Are you religious?
- Thread starter whatsinaname
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Nice link - had not read this before. But what I am saying is quite different. As far as I know, the Bible or the Bhagwad Gita do not talk about money. There might be some concepts that I may not agree with, but money is not required to be religious in most of the religions. Please correct me if I am wrong.
whatsinaname
Innovator
All religions talk about money (though the way I see it, it started out as a sort of socialistic system that helped support the community).
Christianity and Judaism have tithing based on the old testament. (Orthodox followers give at least 10% of annual income).
Deuteronomy 14:23,24,25
http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9978/jewish/Chapter-14.htm
Hinduism definitely encourages donations, especially to Brahmins and temples. Look at the Tirupathi donations which are going towards "repaying Lord Venkateshwara's debts to Lord Kubera". I know people who donate 5% of their income to that temple.
I am not saying the churches and temples are set up to take money. They do a lot of good with it. It is just that money is definitely involved and I am sure a reasonably large portion of it is going into some individual's pockets. (Especially when you look at relatively new oraganisations like the Satya Sai Baba trust and Scientology.)
Exactly what I meant - though I may not have said that clearly. I am the first to admit that I have not read the Bhagwad Gita or the Quran or the Bible but from whatever bits and pieces I have read, they certainly do not talk about money. It's more about how a person should live their life. But seeing the examples you have given, I guess I was wrong.
But I think you have honed down on the real reason for this. For all religions, except maybe the newer ones, money's role was more to help out the weaker sections of the society but once few men realized that they can twist and turn the words to live a comfortable life themselves, it all came undone. True for all religions, not pinpointing any specific one.
It doesn't matter what the religion "originally" said in its texts or how it is being interpreted, but what matters is how it is being followed. And money plays an important role in every religion, otherwise it wouldn't survive. No one is talking about Roman gods and Greek ones with much respect when compared to the mainstream gods today. You know why? They hold no power as no one gives enough money in their names.
Point taken. And I think we are deviating from the main topic now. Let others post their views on this.
ashvarybabul
Discoverer
Yep, another selfish nature and self-centred attitude of believers.
There are children dying of hunger, but making someone pass with good marks is god's top agenda.
Guys, guys ... it does not matter who believes in what. its all about how you treat another human being, belief in re legion should not be the criteria on which you judge another person. you may believe what ever you want to believe just don't expect others to do as well. iam an athiest but i wont go and foist my beliefs on others. If you dont believe in athiesm thats fine its your opinion. Whenever some talks about religion don't try to disprove that it just leads to lot of pointless and unnecessary argument. In the end, it all depends on the people you are talking with, if your with couple of relegious maniacs well you know what to do, if you are having an open ended conversation then we can talk all we want and have good healthy discussion. Am i relegious ? well i dont believe in an higher power, i love the customs that we have. things like diwali, pongal ram navami, margazhi its part of our cultural identity i dont want to forget them 
Sadly, religion's main tool is brainwashing kids from an young age by parents, family members and the society.
Criticising an idea should always be valid, whatever it may be. If the idea can't stand for criticism, then that is not worth being an idea at all. Most believers think an attack on the idea of god or their religion is an attack on them. Just shows how insecure they are in their belief and the need for constant validation from others to feel sane about it.
Atheism itself is a disbelief. You cannot disbelieve in a disbelief, especially when that disbelief is for something that has no proof whatsoever.
Then you must also love casteism, xenophobia, killing inter-caste married couples, female infanticide, misogyny and irrational rituals. Most of the customs followed in India, be it from any religious person, is dictated by religion. Just because there are some good things, doesn't mean you support it whole heartedly. There is nothing to love in the Indian customs.i love the customs that we have. things like diwali, pongal ram navami, margazhi its part of our cultural identity i dont want to forget them
Instead, we can appreciate, learn and take pleasure from the philosophies and practices that are part of India’s splendid past. Just like Greeks, Romans and rest of the other cultures enjoy their architecture, art and culture, we can do so too, without attaching any factual significance to them.
Atheism is just a start; anyone can label themselves as such without giving much significance to other factors. In fact, most of the atheists in India call themselves as "Relgious Atheists," which itself is a joke. There is a need to go beyond just Atheism - a need to be free of the tradition and dogmas that haunt all of us.
Well practically how many people would be open to that kind of criticism? you see all the insecure religious have this idea hammered in to them since the day they were born. so when you crticize their opinion. it would be like attacking them personally so i really don't see any point in having any discussion about this with these kind of people. Lets face it. people who have looked for religion in time of crisis will never stand people who criticize it. Why? because for them religion was sort of an aide during their times of despair. Will you stand someone who criticize your best friend who helped you during your time of crysis?
ok i didnt phrase that sentence properly. what i mean to say is if some one critizes athiesm i wont argue back or counter their criticism because it doesnt make any sense. as you said its a non belief
I do not agree with this, All iam saying leave out the bad things and keep the good things. when my grand ma died, we were having all sort of rituals at home, all the relatives came and it made dealing with things much easier, i like customs which bring positive things like this and there are some rituals in hindu religion which has some meaning i remember this because of this book http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8143075-am-i-a-hindu-the-hinduism-primer#other_reviews.
