WHAT IS RELIGION ?

[acer1]

What is religion.
What is the use of religion.
Has any one every benefited from religion.

Take a long hard look at the world now and in the past and please tell me what the hell religion succeeds in achieving.


acer1

[Mark_W]

If you know of another religion that doesn't boil down to either one of these 2 fundamental outlooks on life, then let me know. I'm open to the possiblity of their being more.

If we live first for ourselves and extensions of ourselves (family/friends/country) this is a selfish way of living, and this is how wars get started, amongst other social problems.

[Goat]

If you know of another religion that doesn't boil down to either one of these 2 fundamental outlooks on life, then let me know. I'm open to the possiblity of their being more.

If we live first for ourselves and extensions of ourselves (family/friends/country) this is a selfish way of living, and this is how wars get started, amongst other social problems.

That DOES seem how the Christian religion works in practice. The 'US' vs 'THEM' mentality because 'Christians are saved' and the others are 'unsaved'.

ON the other hand, some forms of Buddhism is not so much for the self, but to achieve enlightenment. This is fore 'family/friends/country/humanity', and does
not 'start wars'.

And I would love to see how you can make a case for Shintoism starting wars.

[Mark_W]

keep in mind how I have defined the word religion from my first post. I mistakenly asked for "religions" in my second post, because I recognized that you had a different definition of religion, so now things are a bit confused, sorry.

Anyways to straighten it out. All the "religions" (lets call them faiths now for the sake of the argument, since religion has already claimed the more fundamental spot), that you named have parts of them that correspond to both of the religions (fundamental outlooks on life) that I mentioned. There is false doctrine in each of these faiths that leads to the lower religion, and there is true teaching in all of them that leads to the higher religion.

[joer]

What is religion.
What is the use of religion.
Has any one every benefited from religion.

Take a long hard look at the world now and in the past and please tell me what the hell religion succeeds in achieving.

acer1

Howdy Acer1! Good Day to you.

Religion is the personal relationship between us and God. Organized religions are something substantially different.

Faith is the actualizer of your spiritual growth which is the object of personal religion which is the only true religion there is.

Jesus' All-Encompassing Faith
His faith was so real and all-encompassing that it absolutely swept away any spiritual doubts and effectively destroyed every conflicting desire.

Religion as in our personal relationship is invaluable in helping us to know and learn about God and what God's will is.

The majority of the world has benefited from their personal relationship with God, their religion.

The benefit has been a slow and steady progress toward evolutionary changes in our respect and caring for one another. Slowly we are evolving to the type of caring and loving humanity that God wants us to be. For those of us who are ready for peace, all the hate, death and destruction, lack of respect for human rights, human dignity and the brotherhood and sisterhood of mankind especially in the sense of this thread, that that is perpetrated by organized religions, makes this process so slow and often as if it isn't Real and often discourages from seeing the Truth about religion and spirituality. That is that it urges us to strive for the positive in the face of all the negative that exists.

And that for the majority of the people in the world who have personal religion is THE HOPE OF HUMANITY.

Thanks Acer1! Good Will be yours today and always.

[Klemp]

Acer

I believe that religions is "man trying to pull himelf up to God." These are man-made religions. In these religions, man believes he has to do something to get to God--tithe -- chant -- be baptized -- sacrifice-- etc.

I believe Christianity is God reaching down to man. God has done the work for us. All we have to do is accept it.

[Beto]

1. What is religion.
2. What is the use of religion.
3. Has any one every benefited from religion.

Take a long hard look at the world now and in the past and please tell me what the hell religion succeeds in achieving.


acer1

1. So far I subscribe to Dawkins' opinion that "religion is a mental virus".

2. It's as useful as any virus.

3. It's as beneficial as any virus.

[Assent]

Religion is like entertainment: on the surface of things, it does not appear to be serving any purpose, since it provides no inventions, gives no productivity, indeed nothing useful is accomplished except to develop that intangible thing called "culture." And yet, every culture has people devoted to religion and entertainment. Every single culture has religion.

Every last one.

