Religious views page 1

terrific

7th February 2012, 08:35 PM

post your religious views in this section, This is just to know people in mindromp. :]

Mine is "HINDUISM"

Sugreeva

7th February 2012, 09:24 PM

I am forever embraced by the eternal love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

ksen

7th February 2012, 10:18 PM

I am forever embraced by the eternal love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are a Reprobate.

However I am one the TULIP clad Calvinist Elect.

Suckit

Dan B

7th February 2012, 10:22 PM

Metaphysical Naturalist (atheist)

eta: (a description, not a religion)

charlou

7th February 2012, 10:41 PM

Hi terrific. Do you believe people get what they deserve?


My "religion" is nature, celebrated by participating in life, love, sex, death.

Hermit

7th February 2012, 11:02 PM

Terrific topic. :]

Pending testable evidence of the existence of some supernatural entity, I have no religious views, although I have views about religions.

And no, my atheism is not a religion. I am too aware of the inductivist turkey's mistake to get dogmatic about anything.

oblivion

7th February 2012, 11:21 PM

No religion. Barring a news flash, the universe(s) are all there is. To the extent that there is compassion, empathy, kindness, it is manifested in the sentient bits. You. Me. The great apes. dolphins. Whales. Elephants...dogs...etc. Here on Earth.

Elsewhere, the same, I'd imagine.

Hermit

7th February 2012, 11:30 PM

To the extent that there is compassion, empathy, kindness, it is manifested in the sentient bits. You. Me. The great apes. dolphins. Whales. Elephants...dogs...etc. Here on EarthBonobos.

Edit: ...and slugs.

oblivion

7th February 2012, 11:41 PM

those ellipses were lazily inclusive. :stuckup:

Hermit

7th February 2012, 11:45 PM

Right forum for that, don't you think?

Also, that is how it should be, everything being connected with everything and all that... :D

PermanentlyEphemeral

8th February 2012, 12:05 AM

Militant Agnostic.

If you believe something I don't I'll burn a question mark on your lawn.

Free Falling

8th February 2012, 12:09 AM

Atheist.

Life sucks and then you die.

Exi5tentialist

8th February 2012, 12:14 AM

No religion. Not really. Maybe sometimes for the buzz, if the feel is right. But that's more a gratification of sensation, for even following buzzy a religion can't make me believe there is any kind of god.

Exi5tentialist

8th February 2012, 12:16 AM

Atheist.

Life sucks and then you die.

Show me any human being who has witnessed their own death. It doesn't happen. Death is a religious concept.

Jerome

8th February 2012, 03:20 AM

Religion is a tool.

Supernaut

8th February 2012, 03:45 AM

As your loving and devoted Chaplain, I am an agnostic atheist whatever...I quit giving a shit about this shit.

Jerome

8th February 2012, 04:00 AM

As your loving and devoted Chaplain,
...I quit giving a shit about this shit.

That is why your are our beloved chaplain. :)

Supernaut

8th February 2012, 04:11 AM

:D

Cunt

8th February 2012, 04:45 AM

I am forever embraced by the eternal love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I DARE you to renounce the Holy Spirit!


I believe in renouncing the Holy Spirit.

Teshi

8th February 2012, 06:04 AM

Wolf Parade - I'll Believe in Anything (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

Adenosine

8th February 2012, 06:15 AM

Atheist. Love inviting Mormons and Jehovahs in for coffee and a discussion about their religion. With a Bible in hand if necessary.

borealis

8th February 2012, 02:32 PM

Agnostically atheist, and don't care what you are as long as you don't interfere with other people too much.

I get JWs at my door around once a year. It's a rural area, their Hall is not that far away, so they're all locals. They seem to try to send somebody different every time.

Some exchanges:

woman in her thirties with two daughters: "Have you thought about what's going on in the world today - oh look! Ducks!"

I live on a lake. We had a nice talk about birds and nature and watched the mergansers for a while as the girls played on the wharf.

