villagesmithy

Major religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are fear-based religions. They say that if you do not behave the way God wants you to, then God will send you to hell. In other words, God will kill you. Christians say that because of God's love, he sent Jesus to save us. But the underlying belief is still that God is an ego-filled God who requires attention, adoration, appreciation, and affection - and will kill to get it! Instead, what if every soul originated from a place of pure love, but left to go into a place of darkness so it could experience its own love. It embodies itself in human form and attempts to guide the person it has become to live a life of love. It may take many lifetimes to achieve the desired level, but when it does, the soul returns to the place of pure love. If this is true, then ultimately, everyone goes to heaven! In essence, there are no rules. God does not punish, God loves. You don't have to follow the Jewish laws, believe that Jesus is your Savior, or believe that Mohammed was the last true messenger of God. You simply have to make decisions based on love instead of fear. You simply have to make giving decisions instead of selfish decisions. Do we really need the fear of God's punishment to act out of love?

Philosoft

Ah, Humanism. Who knew?

beastmaster

Or, better yet, do we really need god-belief to act out of love?

Amos

Not at all, unless you don't want to be an actor for the rest of your life.

beastmaster

If I were an actor, I would pretend to believe. Isn't that what faith is, Amos? Pretending to believe?

Nah, you're such a good actor you've got yourself fooled.

Amos

Sorry, I was just hi-lighting some of your words.

-RRH-

I would say this sounds like a form of Hindu thought I have encountered.

Then the guy tried to get me to become a disciple of a guy who claimed he could get you there quicker than everyone else, proving this approach is not without its mis-applications.

villagesmithy

When I posted this subject, I really wondered what people thought about the fact that billions of people in the world today subscribe to religions for which the underlying belief is that the God who created the entire universe (billions and billions of galaxies with billions and billions of stars -- ala Carl Sagan) is so petty that if a single human being on this tiny little blue dot doesn't pay Him proper homage, then God will kill that person's soul! My wife is a Christian, and she asked me to attend an evening course at her church which was a survey course on Christianity. Each evening (8 of them), after a group lecture, we broke into small discussion groups. I pointed out the above observation to my group, but it did not elicit any meaningful discussion. Some people just had blank looks on their faces. I suspect that the subject was so foreign to their thinking that it didn't register. Others understood and agreed with me. But then they went back to the main meeting, sang their songs, and happily went home.

The Naked Mage

Ah, yes, the "DUH" factor. I'm not sure if it's a reflex or just pure mental retardation, but I've had others subject me to it as well.

For some reason, a great number of the people I've met with this problem wore baseball caps.

villagesmithy

I've heard a story that when European explorers first landed in rowboats at some point in America, the natives asked them where they came from. They said from across the sea. The natives were amazed that the explorers could come across the great sea in such a small boat. The explorers explained that they only rowed ashore from the big ship, and pointed to it anchored in clear sight in the bay. The natives, however, could not see it. The concept of a boat so large was so far beyond their comprehension, that they couldn't see it, even when it was right in front of their eyes.