I have a legitimate question about religion (more so Christianity)

[Fred Castellum]

Texas.

 

I've also lived in Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, visited South Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Washington state. Up in WA, it was whatever, but the bible belt is a different place entirely.

The best state right?

 

-snip-

Yessssss all of this. I love learning about other viewpoints, discussing about what the psychological and realistic aspects of these topics. 

 

Buddhism has very interesting views on life, though its labeled as a relgion it's viewed upon as a way of life by many. Of course there are different sects of it that have different views, however the way in which they encourage you to think is splendid!~

 

 

Some of you are looking into this way too deep. This has less to do with religious practices and more to do with social interaction.

 

I'll say this: hating all Christians because some are bad apples is the same as hating a whole race of people since a few out of the race are bad apples. You're going to find morons everywhere, no matter what social category they're in.

This is what I was trying to say. It's less about religion and more about psychology in OPs case. 

 

-snip-

I don't think that's a very good point of comparison. 

[meritmaster]

Communism isn't always evil, it's just poorly executed. Poland was off way worse after they got seperated from SU. Their economy completely collapsed.

And how much better is capitalism? The rich get richer, the poor get even more poor. A great movie showing this is " In Time ".

 

On topic: I don't care about religions. Believe in whatever you want, but make sure you don't harm others with your beliefs. Or force them upon others. Only reason I don't like the Islam is because of this, stupid Jihad nonsense + female surpression.

It stems from Marx who was vocal about genocide, and his hatred of god; the direct root of communism was corrupt to start with.

http://www.livingscoop.com/watch.php?v=MjQwMQ==

[Fred Castellum]

I used to be the guy who would seek to argue with religious people. Not anymore. Now the only time I have a problem with someone's religion is when they use it to dictate our country's laws (ie gay marriage).

 

I used to be atheist but found myself depressed with some kind of spiritual void. Now, as a member of a 12 step program, I pray and meditate but I have no Idea what I pray and meditate to. I'm ok with that. Makes me feel better so fuck it.

 

"Religion is for people who are afraid to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there."- Anonymous. 

Interesting, I'd like to pick your mind.

 

What type of meditation? 

[FranBunnyFFXII]

Genocide is a terrible thing.

I'm a pacifist, I don't want anyone to be hurt.

[Puma911]

Interesting, I'd like to pick your mind.

 

What type of meditation? 

I enjoy some good conversation about spirituality and meditation 

I started with just breathing. Slow in through the nose count to 4. Slow exhale through the mouth count to 5. Exhaling longer than inhaling decreases the amount of oxygen in your lungs slightly and calms you.

If you can calm your body your mind will follow most of the time.

Also go to calm.com    They also have an app. both are fantastic.

 

As far as spirituality I am a very fact driven individual. My sponsor suggested I watch the movie called "What the Bleep Do We Know". It is freaking amazing. It is all about quantum mechanics and talks about how all things are connected on a small enough scale. It reminds me that we are all connected and that is a very comforting thought. 

[Guest Kloaked]

 It reminds me that we are all connected and that is a very comforting thought.

 

Watch_Dogs.

 

Or with your avatar, Watch_Doge

[ionbasa]

Ok ,so let me try to make my point across without offending any one side. First a lot of people have brought up the science vs religion debacle. In this realm people have it misunderstood. From what I have seen, many christians try to disprove or discredit science because it goes a against the Bible. The problem stems from both parties misunderstandings that science and religion actually do not discredit one another, but rather should complement one another.

 

Personally I think Paul G. Hewitt, sums this up best:

 

The search for order and meaning in the world takes different forms; one is science, another is art, and another is religion...

Science is mostly concerned with discovering and recording natural phenomenon [...] and religion is concerned with the source, purpose, and meaning of everything...the domain of religion is nature's purpose.

