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Yes That is the problem with "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you". Something of an inversion of the golden rule as, being unpacked, it translates as "Do unto others what you think they should have, not what they want". It can be a green light for forced conversions for the good of their souls.
No, I just hear and obey the Spirit. It's not brain surgery, but some people have such a problem with it. Peace
Much as I think the bible is the root cause of so much misery in the world, I'd never burn it.
Neither would I, or any book.
I was given one, the NIV, as a wedding gift, imprinted with the names of my now-ex-husband and me. For five years, I rented a house with a detached garage in which I stored things, including some books. When I moved out, I went through the box and discovered that my wedding bible had been feasted upon by Sister or Brother Rodent. Chewed through the binding. I still have it somewhere. Probably in the attic, waiting to provide sustenance for the next creature.
In all the usual usages, atheism is not a religion. Almost all atheists will say no.
You are making a case -study of Arach. Well, I may be wrong about him. I'm always willing to be wrong. He is in fact an unusual case, so hardly to be taken as a Rule.
You have to bear in mind that there are god -believers who are yet not religious; they believe there is a god but have no time for organized religions. They often call themselves agnostics, deists, maybe pantheist. And they may stand with us in ticking he "None" box or fight us, fang and talon, on First -Cause -God. They are still not in a 'Religion'.
Now Arach is in that bracket, or just getting into it as his postings suggests that he has a god -faith in search of a plausible object.
But even if he does find it, that won't make him religious. Not even Goldenrule is religious. So you see, you have got a bit of an irreligious buffer zone between atheism and religion.
No. Atheism is not a religion.
and there are atheist who believe in spirits but are still atheist.
No matter how you want to slice it trans, if one can be excluded from the group as it were then that group is a religion or at the very least a cult, which is just another way of being religious
I am pleased that my thread is so well received by my friends (and foes). It was never intended to proselytize the Christian faith but to correct the intellectually bankrupt rationale behind it. For those who believe in Christ, I wanted to provide a more rational interpretation of His significance to us all. I see the religions as syncretistic and in my mind, Jesus is the Maitreya, who some 500 years prior to Christ Gautama Buddha predicted would arise and more perfectly embody the Maitri. To Arq's concern, it is not a linear chronological transition. Nothing was. Linear time is a relatively recent phenomenon in geologic time. It is a spiritual evolution and whatever is the source of spiritual-natural selection is the filter. The Humanist and unconditional love memes are in the ascendancy. They are at the base of Christ's message and example further suggesting that Christ did embody more perfectly the underlying Maitri of the Buddha. I believe it is the one we are intended to adopt eventually. Whether or not it will retain the religious trappings and magic is extremely unlikely.
Why do you assume this? You have no knowledge of the people who were alive during the supposed Jesus era. How do you know what the people of this era could, or could not achieve consciously? How do you know that humans prior to the supposed Jesus era had not achieved higher states of consciousness? Until you invent a time-machine and travel back in time you honestly cannot make such claims.
True, but we can infer from the surviving writings and practices of the time that agape love as a concern for the well-being of everyone was NOT practiced let alone a prevalent meme. When talking about such broad brush societal phenomena, there will always be the potential for the odd one out. But a human being who could actually love the ones scourging Him and crucifying Him is a rare enough circumstance for the era to suspect that He is a one-off for that era.
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Timeline of religion
Failures are relevant to us. Failures help us learn, failures provide opportunities for deep introspection and inner self reflection. Failures are relevant for personal growth and conscious evolution.
It is the focus on our failures that is counterproductive. The fact that religion deemed them sins punishable by a wrathful God only amplified its counterproductiveness. The whole point of Christ's existence was to remove the unwarranted concern over our human failures and to provide sincere repentance as a remedy for them.
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This is the problem I have with Christianity as well as other religions that promote this message. Why do you believe it necessary to follow these specific instructions? Why promote others to be constrained to a very narrow path with one teacher? There are many other methods, teachers and daily practices that one can follow to achieve higher states of consciousness.
