Religions Based on Fear

[StratoHeart]

And one more thing: saying "above" Jesus also means "around".

"the reign of God is inside you and all around you"

[browneyedgirl]

Yes, StratoHeart, Definitely! :bigok:
Faith without Actions means nothing! I mean, that is why I do not classify myself as a Christian--because I drink, smoke cigarettes(even the funny kind, sometimes), party, and do things that do not indicate a pure, Christian life. However, I am NOT a bad person&I cannot stand to see anyone or any living thing hurt in any way--even emotionally.

StratoHeart, my fathers family was/are Catholics, but my Grandfather joined the Church of Christ as a teenager--hence, my chosen path. But the CofC itself was a branch off the Catholic tree. So, I still have those roots.

Its dangerous to bash any religion--for Pete's sake--people have a right to be Christian if they want to be! Criticize the individual aspects(as I do)NOT the whole damn idea!
Alot of folks take a religion just passed down from their parents&never get an opportunity to "experiment" with different faiths.
I have not been to Church since 1989. I don't miss the formality, etc. Sometimes I think churches themselves are just glorified Social Clubs!
A person's religion is in their HEART!

[Aresius]

well...

I think that the "Church" really sucks and they have created a fake religion. What i mean is that they have twisted what jesus said and changed a lot of things just because it was better for them.

Jesus forgived a thief that was next to him when he died and the church didnt want a girl in their religion because she went to a sepultura show? its none sense

i dont belive in god and blabllba but if someone does i dont care... i just hink that the CHURCH ( not god, or religion itself) it sucks because its just another big organization that wants power

[stratoplayer]

YES aresius! that is my point, i did not bash cristianity to jump on the bandwagon, i was cristian so i know (sort of) what it is about, but i was bashing the church as in the organization, not the beleif system!

[STRATOSUM]

I am a catholic, but i gotta say, that some people feel very wise sayng thoeir own pseudointerpratation of what is being a catholic, I agree that church is been corrupted but we gotta separate church and catholisim, since thay are not the same they go together think of church as the part of religion ccontrloed by humans, withhumans interpration, and catholisim as a religion, not a institution

[STRATOSUM]

I have no problem with anyones opinion if mine looks even as offensive but it is my opinion, is justa sometimes annoying that people that does not understand catholisism, critizies it, becues well to judge you need to properly undesrtand no to only listen to the misnister or to other people´s opinion, so this is only my opinion, no offense to anyone

[browneyedgirl]

Yes, Aresius, the word "Church" is really twisted. All those Cults called themselves Churches. Hell, I could start a Cult&call it, "The Heavy Metal Church of browneyedgirl" and it'll be Legit! I'd even get a Tax Write off! So, just because something is called a Church, does not mean that's what ie really is in practice!

[stratoplayer]

you'd need followers... but then again i believe you'll manage

[Stealth]

http://www.thegodmovie.com/

[htcdude]

I follow Christianity cos i believe it's the only explaination for everything, so much of the Bible can be proved, even those who oppose it say this.

The only reason i fear God is that i believe if i don't acknowledge i'm a sinner and don't repent, i'll go to Hell, it's the fear of God destroying the soul.

[htcdude]

Yes, Aresius, the word "Church" is really twisted. All those Cults called themselves Churches. Hell, I could start a Cult&call it, "The Heavy Metal Church of browneyedgirl" and it'll be Legit! I'd even get a Tax Write off! So, just because something is called a Church, does not mean that's what ie really is in practice!

It's true there's so many different churches, when i went to Kenya i discovered there was over 2000 different denominations! I mean come on what is that all about!?!?!

[browneyedgirl]

I follow Christianity cos i believe it's the only explaination for everything, so much of the Bible can be proved, even those who oppose it say this.

The only reason i fear God is that i believe if i don't acknowledge i'm a sinner and don't repent, i'll go to Hell, it's the fear of God destroying the soul.