Two young men and lady who stayed in car: "Have you thought..." etc. Me, throwing firewood into shed from top of a trailer full of chunked wood: "I love talking religion but have to get this wood in before it rains. Give me a hand and we can talk all you like as we work". They jumped back in the car and drove away.

Two young men and very old man: Young men go into preamble. I was busy that day, so I stop them and advise them I am agnostic on the existence of anything godlike, so perhaps they should move on to more fertile ground (sorry neighbours). Old man asks me to explain my position a bit more. I do. Old man: "I find that extremely interesting. I hadn't thought about reality quite like that before. I'm going to spend some time considering this. Thank you.". And he motioned the other two to say goodbye and leave.

Never saw him again, have always wondered exactly what went on in his mind at that moment, and what may have come of it.

Perhaps I should invite PE to burn a question mark on the local Hall lawn. They have a very nice big lawn. With a shrubbery.

PermanentlyEphemeral

9th February 2012, 12:01 AM

Two young men and lady who stayed in car: "Have you thought..." etc. Me, throwing firewood into shed from top of a trailer full of chunked wood: "I love talking religion but have to get this wood in before it rains. Give me a hand and we can talk all you like as we work". They jumped back in the car and drove away.
.
Fools, they probably could have gotten double points for helping you with the wood while they witnessed.
Only a thousand gross people can go to Heaven and every point counts.

borealis

9th February 2012, 03:42 AM

Yes, but they likely have a rule about helping out godless hellbound heathens.

Mantisdreamz

9th February 2012, 05:29 AM

Two young men and very old man: Young men go into preamble. I was busy that day, so I stop them and advise them I am agnostic on the existence of anything godlike, so perhaps they should move on to more fertile ground (sorry neighbours). Old man asks me to explain my position a bit more. I do. Old man: "I find that extremely interesting. I hadn't thought about reality quite like that before. I'm going to spend some time considering this. Thank you.". And he motioned the other two to say goodbye and leave.

Do you remember what you said to him? It's interesting that he got such an effect from it... or hadn't thought of it before

Mr. Mellow

9th February 2012, 05:43 AM

... Old man asks me to explain my position a bit more. I do. Old man: "I find that extremely interesting. I hadn't thought about reality quite like that before. I'm going to spend some time considering this. Thank you." ...

You need to print whatever it was you said on a pamphlet. I'll buy a 100 and leave them in a "Take One" box on my front door.

I grew up un-churched, and lived in Arkansas during most of my elementary school years. We sang religious hymns and prayed in class, heard morning prayers over the P.A. system, etc. (Picture below, from a current display at one of my old schools). I was constantly being asked what church my family went to, and I would just mumble a bunch of "I don't knows," being the shy kid that I was. When I finally told my mother that one of my teachers had asked this, she yelled, "Oh for crissake, just tell the nosey bitch you're Presbyterian!"

The first time I ever set foot in a church was in high school for the funeral of a friend, in the old Mission San Luis Rey, in San Diego County. I was fucking scared to death (as well as sad about my friend) because I thought I'd have to do something I didn't know how to do. My shyness prevented me from ever admitting I didn't know something, or asking how, so I was certain I was in for public humiliation. Also, for some odd reason, I had trouble even uttering the words, God or Jesus, until I was almost out of my 20s. I still haven't figured that one out, but I think it was because I was somehow afraid I'd be tested on the subject. :stare::dunno:

Sidebar: I am technically a Catholic, I guess, as I was lay-baptized by three redheaded sisters (of the non-nun variety) in a Seattle brewpub. Upon hearing that I'd never been baptized, they would not let me leave for fear that I could be run over by a car on the way home and go to Hell. They were serious. They used beer as holy water because it seemed holier than tap water... or something. They even said some kind of blessing over it. I went along because I was interested in whichever one of the three was interested in me, which turned out to be the prettiest, thank you Jesus. ;]

In spite of all that, I still suffered Hell fear well into adulthood. It didn't prevent me from doing going-to-Hell shit, though. I practiced a fickle kind of situational morality that would make even the most schizophrenic moral relativist blush. But still, I had the the extra flamey brain virus that conjured up images of people screaming in agony in lakes of fire. I confess I didn't push that shit completely out of my head until sometime in the last decade, even though I kept it filed away in the unresolved-bullshit drawer.

