Main > Everything Else
Rubber Band Beliefs
DrewKaree:
--- Quote from: jbox on March 29, 2005, 03:29:50 am ---
And I still don't understand why people who can claim so violently that there is a perfect paradise waiting for us after we die are so opposed to the idea of letting people go there. After all, it's not the vegetable's fault they were "murdered", so surely only the murderer is going to hell and Terry gets a one-way trip to the pearly gates right? ???
--- End quote ---
That's for a different thread :)
Bones, I almost thought you were going to make it out safe there. Did you hurt your hand when you punched the computer screen? ;)
Grasshopper:
--- Quote from: jbox on March 29, 2005, 12:11:50 am ---Grasshopper:
--- Quote ---If you provide credible evidence of the existence of a higher power then I'll possibly start to believe in him/her/it.
--- End quote ---
Then you are agnostic (like me). An atheist would always believe the evidance was manufactured or otherwise falsified even if the majority of peer-reviewed studies found it was not. Atheist /= agnostic, and it always annoys me when either side mixes that up. >:(
--- End quote ---
Funny you should say that. This issue came up in another thread a few months ago.
I used to call myself agnostic (actually sometimes I still do), but then after doing a google search I found out that there are several definitions for the words atheist and agnostic.
http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Atheist
http://www.2think.org/hii/atheism.shtml
At the moment if someone asks me what religion I am, my first response is simply to say that I'm an atheist out of laziness. Most people have at least a vague idea of what the word atheist means.
If pressed I give a more accurate description of my position, which is closer to most (but not all) modern definitions of the word agnostic.
Crazy Cooter:
--- Quote from: Grasshopper on March 29, 2005, 06:42:36 am ---Most people have at least a vague idea of what the word atheist means.
--- End quote ---
[little old lady voice]
it means you worship the devil... get away! Wilbur help!
T T T TUR TUR TUR
--- Quote from: jbox on March 29, 2005, 03:29:50 am ---turd was the word
--- End quote ---
IMO, people need to have something to look forward to when they die. They use faith to explain why bad things happen here on earth and they use faith to say they will be stronger when they get through it. For all the "suffering" they endure here, if they follow the rules they can go to the arcade in the sky where the games are set to free play. If the arcade was really full of broken games, who would follow the rules down here? It would be anarchy. Religion itself is (partially) aimed at controlling people.
DrewKaree:
--- Quote from: Crazy Cooter on March 29, 2005, 09:04:19 am ---
IMO, people need to have something to look forward to when they die.
--- End quote ---
It's a happy coincidence for me, but it sounds as if you are speaking of a specific religion, unless people believing in reincarnation (instant breakfast) are looking forward to the unknown possibility of what they'll come back as, for one.
As for faith explaining why bad things happen here on earth, it seems as if people want to choose one of two things to believe about faith. Bad stuff happens for a reason, or how can you believe in a God that would allow bad things to happen.
If "following rules" is the way to inner peace/salvation in the religions you're basing that belief on, you may wish to keep looking, or define what religion you are speaking of. Legalism will exist in all religions - it's one of the reasons people keep redefining what's "right" - which very few religions are based on, if any. I'm not certain what Judaism is specifically based on, but that's the only "religion" that seems to be based on "following the rules".
If the religion you believe in is based on controlling people, I'd wonder about what it is you believe in myself. Most, if not all, religions aren't about controlling people, they're about giving people something to put their faith in. Due to their beliefs, people will control themselves based on their beliefs.
Crazy Cooter:
But don't you think that religion hands over a set of values that limit ones thoughts/actions? How many times have you heard: "It's against my religion"? Most people see religion as law and they just conform. That's the nail. It holds you back from seeing the rest of the pegboard.
Poeple are afraid of death so they make up stuff about how great it is on the "other side" and you shouldn't worry about it. Heaven, reincarnation as a "greater animal", bunch of virgins, whatever. The quest to meet the guidelines for reaching that destination controls your everyday life.
People shouldn't put their faith in anything but themselves. Don't ask the nail what to think, ask yourself.