Religion

[cordeliasmarz]

I know this is a touchy subject with pretty much anyone so feel free to ignore me on this.

I'm not an insulting person at ALL, hate arguments, wish everyone would just get along.. all that good stuff.

So I don't want to upset anyone and although I'm certainly not going to say anything that I would call "offensive", I just feel the need to warn

Comments

[tamed_fox]

I'm pretty much with you on this one. Raised Catholic/Christian, turned nothing.

I was one in a (really amazingly beautiful) cathedral in Munich (Theatinerkirche. I recommend it!) and one of my (now best) friends came up to me a whispered "You know, sometimes I think religion is the weirdest thing ever. I mean, just look at all the fucking naked babies!" I think that about sums it up. :)

Sometimes I feel like Jesus was just a pretty chill dude who everyone took way too seriously. I think the most important thing about him and other prophets of various religions is that they gave out lots of good advice (or had lots of good advice posthumously attributed to them). Either way. Yeah, Jesus "said" love thy neighbour as thyself, don't kill, give to the poor etc but did he seriously die to somehow make up for all of the sins of everyone else, ever? I doubt that.

[cordeliasmarz]

YES.

Brilliant response - thank you :)

Everything you said is just how I feel. Why do we have to full-on worship someone just because they did good stuff?

I can't believe wars have started and such horrible things have happened just over... this. People taking things too seriously. I don't know. I still can't get my head around it.

This is hilarious:
"You know, sometimes I think religion is the weirdest thing ever. I mean, just look at all the fucking naked babies!" haha!! ♥

I love the atmosphere in cathedrals and churches for some reason
It's peaceful
And reminds me of.. my childhood? The nativities in my primary school?
I don't know
But also they're - as you said - really beautiful :)

[tamed_fox]

I'm a fan of old cathedrals and synagogues mostly because I'm a fan of old things, haha. While people next to me are having these great religious experiences I'm busy flipping out over 12th century architecture and touching the walls like by doing so I can transport myself back in time (and, like, get burned at the stake for witchcraft).

AGH RELIGIOUS WARS. Look, people of the world, whatever brings you peace and happiness and internal fulfillment, that's great. Do it. As long as it doesn't bring harm to anybody else, do it. Just don't get all bent out of shape when the guy next door does something else equally harmless.

[cordeliasmarz]

Yes I think that must be what it is for me too!
I love old buildings and old things :)

I wish The Doctor was real
And would hang out with me

WHY CAN'T EVERYONE JUST BE FRIENDS *SOB*
Or at least come to some kind of non-violent arrangement?
NOT THAT HARD.

[kylezy]

The logical part of my brain sees the need for religion as an almost selfish thing. When we die, in science, there's nothing. Our mind ceases to exist, it's black, we don't have any sense of being any more. This is the fucking scariest thought in the world. I think everybody has trouble comprehending it, no matter how learned you may be. I mean, to have your body still physically exist, but to not exist inside it, to not exist mentally at all? The nothingness, it's terrifying. And I think that's part of the reason why people create religion. I'm not just talking Christianity either, this need for an afterlife is in just about everything I know of (which I'm not saying is a lot, I'm no theology scholar), be it in heaven and hell, or the underworld, or even reincarnation (which is not quite the same but still holds true to the principle, living on after you've died). The knowledge that we won't ever really be gone is comforting, it gives us something to hold onto. I can understand that, I can respect that, I feel the same

[cordeliasmarz]

Wow!
Don't apologise for that!
That was fantastic!
Thank you thank you!
Exclamation marks all around!

I don't know how to reply to that apart from.. yes?
Very well said. Everything.

Thank you so much - a LOT clearer now
Now you've written it so succinctly and clearly I understand it
I "get" it.

It's still.. bizarre how "man" hasn't "got" it yet and moved on
Realised that faith is nothing to argue about, it's something personal to each person
And sure, people should write books and follow books for advice about what's right and wrong but nothing is set in stone
You shouldn't take anything so seriously and be so set in your ways that there's no room for discussion

Ahh you're a clever lady
I wish I could write so comprehensibly!

