'Religion' in our lives.- Page 9

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 5:00am

Updated On: 1/12/09 at 05:00 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 5:46am

Thanks for sharing this, LePetite! I will definitely watch to see "how it will all end." (At least according to National Geographic Channel.)

I'm fascinated by the questions and theoretical answers, whether they be scientific or religious or a combination of both. The idea of the universe eventually collapsing on itself is as mind-boggling as trying to figure out how it all started.

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 6:00am

Updated On: 1/12/09 at 06:00 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 6:09am

Sounds so cheerful!

Be sure to watch with the kids.

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 4:44pm

I am taking an astronomy course right now that deals with the questions: How did the universe start? How did life start? What will eventually happen to our solar system? and What will eventually happen to our universe?

One of my professor's friends is a Catholic bishop (or something similar) who works at the Vatican who is also a big time astronomer/biologist. He has always been asked "How can you believe in science and still call yourself a Christian?" and his answer is one that I have always believed in and now use: "How can you be a Christian and not believe it? There is proof that evolution happens, there is proof that this planet has been around forever. That does not negate my belief in God."

People have always asked me how I can get around the whole "God made the world in 6 days" thing, and I have always answered "A day to God might be a VERY long time". Also, this bishop acknowledges that the bible is a piece of literature, to help us, but that it is not THE WORD OF GOD. There have been many translations of the bible and, while I am sure some have been close to what God might want none are from him and that you can't take the bible literally, it will not work. Morals change as time moves along, and we have to change with it.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 8/23/09 at 5:41pm

Namo, I've always wondered, were you ever a "believer," or have you always had the same outlook on God?

How did you come to terms with the idea that this is it? I think I feel the same way that you do on the subject, but it's hard for me to be as comfortable with it as you seem to be.

[skb2010]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 6:58pm

From what I've gathered in this thread, one of the recurring themes is "Why do people still believe in God when all science seems to say there is no God?" I would like to ask you to prove that God is not real. Let me know how that goes.

I'm 17, and yes, I realize that many of the people on this website are agnostic or atheist. However, I feel that I should still voice my opinion on religion.

I've been attending church my entire life, and recently became very involved in the youth ministry at my new church. I read on the first page a question or statement that was something like "why do people pray if good doesn't come from it?"

First of all, just because you pray doesn't mean all of your wishes will be granted. It is my belief that God puts his believers through tests of faith. They may not be as difficult as Job faced in the bible, but they are tests none the less. It may be loosing a job or loved one, but the goal of these tests are to see who still believes at the end of the day. And if you would allow me to quote the Bible here, in James 1:2-3 it says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." Basically, the point of this soapbox is to say that even if you pray and don't get what you wanted, if you were to ditch your faith because you didn't win the lottery last night, you don't really have faith in the first place.


I know that many of the posters on here WON'T agree with me, and I'm sure that I won't get many nice responses to my beliefs, but it is my opinion, so please, respect it.

Updated On: 8/24/09 at 06:58 PM

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 11:37pm

Personally, I don't feel that I need religion or faith in my life.

I live, I love, I am loved and I am happy.

The need to believe in a higher being to explain things we don't understand is in our nature. 'The sun seems to provide life. Worship the sun and it will continue.' Now, however, its more complex. People want to know what the meaning life is, what happens when they die etc?

I respect people believing in a higher power, nobody can prove there is or isn't. When it comes to the Bible, however, I lose respect. If you take something like that literally, I have no time for you.

It's a moral storybook. Be a good person, don't be a bad person.

At the end of the day, nobody knows and no amount of praying, stressing, protesting or investigating will answer it. Best you can do is live your life as well as you can, as it is the only thing you KNOW.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 8:51am

Nicely put Taboo.

I started questioning things at about 13 and consider myself 99 44/100 percent agnostic/athiest...that other .56 % is pretty much "what if."

I look at the Bible as a mixture of history, philosophy and fable and having been exposed to the worst of the evangelical movement through extended family, I don't put much stock in organized religion or the whole God thing in general.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 9:12am

No asks you to prove the Easter Bunny doesn't exist, yet no one doubts that that is indeed the case.

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 10:25am

Thanks, broadwayjim.

Interesting that you should bring up characters like the Easter Bunny, because Santa Claus is kind of a sub-religion.

He knows if you've been bad or good, and will reward/punish you accordingly. He's children's God-like figure. They can contact him (via letters) which he will read (but not answer directly) and he lives in a paradise (of toys). You could even go as far as saying Rudolph is like Jesus.

Now, I don't see it as brain washing (although, technically they are blindly believing what they are told as fact) if you believe in such a thing as children. It makes you happy when you're a kid to know theres more to life than what you see (hence their active imagination and love of Harry Potter etc).

We all know Santa Claus (as we know him) isn't real. We can agree that he is something that is embedded in our culture, that lives on in our minds as a comfort.

Religion is in our culture, I personally don't believe in God but I don't think it should just 'go away'. How we approach it, however, should be addressed. Kids should grow up aware of all religions in a neutral environment, allowing them to draw their own conclusions when they are ready.

In the UK it seems to be going that way, apparently 1 in 5 are athiest. 1 in 5 are full on religious, and the rest are either unsure or believe that there is 'something'.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 10:28am

It just becomes silly when you have even religious people (like in this thread) stating that the bible isn't really the word of god - if that's the case and you want to believe, why base your belief around Christianity? Why not just be a feel-good, do your own thing, deist?

