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My question is this: If, deep down, we all have a sort of same need of purpose. Why is it that we cannot, and will not get along. Why don't we have ONE religion, or a sense of a global human community?
Religion reflects society and societies are different. People for the most part are afraid of the unknown and hostile towards things that are different from what they understand.
Ironic you started this in the Great Debate forum and not the Religion forum since this forum's title contains your answer: people like to debate and argue and fight and kill. Since we have no proof of God or heaven or what is right and wrong, everything is up to debate. This is the opposite of who I believe God is: God is harmony, God is love, God is understanding, God is creation and creatures and one another. We all hold a piece to the puzzle because we are each a part of God. Religion is (or should be) a concerted effort to implement God in our lives.
Now let's all join hands and sing hymn #436, "Kumbaya".
Is there a time or an even that could bring about common ground between religions?
Nope. It's hopeless.
Every religion and then every sect within those religions claims to have THE ONLY TRUTH.
None of them are willing to give up that ridiculous claim. They even slaughter one another over the silliest deviations in dogma. But at least we're seeing religion fading on its way to inevitable extinction.
Ironic you started this in the Great Debate forum and not the Religion forum since this forum's title contains your answer: people like to debate and argue and fight and kill. Since we have no proof of God or heaven or what is right and wrong, everything is up to debate. This is the opposite of who I believe God is: God is harmony, God is love, God is understanding, God is creation and creatures and one another. We all hold a piece to the puzzle because we are each a part of God. Religion is (or should be) a concerted effort to implement God in our lives.
Now let's all join hands and sing hymn #436, "Kumbaya".
Can I ask you this then, ISIS is certainly extreme in their religious views, as pretty much all religions around the world and throughout history have had extremists views at one point or another. Do you consider a soldier that marches for ISIS to be a part of your God? If not, based on your statement above, why not?
Every religion and then every sect within those religions claims to have THE ONLY TRUTH.
None of them are willing to give up that ridiculous claim. They even slaughter one another over the silliest deviations in dogma. But at least we're seeing religion fading on its way to inevitable extinction.
I can't agree with this. I believe that even if every one of the world's major religions were to suddenly go extinct, that others would spring up in their place. I feel this is a core part of being human, the need to be important or included in something much bigger than ourselves.
Because we've become too many....like rats when they're crowded ,we turn on each other. Unfortunately humans are the worst...their greed makes many corrupt, and instead of a caring sharing world we've become a very judgemental impractical, greedy society...where the child is no longer raised by the village...and if there's nothing in it for them, most people don't care.
Religions are just a way of controlling said corruption...and maybe validating one's own thoughts that it's OK not to share...be it for this reason, or that....
A global human community (because of religions) will never happen.
For me, I feel that religion both now and throughout history has been intertwined too much with politics. When religions start to have lobbyists, in my opinion, it's no longer a religion in the true sense of the word. Power and the struggle for it has strange ways of corrupting even the most saintly among us.
First off let me state that I consider myself an Agnostic. My reason for this is that I believe in a god, but I do not believe that a human has the capacity or knowledge to understand, talk to, relate to, be born of, hear, etc what god is, wants to say, has plans for etc...
I grew up a combination of Presbyterian and Southern Pew Jumpin Baptist. My parents are VERY religious in my eyes, and they are commonly known to raise their hands in prayer, speak in tongues, roll around on the floor, go on missionary trips, etc. Very religious Christians. This is something that they have started doing towards the latter parts of their lives. Before, growing up, when going to our Presbyterian church, we wore suit and ties, didn't utter a word, and sung old time hymns. When we went to our Baptist church, we wore suit and ties, listened to fire and brimstone, ran up to the pulpit and prayed at the preacher's feet, and sang old time hymns.
As I took my personal journey to try and find myself and my meaning and purpose in life, I began to read and study about different religions, cultures, and beliefs other that the way I was raised. I would ask my parents (who believe if you're not a Christian, that you will not be saved at judgement day), why would a child from Iraq, who was raised Islamic, never met a Christian, and lived his whole life as an Islamist, why would that person, who lived a perfectly saintly life in the eyes of God, not be saved? The answer was always, they aren't Christian, so God said that non-believers won't be saved come judgement day.
I find this hard to believe. Before Christianity there was Judaism. Before the Jews were the Mesopotamians. Back prior to the Jews believing in one true God, most cultures believed in many different Gods. Some religions don't even worship a god, but a living person who once roamed the earth. Some worship the earth, and some worship an anti-god.
I feel that people need a higher purpose in life, and this is the role that a god or being plays in our lives, to give us a sense of purpose.