This is what i meant! we should never forget the good things of our past. infact in the book "God delusion" richard dawkins says the same thing he takes buddhism or jainism as examples.
The new generation should be bought up with this kind of out look. show them everything make them reason everything and they should draw their own conclusion from it.
avi
Keymaster
We were in a hot debate at work on the topics of religion and god. thats when the idea struck me. I told them that I will be starting my own religion. and the one and only rule everyone must follow is "I will not enforce my thoughts on others." and then I was thinking of a name for this religion of mine. and the name is oxymoron
btw, you have to pay 2000 member fee to join.
btw, you have to pay 2000 member fee to join.
eternoMind
Herald
Everyone here ought to read/watch-on-YouTube Osho interviews, speeches and Q&A sessions.
His precise insights really do work up your brain!
His precise insights really do work up your brain!
Usually, theists, and some irrational atheists too, go on to claim that atheism is also a form of belief, just like theism. Now, by definition, it is exactly the opposite: a disbelief. However, it can be considered a belief if you go by the strictest of definitions, but it is still not the same as theism.
Just to make it simple, replace god with any other fictional creature such as a unicorn, or a dragon, and then ask yourself the same question. You will realise how absurd that notion is.
avi
Keymaster
Do let me know if you are looking for some partner for this new venture.We were in a hot debate at work on the topics of religion and god. thats when the idea struck me. I told them that I will be starting my own religion. and the one and only rule everyone must follow is "I will not enforce my thoughts on others." and then I was thinking of a name for this religion of mine. and the name is oxymoron
btw, you have to pay 2000 member fee to join.
Totally agree !!
An atheist. I am more concerned with two things
1. Giving the freedom to children to understand the rational world as it is and let them form their own conlusions which they are not allowed to.
2. ARiding the world of the superstitions that are an inevitable part of bing religious.
My argument - All the religions are so vastly different that they cannot all be ever true. So at any point of time most of the folks in the world must be atheists and not religious.
1. Giving the freedom to children to understand the rational world as it is and let them form their own conlusions which they are not allowed to.
2. ARiding the world of the superstitions that are an inevitable part of bing religious.
My argument - All the religions are so vastly different that they cannot all be ever true. So at any point of time most of the folks in the world must be atheists and not religious.
As far as belief in God is concerned, I am neutral. I don't see any proof to believe or disbelieve the existence of a God. I don't think praying to God helps anyone regardless of whether God exists or not. I believe that people just need to work hard towards their goals. Even if God exists and is the perfect being that he is supposed to be, then he will do whatever he wishes to do without paying any heed to your wishes. So there is no point in praying. If God is partial to peoples requests just because they prayed, then such a being is more closer to the imperfections of our race than to the perfect being that he is supposed to be.
I do understand that various people have their own spiritual beliefs and I respect that, but religion is not the same thing as a spiritual belief. Spiritual belief comes from ones experiences, knowledge and intelligence. Its a decision made by self to be applied to self. Such people are open minded enough to question their beliefs when required and they rely on their own intelligence and conscience for their moral conduct. Their beliefs are not set in stone. They believe that certain things are wrong or right, but not because some holy book says so, but because their own heart says so.
Religion on the other hand is just mass mentality. It is just people blindly trying to follow some so called holy book (regardless of which one it is) that was written centuries ago and based their actions on it or alternatively people trying to misinterpret such books however they want to suit their actions. As such there is no application of ones own intelligence. Personally, I believe that religion is the primary root cause of all evil in the society.
I do understand that various people have their own spiritual beliefs and I respect that, but religion is not the same thing as a spiritual belief. Spiritual belief comes from ones experiences, knowledge and intelligence. Its a decision made by self to be applied to self. Such people are open minded enough to question their beliefs when required and they rely on their own intelligence and conscience for their moral conduct. Their beliefs are not set in stone. They believe that certain things are wrong or right, but not because some holy book says so, but because their own heart says so.
Religion on the other hand is just mass mentality. It is just people blindly trying to follow some so called holy book (regardless of which one it is) that was written centuries ago and based their actions on it or alternatively people trying to misinterpret such books however they want to suit their actions. As such there is no application of ones own intelligence. Personally, I believe that religion is the primary root cause of all evil in the society.
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Join this fb group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NirmuktaParenting/i am raising my kid and as a non believer , trust me its really very hard to raise kids without talking about god. shes now 4 and has not yet questioned what is god ... she sees others praying to god ,
lets see how it goes
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