Civil Discussion About Religion

[htownskinfan]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Blah blah blah. Religion is simply something manifested by the human mind to provide comfort and solace when dealing with the unknown. Religion helps give humans the feeling that there is rhyme or reason to the world we live in. Religion provides the sense that there is a purpose to life: to live a good life and get into heaven. It provides comfort regarding the unknowns which humans face, like what happens to me when I die? Do I live on, or is the show over? Religion comforts humans; the presence of a higher power must surely mean that I'm in good hands, even when I'm entering the unknown: death.

People believe it because deep down they don't want to face the alternative: that when you die you go nowhere, your life is simply over. And that your life was not part of some grand scheme; you simply lived and died.

Those alternatives are scary, but they're the truth. Religion is just a crutch humans use to go about their daily lives in false comfort.

I couldnt disagree more,I think most people would be pretty damn happy if they didnt belive in a heaven or hell then they wouldnt have to worry about their actions on earth.It would make me happy as hell to know that once life ended that was it.
I've been going to church all my life but i wouldnt call myself a christian,been more or less forced to go by mom then married a christian and go occasionally for her sake.I feel like I'm a good person bit i'm afraid to die for fear of going to hell because of not doing everything the bible says or for not feeling the holy spirit like my wife and her fellow christians.
truth is I dont know what to believe anymore,I still pray almost everyday and ask God to protect my loved ones and so on,but then i think if there is a God he knows I'm full of shit and that i dont know whether I believe in him or not so the praying is probably for naught{but I'm still going to do it}
But getting back to the original point,it would make me happy to know that when you die that was it,but since we dont know I'm glad people believe in God because I think if they didnt this world would be a lot more fcked up then it is

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by htownskinfan

I couldnt disagree more,I think most people would be pretty damn happy if they didnt belive in a heaven or hell then they wouldnt have to worry about their actions on earth.It would make me happy as hell to know that once life ended that was it.
I've been going to church all my life but i wouldnt call myself a christian,been more or less forced to go by mom then married a christian and go occasionally for her sake.I feel like I'm a good person bit i'm afraid to die for fear of going to hell because of not doing everything the bible says or for not feeling the holy spirit like my wife and her fellow christians.
truth is I dont know what to believe anymore,I still pray almost everyday and ask God to protect my loved ones and so on,but then i think if there is a God he knows I'm full of shit and that i dont know whether I believe in him or not so the praying is probably for naught{but I'm still going to do it}
But getting back to the original point,it would make me happy to know that when you die that was it,but since we dont know I'm glad people believe in God because I think if they didnt this world would be a lot more fcked up then it is

I wouldn't call you religious, you have too many doubts about God's existence, heaven, hell, all that stuff. You are simply afraid of what might happen to you if it turns out there actually is a God.

Also, based on how fearful you are of God, I'm guessing you are either Catholic or Episcopalean?

[htownskinfan]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I wouldn't call you religious, you have too many doubts about God's existence, heaven, hell, all that stuff. You are simply afraid of what might happen to you if it turns out there actually is a God.

Also, based on how fearful you are of God, I'm guessing you are either Catholic or Episcopalean?

haha! I wish i believed in the catholic religion because from what i understand someone like me would go to purgatory and other people could pray you into heaven and i've got a lot of people praying for me!lol
I might be wrong on that but thats what i heard
I was raised in the church of the nazerene,I guess i would call myself a protestant
oh,and I'm not afraid of God,I'm afraid of not meeting him!!!

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by htownskinfan

oh,and I'm not afraid of God,I'm afraid of not meeting him!!!

You'll meet him, everyone will on judgement day. Hopefully Grace will save you like everyone else. So will God save Cowboys fans? Cause I can't stand the thought of having those guys around for eternity!

[saden1]

Originally Posted by jsarno

You'll meet him, everyone will on judgement day. Hopefully Grace will save you like everyone else. So will God save Cowboys fans? Cause I can't stand the thought of having those guys around for eternity!

You want eternal serenity? Can you imagine how boring that would be? What better way to spend your time than snap your finger and get a game going between an All Cowboys team and an All Redskins team. This of course begs the question of weather clones or the real players will be paying in the game.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by saden1

You want eternal serenity? Can you imagine how boring that would be? What better way to spend your time than snap your finger and get a game going between an All Cowboys team and an All Redskins team. This of course begs the question of weather clones or the real players will be paying in the game.

I know this, the bible says we have no idea of what heaven is like. I like to imagine heaven as my own greatest world. Everyone's heaven would be different.
I would imagine that since humans are flawed, there are a lot of us perfectionists in the world that can be happy for a minute, but ultimately always want more. So how can we be truely happy in that world? I don't know, maybe we'll be chemically altered? Just a thought though. What if heaven is the same for everyone?

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by htownskinfan

I couldnt disagree more,I think most people would be pretty damn happy if they didnt belive in a heaven or hell then they wouldnt have to worry about their actions on earth.It would make me happy as hell to know that once life ended that was it.
I've been going to church all my life but i wouldnt call myself a christian,been more or less forced to go by mom then married a christian and go occasionally for her sake.I feel like I'm a good person bit i'm afraid to die for fear of going to hell because of not doing everything the bible says or for not feeling the holy spirit like my wife and her fellow christians.
truth is I dont know what to believe anymore,I still pray almost everyday and ask God to protect my loved ones and so on,but then i think if there is a God he knows I'm full of shit and that i dont know whether I believe in him or not so the praying is probably for naught{but I'm still going to do it}
But getting back to the original point,it would make me happy to know that when you die that was it,but since we dont know I'm glad people believe in God because I think if they didnt this world would be a lot more fcked up then it is

I agree...if everyone knew that there were no repercussions for their actions, chaos would apply. I truely feel that everyone would be 100% out for themselves. I shouldn't say everyone, some would still have their own sense of right and wrong, but a lot would test the police.

If you pray to God, you do beleive in Him. Sure you have questions and doubt, but most everyone does. I don't pray to Mary, because I do not beleive her to be devine, or even there to listen. To me, she's just a dead person...a popular person in history, but a person none the less. I don't pray to her because I have absolutely no beleif in her...if I did, then I would. (this is in no way a slur on Catholics, just making a point). So obviously you do beleive in God somewhat. I would wager you just have difficulty understanding what MAN has taught you to this point. Even a little misguided because the bible can be overwhelming to understand.