There seems to be a lot of religious posters lately. If any of you are reading this, please tell me why your religion and your god are THE ones and the others are not. I’m not asking you to argue against atheism or humanism. I’m asking you to convince the rest of us that your chosen religion and god, and not the others, are the correct religion and god. Answering with “you just have to have faith” doesn’t count because everyone says that and comes to the exact opposite conclusion.
Oh, and I’m not asking why your religion/god are the right ones for YOU personally. I mean why they are THE correct ones for everybody, as so many religious folks believe.
No takers? Ok I’ll jump in myself. Best religion: Judaism. It was the first (of the Big 3), it got it right with the Torah and the Ten Commandments, it’s God’s original wisdom, and the others are just knock-offs. They may have some good points, but they’re still just sub-par copies, kinda like Letterman is to Carson.
No takers? Ok I'll jump in myself. Best religion: Judaism. It was the first (of the Big 3), it got it right with the Torah and the Ten Commandments, it's God's original wisdom, and the others are just knock-offs. They may have some good points, but they're still just sub-par copies, kinda like Letterman is to Carson.So I should by a Ford because it was the first of the Big 3? I take it your joking about "god's original wisdom"?
Is it permissible for atheists to jump in here and post thoughts about a belief just for the sake of argument? If so then I’ll share my former belief in animism, the only one that ever made sense to me.
Cap’t Jack
Is it permissible for atheists to jump in here and post thoughts about a belief just for the sake of argument? If so then I'll share my former belief in animism, the only one that ever made sense to me. Cap't JackYes Village...or one I could get on board with, if it ever became universal.(kind of like...ingrained and natural) Sun Worship!! Duh! It's obvious! Who wouldn't worship the Sun? It gives us everything! You can see it. You can feel it. It provides everything! If it wasn't there-we would all be dead. It is light. It shines forth. Darkness is naturally scary. The Sun destroys darkness! I could go with the animism thing to....but that would entail a heavy duty life-style change. Don't know if I'm ready for that. Again it would have to be ingrained and natural. I don't think we have that anymore Village. We could get it back...but that would take a serious...uhhh upheaval. The cross wielders don't take too kindly to animism.
Thinking about it…actually along the way people slowly evolved the idea that they could control people if they claimed to have a direct priest connection with the sun.
But all in all the Sun was a universal god. It didn’t take a middleman. It was there! You could see it. You didn’t need intermediary priests and acolytes to leverage your ass against the unknown.
That is until some crafty people evolved the idea of a god who Created the Sun!!
Bingo!! Now you couldn’t have your Sun anymore. You could only get in the hierarchy of a contrived religion who charged admission to see the Sun.
And ohhhh how the admission fees were precious.
One other good thing about the Sun god…whether you’re in Thailand, Alberta, Florida, Ukraine or Iceland everyone worships the same Sun.
Yeah, the sun figures into it and when modern man states that he/she " worships the Sun" we do but not in a literal way. The sun generates all life and without it sentient beings wouldn’t be discussing the issue so, long life to the SUN, the creator of every living thing! The Sun IS God. But I meant something a little different. In my religion, we believe that ALL things on Earth are alive, the rocks, the trees, rivers, and that they posess a soul, an oversoul that encompasses everything, e.g. a bear spirit, an eagle spirit ( I mention these animals as they are the physical representation of the Earth, our mother, and the Sky, our father. We are encompassed by these two entities and they act in balance to provide and protect their children. We are only one element in their World and consider all things in nature to be relative to each other. In other words, humans are an indelible part of nature and must work within it to survive. Anything else leads to the ultimate destruction of all life. It’s an inherently simple belief with no written dogma and is tradition driven.
Cap’t Jack
Yeah, the sun figures into it and when modern man states that he/she " worships the Sun" we do but not in a literal way. The sun generates all life and without it sentient beings wouldn't be discussing the issue so, long life to the SUN, the creator of every living thing! The Sun IS God. But I meant something a little different. In my religion, we believe that ALL things on Earth are alive, the rocks, the trees, rivers, and that they posess a soul, an oversoul that encompasses everything, e.g. a bear spirit, an eagle spirit ( I mention these animals as they are the physical representation of the Earth, our mother, and the Sky, our father. We are encompassed by these two entities and they act in balance to provide and protect their children. We are only one element in their World and consider all things in nature to be relative to each other. In other words, humans are an indelible part of nature and must work within it to survive. Anything else leads to the ultimate destruction of all life. It's an inherently simple belief with no written dogma and is tradition driven. Cap't JackYes that's my religion as well. Unfortunately I wrestle with scientific naturalism entwined into that as well. Specifically the part where you state...."and must work within it to survive." Yeah that's the part that is open to serious interpretation by many kinds of humans. Clearly we see that humans are NOT working within that framework. The balance framework. That's because the actual balance is at work and you and I don't subjectively like it.