The two complement rather than contradict each other

Source: 978-0-13-364749-5

 

A lot of time christianity becomes bashed by atheists. Now I am not going to pick a side and say one is right or one is wrong, because I like to think I am more mature and enlightened than that. But for the sake of explaining my argument, I do have to call out both parties.

 

First religious pseudo-scientists always tries to discredit actual science because of some conflict with the Bible. Most people don't tend to have a likeness to this. Including myself, which was one of the main reason I stopped going to church. It seems that somehow the pastor, priest, pope, what have you, sometimes overstep their bounds. This causes a lot of drama. People (in general) do not like drama.

 

This drama causes a certain stigma against religion as a whole, of which I oppose. So maybe christianity should go back to basics. Just the other day I was watching an interview with a religious professor on the Belarus international antenna TV channel. He was making claims that things like data are transient and as such live on forever, just like how humans continue to live on in heaven. He was claiming that the data in our brains are no different than the data in our computers, and because computer data is transient, therefore humans are also transient.

 

^That sort of stuff personally pisses me off, people overstepping their bounds making flamboyant claims. This was one example of why people tend to bash on christianity: the nonsense that gets spewed out of certain peoples mouth's is eye rolling to the average day critical thinker (most of our college educated society).

 

Then there comes the Atheists who insists there is no singular all powerful being. They try to use science as a basis of their argument, yet they don't know that science does not prove that God exists, or that he does not exist. At best, a good scientist will say that he or she is uncertain, as it can't be tested and it oversteps their domain (the observable universe). Who's to say that God is actually an alien with advanced technology and we aren't all running in a simulator? Those types of questions are philosophic, and as such science usually frays away from them. But I have heard Atheist spew stupid $hit out of their asses as if they 'know it all'.

 

TL;DR:

So, in conclusion, it isn't any one party at fault in particular, but rather the drama wheel coming full circle, and causing a certain stigma about christianity.

[sqwidee]

Ok ,so let me try to make my point across without offending any one side. First a lot of people have brought up the science vs religion debacle. In this realm people have it misunderstood. From what I have seen, many christians try to disprove or discredit science because it goes a against the Bible. The problem stems from both parties misunderstandings that science and religion actually do not discredit one another, but rather should complement one another.

 

Personally I think Paul G. Hewitt, sums this up best:

Source: 978-0-13-364749-5

 

A lot of time christianity becomes bashed by atheists. Now I am not going to pick a side and say one is right or one is wrong, because I like to think I am more mature and enlightened than that. But for the sake of explaining my argument, I do have to call out both parties.

 

First religious pseudo-scientists always tries to discredit actual science because of some conflict with the Bible. Most people don't tend to have a likeness to this. Including myself, which was one of the main reason I stopped going to church. It seems that somehow the pastor, priest, pope, what have you, sometimes overstep their bounds. This causes a lot of drama. People (in general) do not like drama.

 

This drama causes a certain stigma against religion as a whole, of which I oppose. So maybe christianity should go back to basics. Just the other day I was watching an interview with a religious professor on the Belarus international antenna TV channel. He was making claims that things like data are transient and as such live on forever, just like how humans continue to live on in heaven. He was claiming that the data in our brains are no different than the data in our computers, and because computer data is transient, therefore humans are also transient.

 

^That sort of stuff personally pisses me off, people overstepping their bounds making flamboyant claims. This was one example of why people tend to bash on christianity: the nonsense that gets spewed out of certain peoples mouth's is eye rolling to the average day critical thinker (most of our college educated society).

 

Then there comes the Atheists who insists there is no singular all powerful being. They try to use science as a basis of their argument, yet they don't know that science does not prove that God exists, or that he does not exist. At best, a good scientist will say that he or she is uncertain, as it can't be tested and it oversteps their domain (the observable universe). Who's to say that God is actually an alien with advanced technology and we aren't all running in a simulator? Those types of questions are philosophic, and as such science usually frays away from them. But I have heard Atheist spew stupid $hit out of their asses as if they 'know it all'.