I am so glad you posted this!
I guess we will all know the answer to life's biggest question after we die!
I sometimes hope the Atheists are true because then, there will be no suffering in Hell. BUT, I feel sorry for the Atheists, Agnostics, and people who mock&blasepheme God IF, I repeat, IF it(God&plan of Salvation) is true! That is one time your looks, money, or being a Heavy Metal God will not save you!
Also, just knowing "the Rules" &commandments will not do you any good--you have to PRACTICE it&that is why I will probably be doomed. But, at least I know where I am probably going&its never too late to turn back to God.
However, Deathbed confessions are Shallow&fruitless--it has to be a continuous on-going process&way of life. From the Heart!

We will all know the answer someday.

[htcdude]

Never too late? So what if you died today? Too late

And then what if you get before God and he sends you to Hell.....if you believe in Hell you should how bad it is!

[Pikkusielu]

I don't believe in God or I at least strongly doubt God's existence.

[shaz]

One thing always comes to my mind. Where was god & christianity, say, when the first humans came to existence tens of thousands of years ago? No one worshipped the christian God, there was no Bible or anything. Christianity, like all religions, was developed by the people themselves to answer many questions about the world, that puzzled them. I view religion as a purely manmade thing, and this perception kind of ruins the whole idea of a higher being / afterlife etc. on my part.

[Pikkusielu]

Christianity, like all religions, was developed by the people themselves to answer many questions about the world, that puzzled them. I view religion as a purely manmade thing, and this perception kind of ruins the whole idea of a higher being / afterlife etc. on my part.

I agree... but perhaps God was just having a coffee break or maybe He was just recruited and had to climb up the ranks first!

[Luther_Harkon]

I don't believe in any god. I'm sutying physics, and I the vision of a allmighty being is untolerable. Not because of physicall laws (yet), just because I nedd to be openminded for new discoveries. And God (i'm talkin about any divine being) doesn't make me openmided.

I have to say that I don't have anything against people who believe in a religion, I respect them as well as the religion. What I do not respect are some certain behaviour that derivates from religion, like avoiding people to be free and marry whit whoever he/she wants or saying that is fair for a man to punch at his wife. And some Churches also piss me of. They ask me for charity when that organization has milions of euros, dollars,... Why don't they give that money for charity. I don't need to give my money to a church to be charitable.

And about all-mighteness, let me just ask something. Is God able to create a rock so heavy that cannot be lifted, even by himself... Looks like this is just a paradox about his infinite power... If somebody has an answer, just wirte it. Because I cannot find it...

And, I repeat: I'm not talkin only about Catholicism, I talk about religion in general. And I do respect those who believe, and religion itself.

[htcdude]

One thing always comes to my mind. Where was god & christianity, say, when the first humans came to existence tens of thousands of years ago? No one worshipped the christian God, there was no Bible or anything. Christianity, like all religions, was developed by the people themselves to answer many questions about the world, that puzzled them. I view religion as a purely manmade thing, and this perception kind of ruins the whole idea of a higher being / afterlife etc. on my part.

Cos there was no world tens of thousands of years ago, God created man and woman. God was always there with Adam and Eve (who he created), then they both fell into sin and God cursed the world with death.

[shaz]

One thing always comes to my mind. Where was god & christianity, say, when the first humans came to existence tens of thousands of years ago? No one worshipped the christian God, there was no Bible or anything. Christianity, like all religions, was developed by the people themselves to answer many questions about the world, that puzzled them. I view religion as a purely manmade thing, and this perception kind of ruins the whole idea of a higher being / afterlife etc. on my part.

Cos there was no world tens of thousands of years ago, God created man and woman. God was always there with Adam and Eve (who he created), then they both fell into sin and God cursed the world with death.

Uh, what about the several million year old rocks found all over earth? And, secondly, fossils of animals predating man by millions of years have been found all over the earth.

[Stealth]

Cos there was no world tens of thousands of years ago, God created man and woman. God was always there with Adam and Eve (who he created), then they both fell into sin and God cursed the world with death.