The last things I gave up I did so after reading The God Delusion: talking to the father I never knew (he died before I was born), and the unwillingness to call myself an atheist. Before that, there were times when I felt emotionally down, or just wanted someone to tell me what to do in life, and I would talk to my father, even to the extent of sitting by his grave and literally screaming and spitting vitriol at my mother (whose grave stone is placed on the ground in front of his) so he could hear what I had to say about her. If pressed about it, I would have said I knew he wasn't there, and snapped out of it, but I didn't really feel his absence—completely-not-there absence—until after I embraced the idea that it was ok not to cling to stuff like that, and that I was indeed clinging. I was a little sad, but there's always the benefit of not wondering if someone from the beyond is watching you masturbate. :rofl:

I remember this book as well as I remember my first Dick and Jane reader:

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb74/mistermellow001/PlanandPray.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb74/mistermellow001/FunWithDickJane.jpg

borealis

9th February 2012, 07:02 AM

Two young men and very old man: Young men go into preamble. I was busy that day, so I stop them and advise them I am agnostic on the existence of anything godlike, so perhaps they should move on to more fertile ground (sorry neighbours). Old man asks me to explain my position a bit more. I do. Old man: "I find that extremely interesting. I hadn't thought about reality quite like that before. I'm going to spend some time considering this. Thank you.". And he motioned the other two to say goodbye and leave.

Do you remember what you said to him? It's interesting that he got such an effect from it... or hadn't thought of it before

I don't really remember exactly, it was several years ago. I wasn't expecting that kind of response, obviously, so I just said what i think, nothing unusual, briefly. Everything in nature can be explained without the need to insert a god. No god has ever communicated directly and unmistakeably with me or anyone I've ever known, and a powerful god's communication should be obvious and unmistakable, not an ambiguous, maybe yes, maybe no feeling that could easily be explained in a hundred different ways, as if God is the worst ham radio operator in the universe, static all the time. Answered prayers are as random as luck. Your religion is mostly determined by your parents and by the country you were born in. Faith is forcing yourself to believe something against your own common sense. There's nothing real about gods, no actions, no visibility, no evidence that you can point to and say, that can't be anything else but god.

Wasn't much more than that, as I considered it a pointless exercise and was just being polite to the guy. But people lose their faith all the time, and maybe he was at some kind of tipping point, where just hearing one other person express disbelief firmly was a relief.

Also, as tools of Satan go, I come across pretty benign - plainly dressed polite older woman obviously living a plain ordinary rural life.

Grumps

9th February 2012, 08:47 PM

Mirror, mirror, on the wall... who is the fairest one of them all?

Mantisdreamz

9th February 2012, 09:44 PM

Interesting story, Mr. Mellow. I like how you say that even though you had fears of hell and whatnot, you didn't dwell on it, but kept it away in a file of unresolved BS. :p

Borealis - yea, it seems that he must have been on the tipping point, or you just explained it so clearly for him personally, that something just clicked over.


I grew up without religion. My parents never really talked about it much. Often my mom would say things about the beauty of all God's creatures and such.. but I always took that as some sort of analogy (as in she was fascinated by all of life, hideous or cute, slimey or whatever), and I think she meant it as one as well. She was always never really into the idea, but also didn't scrap the idea that it wasn't all true. As a result, she decided to baptize me at age 13... (due to guilt and just in case). I was baptized in a Ukrainian church, as an... Eastern Orthodox Christian. (?)

My dad used to say things like evolution makes the most sense, and that it really trumps the whole God theory.

I don't practice anything, and don't really think about it too much these days... I used to think about it a lot and would always question the way we are living, which resulted in unhappiness.

Probably am agnostic about the whole thing. But, I don't mind people practicing religion and find I can get into reading stories as well.. but in a symbolic, analogy sort of way. I like the idea of archetypes (Jung) and I like the representations of human characteristics in the Gods of (Greek) mythology.

borealis

9th February 2012, 10:11 PM

Probably am agnostic about the whole thing. But, I don't mind people practicing religion and find I can get into reading stories as well.. but in a symbolic, analogy sort of way. I like the idea of archetypes (Jung) and I like the representations of human characteristics in the Gods of (Greek) mythology.

