ADN

Why do people believe in religion? And to those who do........ever think about what if there is no god or afterlife? When it ends, it just ends. I do, thats partly why I remain so reluctant to jump onto the religion bandwagon. Take a look at the actual picture here. (To religious people....if this offends you....it wasn't meant to) People actually believe saying words to themselves with their palms pressed together and eyes closed somehow makes those words more powerful and merrits some special force to be acted upon them. Are you serious? It's like those athletes who thank god after every game and shit.....Oh yeah, God only wanted you to win, and definitely wanted the other team to lose horribly. Maybe practice, hitting the weight room, and natural talent might have something to do with how good a team is, not how much they pray. Anyone here ever seen Jesus? Or are we all living our lifes based on what other people say and what's written in a book?

QUOTE(The Messiah)Why do people believe in religion? And to those who do........ever think about what if there is no god or afterlife? When it ends, it just ends.

I guess if it just ended then we wouldn't lose anything from believing would we. We wouldn't know that there wasn't an afterlife because we wouldn't have a soul to tell us. Let me ask you then....what if there is? Wouldn't it be more harmful not to believe and then find out it's true then to believe and never realize that it doesn't? That's not why I'm a Christian (which isn't a religion....it's a relationship) though.

QUOTE(The Messiah)People actually believe saying words to themselves with their palms pressed together and eyes closed somehow makes those words more powerful and merrits some special force to be acted upon them. Are you serious?  It's like those athletes who thank god after every game and shit.....Oh yeah, God only wanted you to win, and definitely wanted the other team to lose horribly. Maybe practice, hitting the weight room, and natural talent might have something to do with how good a team is, not how much they pray.

It has nothing to do with how you pray. I pray all the time with my eyes open when I'm walking down the road. He doesn't care if you have your eyes closed and palms pressed together.

No...God doesn't care if you win or lose....He cares about how you act during the game. You can thank God for a win and for giving you the gift to play, but yes, hard work do when the games.

QUOTE(The Messiah)Anyone here ever seen Jesus? Or are we all living our lifes based on what other people say and what's written in a book?

Have you seen Muhammad? Socrates? Yet you still believe them don't you?

hmmmm religion again ............ well i remember something that this teacher at skool sed once wen i asked how can we not see god .......and he sed we cant see air either .......doesnt mean that it doesnt exist .......... well through microscopic technology we mite be able to see the the atoms nd stuff ............but who knows science may advance such that one day we mite be able to see the omnicent god thru further magnification .........lol..........its a long shot i know but who knows it mite be possible .......and this reminds me something that feebe sed on Friends to Ross ........i think it went something like that regarding evolution, b4 scientists belived that atoms were the smallest particle of matter untill they were able to slice it open nd find electrons neutrons nd protons so my point is the strenght is not that there is a god out there but that one belives in him and untill their belives are proven wrong or have a possiblity that there cud be better reasons fo the answers ppl will belive in wat they belive in .............we have all heard about the great challenges of mind over matter .............and well beliveing something makes all of the diff and on the question why does one belive in religion ...........well it differs for every person ........some belive in coz they have no other answers some do jus coz they were brought up that way so there is no real answer fo that but on the thing about the sports feild thing they giv thanx to god nd stuff well it jus means that they belive in themselves ......... someone once told me wen eva i went fo exams that 99.99% of the effort it urs nd that only that tiny % is gods work ....... so the point is beliveing in god has no result on nything is u beliveing in urself that matters ........... and well sometimes there is a certain win nd losses as well .........depends on the way one looks at it ...... and ayhja has sed this a relentless number of times "energy cannot be created or destroyed " and well this will lead bak into the reincarnation thing ........becoz its a neva ending cycle .........energy jus changes form thats all .......it neva ends .............i hope i answered everything

Man, I LOVE VU...

To answer your question L.G., I think religion is a manefestation of faith and praise and practice for something that has been done since forever...I do not reacall a book or a story of a civilization that was without some diety, in one form or the other...So, to that, I can only say if you don't know where you've been you don't know where you're going...That's a quest for all humanity...

I think it is an accurate depiction to say that as we regress, yes, regress in our civiliation, we get further and further away from what we are supposed to do...I think a good way to answer your question is to reverse it, and answer it yourself...IE, why don't you believe in religion..?

Everyone that is great in football for example, doesn't lift weights..There are several people that have come out and say that they didn't lift or work out and kick all kinds of ass on the field...Every great basktetball player doesn't spend hundreds of hours in the gym...How would you convice a person that wears you out on the court, that they'd be so much better, if they lifted and did all the things you do to get where you are..? Some people believe in things to help them achieve a goal...If you don't need that, then fine...But, you see my point, yes..?

Like Deepak said, everything is pretty much mind over matter, and sometimes to get your body to do something your mind need firmly be rooted in it...For many, religion is a path to spirituality...I myself do not need it, but others may...

@ trashtalkr...

Christianity...Is a religion...

well trash completely missed my points on everything.....

Deepack.....PLEASE space your posts out, it is almost unbearable to read how you put it.

Ayhja.....stop making me work hard and answer my own questions...if I do it that way...i might actually come away with some answers! lol. I think most people arent getting hwat i meant by it, im trying to open peoples minds again....like i did with the tsunami shit..and EVERYONE got that one wrong...oh well.

LOL..!!!

Well, it's all about the expression...And I may indeed be missing what you're saying/asking...But, from what I got from it, its a bit of a rant on people that seem to not be able to think for themselves...People that are taking what they are being told as being the undisputed truth, when the fact of the matter is, almost nothing you ever hear from someone else is...

And for the record, it was only AFTER the flaming that you came right out and fully explained your tsunami bit...After that, everybody was like, "Oh, o.k., now I see what you mean..."

So, lets just skip the flame part, and go right into the in depth explanation... /:D" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt=":D" />

you're right......as always.............bastard lol.

Religion is a preservation of a cultural (not always ethnic, either) relation to deity. It details geneology and is a preservation of one's ancestral ties with the being or forces in authorship of universal phenomenon.

What you are asking, really, is how do people know it is valid. You are not asking as much why people are so blind as to believe in it. You are asking "what is it that happens that makes them believe in it." That is a very healthy skepticism, crucial to real spiritual development.

You are asking for evidence, for definitive proof there is a reason to invest yourself in something that may ultimately point to its uselessness.

I will honestly tell you the only people who are worth a damn when it comes to religion, are people who have a life-changing experience that they have to rearrange their world views around. Looking for any rational explanation or scientific cause, they find none. Hesitantly, they turn to religion, for it is the only evidence that proves consistent with their experience.

This experience reveals itself as relation to deity, and therefore, they turn to ANY and ALL relations to deity, ethnic and cultural that could explain it.

I personally started studying religion for accounts of the kinds of things that were transpiring in my life that were pointing to it be "beyond the norm." However, what I see is beyond record of religion, and I have had a reputation for having a progressive but unfounded religious view. The only thing that encourages me is when "new evidence" shows up, it almost always seems consistent with my own experiences of relation to deity, instead of sunday social club banter, new age ramblings, or advertisements from "send-me-your-money.com".

I think you will do good. You aren't afraid to ask the question that will fluster people.

Deepak, lay off that sh!t. (heh)
vertical,
raum

Thank you raum.

i got the tsunami stuff..

and..uhh...as usual, i have nothing else to post after raum..lol