[esoteria80]

Hi, sorry, just jumping in to agree on this; "But it's not some holy book passed down from heaven itself. It was written by men (and just to clarify, I don't mean men as in 'male'. I mean men as in 'humans') and we're supposed to believe that just because they say it's divine law, so it must be

[curlybeach]

Just to give a slightly different opinion on things, here's mine! Again, I don't wish to offend either :)

I became a Christian at 16, and for a few years I was REALLY into it. Then I went to Uni, and met people who were liberal and interesting, who challenged me and made me think much more about the technicalities of what I believed. This was most definitely A Good Thing, as it made me see that I had been following quite blindly, without really stopping to think about what I really believed

[cordeliasmarz]

No no no!
I love to hear your opinion!
I was hoping for this kind of thing as well as people like me who are sort of "nothing"s!

Brilliant response! Another person who can write comprehensibly and intelligently in a way that.. I can understand!
I'm a little all over the place sometimes with the way I write D:

Anyway, you sound great! - a very sensible person :)
I think you're the kind of Christian my family is - liberal

Yeah, the "acting in the name of God" thing is what gets me about Christianity - how people follow the words that men wrote ages ago before man had experienced and been enlightened by other views.. apparently change takes a very long time

[self_sustaining]

I figured I'd throw in a different point of view on all of this. Sorry if I offend or confuse anyone.

I've spent my whole life as a Christian who was doing it because that's what I was told to be doing. Freshman year of college I completely abandoned it. And, looking back at last year, my life sucked. I was depressed and angry all the time and I was a horrible person to my friends. I treated people like shit.

This past August I met by best friend, and because of him I started going back to church again. Still operating on the "I'm just doing this because it's what's expected" theory. But, last month, something finally clicked.

I don't pretend like I have all of the answers. But I believe in God because I can see what he's done in my life. I can feel it. I'm a completely different person than I was last year. A while some of that can be attributed to the people I'm around, I don't think that's it. God is real for me; a living god that loves me and deserves my love back for all the shit we do down here that's supposed to be "good

[cordeliasmarz]

Oh thank you for sharing ^_^

I really get that
Having something to believe in really gives you hope and without that you feel lost
I felt like that for a long time as I was ill and I really felt like there was no-one out there to help me
I wanted to give up
Then I sort of realised I didn't have to actually put myself in a group and call myself "Christian" or anything, I can just have a vague hope and wish for someone out there to help me and that faith will get me through it

I'm so glad you've found something that makes you happy
So long as you have something that makes you happy that doesn't hurt anyone I think that's all you need really ^_^

Thank you again - all these opinions are really great and helpful in figuring it out for myself

[esoteria80]

Hi, I've just stalked you from over on the Doctoreleven page and found this post quite interesting, so thought I'd reply. It's less creepy than going through your bins

[cordeliasmarz]

It's less creepy than going through your bins
HAHA well yes
I accept both though so I'll let this slide
I don't keep anything too incriminating in either..
Well, besides the bodies
All those bodies..

Anyway hem.

I think it's healthier to know that things are wrong without it being explicitly a command from God

while the Ten Commandments are probably a really good code to lead your life by, I think it's better to agree with that sort of thing in isolation than take the Bible literally

Yeah I didn't really think about the separation between God The Creator and God As Me.. sort of thing.
Yeah. Well, I think I knew that in my mind but hadn't really.. procesed that part yet.
I agree though yes. The God I have isn't The Creator of The Universe at all. I suppose with all the religions that do have him as both, I just assumed.
The stuff you said about inside you there is a core, a soul maybe you could call it, and it's that soul that I feel I'm looking into when I'm in pain or sad - YES!

I like to think that the moral codes I like to

[esoteria80]

I read through them actually and think they all kinda fit together ideologically, really. The pro-religious opinions don't disagree with mine in substance, merely in concept; self_sustaining wrote "But I believe in God because I can see what he's done in my life. I can feel it.", and I can feel it too. I just feel it's internal rather than external, but if we both feel it and do good because of it, does it really matter if one of us has attributed that feeling to the wrong source?

As long as neither of us try and ram it down our throats that we each disagree over what is really quite a small element. That's where the trouble starts and religion seems to feel more hassle than it's worth. And that's not just for the religious either; while I agree with everything that Richard Dawkins believes, the way he goes at people like a rabid mental preacher just doesn't sit right with me.

Sorry. Rambling on. *puts sock in mouth, then finds it doesn't help cos this is typed*

[cordeliasmarz]

hahah take that sock out and.. unbind your hands? (if you ended up doing that to silence yourself)

I'm enjoying these discussions very much

Yeah I'd noticed that too
We all get to that same place but through a different.. journey I suppose
Yeah, you put it a lot better though!