First off a belated welcome to Minds Eye, it has been a pleasure to have you take part in our discussions. There is no "what" that causes one to question religion, but what you are referring to is exactly what I was telling you about earlier in my post. It is the "self" emerging from within you, the "self" that has been stifled for so long by religious dogma, the "self" that has the potential and the ability to attain knowledge that comes not from a "prescribed religious belief". This is the "self" that has been crushed by many religions which forbid people to have their own thoughts or their own beliefs, people were tortured, murdered, exiled and condemned, people like Gallileo, who spent his brilliant life in prison as a heretic because he presented something so simple as the scientific fact that the earth revolved around the sun. Religions can and will be oppressive, frown on ideas that may provide alternative views and contradict what the religion "wants" you to believe. Religions are essentially a dictatorship upon the human mind. You are for whatever reason concluding that some supreme being "put" us here and declare that the human body is this wondrous thing in this wondrous world. But let's have a better look. The human body is subject to thousands of diseases and ages without mercy in a time when wisdom has reached impressive proportion. The body consumes, metabolizes food and excretes waste and for the most part spends it's life living in pain and fear upon a planet that is unforgiving with natural disasters that kill and maim people by the millions. And all this you say is the work of a "supreme being"? I would think that if a supreme being were to create something it would not be so wrought with "imperfection". Your perception of the human body as a precision machine is that of a personal one, a view that will change as you become old and frail, unable to care for your "miraculous" invention. Now you are exposing the true depths of your brainwashing and indoctrination with this ridiculous story about "black spots. This is exactly what I expressed earlier about how the ancients conjured up stories to get people to believe and to get control over the minds of those who have not the ability to think on their own. People for some reason forfeit their rights to be governed by others. This notion of "redemption"; what redemption? redemption from what? This is simple "fear" tactic and not different from that which parents use on their little children. "don't touch that or your eyes will go blind" People of the book you say! Book are written by people not Gods! I always found it funny that a book written by Jews portrays the Jews as being the "chosen people". Wow, I find that amazing and wonder if the "book" was written by Italians, they would be the chosen people. I think these religious books that have somehow made there way into modern day, leaving a trail of death and atrocity behind them, are the biggest "hoax" in the history of planet earth. The close relation you find in religions stems from the fact that everyone and there brother needed to have a God of their own and so different religions popped up all over the place. If you need proof of that just take a look around and see how many new religions keep popping up as we speak. Religious splinter groups, cults and sects seem to take on a life of their own everyday. There are approximately 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns, etc. Doesn't that tell you something?? Last but not least "evolution" has not fallen off the edge of the solar system as a viable theory concerning the origins of life. When you consider the time span of billions of years it doesn't take much to allow for expanded thought and open mindedness.
The other day I saw on television the service for 8 year old Sandra Cantu, who was raped and murdered by a sick woman. The priest offers this ridiculous phrase that I hear all the time. "She is now in the arms of a Loving God" Loving God? What? Where was the loving god when the girl was being murdered and stuffed into a suitcase to be dumped in a drainage ditch? Don't you see how nonsensical all this religious stuff is? You want more? A pig caused hundreds of Indians to kill one another in 1980. The animal walked through a Muslim holy ground at Moradabad, near New Delhi. Muslims, who think pigs are an embodiment of Satan, blamed Hindus for the defilement. They went on a murder rampage, stabbing and clubbing Hindus, who retaliated in kind. The pig riot spread to a dozen cities and left more than 200 dead. This swinish episode tells a universal tale. It typifies religious behavior that has been recurring for centuries. Ronald Reagan often called religion the world's mightiest force for good, "the bedrock of moral order." George Bush said it gives people "the character they need to get through life." This view is held by millions. But the truism isn't true. The record of human experience shows that where religion is strong, it causes cruelty. Intense beliefs produce intense hostility. Only when faith loses its force can a society hope to become humane. The First Crusade was launched in 1095 with the battle cry "Deus Vult" (God wills it), a mandate to destroy infidels in the Holy Land. Gathering crusaders in Germany first fell upon "the infidel among us," Jews in the Rhine valley, thousands of whom were dragged from their homes or hiding places and hacked to death or burned alive. Then the religious legions plundered their way 2,000 miles to Jerusalem, where they killed virtually every inhabitant, "purifying" the symbolic city. Cleric Raymond of Aguilers wrote: "In the temple of Solomon, one rode in blood up to the knees and even to the horses' bridles, by the just and marvelous judgment of God." In the Third Crusade, after Richard the Lion-Hearted captured Acre in 1191, he ordered 3,000 captives many of them women and children -- taken outside the city and slaughtered. Some were disemboweled in a search for swallowed gems. Bishops intoned blessings. Infidel lives were of no consequence. As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux declared in launching the Second Crusade: "The Christian glories in the death of a pagan, because thereby Christ himself is glorified." Human sacrifice blossomed in the Mayan theocracy of Central America between the 11th and 16th centuries. To appease a feathered-serpent god, maidens were drowned in sacred wells and other victims either had their hearts cut out, were shot with arrows, or were beheaded. Elsewhere, sacrifice was sporadic. In Peru, pre-Inca tribes killed children in temples called "houses of the moon." In Tibet, Bon shamans performed ritual killings. In Borneo builders of pile houses drove the first pile through the body of a maiden to pacify the earth goddess. In India, Dravidian people offered lives to village goddesses, and followers of Kali sacrificed a male child every Friday evening. The Assassins were a sect of Ismaili Shi'ite Muslims whose faith required the stealthy murder of religious opponents. From the 11th to 13th centuries, they killed numerous leaders in modern-day Iran, Iraq and Syria. They finally were wiped out by conquering Mongols -- but their vile name survives. You want more? I've had enough. On Apr 19, 9:05 pm, Rosey <[email protected]> wrote: > One more question, what causes one to question religion after having > been so faithful to it? I'd really like some input. Thank you. > > On Apr 19, 12:42 pm, Rosey <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I decided to start a new post as I originally intended it to be a > > response to the Purpose of Life post but felt it took another > > direction. > > > First off, tip of the hat to everyone in here. I discovered this > > group by chance. Second, purpose to life? Ah, the frailties of the > > mind, I have been walking backwards as I've grown weak in faith. I am > > muslim, I don't think anyone here is immature enough to negatively > > comment on such a label, but I do have one thing to say: When I was > > more faithful to my religion and consistent with prayers I felt a > > sense of completion and calmness. I could even say that I at one > > point I felt that I reached a temporary self actualization. It's not > > the religion, but more or less the idea of maintaining spirituality > > that keeps one fulfilled. Through my recent skepticisms and > > analyzations of religion as a whole I have been more distraught than > > I've ever been. Is it an oddysey? Why does one who has steered far > > from ideological beliefs that a supreme entity exists feel lost and > > agonizingly stressed? Wouldn't one be better off just accepting and > > following religion knowing that they are abiding by its rules > > accordingly? Isn't that comfort? > > > Sincerely, > > Lost --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
