Why don't you believe in religion?

yeah my wife and i got a chuckle out of this today. pollution eh? rofl!

I do not believe in religion for the same reasons that I do not believe in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Benevolent Government, good politicians, and gorgeous 18 yr old girls that want to date 30 year olds who wear tin foil hats and gas masks.

They do not exist.

Well religions exist but they are bunk for the same reasons stated above.

It's all about control and fear. The people are fearful and look for answers and safety, the religion use this to their advantage to make peopel succumb to it's design or belief system.

Well religion means UNION...
same as Yoga..

the reason I don't believe in this union is because it is a false union, a union of men and women and not one of spirit and by spirit I mean 'reality' like clapping your hands or striking a bell.
Men and women speak of the dead when they use old religious words and meanings they take themselves away from *CLAP*... away from Reality... and because of this there are foreign words and thoughts/ideas that have no place in the current reality, that interrupt our experience of the spirit.

in other words...

people are merely believing in something THEY created and not paying any attention to what is around them or inside of them.
They fall on words to reassure them, words, concepts and ideas instead of allowing the world around them to assure them.

This union of flesh and word is destroying the flesh until there is only THE WORD left.
The word was supposed to provide for the flesh yet it is the flesh that provides for the words now.

Okepoke, since I haven't seen any other Catholics step up, allow me to try to walk you folks through this. Please keep in mind that these are my beliefs, and while you may disagree with them, please don't shoot the messenger.

1) You have to understand that this type of declaration is very much within the realm of the Church's authority. Therefore, if you are a Catholic, this is something to take quite seriously.

2) The Holy Roman Catholic Church has true Apostolic heritage, and was the church founded by Christ himself. In certain instances, such as when the Church makes declarations that relate to the sanctity of the human Soul, or of a spiritual nature in general, the Church is believed to have been guided by the Holy Spirit. This is also the reason why the Pope, when declaring matters that are ex cathedra, is indeed infallible.

Here's a good link to material upon the subject:
Infallibility of the Church

The sins that were listed (ie pollution, genetic manipulation, etc), dovetail with sins that have been recognized for quite some time. Genetic manipulation can be viewed as the destruction of human life, for instance. Pollution is also destructive, and to deem it a sin seems rather in line with what a moral person would consider to be appropriate behavior.

Lastly, I would say that if you aren't a Catholic, don't let this get to you, or bother you. As a Catholic, this does change my thinking about some things, but such is my choice. I love my Church greatly, and will heed its teachings in matters of the spirit and soul.

First off i would like to say that you are on the right track with your beliefs however you will probably get alot of negativity if you voice your opinions in public. Don't worry though because increasing amounts of people are walking out of their places of worship for good every day. The only problem with this is that religious orders are using this to say that non believers are what is causing problems with society. Actually the two biggest problems are probably mass media/marketing/political corruption (yes they are connected) and clashing of religious beliefs.

Basically my reasons for not believing came when i was a small child. I was never made to go to church and while my parents were believers i was never educated in any way in religion by them. When i was small though i used to go with my friends to some house down the street where i lived and they would hold some sort of bible club there where they taught children religious beliefs. I was dissapointed on the lack of answers i was given to my questions and everything seemed a little too magical and too good to be true. When i grew up i watched as people became slaves to their sunday rituals and how they had to do things a certainss way and act a certain why and it almost seemed forced. I used to think to myself why is it that after over 1000 years of worship we still knew very little about this "Heaven" and that God somehow didnt come around anymore. There were many other questions like if there is only one god why are there different religions with other gods and why did they worship many different gods throughout history. By the time i was in my early teens God seemed to me to be less believable than Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy.

Now i don't doubt there was a man named Jesus but recent findings show that in reality he wasn't really what he was cracked up to be. He was a normal guy who did extrodinary things, however, the church has hyped him up for centuries now and destroyed any traces of Jesus being some sort of rebel. In fact there were many other figures throughout history that qualified to be the messiah like St. John the Baptist and Simon Bar Kokhba but Jesus was a better choice because he was brutally murdered and anyone in marketing will tell you that emotional heartfelt crap like that sells big.

The bible in its form today has actually been reduced from previous versions. Many things have been added and deleted over the centuries depending on who was in power at the time and to make the bible seem more attractive and to fit the times so to speak in whichever time period it was. There has actually been quite a number of disturbing stories that were eventually deleted out of the bible because they were either too graphic or contradicting.

