Bad Religion

[RESiNATE]

I've never heard of the band

Anyways, religion:

It's a man-made theory - go figure.

Res...

[BOgart.bitch]

right now im very confused.. so i just label myself agnostic.. i know im spiritual but i also know that i dont believe in christianity or what i have seen of it. so, for right now im out in religious limbo, which doesnt have too many rules to follow concerning weed and whether or not it is right for me to use it.

[sawleaf]

Hahha, I also thought this was about the band. Anyways, I'm not into them. If you've heard one of their songs, you've heard them all. They all sound so much alike.

[KillaBuzz]

Ermitonto, how can u be an ahtiest an beleive in sumthin, even if it iznt an actual religion, at the same time? athiestz not only dont beleive in any "real" religion, they beleive in NOTHING, no supreme being, an that the reason were here is completely scientifical. an agnostic belivez that there iz a sumpreme being ov sum sort, but since there is no certainty, they choose not 2 follow a religion. there iz a big difference. an fer those ov u who say religion iz controlling er wutever, well u must not kno anythin bout religion. ppl dunt choose a religon becuz ov the rulez that religion entailz, they join a religion bcuz they truly beleive that that iz how the earth wuz created an such. if yer in a religion an feel like it iz too controlling, maybe u shoood think bout yer beleifz on how we came to be, maybe yer current religion iz not wut u true heartedly beleive in. i juss dunt understand how anyone can go around sayin that christianity er jewish ppl beelive in sumthin that iz rapin them ov their freedom. this iz y i say u must kno nuttin bout religion, becuz religion GIVEZ u freedom, it duznt rape u ov it. an like i said b4, if u honestly feel like yer religion iz interfering in a way that makez u uncomfortable, maybe u dunt truly beleive in that religion.
PeAcE

[ermitonto]

"Ermitonto, how can u be an ahtiest an beleive in sumthin, even if it iznt an actual religion, at the same time? athiestz not only dont beleive in any "real" religion, they beleive in NOTHING, no supreme being, an that the reason were here is completely scientifical."

I would agree completely with that. I don't believe there is anything above the physical manifestation of molecules, energies and so forth, and if there was it would be completely irrelevant to us since we can't observe it. There is nothing in that statement which contradicts any aspect of Daoist philosophy. There is no supreme being in Daoism, no metaphysical souls, no concept of an afterlife...the Daoist is not required to believe in any of that. I see no evidence for a God or gods anywhere, so I don't believe in any of them; therefore I fit the dictionary definition of an atheist, albeit an atheist who incorporates Daoist thought into his life.

"an agnostic belivez that there iz a sumpreme being ov sum sort, but since there is no certainty, they choose not 2 follow a religion."

No, that is not agnostic. Agnostic means somebody is not sure whether or not there are any deities and thinks that no solution to the issue can be reached given the evidence. There certainly is a big difference. I am not agnostic. I don't see the popular Judeo-Christian "God" as a very likely being; I would go so far as to say that such a being is logically impossible: I do not see a possible way for a being to be omniscient and omnipotent and yet give humans "free will" and coexist with it, for example.

"an fer those ov u who say religion iz controlling er wutever, well u must not kno anythin bout religion."

Yes, but they didn't come to that conclusion themselves, they were obviously coaxed by someone who is already a member. People don't just stop in the street and say "Aha! I get it! There is no God but Allah! I guess I'm a Muslim, huh?"

"ppl dunt choose a religon becuz ov the rulez that religion entailz, they join a religion bcuz they truly beleive that that iz how the earth wuz created an such."

Most people don't "choose" their religion. For most people, it is as accidental as what language they happen to speak. Again, to clear up, Daoism does not claim to know how the universe was formed. As far as I'm concerned, the Big Bang Theory looks like how it really happened. Laozi and Zhuangzi and the other founders of Daoism did not claim any supernatural or divine inspiration for their writings. They wrote as mortal, fallible men and acknowledged this. They wrote about life and good ways of living based on what they experienced in their lives.

"if yer in a religion an feel like it iz too controlling, maybe u shoood think bout yer beleifz on how we came to be, maybe yer current religion iz not wut u true heartedly beleive in."

This does not apply to Daoism, which does not portray a story on how the world came to be.

"i juss dunt understand how anyone can go around sayin that christianity er jewish ppl beelive in sumthin that iz rapin them ov their freedom. this iz y i say u must kno nuttin bout religion, becuz religion GIVEZ u freedom, it duznt rape u ov it. an like i said b4, if u honestly feel like yer religion iz interfering in a way that makez u uncomfortable, maybe u dunt truly beleive in that religion."

