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How did you decide which religion is correct?

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posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 12:34 AM
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reply to post by Electricneo
 
You can find great wisdom without going to a great master. It might help sure. But true wisdom can be found simply by looking around and looking within. By saying you can get something from someone better, you can fall into the same traps you're trying to warn against.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 12:34 AM
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reply to post by Gigatronix
 


I am just giving factual information my friend.
This is a debate.
I am not combative it is just that you and he do not like losing the debate.

And I am free to be omnidirectional and unlimited.
The fact that you want to control my mouth makes you a control freak.
Nobody likes a control freak



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 12:38 AM
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reply to post by Electricneo
 
I see you're sidestepping, smart move for someone who is suddenly on the defensive with no smart-alecky fallback response to whip out.

Reread the last page or two, and regroup.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 12:42 AM
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reply to post by Gigatronix
 


Sure you can find great wisdom without going to a great master as you say,
but this is like trying to figure out which mushrooms are poisonous and which mushrooms are edible on your own.

You end up wasting a lot of time and with a lot of suffering due to poisons when in fact the mushrooms that are poisonous and the mushrooms that are edible have already been established.

Therefore it is far wiser to get this factual info from mushroom masters called mycologists than to have to start at square one.

It is the same for spirituality.

There are great spiritual masters who have figured out which states of mind are poisonous and which bring happiness.
For example-hate results in poison.
Compassion or affection results in happiness.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 12:47 AM
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reply to post by Gigatronix
 


I'm not interested in making "smart-alecky fallback responses" or "sidestepping".

I am here to shine the biggest spotlight imaginable on what is being said and to meet it head on with clarity and integrity.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 12:51 AM
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reply to post by RubberBaron
 


Hi there, good thread!
All religions have one concept uniform- mans interpretation of God-head.
Being only Human, we grasp at the concept of divinity; but few ever attain it.
To be even close, we would have to devote our lives to asceticism; which in some philosophical though is branded as self-masochistic, and actually stops one from attaining this; (look at when Buddha practised with the Hindu sages, got so skinny, then realized he had to sustain his body to have the physical longevity to complete his task).
For me any given religion that dictates that you must do this, or that, has too many rules. Spirituality is a personal thing, and there are so many paths to gaining insight and comfort from spiritual teachings.
I say if it works for you, it cant be all bad!
I think the main downfall comes when religion becomes intertwined with politics; you get wars etc.
No I am not strictly Buddhist or strictly anything else. If anything one may call me Chaoist.
Chaoism, a philosophy developed from the principle of the Chaos theory, states that one should be able to pluck parts of any religion or philosophy that one sees fit at any time- its totally arbitrary. Faiths are static, reality is not- its always changing.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 12:56 AM
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reply to post by Electricneo
 

You are not providing factual information, you are providing opinions. And you are sidestepping by not admitting that you are making false assumptions when confronted, rather you are stroking your ego and misrepresenting yourself. You are making snarky comments such as "There is a difference Skywalker" and "You are a control freak wanting to dictate the direction my mouth is facing" etc. It really is transparent that you are in way over your head here. Your philosphy is cool, but your debating is really bad.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 01:05 AM
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reply to post by Electricneo
 
Equating spirituality and wisdom with poisonous mushrooms is not the greatest analogy. Sure, choosing a negative philosophy could feasibly led to death or illness, but chossing between Christianity or Buddhism or Atheism will not lead to near instant death like mushrooms. That minor quibble aside, in my opinion, the journey is more important than the destination here. Because you are going to get to the destination anyway, and it doesn't matter much the path you took there. If you just accept some guru's explanation, you're missing out on alot of trial and error that leads to a lot of self realization and self examination that is priceless. We learn more from our failures then our success, no? It may be more painful than being guided from birth, but that is part of life, pain and disappointment and frustration. These things teach us valuable lessons about ourselves, the people we love and hate, and the mysterious workings of the universe. If you want to skip to the end and get the answers from the back of the book, that's cool, you're living the sequel to someone elses journey.

Me? I'll write my own thank you.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 01:13 AM
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reply to post by Electricneo
 


What gigatronix says, and I will add this, I did not say I got it from the movie I said I agreed with in a inference sort of way but I did not specify an origin as to why I agreed. You manufactured it and assumed that it was the case that I base my beliefs off of Star Wars because I used Star Wars to illustrate my point, most likely in an attempt to feel somehow "better" than I.

[edit on 27-4-2009 by Watcher-In-The-Shadows]



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 01:39 AM
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reply to post by Gigatronix
 


Check the facts-you misquote me using quotation marks-a dim bulb move.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 01:44 AM
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reply to post by Watcher-In-The-Shadows
 


Not to feel better but to mirror your words to win the debate.
Because you don't like what is in the mirror you think you should destroy the mirror.
You are like the child who thinks by smashing the mirror you can destroy
the ugliness it shines back on you.
Mirror-like wisdom wins everytime.
I'm not wasting anymore time with ostriches whose heads are stuck in the mud.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 01:52 AM
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reply to post by Electricneo
 

Yeah I'm well aware of that, however, the gist of what I quoted is the same as what you actually said. Had I quoted you exactly the point would remain the same.

Semantics: Dim bulb move!

