my response to someone arguing for atheism
I posted this here in case he doesn't accept my comment and this way other people could read it too, if they want. Let me know what you think... and definitely respond if you don't agree. I'm just another idiot human trying to figure stuff out so don't think i'll be bitter if you disagree. Here goes...
I think the whole point of all the religions in the world are ultimately to make a better world. People have, of course, gone crazy and all this little stuff to worry about so there can be in-groups and out-groups. For instance, is God a real thing, do heaven and hell exist? No one could EVER know the answers to this stuff so i think arguing about it is irrelevant... a waste of time. Arguing against it is as much of a waste of breath as arguing for it.
Back to bettering the world, everyone can agree that they would like the earth we live in to be a more perfect place... less suffering, less pain, less exploitation of humans and animals. More like, in a word, heaven. If everyone could focus their energy on feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, basically caring for those who can't care for themselves the world would become more perfect and the believers and non-believers alike would be happier. If "God" is thought of as everything that is good, beautiful, majestic, compassionate, generous and right with the world (which in a sense it can be) all people of the world would want to further this kingdom rather than its counterpart, hurt, ugliness, greed... hell. Don't let the fact that you don't believe everything that a certain group believes keep you from doing what's right (which in its lowest form is easily definable).
Respecting everything (people, animals, enviornment) on this planet is the ultimate human calling and religions have most of their founding in that but have severely strayed from it. Ghandi says some truth can be found in all religions, and the rest is designed for the people who comprise the religion to explain the unexplainable before we had science and a better understanding of the natural world. So why not let people have their beliefs and people like you and i can just take whatever truth we find from these religions and apply it to our own lives, and forget the rest. Isn't truth the complete goal of what we are searching for? We don't have the answers either, but why worry about it? Why not just do our part to help the world and when we die and thats it, then we've done our part, and if we die and their's a god, anybody's god, any type of god, we'll have done whats right during our time and will be rewarded. By living our lives though, hopefully the truth that we accumulated will be seen by others as something to aspire to, and eventually add on to until EVERYONE can see that this was, indeed, the truth. I think everyone, christians and everyone else, should ask themselves before everything they do, "Forget groups, organizations, religions... does this spread love, peace, joy, happiness or is it furthering hell on this earth?" That should be something that everyone can agree on and is a good basis for all decisions.
I think the whole point of all the religions in the world are ultimately to make a better world. People have, of course, gone crazy and all this little stuff to worry about so there can be in-groups and out-groups. For instance, is God a real thing, do heaven and hell exist? No one could EVER know the answers to this stuff so i think arguing about it is irrelevant... a waste of time. Arguing against it is as much of a waste of breath as arguing for it.
Back to bettering the world, everyone can agree that they would like the earth we live in to be a more perfect place... less suffering, less pain, less exploitation of humans and animals. More like, in a word, heaven. If everyone could focus their energy on feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, basically caring for those who can't care for themselves the world would become more perfect and the believers and non-believers alike would be happier. If "God" is thought of as everything that is good, beautiful, majestic, compassionate, generous and right with the world (which in a sense it can be) all people of the world would want to further this kingdom rather than its counterpart, hurt, ugliness, greed... hell. Don't let the fact that you don't believe everything that a certain group believes keep you from doing what's right (which in its lowest form is easily definable).
Respecting everything (people, animals, enviornment) on this planet is the ultimate human calling and religions have most of their founding in that but have severely strayed from it. Ghandi says some truth can be found in all religions, and the rest is designed for the people who comprise the religion to explain the unexplainable before we had science and a better understanding of the natural world. So why not let people have their beliefs and people like you and i can just take whatever truth we find from these religions and apply it to our own lives, and forget the rest. Isn't truth the complete goal of what we are searching for? We don't have the answers either, but why worry about it? Why not just do our part to help the world and when we die and thats it, then we've done our part, and if we die and their's a god, anybody's god, any type of god, we'll have done whats right during our time and will be rewarded. By living our lives though, hopefully the truth that we accumulated will be seen by others as something to aspire to, and eventually add on to until EVERYONE can see that this was, indeed, the truth. I think everyone, christians and everyone else, should ask themselves before everything they do, "Forget groups, organizations, religions... does this spread love, peace, joy, happiness or is it furthering hell on this earth?" That should be something that everyone can agree on and is a good basis for all decisions.