There was no world tens of thousands of years ago?? It is well known that this world has existed for billions of years. The evidence comes from geology, archaeological dating methods and biological anthropology. Not to mention the fossil record. The hominids, the hominines and the pre-modern humans have all existed a looong time ago. It has been safely determined that they have existed for more than tens of thousands of years. Besides, evolution occurs over VERY long periods of time, and a few thousand years are not enough for the first hominids to have evolved into modern humans. I have all my bio anthropology lectures in PowerPoint; I wish I could show them to you so you would know what I mean. And to say that god created man and woman directly is unacceptable since the evolution of man has been well documented and the fossils speak for themselves. Last semester I have studied the relationships between different fossils, their many variations and overlaps as well as comparative anatomy and although some things are not 100% certain, the fact that man has evolved from extremely old ancestors (hominids who in turn have evolved from apes) is unchallengeable.
So god cursed the world with death because Adam and Eve have sinned? That doesn't make any sense, and I'm really, really not trying to be offensive, but that's an opinion I can't respect. First of all, as I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, that statement contradicts the idea of god as an all-loving being. Second of all, it is just not logical. That would be like sending me to death row because my father committed a crime... It just doesn't make any sense. How could god punish mankind for a sin that has been committed by two individuals?? Where is his love? Isn't god "all love"? And why would god create two imperfect individuals like Adam and Eve? Doesn't he have the power to create perfect beings? If he doesn't, then it means he's not perfect, because a so-called perfect being who cannot create another perfect being is not perfect at all. If he can makes us perfect but chooses not to, then he doesn't really care that much about us. And if he's almighty, then why do people fear the devil? Through his infinite power, god should be able to deal with the devil, and yet, although people say he's almighty, somehow he cannot get rid of the devil... how come?
I agree with shaz in that religion is a human creation. Humans created god, not the other way around.

[Luther_Harkon]

Let's write a Brief history ot time (Don't worry, I'm not gonna wirte Stephen Hawkin's bestseller ).

Aproximately 15.000.000.000 years ago (15 bilion or 15.000 milion, depending on where you live) time and space appeared. It may be the action of an all-mighty god? Could be, but certainly it was not his creation. He would create a perfect universe since the begining, not one that needs 10.000 years to pass from total chaos to a not-so-total-but-still-huge chaos. Well, years passed, quarks started to get together creating neutrons and protons. Photons anihilated each other creating electrons. There were temperatures of bilions ºC. And a milion years after the epxlosion aproximately, a proton and an electron united creating Hydrogen. The Universe was getting colder (only hundreds of milions ºC), and little Hydrogen atoms united creating stars!

Inside stars there happen nuclear fusion reactions. Hydrogen became Helium, Helium and Hydrogen in Litium and so on... After some bilions (or thousand milions) of years, this stars died. They exploded into Supernovaes (huge stellar explosions ) and created black holes.

But some matter got out in the explosions before the birth of the black holes. That matter created new stars, smaller like our sun. In the formation of sound, not all matter was used. Some kept going round the young Mr. Sun. And those pieces of matter, got closer and closer, creatin planets (that matter was plasma). Planets rotated around the sun, and spinned at the same time. They got colder, and some were made of rocks!!

And here comes our beloved planet Earth!!! 4.500.000.000 years ago, Earth got cold and became a rock-ball. It's gravity kept some light elements in the air (like oxygen, hydrogen, helium, nitrogen). And there they mixed, creating water!!! That watter fell to the ground, forming little lakes, where hydrogen and carbon mixed randomly. And luckily there was a combination of this elements, that was able to "eat" other elements and copy itself. And life appeared. That was about 1.500.000.000 years ago.

From this point, we all should know what happened. Those little beings evolutionated into more complicated ones. Medusa appeared. Then fishes where swimming in our seas. Then, some plants and little insectes colonized the earth. After that, came the frogs, the reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, mammals... And there where a group of mammals called apes. They were furry, cute, intelligent beings. They evolved into hominids, beings who stood in two legs!!! They used they're hands to manipulate objects. They got more intelligent and les furry. And they converted into humans!! After that, human started to f*ck mother nature. And that's the end of the story.