My question is this: If, deep down, we all have a sort of same need of purpose. Why is it that we cannot, and will not get along. Why don't we have ONE religion, or a sense of a global human community?
Why do we dislike Muslims? Why do they despise us? Why do Jews feel they're right, and Mormons too? It seems that history has taught us that killing each other over our beliefs in God are here to stay. That we can't ever agree to stop the violence brought on by our beliefs, even though, deep down on an instinctual level, we are all just really hoping for the same results.
My simple answer is human beings have an innate need to differentiate themselves and naturally distrust what is new or different. Their answer to new and different is typically judgement or violence and that is true across the board even when religion is taken out of the equation.
Education( and i dont mean school, real education and awareness) is the only tool against it but the very nature of our lives and existence( living in communities of likeness) means we may never actually achieve that goal.
I've been interested in theology for a few years now.
I think the failure of agnostic folks is they want religion to conform to their view instead of trying to conform to religion. I shudder at the thought of some muddled global new age religion.
The world is lucky to have about 5-6 unique and different faiths and the challenge is how to come together while preserving identity.
I've been interested in theology for a few years now.
I think the failure of agnostic folks is they want religion to conform to their view instead of trying to conform to religion. I shudder at the thought of some muddled global new age religion.
The world is lucky to have about 5-6 unique and different faiths and the challenge is how to come together while preserving identity.
The reason I chose to become Agnostic is not because I don't want to conform to a religion. I personally feel that religion is too muddled in politics, advertising, education, indoctrination, violence, power struggles, etc to want me to "pick a side" and then blindly follow that side on "faith" alone.
Granted, with Christianity, there seems to be more archaeological evidence available that an event around the life of Jesus actually took place, you're going to find more writings, eye witness accounts written down, etc with Christianity than any other religion, it's still a blind leap of faith that you're hanging your hat on. Then, if you decide to go down that road, let's say of becoming a Christian, then you have made a spiritual decision to condemn all other religions to hell. How can you then become a loving, caring Christian while looking an ISIS soldier in the eye and wishing he goes to your hell? In his religion he is condemning you while praying he goes to heaven.
Why would a new age religion make you shudder? What would your new age religion look like? Less traditional? Less inclusive? Less violent? I'd love to hear more about what you see a global new age religion, what your ideas are of such a sect.
As an Agnostic, I'd say that it's not that I want a religion to conform to me, more so that I don't want to conform to a religion. I feel more that all people want the same thing in the end. How they get there is going to be up to God. We can never truly know what that end will be for us, and the only thing that keeps up killing each other is "faith" that our way of getting to God is better than the next guy's.
The reason I chose to become Agnostic is not because I don't want to conform to a religion. I personally feel that religion is too muddled in politics, advertising, education, indoctrination, violence, power struggles, etc to want me to "pick a side" and then blindly follow that side on "faith" alone.
Granted, with Christianity, there seems to be more archaeological evidence available that an event around the life of Jesus actually took place, you're going to find more writings, eye witness accounts written down, etc with Christianity than any other religion, it's still a blind leap of faith that you're hanging your hat on. Then, if you decide to go down that road, let's say of becoming a Christian, then you have made a spiritual decision to condemn all other religions to hell. How can you then become a loving, caring Christian while looking an ISIS soldier in the eye and wishing he goes to your hell? In his religion he is condemning you while praying he goes to heaven.
Why would a new age religion make you shudder? What would your new age religion look like? Less traditional? Less inclusive? Less violent? I'd love to hear more about what you see a global new age religion, what your ideas are of such a sect.
As an Agnostic, I'd say that it's not that I want a religion to conform to me, more so that I don't want to conform to a religion. I feel more that all people want the same thing in the end. How they get there is going to be up to God. We can never truly know what that end will be for us, and the only thing that keeps up killing each other is "faith" that our way of getting to God is better than the next guy's.
And that's why the true understanding that comes with religion will be closed out to you
You have no modicum of faith. You don't want to seek God, you want a God who fits into the box of your understanding. It doesn't work like that.
You should study and seek all the great world religions and authentically and sincerely pursue the one the speaks to you the most. Hopefully you're adult enough not to turn that around and want to kill people.
And I don't know why you're making analogies in reductive ways there are a billion muslims in the world yet you can only seem to make allusions to ISIS.
It's really silly and dumb to act like me having a personal belief Jesus is the son of God means I think everyone who doesn't think that is going to hell
Islam means submission/surrender to God, it doesn't mean God submits to you.
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Is there a time or an even that could bring about common ground between religions?
