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It is truly fascinating to me that humans all over the world have held religious beliefs for thousands of years even though there was very little evidence that any of it was true.
That totally blows my mind.
It makes me wonder what else can the human mind be manipulated, externally or internally, to believe in as being real.
You seek to cut God out of the picture and then to fill the void you create, speak of yourself as exalted over and above those who look to the One True God.
In effect you place yourself in the position of the one to be looked up to and followed as a god, while assuming to be standing over others looking down on them and condemning them as fools.
I prefer to look past you, to the One True God, while you stand there looking down on me and seeking my Death as you expressed in your first post in this thread. Maybe you should carry that out with your own hands, since that is a great desire you express. And I will stand there and not lift a hand against you in defense, while you carry out the desire you have expressed.
I choose Life and namely the Life that God has shared with me.
What life do you see past the Death that you express upon me? Do you consider yourself above all and answerable to no one?
Do you recognize, acknowledge, value and understand the gods of Greek mythology or Norse mythology or Assyrian mythology? People worshipped all of those at one time and were convinced that they were real. So why don’t you?
just as there are different genres of music,
and there are different books in the library,
and different specialties in science,
so too there are different paths of religion and spirituality.
it is utterly irrational (and amusing) to say there can only be one path of religion,
or one genre of music,
or one branch of science,
or one book in the library.
No, otherwise there would not be many different, mutually exclusive religions. Like a mirage, most people see the water that is not there. To pretend others do not understand is just pretending you have extra special powers.
different genres of music are not "mutually exclusive"
neither are different fields of science, or books in the library, or flavors of ice cream "mutually exclusive"
people may have a favorite, or an affinity for this one or that one.
but they do not preclude the others from existing.
same for paths of religion and spirituality.
I think one of your problems may be that you imagine there is an universal agreement on what are personal experiences, perceptions, importance. There is no such thing as universal agreement, not even among scientists. Why should religions be different?
The purpose of religion may be stated in different ways, but what is true among all of them is to be one with God. Some may believe in heaven and hell, evil and good, some may not. But unity with God is expressed in all of them, as longing, in prayer, and in a variety of way.
Buddha as far as I know did not say anything about it. His focus was in eliminating suffering and he taught people the only way is be detached from desire. Many religions also say the same thing, only in different ways.
You are right and I agree about the one very common thread that runs through just about every religion. A belief in a god, but I was asking about your definition of purpose with regard to religion(s). Again, two different things.
Also, I'm not sure what you mean when you write "one of your problems." Where, how or when did I ever suggest there was "universal agreement on what are personal experiences, perceptions, importance?" Or even come close! Heck, if there is one thing this forum proves daily it's quite the opposite! None of which is lost on me or a problem for that matter.
Interesting angle. I just don't see astrology as a religion, but as a method of prediction based on movements of stars and planets. If faith is the basis for religion yea, I suppose so. Predictions fail, then what?
What is your sign?
Please, because it might help me to better understand your comments.
You seek to cut God out of the picture and then to fill the void you create, speak of yourself as exalted over and above those who look to the One True God.
In effect you place yourself in the position of the one to be looked up to and followed as a god, while assuming to be standing over others looking down on them and condemning them as fools.
I prefer to look past you, to the One True God, while you stand there looking down on me and seeking my Death as you expressed in your first post in this thread. Maybe you should carry that out with your own hands, since that is a great desire you express. And I will stand there and not lift a hand against you in defense, while you carry out the desire you have expressed.
I choose Life and namely the Life that God has shared with me.
What life do you see past the Death that you express upon me? Do you consider yourself above all and answerable to no one?
You go to such extremes.
Where did BigCityDreamer say anything about him needing to "exalted"? He simply has a different opinion than you.
Where did he say that he should "looked up to and followed as a god"?
Perhaps you should try harder to establish what is actually fact or truth rather than simply declare what you believe as if everyone should believe the same thing. Try harder to understand how that's actually done. Try hard enough, and you should not encounter much disagreement, because...
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” -- unknown.
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