I Believe in Religion

a reply to: Stormdancer777

Telling me something I don't know...

Then again, it is their God that they brag about that's punishing them for it...They will be cursing Gods name later

I wonder who should be more frightened.

originally posted by: Stormdancer777

Because the words of ancient historical religious text have been twisted and stripped of their origin and history.

They call the Bible the living word, it is if it is read and studied like it should be;

Yes, all the great religions were founded by realizers of what transcends this mortal condition we appear in. Their teachings and experiences all have a remarkable similarity and can actually be mapped in terms of various physical, subtle, and causal demonstrations, depending on the particular founder's realization.

It is incredibly consistent across all religions in terms of what is experienced..

However, after the founder's death, unfortunately, and invariably great revisions occur and the exoteric needs of the followers and their now organized religion, snuff out the esoteric basis for their gathering in the first place!

Today, scientific materialism is the anti-mystical majority of old - it is furthering the snuffing out the mystical origins of various religions, even the entirety of religions.

BlueMule posted a quote the other day from Meister Eckhart, which rings very true in this context:

"Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.”

originally posted by: Stormdancer777
a reply to: Connell

"humanity" is somehow the pinnacle of existence,

Never thought of it that way.

Maybe not in your case specifically, but as a whole, I'd say that's what modernism (and all it's ideological spin-offs) amounts to. Everything is relativised, nothing has intrinsic value, the only valid truths are those that relate to matter and corporeal existence. We are seeing the shift back to temporalism and the worship of matter as opposed to the veneration of metaphysical, abstract virtue. We were on the right path for a while, but humanity is basically regressing, in a very bad way. We act as though concepts contrived by human perception are somehow "concrete" and undeniably real. A good example of this would be the way people think of time. Can you show me proof that there are twenty-four hours in a day, can you prove that things come into being and then cease to exist in a linear fashion? Time is essentially just a system we've devised to explain material degradation and solar phases. It's no more real than my fart that has just dissipated into the wind.
You can no more prove to me that time exists than I could prove to you that God exists. That's the inherent hypocrisy in all atheist opinions, they act as if subjective, perceptual, abstract concepts are "real" simply because their scientists (priests of relativism) have an official piece of paper that says so..... and then they ask us to prove the existence of God. Sheer hypocrisy.

Animism is the oldest belief system. And its powerful if only for one reason. It teaches that everything has spirit and should be treated with respect. That seems to be whats missing from "@civilization".

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

You in effect constitute the modern day version of Flat Earth Theory.


Any thoughts?

LM you are wasting this Forums time with your comments.

Any thoughts?

Everyone is religious in a sense. Even those who dedicate their lives to sports teams do so religiously.

originally posted by: Aphorism


Everyone is religious in a sense. Even those who dedicate their lives to sports teams do so religiously.

Then you need to define 'Religion' and/or 'Religious' for the rest of us because you're using it very broadly by saying that.

Someone who 'Religiously' watches sports does not mean sports qualifies as a 'Religion'. It is simply a phrase that implies ones dedication to their viewing habits of sports. In no way does someones patterns of sports enthusiasm and/or study then qualify 'sports' in general as a 'Religion' in and of itself.

a reply to: Kashai

You in effect constitute the modern day version of Flat Earth Theory.

LM you are wasting this Forums time with your comments.

I'll be sure to let you know the moment I begin to value your opinion, Kashai.

a reply to: Oannes

It teaches that everything has spirit and should be treated with respect.

Why should I respect anything that has "spirit"? If we were to respect things without spirit, we'd already be respecting infinitely more than anything with spirit.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Hi I'm new to ATS so forgive me if I say something that crosses the line.

First, I just want to say that I'm not trying to attack your or any religion. that being said, i was once a Roman Catholic. I went to private school from the age of six to the age of 18/19Ish. after awhile I just kept finding it hard to believe what they were, at some times literally trying to force me to believe was truth.

So ig my question is to anyone who believes in a religion such as Christianity or Hindu or Islam, etc. ( this is probably gunna sound rude) how do you justify, in your own Mind, believing in something that has little more than a compilation of old stories to back up the premise of an old man in the sky who fingure wags you when you don't do as you're told?

