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Forums - General - What Religion Do You Follow?

 

What Religion Do You Follow?

Islam 15 7.89%
 
Christianity 50 26.32%
 
Hinduism 2 1.05%
 
Sikhism 1 0.53%
 
Buddhism 2 1.05%
 
I don't follow a religion 120 63.16%
 
Total:190
Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
kowenicki said:

None... I'm not superstitious. 

 

Oh.. and why is most praying just begging in another guise?  Oh.. and how does this god character choose which one of the 10 athletres to favour? after all they are all lined up at the starting line indulging in some weird arm waving and sky gazing prayers.  

 

These are actually really good questions. Any intelligent person would be very dissatisfies if his belief system couldn't explain simple things like this.

Isn't praying just begging?

How do the entities that attain salvation get chosen?

Brilliant :)

If you are unsatisfied with what someone tells you then its your right to reject everything they say.



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Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
pacman91 said:
Dr.Grass said:
pacman91 said:

i follow Jesus Christ and everything that is written in the holy bible.

I guarantee that you don't.

From my knowledge and my experience I am confident the bible is cohesive and consistent when viewed in context.

I can guarantee at the very least you do not follow moral relativism. It is an impossible, self-refuting idea. 

Ok, fine. You asked for it. This is just the beginning by the way, you can cop out at any time. Your cohesive and consistend philosophy should easily dispose of these first questions. 

1. Why are human beings not born equally.

2. Why am I born in sin and have to suffer for something that I did not commit? I would not punish my own children for something they didn't do, so why would the all-knowing, all-loving Father of the universe do that?

3. What happens to a person who dies at a very young age.



Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
pizzahut451 said:
Dr.Grass said:
pizzahut451 said:
sapphi_snake said:
pizzahut451 said:

I wouldnt be so sure about that, especially with our great religion increasing in China

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128546334

China accepting christianity to some level would be amazing. Not only would atheism become much weaker in the world but it would also start the spreading of our religion in the far east and Asian continent overall, something our forfathers werent able to do before.

One can hope...

First of all, the majority of the Chinese aren't atheists (only about 14-15% of them are), they're Buddhists or Taoists.

Second of all, most of that part of Asia was colonised by Europeans. If they couldn't convert them by now, they ain't gonna (and you can ber sure that the muslims ain't gonna convert).

Third of all, Christianity is one of the worse things that could happen to China. The last thing they need is a radical religious sect ruining their developing country and halting their progress.

(and in the West, thanks to secularism, atheists have nothing to worry about ).

(Oh, and all reliable sources indicate that Islam is by far the fastest growing religion in the world. Even an organisation such as the World Christian Database says so).


I didnt excpect another kind of response from you...

First of all, majority of chinese are atheist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_China#Statistics      

Second, countries like China, japan, Thailand and Mongolia werent colonised by europeans (at least not most of them), and I wasnt talking about middle easter muslim countries, but about the countries in the far east.

Another random insult, which if I wrote, zexen would ban me in a second because of ''religious intolerance'' but that only applies if a non-christian belief is insulted, but whatever. You just keep living up to those stereotypes.

And Islam is spreading due to big birth rates in families, but Christianity is spreading aong whole nations and continents, which is a long-term advantige over Islam.


The number of people that adhere to any given faith tells us nothing about the level of truth in that faith. In fact, seeing as we are pretty much destroying the world one could argue the opposite...

Your presentation of Christianity will certainly deter intelligent people from trying to understand Christian Theology. Quite possibly there are some smart self-proclaimed atheistic guys reading your comments and thinking:''Yeah, that's just more proof that religious dogma is for lower class people.''

While I myself am in no way atheistic, I have to say that I cannot blame anyone who reads your comments and comes to the above (religion is for fools) conclusion.

Jesus didn't try and convert as many people as possible to become Christians. He dedicated his life to understanding and teaching spiritual truth.

So basiclly, you didnt adress anything what i have said, you just mocked my arguments? Ok

 

What does anything you have to say have to do with the surch for truth?



Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
lolita said:
Dr.Grass said:

It's much more important to do something that's sustainable than to pasionately go all out for something.

For me its easier than for most since I stayed in India for a while and learnt to cook there from a master cook. I quite enjoy inviting friends over and impressing them with a special dinner.

