*blushes*
I wonder who that could be?
It wasn't you, actually.
*blushes*
I wonder who that could be?
Now that's an interpretation I can get behind. Very, very different meaning.
To clarify, you're saying that the "Garden" wasn't actually a good place, but only one that appeared good because everyone ignored the bad stuff, correct?
I'm totally in agreement with Planet-Man.
Except I don't care about eating animals or wearing their soft wonderful flesh.
why would you wear flesh? that's gross. what's the matter with you sir? fur on the other hand...mmmm warmth. wool that is. not skinning animals.
why would you wear flesh? that's gross. what's the matter with you sir? fur on the other hand...mmmm warmth. wool that is. not skinning animals.
I'm such a geek
We're all right there with ya, buddy.:wink:
Now, I'm a Catholic, but I've got my doubts. Like, what's your explanation for dinosaurs? Did God just put a bunch of fake dinosaur bones in the Earth just to **** with us? And what's your explanation for other planets? Did God create those too? Then why aren't they in the Bible?
My favorite explanation for dinosaurs was something that my friend showed me on youtube. It was by a televangelist. I'm going to paraphrase a bit because it's like 16 minutes long.Like, what's your explanation for dinosaurs? Did God just put a bunch of fake dinosaur bones in the Earth just to **** with us?
i wonder if dino teenage angst was similar to ours.
I find that bizarre, because the comfort of faith seems to me to be the best part of religion. Its the social engineering aspects of it that generally cause disagreement and trouble.you know i don't hate the idea of a god, or an afterlife, faith is not a bad thing
IMHO religon as a fait-based-organization is an inherintly terrible idea
Meeeeeeeeeeeeetaphor. I think you're definitely being way too literal in your interpretation - the bad things weren't that they were being stalked by a thousand hungry zombie-tigers thirsting for blood, they (seem to me anyway) to refer to the human capacity for the more negative emotions (and ultimately, actions) that are linked to self-awareness; things like selfishness.But only if you're ignorant of bad things. If there were bad things that they were ignorant of, then it wasn't really a great place. It only appeared that way.
If there were no bad things, where's the ignorance?
Dude, I totally want to see that. Also, my local church frequently puts up spectacularly awesome boards that say things like "Noah was a fool to get in a wooden boat with two termites! A fool!"Back in olden times everything lived really long. Says so in the bible. And the bible is infalible. Noah was like 400 years old. So dinosaurs aren't a seperate species. They are just lizards who grew very big because lizards never stop growing. Noah didn't have room for the big ones on the boat so he left the big ones and took the babies. So the dinos went extinct because everything stopped living for a really long time and so dinosaurs still walk amongst us, just really small. This is accompanied by pictures of humans interacting with dinosaurs.
Makes me laugh every time. There was a second speech about how Noah was able to fit all the animals on his ship, but I'll save that for later.
I find that bizarre, because the comfort of faith seems to me to be the best part of religion. Its the social engineering aspects of it that generally cause disagreement and trouble.
I'm also firmly against any sort of organized religion, or anything that involves one human telling another human what to believe, or how to pray, or what to pray for, or what not to do without explaination(note: I don't count "because the Bible says so" as an actual explaination, mainly because the Bible was again written by other humans, and not God).
IMHO religon as a fait-based-organization is an inherintly terrible idea
I just think that personal belief in a higher power is just that a personal thing, and when you organize this beleif into larger groups one person generally takes a position of authority and this leads towards said person telling people what to beleive and how to beleive it.I really feel I should talk about the idea of "organised religion is bad".
I truly think you have not thought through those statements well enough. Saying religion is inherently bad or absolutely bad (in that it is always something to oppose) is kinda like saying "education is bad".
It's sheer nonsense: it's the form the education takes that's what important.
Religion is much like education for the spirit (as opposed to the mind). It's to teach wisdom and ethics and to deal with the terrible paradoxes that exist in our lives (why must life end in death, for example). If you have a good teacher, you'll learn well. If you have a bad teacher, you won't. Islam, for example, in the hands of a devout, compassionate imam, can be a holy, sacred experience that enriches your life. Or, it can be an instrument of war in the hands of crazy zealots who are really pissed off.
The problem I feel you face, in terms of what your perception of religion is, is that you (like far too many others) believe that religion is the end of understanding. That if you're a Christian, you are not allowed to examine or participate in other beliefs. And you know what? I bet a lot of Christians feel that way too.