I've a friend who is the agnostic daughter of an Anglican priest. She grew up in the Ottawa Valley and lived in Toronto through her early twenties. She's described to me the 'hip' culture (as she experienced it) in Toronto particularly in the last half of the fifties and early sixties as making a religion out of Jung and a sacrament out of Jungian therapy. You weren't considered to have reached an acceptable degree of sophistication if you hadn't intentionally investigated your psyche in terms of Jung.

I found that interesting precisely because Jung is so seductive as an alternative to organised religion, with his archetypes and animas and collective consciousness. They are sexy concepts. It's easy to like them, they resonate with the human experience, allow us to have our symbols and psychic ramblings and dream interpretations without necessarily delving into whether there is or is not concrete neurological evidence of anything Jung identified.

I love reading Jung, but I'm almost as skeptical as when I'm reading the Bible. A lot of the same semi-mystical material appears in it, as of course Jung was well aware and straight forward about.

I should reread some Jung, and especially get hold of a copy of his Red Book that was published just a few years ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/magazine/20jung-t.html

Amazon.com: The Red Book (9780393065671): C. G. Jung, Sonu Shamdasani, Mark Kyburz, John Peck: Books

Mantisdreamz

9th February 2012, 10:46 PM

I've a friend who is the agnostic daughter of an Anglican priest. She grew up in the Ottawa Valley and lived in Toronto through her early twenties. She's described to me the 'hip' culture (as she experienced it) in Toronto particularly in the last half of the fifties and early sixties as making a religion out of Jung and a sacrament out of Jungian therapy. You weren't considered to have reached an acceptable degree of sophistication if you hadn't intentionally investigated your psyche in terms of Jung.

I found that interesting precisely because Jung is so seductive as an alternative to organised religion, with his archetypes and animas and collective consciousness. They are sexy concepts. It's easy to like them, they resonate with the human experience, allow us to have our symbols and psychic ramblings and dream interpretations without necessarily delving into whether there is or is not concrete neurological evidence of anything Jung identified.

Yea, I agree that it's seductive. It's kind of delving into the human psyche, which obviously he did a lot of, and trying to make sense of any patterns. It's a bit simplistic of course, but it's interesting to read, nonetheless. For example, archetypes - which i think kind of relates to greek mythology as well... like for example, Pan 'The Trickster', i know this element exists in some people more than others. Or the Aphrodite, the sex/erotic element of people. Different elements that exist in everyone to different degrees and that are universal. It could all be crazy talk, and the trying to find patterns may be fruitless...


I love reading Jung, but I'm almost as skeptical as when I'm reading the Bible. A lot of the same semi-mystical material appears in it, as of course Jung was well aware and straight forward about.

I should reread some Jung, and especially get hold of a copy of his Red Book that was published just a few years ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/magazine/20jung-t.html

Amazon.com: The Red Book (9780393065671): C. G. Jung, Sonu Shamdasani, Mark Kyburz, John Peck: Books (http://www.amazon.com/Red-Book-C-G-Jung/dp/0393065677)Yea, he does go off on mystical rants. One of his books, 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections' (one of my favourites), he describes his life, etc. He talks about how at one point in his senior years, he started being 'haunted'.. by spirits. (crazy, i know). But also during that time, he was focusing a lot of attention on his inner fears and dreams. So... the 'spirits' that he was seeing, were actually hallucinations stemmed from his 'inner demons/fears'.

I met a woman like this, when I used to work at a vet clinic. She'd come in to visit the cattery, but used to tell me how she saw 'Satan' at times. She was also very fearful of hell, so I think what happens is that when you focus your imagination on something so much, you make it into a reality and the mind (if unstable) can produce hallucinations. Too much imagination, basically... or the inability to establish the difference between that and reality.

