What's your Religion?

Seems to make some good points about how to live your life though. Basically common sense ways to reduce your stress and be happy. I can get behind that.

 

Because there are no "5k and under" Museums?

 

Yeah that was its intent. It was written by Max Ehrmann (1872-1945).
"Around 1959, the Rev. Frederick Kates, the rector of St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, used the poem in a collection of devotional materials he compiled for his congregation."

It's a great mindset to start your day.

 

I think this sums it all up perfectly.

 

True. I always wondered how we got from Adam and Eve to several billion people... Especially with all the races and differences among people (black, white, brown, yellow....). Couldn't have gotten that from just 2 people. Or even 4. lol

Something I'm curious about.... Do people that truly believe in God or Jesus believe in Santa Clause too? Or the Easter Bunny? Or the Tooth Fairy? Just curious since they all seem about as likely to be real to me. (Although I swear I saw reindeer and sleigh tracks outside my bedroom window one christmas morning when I was a kid! )

Being atheist does have it's downsides though I suppose. For example, holidays are almost meaningless to me. I could care less about Christmas or if we even celebrated it. My wife is the only thing making me do it, and it's mostly for the kids anyway. I'd rather just have family together for a big meal and spend time together regardless of what day it is.

 

Oh, and I know too many people that go to church on Sunday to apologize for their sins. I'm sorry, but taking 1 day a week to say "I'm sorry" doesn't make up for being an a$$hole the other 6 days in my book. But that's what some people think.

 

I'm not disagreeing with your general argument, but this is more the person rather than the religion--I can't think of any religions that are based on the tenet "Go Forth and be an a-hole, just make sure that you have one good day (hour?) a week to apologize" That said, the family down the street from us goes to church religiously (pun intended) and yet one quiet Sunday morning, I was jolted from my morning stupor by hearing the dad yell "Get in the f-ing truck, we're late for church!" at the top of his lungs. Seemed ironic to me.... Some people just suck.

 

That's what I mean! People that make a big deal of going to church on Sunday, have huge religious wedding/funeral ceremonies, but then act like that the other 99% of the time. It's like, why do you even bother? Or, what kind of lunacy makes you think Sundays make up for the rest of your life?

My buddy makes it a point to go to church every Sunday, but gets drunk nearly every weekend and threatens to kill his wife if she leaves with his kids. Great friend, but the religion and his actual behavior seem to contradict each other.

 

I've seen this too. It really is sad, and to me that is what seperates those with Faith, and those with a Religion.

I see Religion as something defining, and people with Religion are the ones who go to Church for the appearance and tradition of it, but in all reality have little understanding of the Faith behind it all.

Faith in God is raw, subject to personal interpretation, often unexplainable and intense. Religion is the neat, tidy, packaged version of it complete with a brand name.

Obviously I don't mean someone who says they believe in their religion is full of it or anything, I just commenting on personal experiences and my perceptions of those words.

 

Hey Pierce-I'm going to interject here to say this; if you read my experience growing up Catholic you'll see that it wasnt fun...you would kinda expect me to join you here but what keeps me believing in God and Jesus is what keeps tons of folks doing so-faith. Simply faith. Religious beliefs may be falacy to you-but they give people a sense of security and bonding with each other. People like you who recieve logic first maybe don't require these things to help you through life. I feel that man's intelligence needs a wall to 'bounce'off of-that being the notion that there's something bigger than ourselves up there running this mess or at least overseeing it's natural progression.

 

Ok, then let's set aside your claim that you were "starting school," which would have made you about 6 years of age when your "atheism" took root.

This seems to be pretty much the crux of your disaffection. Not that you've studied the Bible carefully for yourself, but that you were turned off by a number of things including unknowledgable "followers" who simply dismissed what you were learning without dealing with it.

I understand such frustration, for I too have often confronted those who are unwilling and unable to deal with the the hard evidence that's all around us regarding the processes that formed the universe, our planetary system, and the world on which we live. A great many Christians are unable to deal with such things except to dismiss them out of hand, and I readily admit that such attitudes often prove to be a tremendous deterant to faith.

However there are things that you apparently are not aware of. For example, the Bible by itself, without the imposition of the various ideas and interpretations of men that have been attached to it, does NOT contradict any truth that research in physics, astronomy, cosmology, anthropology, genetics, archaeology, or the great many other scientific disiplines has revealed. While certain believers will insist otherwise, the Bible itself does not argue against truth that scientific research has shed light upon.

So, don't burn the message just because you may dislike certain messengers!

Yes, you are "murdering the actual reading", and in so doing you illustrate your lack of knowledge and understanding of the Bible quite well. Books filled with popular theories, pretty pictures, and simple text are standard fare these days, the simpler and more sensational the better. On the other hand the Bible requires a focused level of study to come to grips with, and not many have such an ability in this day and age.

Keep your sense of curiousity alive, because there is SO MUCH for you to learn about the Bible as it really is!

Remember that the Bible is silent about secondary causes, and science cannot offer us anything about first causes. So it is only as we bring these together that a full understanding of the universe and the geological record on earth is revealed.

We need the twin revelations of God, the Bible and the scientific record. Unlike any other book the Bible is intended to be read and understood by all cultures across the span of several thousand years, and this places some serious constraints on the extent and detail of science it can contain.

St. Augustine warned: "Be on guard against giving interpretations of Scripture that are farfetched or opposed to science, and so exposing the Word of God to the ridicule of unbelievers."


Thanks for your response, and I trust we can pursue this further as time allows.

 

I understand. Everyone needs a crutch to hold them up in times of need. I use my family and few select close friends for that. I try not to think about someone/something "running this mess or at least overseeing it's natural progression" due to exactly the way you put that. It IS a mess, and the ways things are I just don't believe anyone or anything is keeping things in check. Then again, we haven't destroyed ourselves via nuclear war so maybe I'm wrong. Hard to tell with all the floods, famines, wars, diseases, psychotic countries with nukes, etc going on.

 

To elaborate on this, my "religion" as the topic asks could only be answered by "Faith in God". Organized Religion, in my opinion, leaves to much about our faith in the hands of men.
I pray atleast once a day, and consult the Bible as needed.

 

Yeah, but nobody's lit and dropped their match yet, and for that I am amazed and grateful. It's a very civilized discussion so far.

 

It has been respectful and polite thus far.

 

See, that post made sense to me. It's the churches with pastors just reading from a book verbatim without putting anything into their own words or people pushing their beliefs on my for the soul reason of trying to "save" me that turn me off. If you can put it in your own words and explain to me in modern English then that church my get my audience. As it is I don't speak old english so reading scripture to me is meaningless. Might as well reading a quantom mechanics book. I've also never been you to get pushed around so the whole "holier than thou" attitude that comes across from many people is intolerable. That attitude usually turns off the part of my brain receptive to whatever's being said.