I say to each his own. If you want to believe something and it isn't hurting me, go ahead. It's unfortunate that those people believe those religions to be true, but there's nothing I can do about it and I'm not going to make fun of someone for their religious beliefs. I am not uncomfortable with my Daoist philosophy, since it deals with lots of things that can be relevant to anyone's life, atheist or otherwise, like self-sufficiency, simplicity and the importance of the natural world.

I'm not saying people with religion are any less free (or any more free). I'm just saying that many people in Christianity, Islam etc. have worldviews in which certain things are "moral" and others are "immoral", for example giving selflessly is "moral" and killing senselessly is "immoral", whereas Daoism does not draw that (sometimes fine) distinction, focusing on the consequences of the act itself rather than trying to categorize it on a black-and-white good-versus-bad scale.

"an like i said b4, if u honestly feel like yer religion iz interfering in a way that makez u uncomfortable, maybe u dunt truly beleive in that religion."

I don't believe in a religion. I have a philosophy, a Weltanschauung, like everybody else does. I consider myself a Daoist because I agree with most of the philosophy in the Daoist texts and it has partially shaped my Weltanschauung, the same way that I have been influenced by more modern authors' philosophies. Daoism is not "interfering" with my atheism in any way that would make me uncomfortable; if it did I would not be a Daoist.

[KillaBuzz]

alrite um juss so yah kno, i wuznt talkin bout u thruout my entire post so there wuz no need fer u ta break erythin i said down an come up wit sum shit that i dunt even understand bout daoism lol. the only thing i wuz talkin 2 u bout wuz the athiest/agnostic. now tell me wut the difference between me sayin an agnostic beleivez in no set supreme being becuz therez no certainty, an u sayin "Agnostic means somebody is not sure whether or not there are any deities and thinks that no solution to the issue can be reached given the evidence" i dunt think there iz any difference an if there iz, itz so suttle that i cant figure out y u wood try an act like i wuz wrong. we said tghe exact same thing but in different wordz. how do ppl not choose their religion? maybe in certain countirez where the leader ov the country iz also the leader ov that countriez religion, leavin ppl no chioce, but otherwise, we all have a choice az to wut religion we put our faith into.

[GHoSToKeR]

KillaBuzz - just like Ermitonto said, to each his own. The way I see it, is that Christianity, Judaism, Islamasism (sp?) and most other 'religions' only take away your freedom by telling you what's right and what isn't, you don't choose for yourself.

Secondly, most religious people did not choose that religion, it was thrust upon them. These are the people that I get saddened by. People who have NEVER questioned their own beliefs, never questioned the religion they are a part of, but won't listen to anyone else's point of view. Shit, I don't believe in God, but if someone wants to sit with me and try and reason with me that there IS in fact a God, then i'll listen with an open mind.. when you can't do that is the point when you need to step back and take a look at yourself. That's why I believe that organised religion is taking away people's freedoms, simply because, in my honest opinion, it is a form of brainwashing, and people are afraid to doubt their own beliefs, which I feel is the worst "sin" of all

Seriously man, I grew up in the shittest religion to grow up in as a kid.. fuckin JW's! I hated it. As soon as I was old enough to question the JW theology, I did, and I didn't like it.. But other JW's I know don't even question it, because they're afraid to.. Just like Catholics consider it a sin if you question Gods existence etc etc..

I, like ermitonto, don't believe in any deity. Just as erimtonto said, if an omnipotent and omniscient deity did exist, then he/she/it would preclude free will..

also, ermitonto, I'd like to hear more about the Daoist philosophy you were mentioning.. I've heard it mentioned but didn't look into it.. If youve got the time, of course

peace

[GHoSToKeR]

Sorry for the double post, but I got something to add lol

Killa, an Agnostic is someone thats skeptical about the existence of God but doesnt profess true atheism because he/she believes it is impossible to know if their is a God or not..

an Atheist is someone who believes there is no God, period.

peace

[Bro DZ]

LoL
I was raised till about the age of 10 under the rule of my JW mom. Fortunately for me, the kingdom halls we went to all taught us that we werent going there just to pray to their god, we where going there to learn about the bible. And thats what I did, so after learning all I needed to know, I asked the elders questions they could not answer and religion no longer held any mysteries for me. I lucked out, unlike many poeple who are born into stricter sects and religions. Daoism sounds like an awesome philosophy though, and I'll have to read into it. So far all I know about it is whats been said here.

[GHoSToKeR]

LoL
I was raised till about the age of 10 under the rule of my JW mom. Fortunately for me, the kingdom halls we went to all taught us that we werent going there just to pray to their god, we where going there to learn about the bible.

lol the one i went to was full of bloody fascists haha