Yes that’s my religion as well. Unfortunately I wrestle with scientific naturalism entwined into that as well. Specifically the part where you state….“and must work within it to survive." Yeah that’s the part that is open to serious interpretation by many kinds of humans. Clearly we see that humans are NOT working within that framework. The balance framework. That’s because the actual balance is at work and you and I don’t subjectively like it.Yep. And I think that's the fear that we've been discussing on another thread. IMO ,working within the natural framework, the inevitable makes sense. Personally I hope I live as long as Occam. have a lot of books yet to read! Cap't Jack
I see a similarity with this question: Which chemical is best; ricin, strychnine, or sodium cyanide? :lol:
Occam
Oh, I think fear is a small part of it. We’re just animals…I think I heard someone say that most of our thought process is coming from the “lower brain”- the reptile.
I firmly believe this. Compassion is built into us. But that is a tricky subject. Some say we shouldn’t accept what we think compassion is at face value.
One thing is we consume. We consume everything in our paths.
We have the ability to wipe out most(or alot of it) life on the planet.
And I think the most telling part about us is that we let our minds be eased by the concept of M.A.D.(mutually assured destruction)
Think about that one for a moment. That really describes us in a nutshell!
We let the High Priests and Leaders soothe the world mindset by telling everyone:“Don’t worry, no one will push the button because no one wants to end the world.”
The fact that this is still the modus operandi is unspeakable. After the USSR fell and the Cold War ended all that hype went away.
But it is as real today as it was in 1953. The bombs are still here!
And who do we have in charge? These are the best people we can get for the job. Something so simple as to eliminate an insane threat like this.
And they can’t get it done.
On the other thread you mentioned about how people block out their inevitable death. We block out everything. We are not designed to think rationally for peace.
Most people block out the past…you’ve read lot’s of history. WWII, Cambodia, Stalinism, Black Death, Plague, Rwanda, etc etc…
This stuff is right behind the curtain…it’s practically peeking out at us. It can hit anytime. One year from know you could be gnawing on a pine cone or eating the wall paper glue to survive. Or worse.
We are fat and cozy.
Within miles of you and me there are hungry, dirty people. Sick. Poor. Scared.
Now go to N. Korea, or Ethiopia, or Colombia. We keep a nice warm membrane between us and reality.
This makes me shun the idea of an idealistic Animism as you describe it.
No takers? Ok I'll jump in myself. Best religion: Judaism. It was the first (of the Big 3), it got it right with the Torah and the Ten Commandments, it's God's original wisdom, and the others are just knock-offs. They may have some good points, but they're still just sub-par copies, kinda like Letterman is to Carson.So I should by a Ford because it was the first of the Big 3? I take it your joking about "god's original wisdom"? Agree! The best positiion on religion is atheism (as it is not a religion). To take it a step further, Humanism is the best atheistic philosophy. Atheism, itself, has no philosophy, though many theists like to claim it does. Lois
Darn, I was going for Google. Google is God. It has all the answers if you know how to ask the questions and where to look! 
Darn, I was going for Google. Google is God. It has all the answers if you know how to ask the questions and where to look!I often worship at the feet of google and it's son wiki. In fact It is my belief that they are both the same in essence. Even the spirit of google. We googlites sacrifice time and energy to the great google daily. It is all seeing and all knowing you know. Cap't Jack
Yeah, Google is a good one: it is everywhere, and knows all about you… Omnipotence is just a matter of time.
