Do you believe in Religion or God for that matter?

[Billy]

Without religion to me the only wars that really make sense are for resources, resource wise that area just doesn't seem to warrant all of the violent attention it's got over the years.

There are many areas that are much more valuable economically that are much, much more peaceful.

As for why the Romans wanted it, like Shai Gar said, they wanted everything and constant expansion kept the empire alive. Perhaps the Romans saw the Jewish religion as a threat to their own, control the places of religious significance, control the followers etc.

So why was the original goal of the crusades to capture Jerusalem (of all places?).

The Romans wanted it because it was a key economic trade area for empires all across the region. The Phonecians, the Egyptians, the Greeks all came through there for the same reason.

And the goal of the crusades was to take the fight to the Muslims who had been invading Europe for many years. They were all the way up through Spain and coming through Greece at one point. And that was after they took Constantinople. I know it seems like it was about religion, but it was just opposing sides fighting over land, and more importantly economic resources and power.

 

[Billy]

A more important thing to figure out is not, is there a god, but rather what is intelligence, and where did it come from? There is no ultimate reason for why atoms cling together and form bigger things especially since atoms aren't made of anything really.

 

[Serendipity]

Any chance of elaborating on those here?

Honestly, I've made the mistake of attempting to sum it up in a couple of paragraphs in the past, and it just doesn't do it justice. As I mentioned in my previous post, I wrote a memoir kind of chronicling these. It's rather long for a memoir... 20+ pages. You can understand why I'm afraid to casually sum it up. I'm kind of in the process of revising the memoir for a couple of reasons, but if you like, I'll post a link here when I'm done.

 

[TheLastMohican]

Honestly, I've made the mistake of attempting to sum it up in a couple of paragraphs in the past, and it just doesn't do it justice. As I mentioned in my previous post, I wrote a memoir kind of chronicling these. It's rather long for a memoir... 20+ pages. You can understand why I'm afraid to casually sum it up. I'm kind of in the process of revising the memoir for a couple of reasons, but if you like, I'll post a link here when I'm done.

Understood, please do.

 

[Journey]

I believe in the Creator God who created all that is, including Adam and Eve as per the account in Genesis in the Bible. I believe that God wanted us to know Him so He left an account telling of His dealings with mankind and His entrance into history through His Son, Jesus, the Christ, who came as the second Adam to restore what Adam damaged through his sin and repair our relationship with God through His atoning sacrifice on the cross. What the blood of goats and bulls could never do, the Lamb of God's blood did procuring forgiveness of sins for us if we believe on the blood of Jesus. That is the God I believe in. The God who is so good He could do no other than give us the free will to fall and then make a way for us to be forgiven by sacrificing His own Son for us to become His Adopted Children, joint heirs with Christ Jesus. That's the God I love because He first loved me while I was dead in my sins. I am free because I was forgiven. Free to enjoy a relationship with my God. It is more than wonderful to me.

 

[Lucifer]

I believe in god (in the pantheist sense) and in a spirit realm. Beyond that my religious beliefs are not set in stone. I am sort of a deist, I see merit in all religions.

 

[sassafras]

I most definitely believe in a God. To me, God is a power that is greater than ourselves, that is both in us and around us, and that joins the universe. That is, at least, how I define God.

Truthfully, I think it is very audacious of us to claim to know God's nature, and figure that there is a right and only way to worship and understand God (do we need to "worship" God?) I think of religions as a guideline. One of many ways to approach the God issue in our lives as a community, and there's nothing wrong with having a set interpretation. So long as we realize that it is just an interpretation, and that there is nothing inherently wrong or right about that interpretation... particularly when use that interpretation to alienate or ostracize others. Or when we feel the urge to compare and contrast our interpretations to the point that we deem it necessary to raise arms against one another.

Fundamentally, I think God is a private issue. One way or another, each and every one of us is going to die. We will either meet our maker, or we'll discover that there is none. I think we're all here to live our lives to the best of our abilities and in accordance to our own callings. How we interpret our lives and their meaning should not be anyone's concern.

 

[Alkali Regnant]

I was raised in a large christian family though my parents were protestant (so we didn't go to church much). Still for the first 16 years of my life I "believed" in God. Well at 16 I started to realize that I didn't really believe at all. I was just following suit of my parents and grandparents and my friends.
I started to really think about what I believed in and I realized that God just didn't make any sense to me (I'll just keep my views out otherwise this post could go on for a loooooong time lol). I doubted the existence of a God though I still believe that every person has a spirit, but we are not governed by some all powerful being. I still wasn't quite sure of my non-belief in God until this summer my brother, Ben, died in a car accident. Of course all my religious friends were telling me "he's in a better place" but then I started to think about that phrase. Okay so hypothetically I thought about "okay, so he's in a better place" but then I started to think about what the rest of my family and Ben's friends were feeling. Over 600 people showed up for his memorial service. When you have that many friends, how could being with God be a better place? And how could God cause so much pain to so many people to bring one person up to him?

Toned down version of my views of course. I'm spiritual but I don't believe that God exists. I am not against other's views, I accept them. That's the way you think. Of course God or no-God is not a fact so whatever beliefs you have are beliefs.

 

[Barnabas]

Hi kinda new hear but this forum just poped out to me, I have to post.

I'm a Christian, not because I was raised that way but because I have found reason and truth in it. I believe the word to be true and eternal, and so are it's laws and commandments. Only by the grace of God are we saved and by faith we are healed.
Only through Christ Jesus can we find salvation.

 

[Soulful]

I've had too many experiences that have verified faith for me, to discount it and not believe.

 

[daydreamer]

I believe in Lord Jesus Christ. I am a Catholic, though I do not agree with all the political views of the Catholic Church.

 

[Roger]

Yes, i believe in god and religion. Both helped me in a great way in my life.

 

[Duty]

I've had too many experiences that have verified faith for me, to discount it and not believe.

This may be the core of the dispute toward religion: a major rule of reasoning is that the vast majority of things cannot be verified, but only shown to be false vs not-yet-proven false.

 

[muir]

Deification

There seems to be a process which happens over time with historical figures. They are raised up over time in people's estimation and glorified. First they are a hero, perhaps showing some virtuous traits or values admired in their culture; then over time they become mythologised into a legend. Then with time they become a deity. You can even see this process a little in the modern world with sport, when sporting heros of the past are called 'legends', 'giants' or 'greats'.

I once visited the temple of a guru who had died in the latter half of the 20th century. He had preached his own message in the 1950's and gained a number of followers. It seems a lot of new religions sprung up around this time which i guess is due to a post modern desire to find new meaning in a chaotic world.

The guru told his followers: 'don't worship statues and images'. He took a mirror and put it up onto an alter and said 'whatever you see in the mirror, that is what you should respect and be true to'. Eventually the guru died and in a very short space of time after his death, his followers had taken down the mirror from the alter and replaced it with an image of him. They continue to worship him to this day.

 

[enfp can be shy]

Atheism is just as bad when it's forced on others. It's no exception.

Agreed.

I like some social aspects of some religions. Have no true faith in any of them. I appreciate some of the ideas. Those are the thoughts of ancient generations of people, who have analyzed humanity. There is some social and even biological wisdom occasionally (eg. I view reincarnations as a clue for genetics). Like with fairy tales, it might even become true, with the help of technology. A good lesson in human intuition.