Ok, this isn't meant to ridicule the person it was replying to, nor lessen their beliefs. However I thought this post summed up a lot of the things I believe in, or ideas that I have about religions. It is my reply to a post. ( read more )
Well put, Nath. Touchy topic though, religion. I have no problem with it personally - people can believe in whom and what they like - as long as I'm not being preached to, or being "convinced" to alter my religion to suit others. For, after all, faith is an intensely personal thing and because of that it is irrational and unrealistic to believe that it could be anything even remotely resembling "one size fits all". If faith was universal, there would be only one religion - different faiths wouldn't exist and conflict wouldn't exist either to a large degree.
I believe that once you've found something that works for you, whether it be structured Christianity or a mish-mash of several different religions, then that should be it. You've found what works. There's no need to shout it from a mountain-top or try to convert your friends/acquaintances/people that you love. It's a personal choice. NOT wanting to yell it to the world doesn't mean that you're ashamed of your religion. To me, it actually shows respect for the religion
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Thanks for the reply! I wrote my reply at work so I'll just copy and paste it here.
I only have a small objection to what you have said.
What you described as an athiest is actually a Nihilist. An Athiest believes that there is no God. Just us and our own fate. An Athiest can believe in something yet not believe there is a God. This is a commonly held assumption. Also an Athiest is not someone who doesn't care or who hasn't decided a religion as yet. An Athiest is someone who strictly believes there is no God.
A nihilist is someone who believes in nothing.
But I must say its good to see people finding their own beliefs and that they don't care if they mish mash. As long as it suits them, and they treat people and the world with respect its all good. I wish more people were like that.
Anyways, that all I have to say at the moment. However, KEEP THE REPLIES COMING PEOPLE!
That's what I've said to nathan for awhile now! Christian/catholic + Buddhism, but after talking to a few muslims here at work I want add a touch of theres in the mix as well...
LET'S START THE CATHOMULISM - Kinda sounds grose BUT I'm NOT ASHAMED!!! hehe
Hey man, great post! Good to see you on here (even though I don't go on much these days)! Anyway that was a really interesting read, I think we share a lot of the same opinions, especially regarding the aspect of 'blind devotion' to, for me a rather questionable, entity that people make assumptions about in terms of its expectations of us, and base their lives around what are merely assumptions. Just because they are sworn to be true by a book (that doesn't actually include any factual material to back them up) doesn't make them valid and therefore the idea that one specific path is right above all others isn't valid either. Having said that, I am not without faith. I believe in something greater and more complex than we are, but I am unconcerned with putting an image and a story to it. There are better things to do with life than to spend so much time on worshipping and following someone else's ideas, full stop. Take care Nath, see ya friday! ;)
i love your lj babe wish i had more time to delve into the ideas- damn uni i still must re-assert YOU SHOULD BE AT UNI- YOUR AMAZING BRAIN IS GOING TO WASTE!!!! i agree though, in some ways. As my mum always says 'tehre are many rooms in the kingdom of heaven'. We all have our own beliefs, and they usually come from good intentions, and any god who loved us enough to create us and watched us use our free will to choose a belief that we 'thought' was right would understand if our decision was essentially a good intentions one or a bad one.
If you're going to suddenly reappear on LJ, and add me, you need to TELL me man!! I am not one of those people who checks their userinfo to see if more people love me that day than the day before; I might have gone months before I even realised you were here if I had not had to add someone else!
Anyways. 1. Thanks for pointing out the difference between a nihilist and an atheist to that other person... I am always annoyed when people comment having no idea what they're talking about.
2. "If someone is ashamed of their faith. is it true faith?" Your reply was, "it is not being ashamed..." so I presume you were talking about a particular circumstance or person. But the question remains, if someone IS ashamed, is it true faith... and I would say NO, it's not. True faith means you are not ashamed, even if that doesn't mean you shout it from the rooftops. There is a difference between being extroverted and being unashamed. But yeah, if you are truly faithful, you won't be ashamed and deny your feelings if somebody asks you about it
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Thanks for the reply Trudes. Sorry i didn't let you know. I'm not on the net much.
The post was mainly concerning christianity or the Judaist denomination. It wasn't meant to include things such as mysticism, budhism, hinduism, wiccanism etc.
