Organized religion and faith have very little to do with each other. People often look at the perils of organized religion as a way to reaffirm their beliefs on why theism is not a viable option.

It's the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy.

But what reason or basis does faith have but to fill the coffers and seats of organized religions?

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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

mary is someone who really knew how to stick with her story lol.

There were many messiahs at the time of Jesus that were performing "miracles" of equal marvel.

It baffles me how such logical people will completely throw their rational thought to allow for these biblical stories to be true(or other unrealistic stories from other religions for that matter)

Dogmatic stories aside, I have always thought that even the smallest possibility of there being more out there is worthy of being totally amazed by. Sometimes its that I just need to beleive in the possibility of something beyond this conciousness, since everything becomes so meaningless otherwise. I am not playing pascal's wager here, because I am not referring to the appeasal of an abrahamic god when I speak of this potentiality...It's more of a big question mark in my mind. This doesn't rule out the very real possibility of just ceasing to exist. Something about that possibility just doesn't feel right to me, I can't explain it.

God is in everything, like a baby's smile(see lacksteptheyoph's avatar sp.?)

Well you probably won't ever cease to exist... you were here in the beginning, goddamnit you'll still be around in the end.

It's our egos that are fragile and mortal - if only people could give that up, but no, they have to insist on such a possession as though they could ever truly possess it in the first place - as though it belongs to them, alone, and not the thousands of other upright "souls" who have truly created such a thing. And then they call it ALTRUISM! They call it morality, they call it "right". What could possibly be more off?

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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On Well you probably won't ever cease to exist... you were here in the beginning, goddamnit you'll still be around in the end. It's our egos that are fragile and mortal - if only people could give that up, but no, they have to insist on such a possession as though they could ever truly possess it in the first place - as though it belongs to them, alone, and not the thousands of other upright "souls" who have truly created such a thing. And then they call it ALTRUISM! They call it morality, they call it "right". What could possibly be more off?

I fucking love your posts. So thought provoking.

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The only hard feelings should be in your pants

quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On Well you probably won't ever cease to exist... you were here in the beginning, goddamnit you'll still be around in the end. It's our egos that are fragile and mortal - if only people could give that up, but no, they have to insist on such a possession as though they could ever truly possess it in the first place - as though it belongs to them, alone, and not the thousands of other upright "souls" who have truly created such a thing. And then they call it ALTRUISM! They call it morality, they call it "right". What could possibly be more off?

yea amen dude lol

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My soliloquy may be hard for some to swallow, but so is cod liver oil.

quote:

Originally posted by notelfreak man i can't believe i tried to come off as responsible in that other thread, i am so full of shit just don't tell anyone

quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On But what reason or basis does faith have but to fill the coffers and seats of organized religions?

If you don't have the capacity to answer that question yourself, then nothing I say will suffice. Capisce?

Yet you can be critical of other self-fulfilling prophecies?

___________________
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee wow. what a deep and thought provoking statement

the queen of deep thoughts has spoken!

i agree w/ stylee for once

quote:

Originally posted by Sunsnail i agree w/ stylee for once

which part? the sun god part? lol

I think that organized religion has quite a lot to do with faith. For the most part people get their ideas about gods and spirituality by reading the central texts of the various "organized religions" like Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and so on, or books that comment on those central texts, or by hearing people talk about the ideas set down in those texts. Yeah, there are the occasional people who simply make up their own "spirituality" based on what feels good or significant to them, or some private mystical experience, but the spiritual practices and faith of the vast majority of people derive largely from religious traditions.