19 replies to this topic

[sEEkEr_8]

Having read alot of things on the net about the paranormal, psychic powers, ufos, religion etc... i started to think about all of them with an open mind and from as many angles as i could, basically trying to find out if there is any truth or fact behind them and or if i could find any answers for this thing called life. Personally i am more interested in discovering if there is any purpose, design or plan for us. Then being told ufo's are real or that telepathy exists and so on.
Luckily we are living in a time now where religion is not forced upon us ( i know some people are still born into a religion don't get me wrong ) so more or less we are free to find the truth or at one stage seek truth or anwsers about life just like i am. I was not born into a religion but i was razed with the belief in god and i was told it was my choice to believe in a religion that felt right and true to me. I never found a religion that answered anything really i found it to be a good story which is 1000's of years old but now simply out-dated and over run by our knowledge in science.
I now came to terms with some things and figured out that what i have believed in as a kid was just that, a belief. I believed in something i never saw, heard or felt etc...so it was more or less an idea or an explanation so to say that was accepted by my parents and taught to me. I understand that was their answer for many things that needed an answers. In our times many things are answered with facts and proof not beliefs.
I like the idea of believing in something you have no real proof of and at the most your left to assume or connect things with that which you believe, but still to give your life for that thing is not proof that its real or truth but its more a proof of how simple and brainwashed ones mind can be due to that belief.

I know i'm the minority in our society but then so was jesus he came up with a belief that others never heard of but his idea proved to be good in the long run.
I believe the devil has whispered in my ear while i was writing this beware the power of the dark side    LoL beware the power of deception  

[TheGreatWhiteHorse]

sounds to me like you may be having a crisis of faith.

I may be wrong, but you sound like a Christian that has questioned a system of beliefs that are supposed to be concrete because logic and science tell you there is something awry.  hmm...not uncommon in the least.

There are a great many more wonders in the world we live in than we know about.  The reason forums like this one exist is because there are certainly questions that do not have, as yet, answers.  In the end, the wonderful thing about life is that it will go on as it pleases whther or not you put your faith in science, or you ascribe to the teachings of Buddha, Christ, Ganesha and Shiva, the Jedi Order, David Koresh, etc.

We all look to the sky at one point in our lives and ask "Is it really as simple as "birth, consume, procreate, die"?

At the end of the day...the only question that matters is "What do I believe?"

Edited by TheGreatWhiteHorse, 24 July 2005 - 03:59 AM.

[sEEkEr_8]

At the end of the day my question is "what is there to believe in" and it will be that same question unless i find the answer. If i dont find the answer then i will accept that there is no answer and try to make the most of life. I dont see any other choice really. Perhaps i cant handle the truth i am gettting to which is that there is no truth, no right way, no afterlife and no god. So my mind cannot accept this truth, therefore pushing me in the direction to believe in something and create and alternate truth.

[moomooman]

i believe many of the people who are christians dont even really understand their own religous book due to misinterpretations and bad translation. i also believe that life doesnt need to have a purpose plan or something like that for us, we just are something. that'd be like saying whats the purpose or plan for the many many planets that form all the time in space. they are gunna be born and die just like us.

Edited by moomooman, 24 July 2005 - 06:21 AM.

[TheGreatWhiteHorse]

Im not sure we were talking about christianity's bible, there moo, but...ok.

seeker..."everyone questions their faith at one point or another" is basically what i was getting at.  Whether it be christianity, judaism or science...everyone wonders at one point and seriously asks the hard questions of themselves.

If you are turning away from whatever it was you believed in, than I say you need to look harder at what that was and try to do more to understand it. Get with others who share your type of questing attitude, research the rough edges and fringe beliefs surrounding it...all those types of things, before you abandon something.  You will most likely find what it is you're looking for.

