<p>Disclaimer: I am a Christian, but I do not pretend to know all. These opinions are what I've gleaned from reading the Bible, sporadically attending church, reading books such as those of Mr. Lewis's (mentioned earlier), and the ever questionable "life experiences."</p>
<p>Most Christians will agree that God has a plan for them. Oftentimes, as humans, we are short-sighted and cannot always truly know what is best for us. The overused metaphor is the parent-child relationship. The kid asks for something silly, and the parent does not give it to him/her. Even good people are not flawless.</p>
<p>Jesus is the fundamental element in Christianity. In a nutshell, Christians believe that Jesus came to earth to save believers' of their sins. He offers forgiveness (and thus, the key to heaven) and asks for nothing but belief in Him in return. Almost all other religions are based in rituals and rules. Christianity is based in a relationship -- your relationship with Jesus.</p>
<p>I guess you could say that that noteworthy difference makes all the difference to me.</p>
<p>I personally think that discussions like these are pointless. Some people are just naturally religious, while others are bothered by the evident lack of logic in religion. I just don't think that it's possible to make someone who is firmly atheistic understand why some people are so religious, just like it's not possible to make a firmly religious person denounce their faith.</p>
<p>WindCloudUltra, yeah I know you wasn't. I just had a take on how I view these "answered prayers business"</p>
<p>Good point roxxy but I have an example</p>
<p>Say a christian who lost his/her loved one in Hurricane Katrina decides to pray to find home insurance papers and other missing materials. If God wanted he could easily do some magic by putting the items in the victims possession but he didn't. There are some victims that prayed for this but didn't retrieve it. Therefore, their prayer were not answered. God doesn't need to Un-answer the prayer because of plans. I respect your point but I'm a little dubious</p>
<p>rocker, it really isn't pointless because people's perspective might change based on this thread alone............or so they say</p>
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Say a christian who lost his/her loved one in Hurricane Katrina decides to pray to find home insurance papers and other missing materials. If God wanted he could easily do some magic by putting the items in the victims possession but he didn't. There are some victims that paryed for this but didn't retrieve it. Therefore, their prayer were not answered. God doesn't need to Un-answer the paryer because of that.
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<p>There's a problem with this hypothetical situation. We only see one short-term result of one aspect of this one specific tragedy. We don't see what happens afterwards, or if something else comes up (I know I'm being vague, but bear with me -- this is, after all, a hypothetical situation). The whole "When God closes one door, somewhere He opens a window."</p>
<p>It's unfortunate that religion is paralleled with magic. It's almost like saying that unless God pulls a rabbit out of a top hat, you won't believe he exists. I guess this is similar to what Rockermcr was saying earlier. People have to be open to the idea, and a lot of people (not pointing fingers, mind you) that challenge Christianity already have a mindset that it's utter rubbish. A lot of it is also the fault of people who claim to be "Christians"!</p>
<p>I know I keep quoting Lewis, but the man was brilliant. I hope you will forgive me. ;)</p>
<p>I agree with roxxy. As long it's civilized, I actually think a discussion such as this is really interesting. </p>
<p>Anyway, in response to roxxy: "Almost all other religions are based in rituals and rules." Perhaps many of the pagan religions are. But take Buddhism for example. It is hardly based on much ritual--most of the ritual elements most people associate with it were added on much later. In essence, Buddhism was polluted with elements of local paganism as it spread.
Buddha never told anyone to pray to a stone statue of him...he simply came to teach. </p>
<p>The ultimate state in Buddhism is Nirvana. According to the teachings of Buddha, all souls have the capability to reach this state: "It is a state that is free from any mind-contaminants (kilesa) such as lust, anger or craving; a state of perfect peace unobstructed by psychological conditioning (sankhara). All forms of craving are extinguished such that one is no longer subject to human suffering (dukkha) or further states of rebirths in the samsara." (via. Wikipedia. Sorry if I couldn't find a more reliable source in short notice.) </p>
<p>Like Buddhism, Christianity also had moments when pagan/ritual elements entered into the religion (and certinaly pages and pages of inconsistent rules): Catholicism.</p>
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Like Buddhism, Christianity also had moments when pagan/ritual elements entered into the religion: Catholicism.
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<p>Hm, yes. This is mere speculation, but maybe it's because humans feel "safer" or "more religious" when they do things/carry out tasks? Obviously, there will be flaws wherever humans are concerned. But if we look at at Jesus's words only, all Christianity requires is a relationship with Him (source: Bible).</p>
<p>"Hm, yes. This is mere speculation, but maybe it's because humans feel "safer" or "more religious" when they do things/carry out tasks? Obviously, there will be flaws wherever humans are concerned. But if we look at at Jesus's words only, all Christianity requires is a relationship with Him (source: Bible)."</p>
<p>Do you necessary have to follow him to be considered "Ethical"? because these days thats the stigma being carried around</p>
<p>We forgive you for quoting Lewis ;) if I knew the man I probably would to</p>
<p>Although you are right in that rituals and such were added to religions, I don't think this was always necessarily a bad thing. The rituals and rules never go against the principles of the religion. In fact, I think they help to reinforce the concepts of the religion, in one way or another. Let's take into consideration your example of people praying to a stone statue of Buddha. I find that this particular ritual would, in a way, remind Buddhists of what they believe in. If you think about it, many people feel as though they belong to their religion because of the rituals that they take part in. Without these, just about anyone could say that they have a belief in any deity. </p>
<p>However, there are people who have a very strong faith, for whatever reason, and who don't feel the need to take part in any rituals because they realize that their beliefs aren't anchored to such things. It really depends on the person.</p>
<p>Like a lot of the other people on here, I believe in a higher being or God of some sort...because it is comforting to have faith.
