunderstanding and insecurities.

More on this by and by.

Best Wishes.

anwin

 

[Dajjal]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your comments.

Like most Hindus I am a believer that all religions and all deities are only different paths to the same goal. Different religions are born out of different cultural and social situations and are therefore tailored to suit that community, that situation and time.

The basic Truth is however the same and lies within us all.

Even science which is often seen as conflicting with religion and spirituality....is just another path to the truth. So...everyone is on the same journey.... only from different directions and there are no conflicts essentially.....except due to our misunderstanding and insecurities.

I entirely agree with your basic concept that the truth lies within us all, but I am afraid I am something of a critic of Islam, as I see Muslims as following a false prophet who teaches them to fight wars, and I do not think they are following a truly spiritual path. But I daresay many Muslims will find spiritual direction, even in such a false doctrine.

However I am willing to take lessons from my betters such as Sri Ramakrishna who said the following,
" Many are the names of God and infinite forms through which He may be approached. In whatever name and form you worship Him, through that you will realize Him."

I read that Hindus think all the Gods like the elephant God are all just manifestations of the one Brahman. As for science conflicting with religion. I recently read ' the Tao of physics' by Fritjof Capra and he makes comparisons with theories of modern particle physics and the eastern mystical viewpoint.

 

[evince]

science is facts religion is opinion

 

[Dajjal]

science is facts religion is opinion

Yes ! and the scientific facts are merging with the views of mystics as they discover more about particle physics.
The idea that matter is reducible to fundamental parts is long gone, and we now know everything can be converted back into energy. So everything you see and feel is an illusion.

 

[BluePhantom]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your comments.

Like most Hindus I am a believer that all religions and all deities are only different paths to the same goal. Different religions are born out of different cultural and social situations and are therefore tailored to suit that community, that situation and time.

The basic Truth is however the same and lies within us all.

Even science which is often seen as conflicting with religion and spirituality....is just another path to the truth. So...everyone is on the same journey.... only from different directions and there are no conflicts essentially.....except due to our misunderstanding and insecurities.

More on this by and by.

Best Wishes.

anwin

You and I are going to get along just fine. Welcome aboard. To answer your OP (that means original post) it's mostly Christians vs atheists (or Christians vs Christians) with some others thrown in the mix. My best advice to you is to feel free to state your opinion, expect to be called out on it, be ready to defend it, and grow a thick skin. As with all places there are those with whom you can have rational conversation and productive disagreement and those who are just here to be annoying. Pay attention to the former and ignore the latter....well unless you feel like hammering them into submission.

BTW...I respectfully disagree that conflict arises from misunderstandings. Sometimes it does, of course, but sometimes it arises because we understand each other perfectly and have conflicting agendas.

Good to have you here

 

[anwin]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your comments.

Like most Hindus I am a believer that all religions and all deities are only different paths to the same goal. Different religions are born out of different cultural and social situations and are therefore tailored to suit that community, that situation and time.

The basic Truth is however the same and lies within us all.

Even science which is often seen as conflicting with religion and spirituality....is just another path to the truth. So...everyone is on the same journey.... only from different directions and there are no conflicts essentially.....except due to our misunderstanding and insecurities.

I entirely agree with your basic concept that the truth lies within us all, but I am afraid I am something of a critic of Islam, as I see Muslims as following a false prophet who teaches them to fight wars, and I do not think they are following a truly spiritual path. But I daresay many Muslims will find spiritual direction, even in such a false doctrine.

However I am willing to take lessons from my betters such as Sri Ramakrishna who said the following,
" Many are the names of God and infinite forms through which He may be approached. In whatever name and form you worship Him, through that you will realize Him."

I read that Hindus think all the Gods like the elephant God are all just manifestations of the one Brahman. As for science conflicting with religion. I recently read ' the Tao of physics' by Fritjof Capra and he makes comparisons with theories of modern particle physics and the eastern mystical viewpoint.

Hi Dajjal,

As I said, all religions are products of specific cultural and social conditions. Islam is also the same. It is still following a culture of tribal warfare...even under changed circumstances. This will change in coming decades.

Hindus have many deities because many deities and gods were created from ancient times in millions of villages. Villages were literally cut off from most others and therefore developed isolated cultures. Many of the gods were forest deities meant to prevent animal attacks.

In India, unlike other countries...no one went around telling people to stop worshiping their respective gods and to only worship a specific God. Instead, people were taught that all their gods and deities were only avatars (incarnations) of the one supreme God and therefore when they worship different gods they in fact worshiped only the one God. So..it didn't make any difference.

In this way...the religion got integrated without having to change people's local culture and lifestyle. This is why many hundreds of gods and deities are worshiped. Everyone is encouraged to have a Ishtadevata (desired deity) which they could love and worship. In one family the father could worship Shiva, the mother could worship Goddess Lakshmi, the daughter could be a Krishna devotee and the son could be a Yogi. Some Hindus even visit Christian churches (as in Velankanni - Virgin Mary church in Tamil Nadu). It makes no difference to Hindus.