[sEEkEr_8]

Thanks for the advice TheGreatWhiteHorse... but hear me out first.
As far as religion goes i have come to believe that it was made and invented by man. I believe that there is two side to religion. One side of it is the teachings of that particualr belief. The other side of it is that the belief is used to control and have power over people. History is my proof and evidence of that, there is so many recorded wars and battles even before christ like in the egyptian pharoas times etc... and religion through time has prooven itself to be the best war starter of all. Not one religion has any kind of proof of what they claim or believe appart from what is written in their holy books which to me sound like a good stories and thats all. There is so much to write about how religion is controlling people im not even going to start. For me its not about faith anymore its about fact and whats real.

[marduk]

Not all religions are designed as a form of control
that particulalrly colours the role of religions in the common era
the original religion Pantheism has only one commandment
"be good"
thats also the meaning of life imo

[Funi]

Finally, something 'bout my religion
LIFE is the power! All these gods and stuff are less than it! It's the ultimate and the supreme power in the universe and it's truly immortal but carried by mortal organisms I don't know what my religion is called, but I belive in LIFE!

[marduk]

Finally, something 'bout my religion
LIFE is the power! All these gods and stuff are less than it! It's the ultimate and the supreme power in the universe and it's truly immortal but carried by mortal organisms I don't know what my religion is called, but I belive in LIFE!

you sound like a pantheist to me
You believe in the power and its in all things
just not the guy with the beard who we made up ourselves to stop us going nuts.

[Funi]

Gods and places like heaven and hell are made up to stimulate people to do good things
That's my opinion. And i think that our mission is not worshipping someone that doesn't exist, but to preserve life and to carry it on. But don't you think that there are more than enough people on it? Is that good for the other lifeforms ? Am i really a pantheist?

Edited by Funi, 24 July 2005 - 02:56 PM.

[marduk]

Gods and places like heaven and hell are made up to stimulate people to do good things
That's my opinion. And i think that our mission is not worshipping someone that doesn't exist, but to preserve life and to carry it on. But don't you think that there are more than enough people on it? Is that good for the other lifeforms ? Am i really a pantheist?

you're sounding more and more like an old world pantheist as you go along
Prayer is optional
Belief in a higher power that pervades all things isn't
You can worship any deity you like the look of as long as you understand that the deity is just a human representation of the Power
Some pantheists call this power "creation"
its where we all come from spiritually and its what we return to when we lose our flesh
they don't believe in heaven and hell
Generally pantheists are good people who try to help those less fortunate than themselves.
Pantheists also believe in the immortal soul and reincarnation.
I'm a pantheist
i always have been
Thats a long long time when you consider my TOTAL belief in this concept.
Modern scientific pantheists are idiots though
i guess someone better move this post to the spirituality section now

[Funi]

nope i'm not a pantheist i don't believe in reincarnations and immortal souls.
What am i ? An abomination of religion? LOL  

[snuffypuffer]

The meaning of existance is whatever you make it out to be. Whatever you decide is out there, that's the truth. It's different for everyone.

[Sherapy]

I've tryed on alot of beleifs in my life so far and the conclusion I have come to is there is no conclusion and my experiences are what define me, my greatest teachers are other people and the examples they give by the life they are living I think we demonstrate what we know about life and we are always growing and changing its not possible without becoming dogmatic to adhere to a beleif system, freedom is not needing a beleif system to me.  The meaning my life has is the meaning I say it has and thats the  most sacred truth I live by, I decide whats the truth and what isn't, with the wisdom that has been placed in my heart, How can someone else know me better than me???? Namaste Sheri

[Rufio85]

One possibility you could try is religion hopping. Join different groups of people who beleive in different things and keep open minded. Alot of people talk of faith through experience, not what they can physically prove. (try not to get brainwashed while you do this though   )
My thoughts on this subject were, 'if there is something out there, I don't wanna be oblivious to it.' If there's not, at least i can say 'ive been there, and i don't think that group of beliefs holds its ground'.

Just my 2 cents.

Edit: having just read Sheri berri's post, that's a prime example.

Edited by Rufio85, 27 July 2005 - 04:26 PM.