It's reassuring to know of a higher power in life, and the church is also a very good source of guidance when you need it. It provides a moral outlook on life, and I think that's important to have.
I'm not gung-ho about it. I believe in God, but I also believe in Evolution. It's quite possible.
I frown on fundamentalist and extremist religious nuts, but I also frown on people who go out of their way to try and disprove God's existance or try to ruin a religious person's day.
One of the main reasons, though, is so I don't feel so helpless in life. My best friend is in Kuwait right now. I can't send him anything, I can't be there for him. I can, however, pray for him, and take solace in the fact that there must be someone looking out for him.
quote:
Nicole stumbled drunkenly to the keyboard and typed:
No flamewars! Woo!I'd like to really hear from some people involved in organized religions. As I see it, EC has a rather large population of atheists, agnostics and deists, but I would like to see what attracted people to organized religions. What the draw was. That was pretty much the point of this thread, anyway... just wondering what the draw was.
Gyd! Ass! In here! Now!@#
You know what another good Point to Ponder, What was the religion raised up as?
I also agree with most of the things said by Parce. I believe because it's comforting to believe. If that makes me weak, so be it. 
quote:
Blindy McBlinderson impressed everyone with:
Mine's bigger than the rest of yours.
Correction mine is bigger.
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quote:
Iron Parcelan had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
I am a catholic involved in my church. I do Usher work every Sunday.It's reassuring to know of a higher power in life, and the church is also a very good source of guidance when you need it. It provides a moral outlook on life, and I think that's important to have.
I'm not gung-ho about it. I believe in God, but I also believe in Evolution. It's quite possible.
I frown on fundamentalist and extremist religious nuts, but I also frown on people who go out of their way to try and disprove God's existance or try to ruin a religious person's day.
One of the main reasons, though, is so I don't feel so helpless in life. My best friend is in Kuwait right now. I can't send him anything, I can't be there for him. I can, however, pray for him, and take solace in the fact that there must be someone looking out for him.
Well put my friend.
Yeah, I'm Catholic too, I've been reading St. Thomas Aquinas a LOT lately, delving really deeply into theology, THAT is was reaffirms my faith, my beleif, is the deeper theology behind the religion.
quote:
Am I a Religious person? Well that's a hard question, I think it would be better served splitting it into two parts- because there is much more to Faith than following church practices or believing in a higher power.
To answer the question I think you are asking quite directly, I am not a person that feels the need to follow the various mandates and traditions of my Church out of fear of some divine vengance upon my immaterial self if I fail to avoid meat on fridays or indulge in premariatial sex. I look at the bigger picture- Lots of the rules and guidelines created by the church are great ideas- and if you follow them you will lead a Pious and respectable life, however there are many that have been generated by neccessity of some anchient people, or likewise by a bribe or opinion of a figure responcible for either the translation or application of Gods various words in former times. Take for example the Catholic belief that Priests shouldn't be married. It is a well documented fact that this particular mandate was implimented simply because the laws in the middle ages gave property of the father to the son upon his death, and the church was tired of buying new land for every priest to come along, since upon their death the property was not returned to the church, but passed on to the priest's family. This started out as a neccesity of the church- it could not afford to buy the land, and soon became a tradition, to the point that now the merits of celibate priests are argued by the church as being worth guarding despite their vast effects on the incomming priest numbers. A simular story can be told for many of the various religions around the world, for many of their traditions.
I do not fault them for this. A Church is an buisness undernieth it all. Perhaps one with higher intentions than the simple accumulation of material wealth, but like all buisnesses, they have certian neccessities that must be aquired.