I'm not quite sure why I'm ranting so much about this. And I do agree, that there's definitely a healthy amount of skepticism when reading these types of things. But, trying to pay attention to dreams, etc does have a dark, imaginative quality about it, that can be appealing.

I haven't heard about that Red Book before.

Also, I do know as well, that some people do make the Jungian thing into a bit of a hip thing that they are privy too. That's a bit annoying, and really should just be read not too seriously.

borealis

9th February 2012, 10:58 PM

ea, I agree that it's seductive. It's kind of delving into the human psyche, which obviously he did a lot of, and trying to make sense of any patterns. It's a bit simplistic of course, but it's interesting to read, nonetheless. For example, archetypes - which i think kind of relates to greek mythology as well... like for example, Pan 'The Trickster', i know this element exists in some people more than others. Or the Aphrodite, the sex/erotic element of people. Different elements that exist in everyone to different degrees and that are universal. It could all be crazy talk, and the trying to find patterns may be fruitless...

We are inveterate pattern seekers, and see patterns where there really are none, but that doesn't mean patterns don't exist. There does appear to be a set of universal human archetypes, and that is fascinating. And easily exploitable, in some senses - think Tarot readings, which often shock skeptics who have one done because they perceive things about themselves that they consider unique, but which are really just archetypes and common symbols Tarot offers for their own interpretation.

I am interested in where those archetypes come from in terms of human evolution. Some of them we can guess about, certainly. maybe another thread some day.

Mantisdreamz

9th February 2012, 11:19 PM

ea, I agree that it's seductive. It's kind of delving into the human psyche, which obviously he did a lot of, and trying to make sense of any patterns. It's a bit simplistic of course, but it's interesting to read, nonetheless. For example, archetypes - which i think kind of relates to greek mythology as well... like for example, Pan 'The Trickster', i know this element exists in some people more than others. Or the Aphrodite, the sex/erotic element of people. Different elements that exist in everyone to different degrees and that are universal. It could all be crazy talk, and the trying to find patterns may be fruitless...We are inveterate pattern seekers, and see patterns where there really are none, but that doesn't mean patterns don't exist. There does appear to be a set of universal human archetypes, and that is fascinating. And easily exploitable, in some senses - think Tarot readings, which often shock skeptics who have one done because they perceive things about themselves that they consider unique, but which are really just archetypes and common symbols Tarot offers for their own interpretation.

I am interested in where those archetypes come from in terms of human evolution. Some of them we can guess about, certainly. maybe another thread some day.
Yea. :] That would be interesting.

I know what you mean about the whole tarot and psychic readings taking advantage of that. hmmm. I remember reading one things where they did a test, and handed out the same horoscope reading to a class of students. And judged to see if they students thought it was accurate.. a few of them did. Have to see if i can find the link for that. Actually, I could have read that in the God Delusion..

PermanentlyEphemeral

10th February 2012, 12:32 AM

A long time ago I read a couple paragraphs that were the distillation of a hundred horoscope books.
People were asked how accurately it described them on a scale of 1 to 5.
The average was 4.5.

One sentence was something like "you have weaknesses but make up for it with strengths in other areas."

Mr. Mellow

10th February 2012, 01:00 AM

... "you have weaknesses but make up for it with strengths in other areas."

Hey, that fits me perfectly! :D

Cunt

10th February 2012, 01:23 AM

... "you have weaknesses but make up for it with strengths in other areas."

Hey, that fits me perfectly! :D

The forer effect.

Derren Brown Astrology - YouTube

Mr. Mellow

10th February 2012, 01:38 AM

How on Earth did he find people who were so much alike? :hehe:

Good vid, I haven't seen that one.

GunSlinger

10th February 2012, 01:31 PM

I dont beleive in relegion but i DO beleive in a personel relationsip with
Jesus

Cunt

10th February 2012, 07:30 PM

http://images.piccsy.com/cache/images/kuzmin-semyonovich-230866-500-402.jpg

borealis

11th February 2012, 12:41 AM

Lol, that jesus is such a card!