I know that you think that microscopic first living being was created by god, and not by luck. But, would God create, nowadays, those same beings in a laboratory... I don't think so, but it happened. Without God, man has created life, recreating the conditions of the early Earth, life apperead by itself... That's all I got to say.

Pd: oh, by the way. 15.000.000.000 years are much more than 6 days and one for resting, I think... Yes, I've just calculated. 7days*782.142.857.100 = 5.475.000.000.000 days = 15.000.000.000
So God is only 782.142.857.100 times slower

[browneyedgirl]

Well, there has to be an after-life simply for the fact that life is not fair. Death and the Final Judgment are the "Equalizers". In the End God IS fair. Some people have their Heaven on Earth&some people, through no fault of their own, have their Hell.
The blind, retarded, destitute, people with no hope, people rejected by society, even the deformed&homely, if they "come to the truth" they will receive after death all the joy they were unjustly deprived of when they were alive. That BS "you make your own way" is only HALF true. There are some folks DESTINED not to "fit in" with Society&they will NOT make it no matter what the Hell they do. Thats why there WAS/IS Jesus&God--to give Hope to the hopeless. And, some people(doomed by things they CANNOT control)--thats all the hope they will ever have. That they will be compensated for the misery they unjustly got in THIS Life. I mean, the rich, powerful, beautiful, popular--why should they believe in God&Heaven? Whats the point? Those people had their Heaven on Earth. THAT is why lots of misfortunate people get a sickening Thrill when they see a wealthy or beautiful person suffer--its like Karma has came, or something.
So, in a sense--yeah, I HOPE it is an afterlife&it has to be, because although LIFE is not fair, DEATH is, ultimately.

The thing is, I'll probably wind up in Hell right along with those rich&famous degenerates because I've slipped back into the World.
Well, look at the bright side---maybe in Hell I'll meet some celebs I could never meet in THIS Life!
I'm not being Funny, either.

[htcdude]

One thing always comes to my mind. Where was god & christianity, say, when the first humans came to existence tens of thousands of years ago? No one worshipped the christian God, there was no Bible or anything. Christianity, like all religions, was developed by the people themselves to answer many questions about the world, that puzzled them. I view religion as a purely manmade thing, and this perception kind of ruins the whole idea of a higher being / afterlife etc. on my part.

Cos there was no world tens of thousands of years ago, God created man and woman. God was always there with Adam and Eve (who he created), then they both fell into sin and God cursed the world with death.

Uh, what about the several million year old rocks found all over earth? And, secondly, fossils of animals predating man by millions of years have been found all over the earth.

That can't be prooved, even evolutionists say this...there's no proof for any of it it's just theories.

[htcdude]

@BEG: What made you slip back into the world?

[Heiserich]

If he can makes us perfect but chooses not to, then he doesn't really care that much about us. And if he's almighty, then why do people fear the devil? Through his infinite power, god should be able to deal with the devil, and yet, although people say he's almighty, somehow he cannot get rid of the devil... how come?

Yes, that's it exactly. Either god is weak (then he's not a god in the true meaning of the word) or he doesn't care for us. Or he doesn't exist...
Hard to believe that all the starving, deaths, wars, floods and so on should have a higher meaning in terms of getting to paradise or something, like the church is preaching. I think the truth is: We are alone and shit will happen again and again unless we face the truth that we are responsible for our mistakes and their outcomes. And at least try to do better. In fighting poverty, peace politics, environmental protection and so on.

Let me close with citing Bruce Dickinson:

"The ashes drift away, smoke of our confusion
turn our frightened faces to each other say goodbye
we waited for the sign, waited for the moment
waited for the miracle to arrive I guess they lied

...