If you boil any Church's set of beliefs down you will uncover the same set of values and morals apparent in all: Respect your neighbors, do not let greed cloud your judgement, do not give in to readily to self distructive temptations of the flesh. All these messages are worth following, reguardless of your current view on the possiblity of a gasious existance after the expiration date of your mortal stroll. Taking these to heart and making them a part of your own code of values will lead to a life where you are respected by your peers, well liked, honored, and admired.The second part of this question is the more difficult to respond to- why do I believe in a higher power... Its difficult because I really don't know. I'd like to think that I have a good reason to think that God is out there, some where, smiling down on us and wishing we would listen to him- but I don't really have one. I instead look at all the things science likes to attribute to pure chance because of a lack of data or theory (like how genetic mutations managed to make a duck billed warm blooded breast feeding animal that lays eggs, or how the grand design of all life of the world fits together and works so damn well, or how love works) and say that THAT is God. Grand archetect, certianly, benevilent spirit, we can only hope. Man kind has a habit of both fearing and admiring that which we do not comprehend, and it seems very possible to me that the benevelent nature of the collective God figures of the world could very well be attributed to this habit, and perhaps the traditional lession that God loves everyone. For all I know, God might be a passionless designer, an artist without feelings, creating just to see what happens. I do think that God exists, and I do think that If you live a good life, you will be rewarded, perhaps only in the infinately tempoed dreams of a dieing body as their concienceness approaches the final darkness and looks back upon their own life, or perhaps in an intersteller orgy on the other side- I can't help but thinking that what's at the end of this path is something that is completely uncomprehensible to our existance and fundimentally different that anything that we could possibly imagine.
But ich weiss nicht, when you boil it all down. Pruned speculation can only make a tree of oberservation appear to contain a hint of knowledge. The only way to find out for sure is to die.
That was annoying Naimah 
quote:
ACES! Another post by Yuri:
Catholic.I also agree with most of the things said by Parce. I believe because it's comforting to believe. If that makes me weak, so be it.
It doesnt make you weak. In fact, it makes you strong, morally and spiritually.
I just choose not to believe in the Christian God because of the various fanatics one finds in the Bible Belt down here who tried to force their ideas in 'various' ways. 
I of course believe in the Wiccan Rule of Three, which gives me comfort, and I'm pleased with those who are in tune with their own religions 
quote:
OtakuPenguin had this to say about Captain Planet:
That was annoying Naimah
it was kinda clever.
quote:
Blindy McBlinderson stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
it was kinda clever.
I'll binary you 110 ways to Sunday!
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
quote:
How.... Karnaj.... uughhhhhh:
I'll binary you 110 ways to Sunday!
59 6F 75 20 74 68 69 6E 6B 20 69 27 6D 20 69 6D 70 72 65 73 73 65 64 20 62 79 20 79 6F 75 72 20 63 68 69 6C 64 69 73 68 20 6B 6E 6F 77 6C 65 67 65 20 6F 66 20 62 69 6E 61 72 79 3F
quote:
Blindy McBlinderson had this to say about Punky Brewster:
59 6F 75 20 74 68 69 6E 6B 20 69 27 6D 20 69 6D 70 72 65 73 73 65 64 20 62 79 20 79 6F 75 72 20 63 68 69 6C 64 69 73 68 20 6B 6E 6F 77 6C 65 67 65 20 6F 66 20 62 69 6E 61 72 79 3F
I'm not translating that.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
quote:
Blindy McBlinderson obviously shouldn't have said:
59 6F 75 20 74 68 69 6E 6B 20 69 27 6D 20 69 6D 70 72 65 73 73 65 64 20 62 79 20 79 6F 75 72 20 63 68 69 6C 64 69 73 68 20 6B 6E 6F 77 6C 65 67 65 20 6F 66 20 62 69 6E 61 72 79 3F
You sank my battleship!
quote:
Blindy McBlinderson obviously shouldn't have said:
59 6F 75 20 74 68 69 6E 6B 20 69 27 6D 20 69 6D 70 72 65 73 73 65 64 20 62 79 20 79 6F 75 72 20 63 68 69 6C 64 69 73 68 20 6B 6E 6F 77 6C 65 67 65 20 6F 66 20 62 69 6E 61 72 79 3F
You think i'm impressed by your childish knowledge of binary?
