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No1. A religious belief of any kind is shared by the majority of the world's population, but individually its Christians, Muslims, Hindus etc etc that are in the minority.
No2. You don't 'know' the end-game (whatever that means). You only 'think' you know, and of course based on nothing but shared dillusion.
No3. Morality and Ethics are far better drawn from education than scripture. The OT for example is disgusting and barbaric. If we all lived by these rules, well, I dread to think.
I am the disgusting and barbaric OT. I am honored that you had the courage to say such. Now, may I ask you, are you willing to change your mind if I can show you that while I may be disgusting, I am not barbaric? May I ask you to share what if I am right, and you are wrong? I can share with you that I have considered your side many times.
Sorry but i'm calling out your heaping crock of bullsh*t. Your belief of "reality" is the result of years of indoctrination through yours and others opinion... You don't know what reality is, physicists are still trying to figure out what reality is. Theoretically we, our consciousness, are in several dimensions... through this we are theoretically in an infinite amount of places for infitesimal increments of "time" each.
So reality to you is what???.... Sight, smell, touch, taste and sound? What a shallow perception of existence, you underestimate the complexity of "life". However its your choice to remain in ignorance... after all who wants to figure all that stuff out? Its much easier just to sleep, eat and work until your dead.
What part of PERSONAL isn't clear to you? I truly don't care about your religious beliefs. They're PERSONAL so why not just believe in your own way and keep it to yourself? Isn't that what freedom of religion is about? You believe in your way, and I can "not believe" in mine.
Oh you better believe it. You require a religion to believe in, and that's fine for you. I don't, and that's fine for me.
Who defined success? Money in the bank? I know a guy named Madoff that helped plenty of people empty their success. Some were so successful they committed suicide because success was so narrowly defined.
Everyone is entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Even those who like to sleep late on Sunday. :>)
Ever see anyone who was truly happy without self-discipline? Making time to worship a higher power is something I have never seen a person regret at the end-times of their life.
I am very happy anyone gets joy out of fellowship and worship. I encourage all to discover the freedom of religion.
However, KEEP IT OUT OF MY GOVERNMENT!
Thanks.
I agree, keep religion our of government!!! I fully endorse your sentiment. However, because people without religion are in our government, we have people such as Larry Craig, Charles Rangle, Clayborn Powell, Richard Nixon, Wilbur Mills, and a whole host of others who don't care about you...
True belief in a high power whether it is Buddha, Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc, builds integrity. I think we can all agree that integrity is the missing element of politicians from any side of the aisle.
My comments probably appear stronger than they were meant, but the OP came here to comment in PUBLIC on what he himself terms as a PERSONAL relationship. Then he questions whether you can actually be a happy and functioning human without religion. I guess I let it go a bit.
I've just had it with the need for religion to be worn on the sleeve. Fear...not even the slightest little bit. If I go for my 6 foot dirt nap tomorrow, I have nothing at all to be afraid of or sorry for in my life.
The significant part that you failed to comprehend was that I didn't say what you said I said. I said that I doubt that your personal success could be as great without faith, as it could be with faith. I didn't measure your success with my standards, but just suggested that you could have more success using your own standards with a faith in a higher power.
I prefer to celebrate whatever and who or whatever created each and everyday. I prefer to live each day in celebration, not just with a bunch of fair weather people who seem to think that Sundays will suffice.
And to those who feel that our country is on a moral decline, get a life. It's not. To worship or not to worship is a personal choice and not for anyone to judge whether it is right or wrong. Worry about your own peace, not the peace of others who do not worship in the manner in which you chose. What are you once a week-ers doing to make the world a better place the other 6 days?
I dare you! You said a lot of good things. Celebration of life and God is not a one hour per week obligation or opportunity. Living the celebration of life every day is exactly the life I try to live. Fair weather people? Last time I checked, one of our highest attendance Sundays occurred on one of the coldest days of this past winter. Burrrrrrrrrrr..... it was anything but fair.....
I am not judging others. Not my job. I am openly sharing that I believe my life's greatest success will be because I had faith in God and Christ.
Everyday, I am encouraging others to live in Peace, to accept you as you are, to hope people will accept me as I am. I participate in public debate and I will not be cow-toweled into being afraid to share my faith.
I do not know of one person who has studied the Holy Bible (not some faith-based hand book) that would choose to be agnostic or atheist. The evidence is too overwhelming for an intelligent person to disagree with the fact that a higher power does exist.
Everyday, I am encouraging others to live in Peace, to accept you as you are, to hope people will accept me as I am. I participate in public debate and I will not be cow-toweled into being afraid to share my faith.
Funny. This thread is a seething pit of superiority, disguised as trying to "teach" people about something. What a load of BS.
Then stay tuned, you'll probably learn something.
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