i was born and raised a catholic. however recently i came to my senses and realised that utmost faith(in any religion) cannot be achieved. there are numorous religions in our world today, many laughable, and if only one can be right, its a complete lottery as to whether you will choose the right one, if there even is a right one. if you have a belief in a certain religion i completely respect but i also think you may slightly deluded or misled. i welcome all opinions so please discuss.

Your not being politically correct. All religions are right and everyone is supposed to not say otherwise. All hold hands and sing kumbayah.

Originally Posted by joder

Your not being politically correct. All religions are right and everyone is supposed to not say otherwise. All hold hands and sing kumbayah.

this is not a correct statement as all religions have their own ideals and have clearly defined views on the afterlife. for example rein carnation is not the same belief as that of imediate afterlife

I know Robert. Sorry but I was making fun of what I see on TV.

religion cannot save you after dying.that is if you believe in heaven or hell. Just do good things while you are still alive.

I'd rather not to go to church if i can't even do good to other's. For me it doesn't matter if you're a catholic or what, important thing is you know how to help others.

doing good and having faith are not the same thing

yes but if you are of faith (especially catholic) you would be required to go to church so as to receive communion. however this would be considered hypocracy if you did not back it up by being good to your fellow human beings.

religion cant do anything good for you, with or with out it you will live and someday die. its a waste of time

amen to that

Religion in and of itself is a set of rules that men employ to attempt to earn their way into heaven. By this definition all religion is useless. No one can EARN their way into God's good graces and get a ticket to heaven. Even the best person in the world today is too sinful to earn a spot in heaven. This is because ALL have sinned.

Faith in Jesus, however, is different. Jesus taught that the only way to have true forgiveness is to accept Jesus' life and death on our behalf. Where we should have died for our own sin, Jesus took our place. If anyone believes in Jesus as God's son and accepts His love and gift of forgiveness, then he will live forever with God in heaven. No amount of religion or good works can accomplish what was done on the cross. This is the true and simple teaching of Christianity. Many people have a skewed vision of Jesus and the Bible because of what some do in the name of Christianity. But it boils down to this: We are sinners. Religion is useless. God offered us forgiveness by Jesus' life and death. Believe in Jesus and accept his eternal life. THAT's IT!

I truly believe that every person has his/her own connection to THAT (which can be God, or the inner self, or some other definition). Some people cannot feel any connection (yet). And then religion can just be defined as an invention of man.

Religion is nothing just to prevent evil things. Basic things of religion is to make peace in the world and humanity. these things every religion has.

>>>> You can see added features in it now in every reliogion for making them fame .

>>>> Just believe in humanity!!! and do good things. Beleive is that "Some one is there in the world who is managing whole universe whome to you can say GOD.

>>>> But it is confirm that someone is managing whole world. and HE is expecting that we should keep His things with better way.

Religion is nothing just to prevent evil things. Basic things of religion is to make peace in the world and humanity. these things every religion has.

>>>> You can see added features in it now in every reliogion for making them fame .

>>>> Just believe in humanity!!! and do good things. Beleive is that "Some one is there in the world who is managing whole universe whome to you can say GOD.

>>>> But it is confirm that someone is managing whole world. and HE is expecting that we should keep His things with better way.



You can see wikipedia
A religion is a set of beliefs and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.
In the frame of European religious thought,[1] religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one sacred, the other profane.[2] Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and scriptures are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion is also often described as a "way of life" or a Life stance.
The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. "Organized religion" generally refers to an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity (see religion-supporting organization). Other religions believe in personal revelation. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system,"[3] but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.

Originally Posted by Felina

I truly believe that every person has his/her own connection to THAT (which can be God, or the inner self, or some other definition). Some people cannot feel any connection (yet). And then religion can just be defined as an invention of man.

The first statement you said is not about religion so I don't see clear on how it is related to the second statement. But I do agree that religion is just an invention of man, well and so is science. The only things that differentiate them from one another is that science holds evidence and religion holds faith/fear.

I reckon everyone has their own right to their own believes.

My believe is that religion helps people deal with their impending death as all religions state that death is not the end, is it? I have no idea but am sure I will find out one day (its the one true thing we all have in common) - if it helps them deal with it then good for them.

Religion is nothing just to prevent evil things. Basic things of religion is to make peace in the world and humanity. these things every religion has.

Some of the worst wars and atrocities have been committed in the name of religion, and are still being committed today, I have no doubt your concept is correct but people have a way turning things on upside down so the meaning gets lost.

I reckon the best anyone can do is to choose to be a good and decent person and contribute positively in some way to the people around them (and thus society) - I don’t know if there is a God - there may be something after death but I would rather focus on making the lives of the people around me a little better - if they do the same for you that’s about as good as live can get.

Live long and prosper people....

i was born and raised a catholic also, but when the pope lives like a king in a beautiful setting & millions of people in the world starve, just doesn't feel right, now Mother Theresa was a saint & women who was from a rich family and gave it all up to live among the people, she should of been the pope.

as for me I know there is one God, life force, creator call him what you will and any religion that bring it's true belivers closer to God in peaceful ways, is good

thus all religion is only as good as it's teacher

So I say: Peace be apon the Teachers of our Faiths

Originally Posted by Lord Video

i was born and raised a catholic also, but when the pope lives like a king in a beautiful setting & millions of people in the world starve, just doesn't feel right, now Mother Theresa was a saint & women who was from a rich family and gave it all up to live among the people, she should of been the pope.

as for me I know there is one God, life force, creator call him what you will and any religion that bring it's true belivers closer to God in peaceful ways, is good

thus all religion is only as good as it's teacher

So I say: Peace be apon the Teachers of our Faiths

you don't need no teacher to tell you what you should believe in. But if that is how you decide on which thing to believe in, then I have no other say. You believe in what others believe in? So wheres your own faith?

Originally Posted by jabo

you don't need no teacher to tell you what you should believe in. But if that is how you decide on which thing to believe in, then I have no other say. You believe in what others believe in? So wheres your own faith?

On this I have to agree with you jabo, if a religion is only as good as its teacher then its not a religion its a dictatorship.

My favorite professor said it best "question everything, even truth; because when its all said and done truth will prevail even after being brought into question."

That is now a strong part of which I live.

If you do not have a teacher of some sort, how do you learn what the choices are? Books can only tell you so much, other peoples experiences and their feelings about those experiences are just as powerful a tool to learn as reading, if not more so. Just because I have some one teach me about faith does not mean that I am not making my own decisions - better informed than I was before being taught. I have learned a lot of things about different religions from different people and made my own decision. In high school I was taught about Buddhism, Judaism, and different denominations of Christianity just to name a few.

Just because I have learned from other people does not mean that I did not make my own decision.