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Even if you don't believe religion is literally "true," it should be possible to see its "usefulness" from a raw survival perspective.
Originally posted by moocowman
The article does not stipulate which god !
Originally posted by swinggal
What a load of crud. I am not religious and I find ego ridden people in all religions walks of life. None of my non-religious friends have big egos. They are all very humble and modest and care about others way before themselves. The spend time caring for the earth and the community without the notion of 'getting something' for it.
No one is born with religion ingrained in them. You inherit the beliefs that your family pass on to you. It's a kind of brainwashing in a sense. Generally - if your family is religious you have no choice and know nothing else. You do have the free-will to choose, but it is more difficult if it is a culture you have been used to since day one. THAT is not a choice.
If you born into a family that lets you make your own decisions that is TRUE free-will. I have friends who were born into non-religious families who looked into religion adults and chose that path as adults. Neither of my parents are religious but they instilled good values and morals into our lives and always told us that we were free to go to church and pursue a religion if that is what we chose to do. They never dissed religion but gave us objective information. We had compulsory religious classes in Primary School too...so I was exposed to it but made my decision not to go down that path thanks to the info I had gleaned.
I think everyone should be an open slate until they are old enough to understand exactly what religion is. No adult should force their child into a religious culture. let them choose later on.
Originally posted by Centurionx
this speaks volumes of why they believe this way, in a sense they are their own god.
Originally posted by Stylez
Originally posted by swinggal
What a load of crud. I am not religious and I find ego ridden people in all religions walks of life. None of my non-religious friends have big egos. They are all very humble and modest and care about others way before themselves. The spend time caring for the earth and the community without the notion of 'getting something' for it.
No one is born with religion ingrained in them. You inherit the beliefs that your family pass on to you. It's a kind of brainwashing in a sense. Generally - if your family is religious you have no choice and know nothing else. You do have the free-will to choose, but it is more difficult if it is a culture you have been used to since day one. THAT is not a choice.
If you born into a family that lets you make your own decisions that is TRUE free-will. I have friends who were born into non-religious families who looked into religion adults and chose that path as adults. Neither of my parents are religious but they instilled good values and morals into our lives and always told us that we were free to go to church and pursue a religion if that is what we chose to do. They never dissed religion but gave us objective information. We had compulsory religious classes in Primary School too...so I was exposed to it but made my decision not to go down that path thanks to the info I had gleaned.
I think everyone should be an open slate until they are old enough to understand exactly what religion is. No adult should force their child into a religious culture. let them choose later on.
What the hell does all that ranting have to do with the OP?
What religion is God?
Originally posted by helen670
Originally posted by HunkaHunka
Originally posted by Praetorian Guard
Yep, Hitler was influenced by Madam Blavatsky's spiritual teaching. Fancied himself something of a Messiah. And sought out magical artifacts, such as the Spear of Destiny.
Hitler was not a disciple of Christ, but he was no atheist.
[edit on 7-9-2009 by Praetorian Guard]
Hitler was influenced by Madame Blavatsky in the same way Jesus influenced Charles Manson.
Hi/
Hitler was probably influenced by evil,hatred and dark powers(dark shadows that appeared to him in his sleep)all combined....but I can honestly say that Charles Manson was NOT in any way influenced by Jesus Christ!
There is a saying ''Guard your mind''....it's amazing what the mind can do, if let un-guarded!
ICXC NIKA
helen
Charles Manson, was
Originally posted by ModernAcademia
I remember once on my knees praying to god and asking for help
Then suddenly I realized........... I was actually praying to myself!
[edit on 7-9-2009 by ModernAcademia]
Originally posted by swinggal
Originally posted by Centurionx
this speaks volumes of why they believe this way, in a sense they are their own god.
That is a really odd thing to say. Non-religious people don't BELIEVE in anything. We just live. And as for being their own 'god' - that is also a contradiction. I do good for my community, care about my friends and family, help anyone out who needs me too....that's not beleiving in something, it's just living my life in a non-selfish manner. I don't need a god to tell me to be a good person. My morals came from my family - who aren't religious ether.
If you want to use generalisations - the most selfish people I have ever met (and I'm talking world-wide as I have done a lot of travel) are so called 'good Christians' who never do a thing for anyone or are rude, racist, homo-phobic, destroy the environment and do all the things the bible says they shouldn't do. I include many people I call friends in this group too. Explain that?
Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology at Bristol University, believes the picture is more complex. “Our research shows children have a natural, intuitive way of reasoning that leads them to all kinds of supernatural beliefs about how the world works,” he said.
“As they grow up they overlay these beliefs with more rational approaches but the tendency to illogical supernatural beliefs remains as religion.”
Other researchers have found that even ardent atheists may balk at the idea of accepting an organ transplant from a murderer, because of a superstitious belief that an individual’s personality could be stored in their organs.
Such work is supported by other researchers who have found evidence linking religious feelings and experience to particular regions of the brain. They suggest people are programmed to get a feeling of spirituality from what is nothing more than electrical activity in these regions.
Andrew Newberg, professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania, has used brain-imaging techniques to show that such feelings are invoked by activity in “belief networks” operating across the brain. This supersedes the earlier concept of a “God spot”, activated during meditation or prayer.
“The temporal lobe interacts with many other parts of the brain to provide the full range of religious and spiritual experiences,” he said.
This mechanistic view of religious experience is reinforced by separate research carried out by Michael Persinger of Laurentian University, Ontario, who has used powerful magnetic fields to induce visions and spiritual experiences in volunteers.
Originally posted by DYepes
Religion has never been the real cause of wars, it was only used as a tool to assist in the cause. The true purpose of all wars is Earth and water as simply puut by a character in 300. Civilizations have the expand to support growing populations, so they seek to conquer new lands and resoources. Or even if they have the right land, greed creates the desire for new luxuaries, new exotic foods, timber, oils, coal, minerals and hundreds of things. Allso the desire for more taxable land.
It is the same today, but the mmethods are differennt. Instead of forcibly annexing the new land under the same state, the state is overthrown , planted with a puppet that will allow the conquerer to introduce his big businesses into the market and outcompete the local business. Tjhe profits then end up going back to the central authority half a world away.
Religion is never the cause of wars thouugh. The Crusades was really about controlling trade routes and central cities key to international trade at the time.
[edit on 9/9/2009 by DYepes]
it's holy books full of bedtime stories and silly fables
Star Trek makes WAY more scientific sense than the bible
hell i'll even say Star Wars