I think the word for it is agnostic. </p>
<p>My parents are pretty religious Hindus though, but its hard to continue that because the nearest temple is about 2 hours away, so we only go on special occasions. We used to go to a religion class when we were younger but it kind of fell apart. And most of all, my brother and I don't understand Hindi---so we can't understand most of the prayers and what they say at the temple.</p>
<p>And then there's the point that religion really only formed as a way to explain things that people couldn't explain at the time. Greek and Roman gods control the forces of nature because Greeks and Romans couldn't explained why thunderstorms occured. This ideology basically degrades any sort of religion, but whatever the case it is also a fact that faith is responsible for giving hope to people when they may have none left in situations they can't explain. It's all very cyclical and nonconclusive. </p>
<p>Finally, what I really never got is all the hatred between religions. I think I believe that there is one God or higher being and that all the different religions are just different ways people view this God. But why is it so bad that we have different ways of seeing God? Why do some Christians believe that it is they have to convince everybody that THEIR view of god is the ONLY one that is right (same for every other religion). Why does it matter at all if someone doesn't have the same view of God than you? That's the start of all the terrorism and everything in the first place....extremists.
I just never got how you could ever get to that extreme...how you could ever take every single world written in the Bible or Koran or whatever so literally. </p>
<p>rockermcr, Don't forget the large percentage of people that are coerced into religion by family members. I heard that Arab females, while young, are forced into a religion (i forget) that they have to cover part of their face etc. Then they have religions where the young females have to get their genitals closed so their won't be pregnancys. (I think) But all I know is that there are alot of religions and practices out there That are unfair because religion should be based solely on what you believe in, not what your parents want you to believe.</p>
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Do you necessary have to follow him to be considered "Ethical"? because these days thats the stigma being carried around
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<p>Depends on what you define as ethical. Where do you base your ethics?</p>
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<p>We're treading in dangerous waters here. Who decides right vs. wrong? If my final authority is the Bible (God's Word, as it's defined), then God decides right/wrong.</p>
<p>For non-Christians, I have no idea how right/wrong is judged. Why is murder wrong? Because it feels wrong? Perhaps because murder is depriving one of his/her right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But who then said we had that right?</p>
<p>So then I have to turn the question to you: If not God, who?</p>
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But why is it so bad that we have different ways of seeing God?
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Why does it matter at all if someone doesn't have the same view of God than you?
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<p>It isn't/doesn't. We have free will. Some people are just too easily incensed, I guess.</p>
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Why do some Christians believe that it is they have to convince everybody that THEIR view of god is the ONLY one that is right (same for every other religion).
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<p>Ah, the debate of absolute truth vs. relative truth. Here's my take: I believe in absolute truth. Or rather, I believe absolute truth exists. But I don't claim to know this absolute truth. I do, however, *believe<a href="key%20word%20here;%20reasons%20stated%20in%20previous%20posts">/i</a> that the Christian God knows the absolute truth. If you don't agree, that's completely fine with me. I do not and cannot control your beliefs. There's a paradox with the concept of relative truth, though -- if everyone is "allowed to" have his/her own truths, then I am allowed to believe in absolute truth.</p>
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<p>Thus, I cannot say I am a Christian but still feel that truth is relative. If I were a Christian that believed that all other religions were true as well, then I wouldn't be a Christian. I might be spineless, but I wouldn't be a Christian. :P</p>
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ethical as in your morality and good practices</p>
<p>Example:: You see an old lady drop a 20 on the floor. Do you pick it up && return? or just keep it knowing its not yours.
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<p>But that doesn't answer my question of how you define good vs. bad or right vs. wrong.</p>
<p>I would return it because that's a pretty obvious "WWJD?" But how do I know how other people define their values? If they return it because it "feels" right, then is that truly "ethical"?</p>
<p>So Authentic, you're definitely right. This is a really sticky topic. In some respects, the fact that parents push their kids in a specific religious direction is good, because the kids could eventually discover that this religion is the right one for them. Or, they could not. I would understand it if a faithful parent would try to convince their child to remain religious, but not to the point where the relationship between parent and child relies solely on their religious beliefs. </p>
<p>Now, about the religions that you mentioned. I personally think (i.e. this is just my opinion, don't hate me) such religions are uncivilized, to a certain degree. It seems as though they rely on fear to safeguard the adherence of the religious. What's basically taught to the members of the religion is that if they don't comply with the rules/rituals, they won't be part of the religion anymore, and God will smite them. </p>
<p>The quality of the rituals also evidently depends on the religion.</p>
<p>roxxy, ethical centers mostly on whats "Right".....disregard the wrong. && its all about doing it because thats whats right, not to look good in any shape, form or fashion</p>
<p>rocker, its seriously appaling how parents force religion on their kids. especially the strict parents that makes sure they're kid follows that religion. My dad made me catholic and when I was younger I didn't really have a general gistof religion but now that I'm older I now that religion is based on your beliefs only not someone else, no matter who it is. I see no difference between a catholic and a christian in the first place but anyway thast irrelevant to what we're talking about</p>