Banned from the bible

This is an interesting documentary about deleted content from the bible.

Also thousands of years old stone tablets have been dug up in modern Iraq that contain stories similer to the bible with different names for the characters and different time frames and locations but basically convey the same story or message. These tablets predate the bible by a few thousand years. So the stories in the bible are not origional and are much older. The stories probably are of some significance and are probably a retelling of our history or possibly our destruction.

Flood Tablet

The flood tablet predates the bible and is basically what the story of Noah's Ark is based on. I think that perhaps we had a global flood that wiped out a previous society we might have had many thousands of years ago. There is much geological evidence to support this and every culture on the planet has its own flood story. The problem is that oral accounts are like the game we play as kids, telephone. The information becomes distorted over time and the origional meaning is lost. An example of this would be anything that Jesus has ever said. Nobody was there at the time to record the actual words of Jesus, it wasnt untill a hundred or so years later that the oral accounts were jotted down on paper.

A good read would be This Book

I think perhaps all this doomsday business that religious orders preach has already come to pass and was in the form of some sort of global disaster and we are now the society that has sprung up from that. The problem is our genetic memories have remembered but our written and oral traditions have been twisted and rewritten for personal gain. Organized religion used to be the ruling class for many years and still holds much influence over political affiars today and it has never served as anything but a mass control system.

Don't get me wrong though the bible does teach some good values. The ten commandments show us a way of living with one another but dont necessarily have to be associated with religion. These are things that we can teach to our children so they may grow up to be responsible adults. Also the origional seven deadly sins point out the stupid things we do and if we lived our lives without commiting them we would live in a peaceful world and once again this is something we can teach to our children.

In keeping with the title of the thread "Why don't you believe in religion?", I have a different outlook than the previous posters.

I would argue that religion isn't about fear and control, and it isn't about people just being frightened of the possibility that there is no God, no deity which created all of this for some reason.

Religion is many things, primarily a teacher. Our faith teaches us that humans are more than just simple beasts, or just common animals. There is something unique about us, and what we are. That we have souls, that each and every one of us matters, and that it definately DOES matter what how you live your life, and what you do. Religion teaches us all of this, and reminds us also that we are not the totality of all there is. There is a world, a reality, far above and beyond what we perceive in our daily lives. We should remain humble in the face of such a reality, and be thankful for what we have.

I have no theological training beyond Confirmation. I have been a Catholic my entire life, and I have to say that I don't quite understand all that the Church does, or agree with some of the decisions that it makes. What I do believe, however, is that the Holy Roman Catholic Church is truly the outgrowth of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God, and is guided by the Holy Spirit. I also believe that the Church is a human institution (in the sense that humans comprise it), and is CLEARLY capable of mistakes, when it comes to most matters. On matters of the soul and of the spirit, They are the authority. I have known a great many priests in my life, and they were very honorable men who strived to live a life of holiness (in the interests of full disclosure, my Uncle is a former Catholic Priest, and my Great Aunt was the Mother Superior of a convent in Poland).

I've studied, in the academic sense, more "earth" based religions and some of the eastern religions (buddhism mostly), and find them wanting, personally. But I absolutely respect the rights of others to practice whatever faith they like.

Here's hoping the Catholic bashing is kept to a bare minimum.

reply to post by metaldemon2000


What I agree that the bible does have some good issues about morality and conduct, organized religion has not been very good at following them.

Interesting that as everything, is with the individuals to make their own interpretations of what they see right and wrong.

But when it comes to values many of the organized religions tend to lack on them with the behavior of their leaders.

reply to post by marg6043


Don't be under the impression they have a choice. The light will shine when the light will shine? So soon, we will have a whole slew of rehabilitated believers.

reply to post by BloodthirstyCapitalist

Genetic manipulation can be viewed as the destruction of human life, for instance. Pollution is also destructive, and to deem it a sin seems rather in line with what a moral person would consider to be appropriate behavior.

So I guess it is a sin to drive a car? How about cloning that organ your loved one may need when they are knocking on death's door?
It just isn't plausible. You think God won't let you into the playground upstairs because you chose to get an organ transplant that was created from stem cells? I highly doubt that. The sins are clearly spelled out in the bible, there is no reason to either redefine or add new ones.

One God, many religions.
When I read this news, I thought, "About time!" When he became Pope, I thought that Pope Benedict XVI would act so conservatively, that the Church would be taken back to preVatican 2. Heck, I was surprised when he denounced war with Iraq. Thank God, some major religion denounces pollution, “the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few”, and talks of “social resonance”.