The important point is that...regardless of the god or image that one worships....the faith and the resultant inner spiritual growth are the same in all individuals.

Best Wishes.

anwin

 

[RodISHI]

Hello anwin, thank you for the insight.

 

[anwin]

You and I are going to get along just fine. Welcome aboard. To answer your OP (that means original post) it's mostly Christians vs atheists (or Christians vs Christians) with some others thrown in the mix. My best advice to you is to feel free to state your opinion, expect to be called out on it, be ready to defend it, and grow a thick skin. As with all places there are those with whom you can have rational conversation and productive disagreement and those who are just here to be annoying. Pay attention to the former and ignore the latter....well unless you feel like hammering them into submission.

BTW...I respectfully disagree that conflict arises from misunderstandings. Sometimes it does, of course, but sometimes it arises because we understand each other perfectly and have conflicting agendas.

Good to have you here

Hi BluePhantom,

Thanks a lot for the nice post. Yes....I am sure we are going to get along just fine. Thanks for your suggestions....I'll keep them in mind.

I agree that sometimes there are conflicting agendas....but that could be because of misunderstandings and insecurities due to cultural differences. Cultural memes can be so strong and their need to survive can be so powerful that they can generate deep fears and insecurities if challenged. This was my point.

Thanks once again.

Best Wishes.

anwin

 

[zaangalewa]

science is facts religion is opinion

First was nothing - then came facts. How are facts able to come from nothing?

Oh by the way - welcome anwin. First you was not - now you are. Enjoy it.

 

[anwin]

science is facts religion is opinion

Hi evince,

Its difficult to say what facts are. Most of the 'facts' have no explanation. Science tries to only answer the 'how'...never the 'why'. Scientists tell us that we should not ask 'why'...because there may not be a 'why'. But that's not a very convincing argument IMO.

Religion largely is mythology, legend and social norms....and depends mainly on cultural matters. But it has spirituality as its base which is universal.

Best wishes.

anwin

 

[zaangalewa]

science is facts religion is opinion

Hi evince,

Its difficult to say what facts are. Most of the 'facts' have no explanation.

More concrete question. A planksecond after the big bang all natural laws were existing - including the natural law "biological evolution" - a law what is known in the english speaking world under the expression "darwinism" (What's by the way one of the most wrongunderstood scientific theories in the world today. Do you believe for example in the evoltion of cars? Nearly everyone is doing so - but indeed this has nothing to do with evolution in sense of darwinism because cars are made teleological (= planful).)

So the question is. Why existed natural laws always?

Science tries to only answer the 'how'...never the 'why'.

So if I interpret your words now again then you say: Everyone should only ask "how?" and never ask "why?"! And my question is "why?" - but you don't have any answer any longer because you don't understand "why".

Scientists tell us that we should not ask 'why'...because there may not be a 'why'.

Sorry - But never a scientist in my life said to me I should not ask "why". "Why died the dinosauri out?" is for example a completly normal question,

But that's not a very convincing argument IMO.

Exactly - because we are human beings. Human beings ask "why". Seems we are all religous - except we are violating ourselve and make us to something what we are not really.

Religion largely is mythology, legend and social norms....

I never asked me this. Sounds not true.

and depends mainly on cultural matters.

Everything depends on cultural matters what anyone expresses with words. Every word is a tradition coming from somewhere out of history. Words are a very concrete myth.

But it has spirituality as its base which is universal.

Best wishes.

anwin

The logos - the spirituality - of physics is mathematics. But mathematics is not science - how for example Richard Feynman said. So why depends science on something what's not science? I know - I know - I asked "why" ...

 

[BreezeWood]

... and there are no conflicts essentially.....except due to our misunderstanding and insecurities.

Best Wishes.

anwin

.
the Triumph of Good vs Evil is resolvable without conflict -

suggestively, one does not die happily by the hand of the other ...

.

 

[Avatar4321]

Welcome. Feel free to join in any of the threads

 

[anwin]

Hi zaangalewa,

I have read lots of articles where scientists argue that the question 'why' may not be relevant at all....and there need not be an answer to the question 'why'. The universe and many of its processes could be by themselves without having any reason for their existence.

However, I am of the view that mechanisms and processes themselves do not explain everything. The 'why' is an important aspect of human understanding and cannot be ignored.

Best wishes,

anwin

 

[zaangalewa]

Hi zaangalewa,

I have read lots of articles where scientists argue that the question 'why' may not be relevant at all....and there need not be an answer to the question 'why'. The universe and many of its processes could be by themselves without having any reason for their existence.

To say "Until now I never had a use for the question 'why' in my job" is a little different than to say "The question 'why' may not be relevant at all". The question "why" is normally a question what asks for reasons. The problem is maybe that a first reason is without cause and in this case indeed someone is not able to ask "why" any longer.

However, I am of the view that mechanisms and processes themselves do not explain everything. The 'why' is an important aspect of human understanding and cannot be ignored.

Best wishes,

anwin