So I don't think you should worry about tuna. Besides, Rastas eat fish too :D


Wow, lucky you! I love (mild) vegetarian curries, ate one not too long ago at a restaurent and if I could cook like that, I'd have no problem being 100% vegetarian. As for now, I'm pretty much a lessmeatarian... I don't eat a lot of meat but I still feel for it. Only reason I still do is my cooking isn't so great with vegetarian food.

I believe that to be as kind as you can be, you need to show compassion for living being, and animals are living being. I believe they have feelings (although not as extream as ours) and they can feel stressed, in danger and fearful. I aspire to become a better person and being vegetarian would be a step towards that.

As for religion, well while reading the Quran, I learned that there is still no satisfaction on my part. If God is perfect, then the religion would be perfect, and yet I don't find such evidence. There are things I disagree with in every religion, or at least things have too much emphasis on certain things (like Buddhism saying that pain is from cravings, is true in many situations but not always-but then again Buddhism isn't based on divine revelations I suppose).

I'm pretty much back at square one, believing that there being a God, is a 50/50 chance, believing in God being a better option than not to... It's not like I'm losing anything by beliving anyway. Still not following any religion so to speak. I suppose I could follow some Buddhist teachings without really being a Buddhist... *Shrugs* It's so complicated! I can't believe that people can just pick something and stick with it.

I'm not preaching here, dead honest. But I would suggest reading the Bhagavad Gita if you are looking for something deep:

"When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous." ~ Albert Einstein

"The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions." ~ Dr. Albert Schweizer

 

"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial." ~ Henry David Thoreau

 

"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us."

 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson



highwaystar101 on 16 March 2011
Dr.Grass said:

2. Why am I born in sin and have to suffer for something that I did not commit? I would not punish my own children for something they didn't do, so why would the all-knowing, all-loving Father of the universe do that?

It's the snakes I feel sorry for in this case. Punished to crawl on their belly for eternity because Satan took the form of one once and messed things up. They're born with no legs due to an original sin they had nothing to do with. Talk about unfair.



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Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
sapphi_snake said:
Dr.Grass said:
sapphi_snake said:

Why I can understand why some people would want to become vegetarians, in order to be non-violent, are these people aware that plants are living breathig beings also. People also kill plants and eat them. In the end you have to kill something and eat it in order to survive (unless you're a plant of course).


yes so we might as well bbq a nice tasty homeless person. No one will know! Or what about those tasty stray dogs.Hmmmm... But wait! Nature has the ultimate solution! There are these animals you can keep on big farms, put them in small cages and induce hormones so they supply endless streams of milk! Then, when they are old and useless, you jam them on a truck and take them to a place they are minced one-by-one and a day later you have a nice juicy piece of them with some mushroom sauce

forgive my tone. It just makes conveying the point much quicker and easier.

What point? There are people who eat other people, and there are people who eat dogs. It has nothing to do with nature, but with culture. What I was trying to say is that you're gonna kill a living being in order to survive. I'm not saying we should eat humans, BUT saying that you don't wanna eat an animal due to non-violence is silly.


I see that you are not reading between the lines. 



Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
kowenicki said:
Dr.Grass said:
kowenicki said:

None... I'm not superstitious. 

 

Oh.. and why is most praying just begging in another guise?  Oh.. and how does this god character choose which one of the 10 athletres to favour? after all they are all lined up at the starting line indulging in some weird arm waving and sky gazing prayers.  

 

These are actually really good questions. Any intelligent person would be very dissatisfies if his belief system couldn't explain simple things like this.

Isn't praying just begging?

How do the entities that attain salvation get chosen?

Brilliant :)

If you are unsatisfied with what someone tells you then its your right to reject everything they say.

Hang on... did we just agree or am I missing some high level sarcasm?  

We most certainly agree. If your questions can't be answered, reject it. If you see some activity and it doesn't make sense (praying) then get to the core of what that activity means. If the meaning doesn't make sense, reject it.

The above things should be done in a sober manner though. I don't think anyone who goes around and decries everything will ever find wisdom.



Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
highwaystar101 said:
Dr.Grass said:

2. Why am I born in sin and have to suffer for something that I did not commit? I would not punish my own children for something they didn't do, so why would the all-knowing, all-loving Father of the universe do that?