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 10:59am

Have to admit, it does puzzle me.

If Christianity is based on what the Bible says, but you don't believe in the Bible...then surely you just believe in 'God', and not specifically the Christian one, or the Jewish one, or the Hindu one.

That's probably the thought process of those who are 'unsure' or believe in 'something', and they only assosiate themselves with a certain religion because thats where their history lies.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/27/09 at 2:16pm

skb... there is no way to prove something doesn't exist. It is the job of the person saying there is something to prove it's existence.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/27/09 at 3:33pm

I think a lot of people don't pull at the proverbial thread, because the more questions you ask and the more critical thinking you do, the harder it is to continue believing in the god of Abraham.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/27/09 at 9:33pm

Isnt' that what 'faith' is -- believing that god/religion/whatever exists even though you have no proof?


I am not a religious person. I have never "felt" anything in a church or a synagogue. I'm not "sure" about the existence of any diety. I have felt, at times, closer to a "higher power" in many a theater...as a performer, a director or an audience member. I have often said (both in jest and in sincerity) that Theatre IS my religion.

[Yawper]

Posted: 8/27/09 at 11:50pm

Religion and faith are just whatever get you through the really bad times.

I just finished reading about a struggle with faith concepts that was pretty interesting. It was the memoir of an Army Chaplain who served a couple of deployments in Iraq and ended up with PTSD. I picked it up because I've often been curious about how military clergy justify their service. It's worth a read, IMHO.


Faith Under Fire

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 8/28/09 at 1:41am

"Religion and faith are just whatever get you through the really bad times."

That hits the nail on the head, for me at least. I think most people use faith or religion as a crutch, a painkiller of sorts, that they go running to when times are bad. Everyone needs something to keep them going, most people turn to religion.

I was raised a Catholic and continue to consider myself one, but I've long been aware of the cracks in the foundation, and the warped teachings. The Bible teaches that faith is enough, faith will get you by, faith will move mountains, etc. If that was ever even true, it certainly is not now. Faith isn't enough anymore. If it was, then why are people still attempting to push their own beliefs, and recruit people to their religion? It's because custom and culture have long proven that the majority has the upper hand, and people feel safer when they are part of a whole. It's strength in numbers, which, of course, goes against the idea of faith itself. If you truly, truly believe in something, it should make no difference if people agree with you or not.

As for what dramamama said, I'm inclined to agree. I wouldn't go so far as to say that theatre is my religion, but I do agree in the sense that people feel closer to God, or whatever higher power they believe in, when they are at their happiest and doing something they love. It's much easier for me to believe in God when I'm with someone I really love, or seeing a brilliant show or performance. Cramming people into an overheated church and feeding them dry, bland Bible passages isn't going to make them feel that much closer to God, unless they're some kind of zealot.

Bottom line: I believe what I believe, I'm not about to force that on anyone else.

Okay, folks. The insomniac bitch is stepping off her soapbox now. Peace.

Updated On: 8/28/09 at 01:41 AM

[javero]

Posted: 8/30/09 at 3:24pm

Q,

Please forgive my thread-jacking but it's time to let the dead bury their own. Scientists have for the first time successfully imaged a single molecule. Specifically, IBM researchers in Zurich used an atomic force microscope to extract a 3D image of a particular molecule which is popular in solar cells. Details at the link below.

Patience, buddy!
Scientists Image the 'Anatomy' of a Molecule

[Q]

Posted: 8/30/09 at 8:10pm

Jav - I read about that earlier today - fascinating stuff.

Not too much patience left to draw on, but scotch will suffice in the meantime

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 8/31/09 at 12:59am

Interesting that I'm seeing this thread now...

On Friday, I declared myself Bahai. This week I'll begin Ruhi (which is basically the study of Bahai faith through several books). Since I'm new, I still have a lot of learning and so I can't really delve too much into it. But I will say that the Bahai mentality of unity is particularly intriguing. How through God and through each other, we can create a new civilization and hope.

Today my friend and I visited the local Bahai centre (which is one of the three major centres in the U.S.) and went to the room where Abdul Baha stayed in 1912. Now, I've been in rooms before, and I've been in churches before. However, the feeling I got in that room was totally different than any other I've ever had previously. It felt like something was lingering in that room, a prescence (probably due to its spirtual ties - Abdul Baha is the son of Baha'u'lah).

What concerns me, however, is that my friend (who also declared) doesn't seem as sincere. I truly want to learn and explore something I've always pondered but never got into until now. She seems more enthralled by the songs that we sometimes sing at devotionals.

Part of being Bahai is not to be judgemental but it just concerns me ... I worry that my faith journey may be disrupted. (Yes, I refer to this as a faith journey because quite frankly, it HAS been a journey). I started off Catholic, got fed up and left. Floated around, went to a few Bahai prayer meetings here and there, sometimes went to a Catholic mass, then attended the Methodist church in town (which I loved until I wasn't able to attend services). For the past six months, I've been without a church, without anything. I believe that me becoming Bahai was for a reason and maybe I'm not supposed to know what that reason is. But I know this much - since Friday, I have been trying to think more positively through prayer and it's been working. Not saying God is doing all the work but having some sort of faith restoration has definitely improved my sense of self and my sense of purpose.

[Q]

Posted: 8/31/09 at 1:25am

"through God"

An important distinction, and one that doesn't encompass everyone or every thought.