We believed in heaven, we believed in angels
with arms of purest white to hold us,
catch us when we fall

Look at the future, look at your burning sky

Now it's omega zero day
the red star shines it's last ray
the sun that gave us life yesterday
is now the sun that takes our lifes away"

[htcdude]

f he can makes us perfect but chooses not to, then he doesn't really care that much about us. And if he's almighty, then why do people fear the devil? Through his infinite power, god should be able to deal with the devil, and yet, although people say he's almighty, somehow he cannot get rid of the devil... how come?

He can make us perfect, but we are the ones who have to make the choice to live for him, if we choose to carry on living for ourselves then we're being selfish and not perfect.

Talking about the devil, i don't fear him, because i know God has already defeated him and got rid of him, that was the whole point of Christ dying on the cross, to take away the sin of the world and defeat death, so that when we die if we are trusting in that we will be taken to heaven where we will b made perfect again, or for those who are not trusting it will be condemned to hell.

[browneyedgirl]

@BEG: What made you slip back into the world?

Do you have all day? A combination of things that go WAAAAAAY back--even into childhood. I have become quite a cynical person. Not bitter, because I am basicly a happy person but I just see the inner side of mankind&it disgusts me most times. The shallowness, the materialism, the forcing of people to "fit in" or else. (Just think--Jesus did not "fit in" and look what Society did to him!) Shit like that. Hypocrisy&lying. I have accepted alot of bad things that have happened to me over the years because I know death, seperation and illness is a part of life. But the horrid way people treat each other in human relationships disgusts me. I'm not perfect--but it seems everyone else thinks THEY are&they expect the same from others. It's just a long rugged, rocky road how I got to my attitude&lots won't understand---especially the beautiful, rich&popular of the world--but, its MY own story&its understandable. Some people call cynicism self-pity, but I call it self-preservation!

BTW, if my opinion on the Afterlife&Heaven is wrong, theres not any damage--I'll just be wrong!
BUT, if I am right--I do feel sorry for those who laughed about God, Jesus, Heaven and denied they exist because then, the Truth will find them out and no amount of Philosophying will help them. The day of using money, power, looks, talent etc will be over. It will not be a happy day, either.

As for God being uncaring--if God was Uncaring as some people say, He/She would End this Maddness we call Society/Earth RIGHT NOW and put Millions out of their Damn Misery--life for most people is NOT a picnic! Instead, He/She is giving us a LOOONNNGGGGG time to attempt to straighten outselves out on our own. We can take this time&use it wisely--to grow together as people on this Earth, Help one another, STOP Judging, backbiting&this Shallow "fitting in" shit. Stop the Wars, of course&that starts with just basic getting along with one another.

Thats all for now, I hope.

[stratoplayer]

well BEG i dont think being cyinic or drinking and stuff is enough for hell (i used to be catholic remember) and if you know you did wrong and feel sorry for it according to their rules you SHOULD be forgiven....

im teetering on the brink of denying God, AND/OR the church... i just dont know sometimes, if god exists or what not, i just cant stand the church...

[browneyedgirl]

God did give mankind free will--no one is forced to follow or even believe in Him/Her. The song "Find Your Own Voice" applies well to God as we have a choice of believing in Him/Her or not. Free Will has responsibility and often, consequences.

BTW, someone made the comment that Christians persecuted the Pagans--Well, the Romans also persecuted the Pagans&Christians, too. No one is innocent. Also, Nostradamus and his family had to hide the fact that they were Jews because Jews were persecuted in his day. That was during the Inquisition, if I'm not mistaken. A terrifying time for non-Catholics during that period. A terrifying period for anyone considered "different".
I'm sure these days there exist religions that are rasist&extremely sexist and practice barbaric acts in the name of Religions. And, lets face it, most wars are in the cause of religion in one way or another.
So, one can understand why people are wary of religion&God.

[Bones]

Heaven doesn't exist. In every religion people think that if you don't believe in their God, you will be sent to hell or something like that.

Ok no more jokes. I am an atheist. I chose this way, and if someone wants to be Christian, it's ok, I have no problems with any religion. I accept even Satanism, it's only the other side of Christianity.