one thing that most people that i know fail to realize: that religion is an offshoot of spirituality. that spirituality is something that is one person's and one person's alone. a lot of people are caught up in defining others while pigeonholing themselves into a grave by judging others. it says in the bible "judge not, lest ye be judged"
people who say that others are going to hell, are damning themselves to there also. by the christian religion, it states that only god himself can judge you and that only happens after your life here on earth is done. and judgement day is the day that jesus returns to the earth to take those worthy of heaven. the rest will be eternally damned.
christianity is an offshoot of judaism. by the teaching of said religion, when one dies, they go into a spiritual slumber until the saviour, whoever that may be, comes to earth and judges them, be they worthy or not. until then, and only then, will anyone be let into heaven or hell.
personally i don't subscribe to any religion, rather i research them and find their best qualities and adopt them to be my own. i don't preach, i don't claim to know that the powers that be let me in on their secret. i don't praise Whoever. i don't worship. i don't belittle myself to someone else's standards. if you are a good person, you will know this to be a good way of doing things. it may not be the best but at least someone is doing it.
it is my beliefs that religion is a heresy against man. that we need some higher person to explain things to us in a mystical fashion. that some things happen solely because some "god" wanted them to. everything has a reason, everything has an explanation. sometimes the truth seems as if a bald faced lie, spoken through stained teeth. sometimes there might not be a plausible explanation. sometimes there is no excuse. sometimes reality throws us a curve ball that no one can hit, dead on.
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In my posting, I wasn't complaining or judging anyone, I was just interested to find what others thought of my frustration with others who refuse to accept the idea that there is more than one belief system that is 'right'.
your belief is that more than one way is right and others believe otherwise.
why do we, who believe otherwise, need to accept your belief?
Your complaint is that people believe different things and need to just come together....
In so doing, you're saying that all other religions are deficient and that what you have discovered is the real 'right thing to do' . . .
in so doing, you become what you say we are.
Why is it that you need us to agree with you? I don't need you to agree with me.
I don't NEED people to agree with me, I was trying to get other's opinions on the issue. I was saying that it needs to be accepted that their are different beliefs and religious tolerance should come about.
if it was to me, what i was saying is "don't take mine or anyone else's word for it."
i was saying "find out for yourself. you know what you want, you know what you need, you are a person also, with a right to your own opinion"
in fact, i loathe a person that agrees with me wholeheartedly without telling me exactly why they felt i was speaking for them also. i love a person who disagrees with me because i want to understand why they have come to choose that stance on whatever subject i happen to be speaking on.
i think that buddhism is nearly the most religion that i can subscribe to. it states that you don't have to convert. you don't have to believe all of it. heck, you can even be a part of another religion altogether, religion deals with what happens after death, buddhism is a way of life.
Yours truly,
.demosthenes
it was a response. my comment to you turned into a blog. this blog in fact. why only get ten points when i can get however many i get for blogging? i won't sell myself short for anyone, excepting myself. if that makes sense. it doesn't to me.
Yours truly,
.demosthenes
i have experianced multiple faces of spirituality and religion. my dad's side of the family is stricty christian, two of my best friends are catholic, my dad is an atheist, and my mother is a buddhist
i've struggled constantly with weighing the pros and cons of each. i've dabbled in all of the above, pagenism, and a tad in the islamic religion.
basically i've come to about the same conclusions. religion as i see it is there to serve a purpose for man to reach a certain feeling and i see all modes as succesful if acted upon responsibly.