Jerome

11th February 2012, 12:59 AM

the way i figure it, no one in this life will have it right, and if there is no next life, so what

just be nice

:blinksmile:

Cunt

11th February 2012, 01:02 AM

Is that a hard agnostic position I smell composting?

Brother Daniel

11th February 2012, 02:31 AM

Militant Agnostic.

If you believe something I don't I'll burn a question mark on your lawn.
What if I don't believe that you're really a militant agnostic?

nick

11th February 2012, 11:44 AM

I dont beleive in relegion but i DO beleive in a personel relationsip with
Jesus

I agree. Religion is mankind trying to reach God. Jesus Christ is God trying to reach mankind.

Fuzzy

13th February 2012, 02:32 PM

I'm an atheist.

I was raised Presbyterian, though not particularly devoutly. I just gradually drifted out of that for various reasons; in particular, religious objections to queer folks really turned me off of it. If god exists, I don't think he would be that petty. The bible appears to be pretty blatant on that subject, however much non-homophobic Christians say otherwise, so I concluded that Christianity probably isn't true.

However, I wasn't ready to give up religion in general yet, so I spent a lot of time looking around and reading about different religious ideas. My favourite is probably neo-paganism in its various forms, particularly Wicca; I have a lot of respect for it in general. I can totally get behind the reverence for nature and the really simple ethics about not hurting anyone. But the whole magick bit was (and is) too silly for me to take it seriously. Besides, you can love nature and like not hurting folks without needing a religion to tell you to and without any of the additional spiritual baggage that comes with one.

I briefly went through a "born again" phase which started because I was sad about something dumb in High School and didn't put much thought into it. I got over that.

nick

13th February 2012, 02:35 PM

ff I'm sorry you got caught up in Satanism

Fuzzy

13th February 2012, 02:40 PM

I'm a born again Metal Head.

Manowar - Die for Metal - YouTube

nick

13th February 2012, 02:43 PM

You experimented with homosexuality, neopaganism (aka satanism), and "rock" music. I am not surprised you're an athiest now.

The only part of your story I find hard to believe is where you claimed you were born again. Clearly you weren't. And calling it a "phase" is disingenuous. Being born again is not a "phase"

Adenosine

13th February 2012, 09:50 PM

I dont beleive in relegion but i DO beleive in a personel relationsip with
Jesus

I agree. Religion is mankind trying to reach God. Jesus Christ is God trying to reach mankind.

Nice. Where'd you get that?

FedUpWithFaith

13th February 2012, 10:07 PM

Religion is mankind trying to reach God. Jesus Christ is God trying to reach mankind.

Cute. Too bad neither side can find the other's phone number.

I'm not very satisfied with my phone company. But at least 97% of the calls go through. I guess that makes Verizon at least 97% smarter than Jesus.

ksen

13th February 2012, 10:09 PM

I dont beleive in relegion but i DO beleive in a personel relationsip with
Jesus

I agree. Religion is mankind trying to reach God. Jesus Christ is God trying to reach mankind.

Nice. Where'd you get that?

Just about any fundy church in America.

O'b. J. Darte

13th February 2012, 10:22 PM

mild

nick

13th February 2012, 11:34 PM

I dont beleive in relegion but i DO beleive in a personel relationsip with
Jesus

I agree. Religion is mankind trying to reach God. Jesus Christ is God trying to reach mankind.

Nice. Where'd you get that?

Just about any fundy church in America.

p. much. I actually first heard it from a fat LPN when I was at the psychiatric hospital.

charlou

14th February 2012, 01:43 AM

http://images.piccsy.com/cache/images/kuzmin-semyonovich-230866-500-402.jpg

Lol, that jesus is such a card!

:D




*imagines sunday school activity .. dashes down the centre to indicate where to fold :rolleyes: *

Supernaut

14th February 2012, 03:24 AM

I dont beleive in relegion but i DO beleive in a personel relationsip with
Jesus

I agree. Religion is mankind trying to reach God. Jesus Christ is God trying to reach mankind.

Nice. Where'd you get that?

Just about any fundy church in America.

A lot of liberal churches spout that same inane line of shit.