take the sting of death away? my advice is to watch some documentaries on slow painful deaths.

You guys should read "Tuesdays with Morrie" it's a true life story about a man who is going to die. He struggles in what to believe. For you people who are like i don't care what happens when i die are just ignorant. You really should care even if you believe it is nothing.

The one thing more annoying than a fundamentalist telling you what you should believe is a anti-religion person telling you what you shouldnt believe. Your religious belief, or lack thereof, are your business and no one elses.

As someone said earlier, religion is based on faith, but still rooted in history and fact. Jesus lived, mohammed lived, buddha lived. This is fact. Were they prohets, messhiahs, God incarnate? Or were they just charimatic fanatics? That is where the faith part comes in. You can say science explains our world, but i am not always so sure. I firmly believe in evolution, but I aint buying the big bang theory.

I always find it amusing when people say that religion is a tool to control the simple minded. That is such a simple response to a very complex human behavior. Religion has had its bad times and corruption, but it is run by man, and man is an imperfect being. You dont need to read the bible or even believe in it, but you should respect it. It is, afterall, the best selling and most influential piece of literature ever printed.

As far as the death question goes, who knows? All you can do is prepare yourself for it the best way you know how. When you die, you will know (or cease to know anything). Religion, if nothing else, is a way to put your mind at ease for when you face the unknown.

I fear that perhaps I came off to strong in my post. I do not mean to preach anti-religion on anyone. It's your life live it. Like stated, religion is a way to put one's mind at ease. It is even a means of controlling society with basic rules, i.e. don't go murdering people, etc.

Also, I do believe that Jesus, Mohammed and others lived. Highly charismatic people, that drew people to them, and became a huge part of religion, and history. Just like a modern day Ghandi, MLK, or in a negative sense, Hitler. All of these people drew masses to them.

Anyway, boss just walked in...gotta go. ed:

Mohammad, Buddah, and others like them lived, but the thing about Jesus is, unlike the others, Jesus died, and rose from the dead. DO not go by what you learn in collage, when it comes to religion, that is not avery accurate way to learn. You should learn by studing it yourself, read all the Bibles of all the religions, see which one makes sense, ask GOd to help you find Him, to reaveal Himself to you. DO not be afraid, do not be afraid to give up your life, or the things you enjoy doing for Him, becuase if you do give them up, you will be happier, and get a great reward, but if you ingnore the Lord, then you will reap eternal punishment for your sins. Religion does put my mind at ease, yes I will admit death scares me some, but it shouldnt, but Christianity is not about Religion, is nort about rituals, is about following Christ and accepting Him, you don not have to pray several times a day, go to church every week, or do good deeds to be a Christian, all though it is better to, all you have to do is ask Jesus into your heart, and you will be saved. I go to Chruch, becuas e I know its good for me, I should pray more, and help others more, but I know that I will go to Heaven. You might nmot like it when I say, that I know that thereis a God, but when you are saved, there is no mistake made, you truly know there is a God.

see...you are saying like IT definally happened

maybe it did maybe it didin't...you believe it is...don't say it like it is a proven fact

[quote="Duke_of_Ray"]DO not be afraid, do not be afraid to give up your life, quote]
why dont you give up your life, you'll be a better christian

How would you be a better Christian by giving up your life....?

isn't suicide a sin...

[quote:48932]The one thing more annoying than a fundamentalist telling you what you should believe is a anti-religion person telling you what you shouldnt believe. Your religious belief, or lack thereof, are your business and no one elses.[/quote:48932]


Your business and no one elses, until you start shoving it down people's
throats. Otherwise, I agree.


[quote:48932]As someone said earlier, religion is based on faith, but still rooted in history and fact. Jesus lived, mohammed lived, buddha lived. This is fact. Were they prohets, messhiahs, God incarnate? Or were they just charimatic fanatics? That is where the faith part comes in. You can say science explains our world, but i am not always so sure. I firmly believe in evolution, but I aint buying the big bang theory.[/quote:48932]


What's so special about the big bang that makes you doubt it ? If a being
can come into existence out of a void, so can the Universe. Similarly, if he
always existed, why couldn't our world ? Personally, I don't like the idea that
a house could build itself, that is, without intellect... but the problem works
both ways...