I agree, people should believe as differently from one another as they think and feel, but I also think, that without a strong learning programme, one can get lost in the vacuum of possibilities.
People have to start somewhere, and that's what those organizations are for. They're where you start. And if you're really, really capable or driven, you can move past them to your own spiritual wisdom. And sometimes, you don't need to. What you have is enough.
But they're necessary. People can't live without spiritual direction. Some people find a common ground shared by many, and some people find their own. But without organized religions, even those to oppose, few would find any direction at all.
I just think that personal belief in a higher power is just that a personal thing, and when you organize this beleif into larger groups one person generally takes a position of authority and this leads towards said person telling people what to beleive and how to beleive it.
i mean you can have christianity without the church, you can have Judiism (is that right? i don't want to say Jewishness) with out the temple, so i don't see the necessity of a church (i am using a church as a reference to organized religon in general).
but please i don't want to get in an aguement about religon, i hate talking about religon... and politics... on the internet
I just think that personal belief in a higher power is just that a personal thing, and when you organize this beleif into larger groups one person generally takes a position of authority and this leads towards said person telling people what to beleive and how to beleive it.
i mean you can have christianity without the church, you can have Judiism (is that right? i don't want to say Jewishness)
you're in the wrong thread then :wink: You don't need church though in all honesty. The only thing church is good for is guidance. If you can find a good priest, minister, rabbi etc, they can help you and guide with lessons on how to live.
There are alot of things wrong with the church though and mostly my peeve is that anyone seen as an outsider is just that. You (in general not gemini) are seen as a heathen or bigot or okay example; Say i was deeply involved in church and bass, as i take it is muslims correct? if he's not lets say he is and i take him to meet the other side so to speak. The thing is, they automatically start telling him he's wrong or they hold back judgement, not because they're being model christians, because they don't know what to think because his concepts are so alien that even if there was common ground there is no way they would explore it.
Finding a really good church is hard to find and imo probably not worth finding, at least in america. And this isn't something that i thought of, it's something i've lived through. seeing the ugly side of religion and still having faith is a feat in it's own right. i don't know, that's mainly why i don't go. that and tithes. I don't want to give my money to a church when, two years from now, it looks worse than before but the minister has a nice explorer parked outside.
Here's where your thinking falls apart, and what I was trying to explain.
Yes, you are right, organised institutions of religion do have human authority figures (irrespective of their deities) and this does lead towards the authority figures telling people what to believe and how to believe.
But that is not necessarily a bad thing.
To you, being told how to believe in something is synonymous with being wrong. I'm trying to explain, that it is not. Being told what and how to believe can be beneficial.
Like anything, it can be taken to an unhealthy point, and I think in most cases it is borderline. But I do think it also has many positive benefits.
For example, prayer is a form of meditation. There's really very little difference. Meditative stances occur in two fashions: one is doing nothing, clearing one's mind of everything to be at total relaxation and peace. The other form, is to do the opposite; to carefully and precisely perform a practiced routine, because in doing a deeply involving routine such as prayer, your focus is so intent on the task, your mind becomes clear of all else. This happens in almost all sporting events.
Either form of meditation requires very strict rules so people can learn them and adapt them to fit themselves.
With anything in life, you have to start at the beginning, and at the beginning, it's very rigid, very structured, and very oppressive. It has to be. It's how learning works. As you progress, it gets less so.
I'm trying to get you to see that the "telling people what to do" isn't always bad. At it's worst, it's oppression and brainwashing, but at its best, it can be progressive and liberating.
Does that make any more sense?
Personally, I want to say Jewishness from now on, because it's hysterical. But you're more or less right; it is Judaism. So a teeny inaccuracy.
It's not necessarily knowing of bad things, it's asking questions. It's asking "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why does it rain?" or "What am I here for?" Wanting to know beyond what you already know. But questions cannot be asked if you have no reason to ask them and vice versa. The ignorant live in happiness and therefore have no need to ask questions. Intelligence and consciousness requires hardship. It's how homo sapiens truly became human: They started asking questions. And that's when the world becomes a lot harder.But only if you're ignorant of bad things. If there were bad things that they were ignorant of, then it wasn't really a great place. It only appeared that way.
If there were no bad things, where's the ignorance?
The problem with religion nowadays is that people take it too literally.well, for one it's not an interpretation but an event that happened (if you're christian you believe this). And the garden was a good place and no there was nothing to be ignorant of becasue nothing bad was happening until after they were tempted to eat from the tree.