But thanks for reinforcing my point.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 01:55 AM
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reply to post by Electricneo
 
What?Huh? Your lame attempt at unstringing a pearl of wisdom there is embarassing. With all the backpedaling and sidestepping you're doing it's no wonder you're tripping all over yourself.

But I'm glad you're done here, maybe now we can all get back on topic.

Thanks!



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 02:07 AM
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reply to post by Electricneo
 


This from the guy who decides that because I use a quote from a fictional source I base my belief in it's correctness from the source of the quote. Ah, well, some seem to have a big inability to admit when they are wrong. And how praytell, is my head in the mud? Because I know where my beliefs came from as opposed to allowing a total stranger to tell me where I got them? How silly.



[edit on 27-4-2009 by Watcher-In-The-Shadows]



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 02:55 AM
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Wow, thanks for all the responses so far guys, I accidentally fell asleep and came back to 70+ replies, it'll take me a while to read them all before I can respond to some.

[edit on 27/4/2009 by RubberBaron]



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 03:01 AM
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reply to post by RubberBaron
 



I decided on Jesus, because he is kind, caring, and everything positive.

I did not decide on him because of my parents or anyone else.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 03:17 AM
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Originally posted by RubberBaron
I'm curious about how people decided which religion was correct, and therefore should follow?


Whichever one scares away the most imagined demons/monsters.



Originally posted by RubberBaron
To me it seems a lot of people just are in a religion because that's the one their parents were in, or the one that's popular in their area.


Yep. Societal indoctrination.



Originally posted by RubberBaron
To me that doesn't seem to be a very good reason, if I was going to choose a religion to follow, I would have to evaluate them all, and their claims, to see which one, if any, was correct.


Ah, but logic doesn't play into the equation.



Originally posted by RubberBaron
I understand that to many people, evaluating claims is against the spirit of 'faith', but then many religions talk about having faith, but how do you know which one is for real?


They don't.
It's a game people play without realizing it.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 03:21 AM
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Originally posted by spellbound
reply to post by RubberBaron
 



I decided on Jesus, because he is kind, caring, and everything positive.

I did not decide on him because of my parents or anyone else.


Well, that answers part of my question, but I'm sure some of the other religions must have some kind, caring and positive beliefs, yet many religions seem to claim they are the true one. If you accidentally choose the wrong one, some would have you believe that means you won't get an afterlife, or whatever other perks the religions provide, so if you follow a religion, it seems you have to choose the 'correct' one. That is more the angle of my questions.

I consider myself a strong agnostic, I don't believe in any version of God or religion, and I'm not convinced there is a god at all, I've had no proof of that. But I also have no proof that there isn't a god, so I don't write it off completely. I prefer science as a method to discover the secrets of the universe, slowly making predictions/theories and testing them, gradually refining the knowledge. It seems there will always be some question left though, if scientists are correct about the big bang, and then perhaps the bubble within a sea of foam, what comes before that? And, then before that? Some people say it will have reasonable scientific explanations all the way, inifitely, but I guess the whole infinite idea doesn't quite sit well in my human brain, even though I use things like recursion regularly, there always has to be an initial call to that recursive function.

For those who have had some kind of spirtual experience pointing them to some religion, I can understand that must be quite compelling, but I wouldn't even be able to be sure I wasn't just having mental issues if I had such an experience.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 03:35 AM
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This is a very individual endeavor. What faith one takes seriously is relative to their spiritual condition. Faith is an important and intangible aspect, however, it is not mental or intellectual itself. This does not mean thinking or reasoning is not applicable but good reasoning is hard to come by. For example corruption does not imply that karma doesn't exist. One needs to have a deeper understanding of such think to make legitimate judgments. There are, however, some basic guidelines.

1. True religion would not condone the consumption of alcohol or other dissipation and degraders of the spirit.

2. Killing heart centered life forms ie eating meat would not be permitted. Doing as little harm as possible to other spirits is fundamental.

3. Such things as transplants and blood transfusions would be unacceptable as that is a transference of desire and inclination as well. www.guba.com...

4. There must be real true association with a living adept. There is nothing in the world like the presence and association with such a being. It can't be faked.

5. True teachings must be taught or recited as the nature of the world and the mind is to deceive.

6. The individual must have spiritual practices that prove to them the efficacy of this faith. Promises of what is to come is no substitute.

7. Ritualism would not exist or be condoned. It will always crop up in the minds of individuals and this is an aspect where a legitimate spiritual leader is essential.

8. Those officially recognized as spiritual competent or a spiritual leader can no be involved in wrong doing even once. For example sanctioning torture in the name of the faith or having pedophiles as authorized spiritual representatives proves the faith is anything but the real thing and therefore never can nor will ever be legitimate.

9. Acting as if the Supreme Being "needs" the individual or their effort clearly demonstrates spiritual fraud. The Supreme Being is all powerful and stands in need of one and nothing. There is no battle between good and evil and the Supreme Being is not needing warriors for a false cause.

The bottom line is that the individual will interpret the above to suit their current spiritual condition.



posted on Apr, 27 2009 @ 03:49 AM
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reply to post by RubberBaron
 

Ok, don't choose a religion, choose a person, or probably I should say choose a belief system.

That can't be difficult, can it? Probably, yes it can.




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