I agree wth your rejection of the exclusivity endemic to the current Christian religion which is why I seek to correct it. Loving one another is the motivation that minimizes (if not eliminates) the harmful interactions among us. When it is extended to everyone involved, it can solve so many of the world's ills.
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This is simply false. People can read other inspirational words of wisdom from other great teachers that walked this earth: Teachers such as Gautama Buddha, Gandhi, Paramhansa Yogananda as well as 100's of other inspirational works of spiritual wisdom and practices. People find spiritual inspiration and ways to elevate their consciousness towards peace, kindness and love without having to be constrained to what your beliefs are.
It is not false. I HAVE read most of the inspirational works of the past and many of the more recent vintage. Unlike many, I do NOT think God stopped inspiring us 2000+ years ago. I don't think inspiration has ever stopped. We agree about the counterproductive nature of religious beliefs and their imposition on others.
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Most humans are born with the innate qualities of compassion, kindness, peace and love...the existence that has been slowly carved out over 1000's of years for us to exist in has created a block for many to exercise these innate qualities. Those who have the realization/awakening that they want to undo the conditioning's that bury these innate qualities, usually embark upon their own journey of what works best for them. They don't have to follow the instructions that you are promoting in order to advance consciously.
I suspect you are misreading the instructions. They are quite non-dogmatic. It really does mean to simply love God (Existence) and each other every day and repent (change your state of mind) when you don't. God is everything including us who reproduce His consciousness as His children.
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I hope you can openly understand what I am saying vs. getting angry at my words as you typically do when I offer an alternative view.
Peace
I apologize for any times I have seemed to be angry or my rhetoric was out of bounds. I am not and never was angry, Matadora Perhaps I did all too zealously and vigorously present my view of things. I will endeavor to correct that. I find your posts enlightening and useful if somewhat stinted in philosophical matters.
Last edited by MysticPhD; 05-23-2017 at 12:43 AM..
What you believe and what the scriptures actually say, are two different things. I won't bother with the bulk of this, but instead will zero in on the error that permeates the whole of your thinking. For instance, you seem to think that the veil is ignorance, and that this ignorance is the "sacrificial mindset".
What it actually is, is the pattern of man component's, his FLESH (all that he is or thinks apart from Christ) is the veil, and that veil is what is opened or rent when man lays down his life to accept Christ. It's a type of going from the outer court through the veil that separated it from the inner court of the priesthood.
Because blood is attained by the death of the sacrifice, for this reason there is no remission for sins without the shedding of blood, and this veil being rent therefore is as the death of the sacrifice. The ministration of this death was declared GLORIOUS by G-d, not the failure of men you deem it to be. Which is why we are told to make of ourselves a living SACRIFICE.
2Cor 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was GLORIOUS, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
Which is exactly why, right after this disclosure of the necessity of the death of the sacrifice (ministration of death) is made, He begins to talk about a different glory. And for this reason, the ONLY WAY it gets done away with, is when it has done it's job of killing the sacrifice.
2Cor 3:18 But WE ALL, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image FROM GLORY TO GLORY, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Now note that we ALL, change from one glory (the old/flesh governed over by the law of Moses for the purpose of killing it) TO another glory (veil done away/RENT, death of sacrifice) as we ENTER into Christ, represented by the inner court of the Tabernacle. An open face here, is the same as saying the veil was rent/sacrifice died. Peace
Rbbi, we proceed from such disparate premises and beliefs about God and His true nature that it is unlikely we will ever be able to reconcile our views. I eschew any and all magical thinking, I consider the Holy Spirit of agape to be the essence of God and the achievement of it within our consciousness as the goal of our spiritual development, and I completely reject that blood sacrifice was EVER required by God for anything. That pretty much makes our views irreconcilable. But I pray for you in Christ's love as I do for all.
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Chewed through the binding. I still have it somewhere. Probably in the attic, waiting to provide sustenance for the next creature.
Well, I may be wrong about him. I'm always willing to be wrong. He is in fact an unusual case, so hardly to be taken as a Rule. 