Damn I'm good. [ 03-25-2003: Message edited by: Someone Else ]
quote:
Someone Else's account was hax0red to write:
You think i'm impressed by your childish knowledge of hexbinary?
"Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I am with you. I'll buy it for sure, it's just a matter of for how long I will be playing it..."
- Silvast, Battle.net forums
Not that it makes my knowledge of ASCII any less trivial... 
*looks at everyone else*
WTF?!?!
i'm not into the whole "organized religion" bit.
quote:
Veruca Salt had this to say about Robocop:
i think art is spiritual. like making music or painting a picture. creative things.
LAY OFF THE CRACK!
quote:
Iron Parcelan had this to say about Knight Rider:
LAY OFF THE CRACK!
nooooooooooo
quote:
This one time, at Someone Else camp:
Yeah I was translating what Blindy said.Not that it makes my knowledge of ASCII any less trivial...
Pesco was replying but is too lazy to put it in anything but English.
Have you memorized the special characters too? I just said fuck it after learning the number and letter ranges 
Hurrah for charts!
quote:
Veruca Salt had this to say about Knight Rider:
nooooooooooo
Or a dog turd. Whatever.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
quote:
A sleep deprived Pesco stammered:
Pesco was replying but is too lazy to put it in anything but English.Have you memorized the special characters too? I just said fuck it after learning the number and letter ranges
Hurrah for charts!
No, I usually end up breaking down and using the charts too. 
quote:
From the book of Iron Parcelan, chapter 3, verse 16:
Your face is the new symbol of resistence.
To what?
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
quote:
Karnaj Model 2000 was programmed to say:
To what?
I dunno. Whatever we happen to be resisting at the moment.
quote:
Iron Parcelan had this to say about Duck Tales:
I dunno. Whatever we happen to be resisting at the moment.
Perhaps the earth's gravitational pull?
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
quote:
Nicole said this about your mom:
I'd like to really hear from some people involved in organized religions. As I see it, EC has a rather large population of atheists, agnostics and deists, but I would like to see what attracted people to organized religions. What the draw was. That was pretty much the point of this thread, anyway... just wondering what the draw was.
Ah see, you have to say that. I tend to limit the scope of my answers on religion sharply to the question asked - few like to be preached at, and those who do find better than me to do it generally.
Organized religion is a good thing, and its a human thing. Humans like to feel part of something, connected, part of a larger body. Its why humans will continue to make pecking orders, or tribes, or governments rather than acting as individuals for any length of time.
I am disappointed by those who would discredit a theology because the majority of its pew sitting sheep don't believe in it enough to follow it. Theology and religion are different, and must be treated differently. Religion is the culture which grows up using a theology as a basis, and therefore is contaminated by the cultures around it. Just as cults are different, and referring to the acts of a cult when discrediting a religion as a whole. (A cult being a religion whose most accurate basis is considered the words of a living human, instead of a writing being the standard of truth.)
Organized religion is not useless, outdated, or invalid. It allows fellow followers of and believers in a theology to have a trackable history, a set of standard books on which to base discussions, and a place to reaffirm their faith and get away from the world a little bit.
I am part of an organized religion because I enjoy spending time with people who have similar ideals and outlooks on life as myself. I feel reaffirmed in my faith after spending time with those who truly believe in the Word and care about what the consequences of that belief are. I like to praise God as more than just a single voice sometimes.
I do not need a church to worship God. 1st Peter, Chapter 2 calls us a holy a priesthood. We are responsible for our intercession to God, the church is not. We are justified by faith, not by membership in a church. In fact no where is it written that you must worship God in a church. In fact, it lambasts anyone who suggests they can leave prayer and worship to one day a week!
It does strongly suggest regular gathering with other believers though, and with good reason. Being accountable to people who believe the same things you do and have perspective you don't means straying off the path less. Praying in a group has a power that single prayer can't match. And having a place to step out of your everyday life keeps you from incorporating sin into it little by little without noticing.
Edit: Grammar & stuff [ 03-26-2003: Message edited by: Hireko FishSlayer ]