My point with them all believeing essentially in the same God is true. However their interpretations of that God, and what it takes to achieve salvation has changed along with their beliefs. What I meant was that: If you have an orange, paint it red and call it an apple. Its still an orange. However some people may see it as a funny tasting apple thats orange on the inside.
Obviously, a Jew cannot get into a christian Heaven. Nor a christian get into an Islamic heaven. But essentially, if the Jewish faith was the beginning for all denominations then all the denominations believe in the same God. Just see him differently, if that makes any sense.
I hope to get more thoughts, debates and ponderings on topics I post from you, as I know you love the deep thought and philosophy and stuff. :D
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I believe that once you've found something that works for you, whether it be structured Christianity or a mish-mash of several different religions, then that should be it. You've found what works. There's no need to shout it from a mountain-top or try to convert your friends/acquaintances/people that you love. It's a personal choice. NOT wanting to yell it to the world doesn't mean that you're ashamed of your religion. To me, it actually shows respect for the religion ( ... )
Reply
I wrote my reply at work so I'll just copy and paste it here.
I only have a small objection to what you have said.
What you described as an athiest is actually a Nihilist. An Athiest believes that there is no God. Just us and our own fate. An Athiest can believe in something yet not believe there is a God. This is a commonly held assumption. Also an Athiest is not someone who doesn't care or who hasn't decided a religion as yet. An Athiest is someone who strictly believes there is no God.
A nihilist is someone who believes in nothing.
But I must say its good to see people finding their own beliefs and that they don't care if they mish mash. As long as it suits them, and they treat people and the world with respect its all good. I wish more people were like that.
Anyways, that all I have to say at the moment. However, KEEP THE REPLIES COMING PEOPLE!
- Nath
Reply
Reply
LET'S START THE CATHOMULISM - Kinda sounds grose BUT I'm NOT ASHAMED!!! hehe
Reply
Good to see you on here (even though I don't go on much these days)!
Anyway that was a really interesting read, I think we share a lot of the same opinions, especially regarding the aspect of 'blind devotion' to, for me a rather questionable, entity that people make assumptions about in terms of its expectations of us, and base their lives around what are merely assumptions. Just because they are sworn to be true by a book (that doesn't actually include any factual material to back them up) doesn't make them valid and therefore the idea that one specific path is right above all others isn't valid either.
Having said that, I am not without faith. I believe in something greater and more complex than we are, but I am unconcerned with putting an image and a story to it. There are better things to do with life than to spend so much time on worshipping and following someone else's ideas, full stop.
Take care Nath, see ya friday! ;)
Reply
wish i had more time to delve into the ideas- damn uni
i still must re-assert YOU SHOULD BE AT UNI- YOUR AMAZING BRAIN IS GOING TO WASTE!!!!
i agree though, in some ways. As my mum always says 'tehre are many rooms in the kingdom of heaven'. We all have our own beliefs, and they usually come from good intentions, and any god who loved us enough to create us and watched us use our free will to choose a belief that we 'thought' was right would understand if our decision was essentially a good intentions one or a bad one.
Reply
Anyways.
1. Thanks for pointing out the difference between a nihilist and an atheist to that other person... I am always annoyed when people comment having no idea what they're talking about.
2. "If someone is ashamed of their faith. is it true faith?" Your reply was, "it is not being ashamed..." so I presume you were talking about a particular circumstance or person. But the question remains, if someone IS ashamed, is it true faith... and I would say NO, it's not. True faith means you are not ashamed, even if that doesn't mean you shout it from the rooftops. There is a difference between being extroverted and being unashamed. But yeah, if you are truly faithful, you won't be ashamed and deny your feelings if somebody asks you about it ( ... )
Reply
The post was mainly concerning christianity or the Judaist denomination. It wasn't meant to include things such as mysticism, budhism, hinduism, wiccanism etc.
My point with them all believeing essentially in the same God is true. However their interpretations of that God, and what it takes to achieve salvation has changed along with their beliefs. What I meant was that:
If you have an orange, paint it red and call it an apple. Its still an orange.
However some people may see it as a funny tasting apple thats orange on the inside.
Obviously, a Jew cannot get into a christian Heaven. Nor a christian get into an Islamic heaven. But essentially, if the Jewish faith was the beginning for all denominations then all the denominations believe in the same God. Just see him differently, if that makes any sense.
I hope to get more thoughts, debates and ponderings on topics I post from you, as I know you love the deep thought and philosophy and stuff. :D
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Reply
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