And just to be clear I am not an atheis Lol.

a reply to: Enlil2215

Hi I'm new to ATS so forgive me if I say something that crosses the line.

Welcome to ATS, friend.

First, I just want to say that I'm not trying to attack your or any religion. that being said, i was once a Roman Catholic. I went to private school from the age of six to the age of 18/19Ish. after awhile I just kept finding it hard to believe what they were, at some times literally trying to force me to believe was truth.

So ig my question is to anyone who believes in a religion such as Christianity or Hindu or Islam, etc. ( this is probably gunna sound rude) how do you justify, in your own Mind, believing in something that has little more than a compilation of old stories to back up the premise of an old man in the sky who fingure wags you when you don't do as you're told?

And just to be clear I am not an atheis Lol.

Yes there are still folk that try to sell fiction as truth. My guess is that most do not have the time or energy to conclude on their own accord, and it is simply easier to be told what to believe.

a reply to: Enlil2215

Well that's the thing, it all comes down to blind faith.

Either the bible et al. are the direct words of God, or they are works of man's creative mind.

If the latter be the case, then what we call religion is simply someone's old philosophy, that has gathered a following.

The thing is, until we have definitive proof that the likes of the bible are indeed God's word, it's impossible to say...

a reply to: bb23108

"Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.”

If the intelligibility of the language is of any concern, they speak the same language insofar as they do not speak language at all.

a reply to: Stormdancer777

Ok, let me go back on topic... It is obvious that the religions have been twisted, but the thing is, the Bible likes to contradicts itself to the point of where it lacks the structure of any good book, and is a jumbled up book of books, where plot elements of those books, were taken, from older stories like Genesis which is much older, to Noah and are only just briefly mentioned.

The thing is with Abrahamic religions is that stories like Abraham, whom the whole religion is based off, is just a narrative construct made by someone that who lived 3000+ years ago where it somehow became widespread, but the whole history behind the actual origins of it are or have been lost a long time ago. And even then his story incredibly indecisive, where the main moral is have to faith in his God where voice came out of now where, but then an angel comes along and seems to go against what Abraham heard. The main point of that story, seems that God or luck would have it, was on his side, which is not very methodical, or maybe it the whole narrative behind Abraham that is not really explained.

The Book of Job predates the NT Bible by like 400 years, and was a popular narrative before it, but it was a well developed construct for it time more or less reflecting reflecting that time. I wonder if the NT Satan was inspired or based of it, but somehow the Book of Job has no real influence on the Bible. The idea of Satan back then would look totally different to the idea of Satan now, where even Satan historical accuracy hasnt been twisted, or more less just changed over time because of other books due to popularity.

And "GOD KNOWS", how Christianity scared of Satan if we can't get Gods word right, RIGHT?

Much like how there may have been different narratives of Jesus, and I'd like to know the whole history behind the character or even just the whole narrative behind it all, if were inspired by other religions or was totally original. Where as if Jesus could of been the real deal, or the ironic twist of being a Jewish or Roman comic book character that has a deeper history, like how Abraham got pushed.

It almost like how Hinduism kept changing their mythology and lost track in a way, but adhere a common Yoga methodology. Where the Greeks, being the said fathers of philosophy, to have maintained a seemingly almost untouched, but structurally narrative religion in their time even though they add little stories here and there.

But hey, things change for the better or the worse, if someone called themselves Jesus back then at the time of his influence, they'd be murdered.

Today, they'd be considered stupid.

There is a big difference between belief in a religion and faith in religion. Too many cling and defend their religions, if you had faith you would realise there is no need to believe

Militant atheism mostly exist where religious fundamentalism does too.

That should tell you a lot about what this "atheism" is: a defense mechanism against fundamentalism, not a true philosophical stance.

In laic Europe you don't see as much self-proclaimed atheists trying to prove the earth is older than 6000 years old simply because everyone knows it is.


Religions are social expression of personal philosophies and spritualities.

"Gods" are attempts to describe transcending and ineffable concepts like fate, love or eternity.

There is nothing wrong with those things per se.