Oh, I think fear is a small part of it. We're just animals...I think I heard someone say that most of our thought process is coming from the "lower brain"- the reptile. I firmly believe this. Compassion is built into us. But that is a tricky subject. Some say we shouldn't accept what we think compassion is at face value. One thing is we consume. We consume everything in our paths. We have the ability to wipe out most(or alot of it) life on the planet. And I think the most telling part about us is that we let our minds be eased by the concept of M.A.D.(mutually assured destruction) Think about that one for a moment. That really describes us in a nutshell! We let the High Priests and Leaders soothe the world mindset by telling everyone:"Don't worry, no one will push the button because no one wants to end the world." The fact that this is still the modus operandi is unspeakable. After the USSR fell and the Cold War ended all that hype went away. But it is as real today as it was in 1953. The bombs are still here! And who do we have in charge? These are the best people we can get for the job. Something so simple as to eliminate an insane threat like this. And they can't get it done. On the other thread you mentioned about how people block out their inevitable death. We block out everything. We are not designed to think rationally for peace. Most people block out the past...you've read lot's of history. WWII, Cambodia, Stalinism, Black Death, Plague, Rwanda, etc etc.. This stuff is right behind the curtain...it's practically peeking out at us. It can hit anytime. One year from know you could be gnawing on a pine cone or eating the wall paper glue to survive. Or worse. We are fat and cozy. Within miles of you and me there are hungry, dirty people. Sick. Poor. Scared. Now go to N. Korea, or Ethiopia, or Colombia. We keep a nice warm membrane between us and reality. This makes me shun the idea of an idealistic Animism as you describe it.Well put, Vyazma. I am often pleasantly surprised to see how much we are on the same wavelength. Lois
Oh, I think fear is a small part of it. We're just animals...I think I heard someone say that most of our thought process is coming from the "lower brain"- the reptile. I firmly believe this. Compassion is built into us. But that is a tricky subject. Some say we shouldn't accept what we think compassion is at face value. One thing is we consume. We consume everything in our paths. We have the ability to wipe out most(or alot of it) life on the planet. And I think the most telling part about us is that we let our minds be eased by the concept of M.A.D.(mutually assured destruction) Think about that one for a moment. That really describes us in a nutshell! We let the High Priests and Leaders soothe the world mindset by telling everyone:"Don't worry, no one will push the button because no one wants to end the world." The fact that this is still the modus operandi is unspeakable. After the USSR fell and the Cold War ended all that hype went away. But it is as real today as it was in 1953. The bombs are still here! And who do we have in charge? These are the best people we can get for the job. Something so simple as to eliminate an insane threat like this. And they can't get it done. On the other thread you mentioned about how people block out their inevitable death. We block out everything. We are not designed to think rationally for peace. Most people block out the past...you've read lot's of history. WWII, Cambodia, Stalinism, Black Death, Plague, Rwanda, etc etc.. This stuff is right behind the curtain...it's practically peeking out at us. It can hit anytime. One year from know you could be gnawing on a pine cone or eating the wall paper glue to survive. Or worse. We are fat and cozy. Within miles of you and me there are hungry, dirty people. Sick. Poor. Scared. Now go to N. Korea, or Ethiopia, or Colombia. We keep a nice warm membrane between us and reality. This makes me shun the idea of an idealistic Animism as you describe it.Well put, Vyazma. I am often pleasantly surprised to see how much we are on the same wavelength. Lois It's so damn funny you should say that. I've noticed that too.. I just got done replying to you on the other thread. The one where I asked if you were replying to the correct post. My initial thoughts on that was that we were saying the same thing and talking past one another. However that isn't reflected in my actual reply. :-)
But it is as real today as it was in 1953. The bombs are still here! And who do we have in charge? These are the best people we can get for the job. Something so simple as to eliminate an insane threat like this. And they can’t get it done. On the other thread you mentioned about how people block out their inevitable death. We block out everything. We are not designed to think rationally for peace. Most people block out the past…you’ve read lot’s of history. WWII, Cambodia, Stalinism, Black Death, Plague, Rwanda, etc etc.. This stuff is right behind the curtain…it’s practically peeking out at us. It can hit anytime. One year from know you could be gnawing on a pine cone or eating the wall paper glue to survive. Or worse. We are fat and cozy. Within miles of you and me there are hungry, dirty people. Sick. Poor. Scared. Now go to N. Korea, or Ethiopia, or Colombia. We keep a nice warm membrane between us and reality. This makes me shun the idea of an idealistic Animism as you describe it. Lord Acton said it best of course. Yes, we still have the threat hanging over us but Futurists have set the nuclear destruction clock back. That's not to say that the threat is no longer there. it is but to a lesser extent. Before the Soviet Union fell we had approx. 30,000 MIRVs and the Russians had 20,000. I like Sagan's analogy of a garage filled with gasoline knee deep and two men have 30,000 matches while another has 20,000. It only takes one match to spark a conflagration. Yes, there's a lot to be frightened of and we could suddenly turn backwards so we're not out of the woods yet. However, referencing your analogy concerning pine cones, the WHO says that obesity is causing more deaths than starvation and the US hasn't had a declared war since Dec. 8, 1945. As to Korea, that's posturing to get us to make more concessions but it's not working. Even China is pissed and will probably tell them to cool it. Yes, Americans remain blissfully ignorant of the past and revisionists are working frantically to reinterpret the facts and wipe out the past. They want to make people believe that America was founded on xtian principles (total BS) and the 14th Amendment should be revokes so that John Q businessman can turn away anyone they don't like and that restricting gun sales is a clear message that the government wants to destroy your freedom to protect yourself from the government which provides you with Medicare, SSI, protection from alien enemies, interstate highways... Yeah, that same government. But the membrane has been thinned out by the media, MSNBC, FOX, CNN and the mainstream media. It's intense, inclusive and continuous. We're bombarded with news as it happens, even the BBC. In fact it's hard to escape reality. And remember, animism as I described it was my last touch with the supernatural although I still feel akin to all life and my place in it. Just eliminate the "spiritual part. Cap't Jack
Yeah, Google is a good one: it is everywhere, and knows all about you... Omnipotence is just a matter of time.Hmm... So Google starts Sky Net? ;) Take care, Derek