TheCleric

Im not a religious person but i am a man of faith. I have faith in the earth and in one mans teachings and that man is Charles Darwin.

I think, all the time whether i want to or not, and faith always crosses my mind.

What is the good point of faith?

I can think of one, hope, it gives people hope something to grasp on to in order to keep them motivated to lead there lives. Another would be order. It ensures order by directing the believer to a life in which there actions are in check as not to end up in hell, or reincarnated into a worm. That way there the believer lives there lives walking fragiley and making sure not to anger many people so they can finally see god when they die.

What is the bad point of faith?

I can think of one, control, as i mentioned earlier it ensures order thus creating control. People are not allowed to do as they please out of fear, fear of theyre own creator. So instead of living a life of happiness they live a life and then expect happiness when they die. Another would be bigotry. Even if its unspoked the feeling of alienation is there, when you enter a faith you enter it because you whole heartedly believe in it, even if you doubt it you believe in its principals, otherwise you wouldn't participate in your faith. Now how does this cause bigotry? When you think you are right, you think other people who think like you are right, thus meaning everyone else is wrong and their thoughts dont mean a thing in the long run. This will no doubt cause a feeling of pity or even dominance over the other person. Thus bigotry is born.

So now with all of this in mind where are we? We are left with people that have hope, and order, control and bigotry. From the perspective tree that i look from this is an ideal slave. They hope their lives will be better, they are in order for fear of retaliation of their master who is in control of them, and they hate everyone who isnt them because of the situation they are in, thus ensuring they will never get together and conquer the thing that keeps them in control.

Thoughts? Flames? Responses of all kind welcome, im especially waiting for the voice of the good christian word on this.

Cleric

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The Stoned Philosopher

Totally agree with you Cleric.faith has its high points but its mostly about control.

The Stoned Philosopher

P.S how do you get that frog under your name??

mirage

bad faith to me is when it is not 100% belived.

like some celebs always thank god for awards, when you know theydont belive it they merely say it to look good to some

TheCleric

and you get your own avatar, since i love froggies i got a frog!

Cleric

mirage

are you a holy toad?

i hear you can get high from lickin a toad, hhmmmmmm if we smoke the toad that might work

dude here sit in this bowl

TomServo

I think youre right. Ive thought for a while that religion can turn people into slaves, but never really thought about it that much. You did a great job of explaining it. Then again, I havent heard anyone elses thoughts on it.

I do disagree about one thing though. Faith doesnt necessarily cause these things. One can have faith without following others. IMO, religion is usually the real problem.

jamf

where is the proof of god? our own existence?

i cant help but believe that religion is an invention by man to cope with the fear of death. everyone wants to know what happens after we die. nobody knows but a lot people think they do.

also i think people need a good and evil side to their religion to cope with all the injustices in the world. its nice to think that jerks like hitler and stalin will get whats coming to them.

i think most of us realize that most organized religion is a sham but is there any kind of supreme being or creator? how do we know? i currently believe that in death there is nothing: no pain no pleasure no thought no sensations no conciousness. i dont know if that would be bad or good. what do you guys think

HillBilly

Howdy!!

Jamf hit faith on the head..

"i think most of us realize that most organized religion is a sham but is there any kind of supreme being or creator? how do we know? i currently believe that in death there is nothing: no pain no pleasure no thought no sensations no conciousness"

Faith is the heartfelt belief that your ideals of religion, life, death, and personal God are correct. You could go to church every day of the week. Read every religious piece of text in the world.. Talk to every holy man or representative of higher power... BUT unless you BELIEVE in the words and theories that mean something to you, they mean nothing. Your belief is that of non-religion, right?. If those are your deep feelings that to you are 100% true, then you have faith that there is no god, no correct religion, etc...

About death: Believe me that there are indeed feelings of pain, pleasure, memories, hurt. If you hang around enough dying people, hold their hand while they take their last breath. See the look in the dying eyes... You'll know this.

FYI: The most pleasant death I've ever seen.. Lots of supportive family. Much much understanding of the processes of nature. And a faith that the one dying was no doubt going to heaven, both in her mind and the mind of the family members.

~~hb

I saw a bumper sticker.. "If you're living like there's no God. You'd better be right."

TheCleric

im still wonderin about that whole rasta thing hillbilly, i think we should research that a lil more i mean my hairs long i could dred it up if need be hehe.

Sorry i dont have much more to say about religion, ive kinda said alls of how i feel but do keep the responses comin i love to hear the sound of brains moving. Kinda smells like tar though......

Cleric

HillBilly

I am really interested in hearing some feedback on the Rasta thread, too.

I have heard.. We hear a lot of things, how many of them are based in truth... I've heard that there is a general discontent for the white man in Rastarafarian culture. So I dunno how accepted we'd be, bro.?

Any Rasta people..?

~~hb