The extremely polarized situation in the US of critical atheists VS bigot religious helped me understand it's NOT religions or gods the problem. Actually living in a family where a nuclear physicist was a also a deacon, I never was in a position where I was forced to choose between dogma and critical analysis. I was actually encouraged to challenge the views of religion.

The problem is with fundamentalisms, when the internal and personal philosophical/spiritual/materialistic beliefs have become so perverted by deformed traditions that they become dogmatic abominations.



The enemy of reason isn't religion or god. The enemy of reason is religious literalism. The enemy of reason is dogma.


For me there is no difference between a religious person who says god hates gays and a non-religious person who claim there is no such thing as global warming.

Both are individuals who prefer to hold dogmatic stances than to critically examine all the possible scenarios trying to qualify them by likelihood. Both can become a nuisance to society when their beliefs can do more harm than good.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

My big problem with religion is the means it uses to get into our heads. If you teach young children any topic during the formative years - its very hard for them ever to challenge that knowledge. "Ignatius Loyolla said "Give me a child till he's 8 and he's mine for life." As all the desert religions grab kids to indoctrinate them young deliberately they are using brainwashing and not giving an individual free will to choose and that's my problem.

I believe we all have faith within because of simply looking at the world we live in and its beautiful way of creation, existence and death worked though our eyes yearly. There has to be intelligent design here and also the parameters through which we are able to exist are so finely tuned - a tiny % extra tilt to our axis is just one example of how we hang by some benevolent thread to life is nothing short of a miracle to me.

But why I don't buy and its been a hard journey coming from a mixed background of two desert religions backed up by a catholic school education, is the ridiculous and sacred cows not to be questioned because there is no answer and the possible repercussions as the religious try to pressure you back into their fold.

This has always been a very important subject for me because of the fear put into me as a kid. But when I started to work my way though different beliefs and ancient history up to (today ISIS is seen smashing up previous ancient historical monuments because they fear what those monuments stand for and want people cowed and indoctrinated to their will and beliefs) I see why we have this terrific rift between man's spiritual heart and his military-like brain.

I find the imbalance of religious belief in the desert religions that doesn't reflect the balance life on earth demonstrates whatsoever plus some of the teachings religion spouts so anti human happiness and contentment, which for me is a major component of faith I still hold my hands up in disgust at the men in frocks and the industry they have made out of something that should be uncharged for. The battle lines are drawn between resurrection/reincarnation and one go - do it right or go to hell. I don't think most people ever mull over the two opposing possible ends to our lives and actually think about them - that was why the druids and so called paganism were killed off, just for personal power for a few with religion as the velvet glove or 'crusader' if necessary as ISIS is demonstrating currently.

you wouldn't be a fan of Marko Rodin would you? I am. is he a new religion? lol

a reply to: christophoros

originally posted by: Shiloh7
The battle lines are drawn between resurrection/reincarnation and one go - do it right or go to hell. I don't think most people ever mull over the two opposing possible ends to our lives and actually think about them - that was why the druids and so called paganism were killed off, just for personal power for a few with religion as the velvet glove or 'crusader' if necessary as ISIS is demonstrating currently.

This is a simplistic view:

- There are some version of monotheistic religions believing in reincarnation
- The largest monotheistic religion hierarchy currently states "hell" is not a place but more like a psychological state. I see no problem with the teaching "live a virtuous life or suffer the shame/backlash later". Actually the concept of karma is not different.
- Paganism never disappeared. In Europe most religious traditions are a blend of Christian faith and Pagan beliefs. In other evangelized countries throughout the world it's the same (like santeria etc)
- There is no "fight" between monotheistic religions and eastern philosophies. Actually a lot of members from these traditions regularly exchange and explore the similarities of their teachings.


All if not most religions, spiritualities and philosophies come from the same quest for transcendence, from the same brain that explore this reality and the same human emotions that we all experience. Seeing only their cultural differences is to be stuck at the superficial level, like in fundamentalism. This is not the gist of the religious reality though.



You mentioned ISIS. Again, this further reinforce my previous post. Religious fundamentalism is an abomination.

Religions and religious fondamentalism are not equal though.