Aggressive cultures such as Medieval Europe's have aggressive religions. At its height, the Catholic church had actually absorbed the waning power of the Western Roman Empire, which would explain why it had more power than any religion in history before or since. From a historical perspective, its power is still waning back down to normal, which may explain the whole science vs religion thing.

The only other religion with secular power would be Islam, and that's likely because it was started by a warlord, which provides quite a precedent for it. If the Hindi caste system is any indication, though, the normal state of things is for the secular and religious powers to be separate, and if you look in places not dominated by Medieval Catholics and their descendants or Muslims, you'd be pressed to find someone to whom the idea has occurred.

Of course, I could be wrong, in which case, I need to go read some more history books.

[Beto]

Every single culture has religion.

Every last one.

Like Dennett said, they all have the common cold as well.

[joer]

Acer

I believe that religions is "man trying to pull himelf up to God." These are man-made religions. In these religions, man believes he has to do something to get to God--tithe -- chant -- be baptized -- sacrifice-- etc.

I believe Christianity is God reaching down to man. God has done the work for us. All we have to do is accept it.

Klemp it's a pleasure to meet you. It's even more of a pleasure seeing your faith and insights into God. I saw your post on the other thread about God's Grace. This one here shows me a little more of the Spirit of God working within you.

In this one I can see you're not just presneting a concept or theory you are presenting PERSONAL FAITH AND BELIEF. If everybody followed there own personal faith and belief regardless of denomination of religion or NO PROFESSED RELIGION AT ALL they would eventually end up at the same Well of Living Water.

I can see you have Quenched your Thirst at this Well.

You write:

"I believe Christianity is God reaching down to man. God has done the work for us. All we have to do is accept it."

This is absolutely TRUE. In addition Christ taught us that this offer from God is FOR ALL MANKIND (HUMANKIND) and it doesn't matter what race, creed, sexual preference, gender, size, age, intellectual ability, sinner or rightous, free or bond, rich or poor... Christ taught this free offer from God was for all.

I was responding to another believer on another site recently who asked the meaning about the guy who got thrown out of the wedding feast because he didn't have his garment on. Matthew 22:1-14.

Here’s the way I get it. I remember this one is isn’t so transparent as other parables like the seed and the sower. The prodigal son. But all of them can have layers of meaning.

The first invited of the king are God’s Chosen people. The messengers they killed are the prophets. The wedding of the Son that they spurn represents the spurning of Jesus as the Son of God. The final and still standing invitation is the one Jesus brings that this Gospel is now for All the World, not just the Chosen People. AND it includes sinners, poor, mistreated, windows orphans sick and imprisoned and the stranger in you midst Jew and Gentile alike.

Now the tricky part. Everybody’s at the feast and the king (GOD) finds this one guy without his garments and kicks his butt out with the rest of the people who spurned His offer. The garments are your Faith. Your Faith is your salvation and it is freely provided to you by GOD. (the king) All you have to do is accept it. The guy without the garment like us had a choice to accept or reject eternal life (salvation) By not putting on his freely provided wedding garment by his free will rejected his freely God offered Salvation. And went with those who will cease to exists and be as if they never existed.

It’s sad because he was so close. We hate to see him reject salvation when so close to eternal life at the wedding feast. So it’s hard for us witness what appears to be God’s rejection of him which is really his rejection of what God has offered him.

Of course imagine how sad it is to think of Lucifer tearing off his garments and stepping on them in an abject rejection of what God had offered him. Really Sad. So Highly positioned. So close to God. And yet so far.

Now ONE Advantage I had, is that I read somewhere that in a scenario like this in those times. Wedding garments would have been offered to all that guests that didn't already have theirs. Remember there were many poor wretched among them. The ONE offering the garments (their salvation) to them through his servants (you and I and everyone who believes) is the KING (GOD).

And IMHO that's just the way Jesus taught it to us and by using parable form to many generations that came after him.

Isaiah 61:10---

For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Peace be with you Klemp and All who post and read at this site!

[Assent]

Every single culture has religion.

Every last one.

Like Dennett said, they all have the common cold as well.

And each one with their own flavors, no less.

(I consider this fact fascinating, too)