It's the snakes I feel sorry for in this case. Punished to crawl on their belly for eternity because Satan took the form of one once and messed things up. They're born with no legs due to an original sin they had nothing to do with. Talk about unfair.

I bet they wished that he came as a spider :P



Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
sapphi_snake said:
Dr.Grass said:
sapphi_snake said:
Dr.Grass said:
ManusJustus said:
Chairman-Mao said:

Christianity. I'm going to leave it at that and not get into a discussion over beliefs. This site is way to dominated by atheists to have a decent religious topic. 

We are building a Creationist theme park in Kentucky.  Maybe you could meet some people there who share your beliefs, while you ride the Jonah Fish Submarine or Noah's Log Flume.

Serioulsy though, I grew up in a very religious family with preacher grandparents, so I know a lot about religion.  Thats why I'm an atheist.

You mean you know a lot about western religion.

So? Where are you getting at?

Isn't it pretty obvious?

No. What makes Eastern religions special?


*Poor hungry African child to big fat American child*

What makes waffles and ice cream with chocolate sauce so special?

hehehe

No, I'm not trying to tell you that Eastern religions are special and western not. Its just that the average modern western man is religious only due to his cultural situation, and he has rarely been satisfied with what philosophical systems he's been taught since there seem to be so many holes in there. On the contrary, certain eastern 'religions' appeal to the intelligent man because they answer your questions before you've asked them. You just have to know where to look.

(Please don't ask me:'' but if its so great why are people in India and Sri Lanka and wherever becoming Christians?'' My uncle is a misionary there (I hardly know him), and I loathe what they are doing there)



Dr.Grass on 16 March 2011
kowenicki said:
Dr.Grass said:
kowenicki said:
Dr.Grass said:
kowenicki said:

None... I'm not superstitious. 

 

Oh.. and why is most praying just begging in another guise?  Oh.. and how does this god character choose which one of the 10 athletres to favour? after all they are all lined up at the starting line indulging in some weird arm waving and sky gazing prayers.  

 

These are actually really good questions. Any intelligent person would be very dissatisfies if his belief system couldn't explain simple things like this.

Isn't praying just begging?

How do the entities that attain salvation get chosen?

Brilliant :)

If you are unsatisfied with what someone tells you then its your right to reject everything they say.

Hang on... did we just agree or am I missing some high level sarcasm?  

We most certainly agree. If your questions can't be answered, reject it. If you see some activity and it doesn't make sense (praying) then get to the core of what that activity means. If the meaning doesn't make sense, reject it.

The above things should be done in a sober manner though. I don't think anyone who goes around and decries everything will ever find wisdom.


That isnt my intention.

It is a genuine question... well 2 actually.  To re-iterate:

Whenever I ask someone, particularly of the christian faith, what they pray for... it is almost always a selfish prayer... i.e. begging.  

And whenever a sportsman or performer does well they thank god... why?  isnt it spectacularly arrogant to think god helped them above all other competitors, that they were chosen amongst all others on the planet for success?  

Can anyone help me with these two questions or must I continue with my cynical view of the vast majority of religions and their followers.

I know its not your intention. I just had to add that to prevent misinterpretation.

''Whenever I ask someone, particularly of the christian faith, what they pray for... it is almost always a selfish prayer... i.e. begging.  ''

This is wrong, because we put God in the position of our servant with all our demands. Asking asking asking. It definitely doesn't make sense. Why would he put us here and then wait for us to ask till he gives us what we want? What would be the point? And then how does he decide when to give? Because we most certainly don't always recieve. 

Modern prayer evolved from meditation. A better word for meditation is yoga. Yoga doesn't mean stretching. That is only one type of process meant for the yogi who lives in the Himalayas or in a forest. There are different levels of yoga depending on which stage of practice you are. Its exactly like climbing a ladder. At each successive step your practice includes all of the previous elements, but also the new part. There is no time now to go through all of it, but suffice to say that the ultimate goal is to percieve reality as it realy is through pratyaksha - direct perception. Not through your faulty human senses, but first through your mind and then later (much much later) you even give that up too.

''And whenever a sportsman or performer does well they thank god... why?  isnt it spectacularly arrogant to think god helped them above all other competitors, that they were chosen amongst all others on the planet for success?  ''

Your absolutely right. Why would someone with infinite energies beckoning at His very will give a damn about a sports game played by infinitesimal human beings? Rediculous.