[quote:48932]I always find it amusing when people say that religion is a tool to control the simple minded. That is such a simple response to a very complex human behavior. Religion has had its bad times and corruption, but it is run by man, and man is an imperfect being. You dont need to read the bible or even believe in it, but you should respect it. It is, afterall, the best selling and most influential piece of literature ever printed.[/quote:48932]


Complex human behavior ? Simple, actually: fear. Fear of the unknown.
Some very clever individuals made the link between fear and everything
unknown and used this to control the populace: you'd better listen to us
or you will spend ETERNITY in TORMENT while others (the kicker) bask in
God's love FOREVER in BLISS. After hearing it a dozen times all sunday,
for years and from a very early age, it sticks. You do as you're told. Also,
just because a piece of litterature is a best-seller doesn't automatically
make it good: this goes for influencial as well. Don't forget that hundreds
of years of shoving Christianity down people's throats everywhere on the
planet might have something to do with that.


[quote:48932]As far as the death question goes, who knows? All you can do is prepare yourself for it the best way you know how. When you die, you will know (or cease to know anything). Religion, if nothing else, is a way to put your mind at ease for when you face the unknown.[/quote:48932]

If it helps them cope with a natural physical mechanism, all the better
unless they piss me off biggrin:

totenkopt - my post wasnt directed at anyone in particular. I apologize if it seemed that way. I came in late in the thread and didnt read all 6 previous pages of posts.

solidus - I agree about hte in your face people, on both sides, they rank right up there with telemarketers, and get the same response from me - none.

The big bang thing - I have a hard time believing that something like the big bang could occur with out some sort of catalyst. And them where did that catalyst come from? and we could keep going farther and farther back. No beginning, no end. I am the alpha and the omega. It all came from somewhere and I can offer no alternative. Thats where faith comes in. Its the which came first, the chinken or the egg paradox. There is no answer, just thoeries.

Religion is more complex than the control of populations. Yes, it has been utilized for just that, but its beginnings were not intended for that. Many of the traditions of religion are based more on physical and economic needs than on spirital reasons, but in many regions and eras, the church was the law. It was a natural and many times a mutually beneficial progression. It is impossible to talk about religion without talking about economics and politics. but go back to the first religions - the animistic worship and totems. They were attempts to explain the world their followers lived in. They were based more on respect for their gods than control of a populance. Most religions are pure, it is usually the church practices that tend to be corrupt or at least distorted from the original objective.

I never said you had to like the bible, but you should at least respect its historical siginificance. While most of its true meaning is found in the new testiment, the old testament is a very interesting historical account. I took an old test. class in college where we would read a chapter/book and then the teacher would explain the historic and political settings of the time. Seeing many of these events in a new context was an eye opener, and truely increased my respect for the writings and events.

No kidding, some people definatley need to find religion. biggrin:

[quote:a5e19]isn't suicide a sin... [/quote:a5e19]

I would say yes, under most circum stances, it is. :)

[quote:a5e19]why dont you give up your life, you'll be a better christian [/quote:a5e19]

I do need to do a better job about letting Christ control my life, unstead of me, becuase God can do so much better than me.

[quote:a5e19]see...you are saying like IT definally happened

maybe it did maybe it didin't...you believe it is...don't say it like it is a proven fact [/quote:a5e19]

Yes, I am, know why? BEcuase it did happen, when you come to know God, you will know and believe that this happend, besides, look at all the witnesses who saw Jesus ascend to Heaven, and when He was on the cross, the sky grew dark, I do believe there is an actual historical account of this. So, to me anyways, its pretty obvious, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He is the only way.

[quote="Duke_of_Ray":bf564][quote:bf564]isn't suicide a sin... [/quote:bf564]

I would say yes, under most circum stances, it is. :)

[quote:bf564]why dont you give up your life, you'll be a better christian [/quote:bf564]

I do need to do a better job about letting Christ control my life, unstead of me, becuase God can do so much better than me.

[quote:bf564]see...you are saying like IT definally happened

maybe it did maybe it didin't...you believe it is...don't say it like it is a proven fact [/quote:bf564]

Yes, I am, know why? BEcuase it did happen, when you come to know God, you will know and believe that this happend, besides, look at all the witnesses who saw Jesus ascend to Heaven, and when He was on the cross, the sky grew dark, I do believe there is an actual historical account of this. So, to me anyways, its pretty obvious, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He is the only way.[/quote:bf564]

1) What does god look like? does he talk with you?
2) People throughout ancient time watched executions as a form of entertainment.
3) They never saw him assend into heaven just die. YOu cant see a "spirit"
4) Day turns into night, light to dark. He was probably up there for a bit.
5) If jesus is the son of god, why worship him? why not god?
6) sorry if this makes anyone mad, just some questions I have had, and statements I wanted to make.

I read 1984

the same way that they can say "2+2 = 5" the same shit they can do to actually make you believe that...

is the same as saying that IT did happen...I can see my phone....but you can't see god

one if proven real, one is not.