With that said, until the idea of the mythic god God goes away, we'll still have around an idea of "sin" as a spot on a "soul", a black mark. Something to "prevent" you from going to "heaven". Something that can be "forgiven" by a "priest".

I'm so bad with religions, that I couldn't even be a Unitarian. However, out of four siblings, one goes to RCath church regularly, using church as a way to directly work with homeless, work for peace (being anti-war), and share her feelings about animals (as a member of PETA). Another conducts church services in her home, no longer attending RCath church. Another goes once in awhile. Then there's the other one who doesn't attend any church, but reads works like from Eckhart Tolle.

I believe people look to religions for different reasons, and many can find what they are looking for in belonging to a religion. Personally, I am a hermit by nature, so I belong to no church.

reply to post by palehorse23

No, I dont think its a sin to drive a car, but I do believe its a sin to willfully allow for the carte blanche destruction of the environment. But where is that fine line where pollution turns into a sin rather than something we ought not to be doing? I'm not sure, but I would suggest if you're interested, to contact a clergyman.

As for cloning, yes I do disagree with it. Espectially depending on the way in which we harvest those organs, or stemcells. The destruction of human embryos is a sinful act, I didn't need the Vatican to reinforce this for me, and the abortion issue is given. So what if we could harvest stemcells from cord blood? As I said, I think it depends on how you harvest the organ. If we can grow a kidney in a jar in a lab, I'm not entirely sure. Its difficult to hypothesize what one's feelings would be in an entirely hypothetical situation.

Just out of curiosity, aren't most people in favor of there being a greater perceived value of life in our society? That perhaps if people looked at each other with a bit more respect, as in respect for human life, that it would probably be a better place to live? You don't have to be a Catholic to feel that way, just human.

I've not read this thread,merley putting my 2 penneth in for the origional question [/disclaimer incase thread has wandered]

Firstly,and probably foremosttly,I was not brought up to believe in a god. Both of my parents are ex hippies (maan) I have 1 nan (still alive) who goes to church and is into it,but she was the only one,that i can remember in my family,who was activly religios (I'm sorry,I always spell that word wrong,it's one of my "can't spell" words) So i suppose that has influenced me a great deal in my beliefs. To be honest,I've never thought about that too much.

Secondly,I remember at school in RE,I always questioned everything to the point where I'd end up getting detentions. I never went for the whole "god created the universe" thing,and that there was nothing before. That was the bit that I couldn't get my head to understand. "Nothing before" No time,no mass,no space,nothing. There had to have been something (if we're going with that theory for now) Even before the "big bang" or what ever,there was something that triggered it,a second before,and a second before that and so on. It didn't just burst into life from nothing. It couldn't have. Even if it was an all mighty being that created it,said all might being would have had to say "I'm a bit lonely,I'm going to create a wonderous creation with life and planets and stuff" It's something that my head just won't accept that.

Thirdly,even if there is one allmighty presence,who is so knowlagable and so loving. It doesn't need me to tell it so,every sunday,or live my life in fear of what comes after death. I'm pretty sure that in the grand scheme of things,I rate pretty darn low in the priority list of something that is in control of billions of galaxies,with billions of stars,with billions of life bearing planets. Our little world,has spawned life in every corner. No matter how dark,how cold or how remote. Life in many,many forms evolves and addapts and lives and survives. This for me,alone,is enough to convince me that,aslong as I live my life,with respect to others,and I just go about my life in a kind,sharing way. treat everyone as equal unless the give me good cause to do otherwise. And basicly be a bit of a sound bloke,I've not got much to worry about.

Myself? Hmm, I've never had a reason to believe. I was in churches when I was a child, I've read the Holy Bible cover to cover. My mother and grandparents are all quite religious, but my dad isn't. I grew up with my dad so I suppose that had alot of influence, but it was after I was out on my own that I read the bible and took up my position.

I guess one of my main reasons, is that I can't understand how any god would allow innocent people to be slaughtered. Also, if I believed, and god were all knowing, why would I have to appear in a temple/church to prove it.

I'd like to add that what I do believe in, is history as presented by science. While it may not be proven, there's much more evidence to the theory of evolution, than there is to Adam and Eve having just appeared out of nowhere.

Right now I can only base my feelings on what I know about christianity, but I have yet to learn about the other major world religions.