 

TL;DR:

So, in conclusion, it isn't any one party at fault in particular, but rather the drama wheel coming full circle, and causing a certain stigma about christianity.

 

Yay I'm not crazy?

[ionbasa]

Yay I'm not crazy?

Nope, and your previous comments in this thread are completely reasonable, in my opinion.

[Fred Castellum]

I enjoy some good conversation about spirituality and meditation 

I started with just breathing. Slow in through the nose count to 4. Slow exhale through the mouth count to 5. Exhaling longer than inhaling decreases the amount of oxygen in your lungs slightly and calms you.

If you can calm your body your mind will follow most of the time.

Also go to calm.com    They also have an app. both are fantastic.

 

As far as spirituality I am a very fact driven individual. My sponsor suggested I watch the movie called "What the Bleep Do We Know". It is freaking amazing. It is all about quantum mechanics and talks about how all things are connected on a small enough scale. It reminds me that we are all connected and that is a very comforting thought. 

What do you think about as you meditate? Nothingness? Recent events? 

 

*Cut finger while cutting vegetables earlier* < do things like that ever seep into your mind during your meditation sessions?(that literally just happened 3 mins ago)

[Puma911]

What do you think about as you meditate? Nothingness? Recent events? 

 

*Cut finger while cutting vegetables earlier* < do things like that ever seep into your mind during your meditation sessions?(that literally just happened 3 mins ago)

Oh yea it's not about clearing your mind of all thought. It's just a matter of letting your thoughts come and go effortlessly. It helps to focus on your physical self; Your heartbeat, the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe, maybe focusing on each muscle individually from your toes to your head and willing it to relax. That takes you out of your thoughts. It's ok to have thoughts while you meditate- that's what the brain does. Just don't dwell on them or start worrying about things in the past or future. Just be in the present moment.

[techswede]

Oh yea it's not about clearing your mind of all thought. It's just a matter of letting your thoughts come and go effortlessly. It helps to focus on your physical self; Your heartbeat, the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe, maybe focusing on each muscle individually from your toes to your head and willing it to relax. That takes you out of your thoughts. It's ok to have thoughts while you meditate- that's what the brain does. Just don't dwell on them or start worrying about things in the past or future. Just be in the present moment.

There are also different kinds of meditation^^

In buddhism we have "Serenity meditation" Which is similar to what you do.

And "insight meditation" Which is the one i mostly use to analyze my behaviour in different situations or my thoughts. It's like a therapy session for yourself 

And then there is KI/QI/Chi meditation which is more for energy. If i do this one i usually combine it with insight to try and figure out what the hell is going on

[Puma911]

There are also different kinds of meditation^^

In buddhism we have "Serenity meditation" Which is similar to what you do.

And "insight meditation" Which is the one i mostly use to analyze my behaviour in different situations or my thoughts. It's like a therapy session for yourself 

And then there is KI/QI/Chi meditation which is more for energy. If i do this one i usually combine it with insight to try and figure out what the hell is going on

Cool! I'm really curious about "insight meditation". How do I insight? lol It would probably be helpful/relevant to the 12 steps which I'm always searching for new ways to work on 

[techswede]

Cool! I'm really curious about "insight meditation". How do I insight? lol It would probably be helpful/relevant to the 12 steps which I'm always searching for new ways to work on 

Insight is simple^^ it can be anything from for example what Myinnerfred said "Cut finger while cutting vegetables earlier" Then just ask yourself why you did that. And how could it be avoided.

All the way to analyzing why you are angry in a situation. You find what made you angry and you try to figure out why that made you angry. Then you can work on avoiding that too

[Mooshi]

The best state right?

 

 

Not when you have a medical condition that makes your body really bad at regulating body temp and overheating. I want to move to Washington State since the weather there is a lot nicer than down south.

[NInety]

Sorry, but can you explain to me how communism is always evil? From my knowledge (depending on the type of Communism) it can work well. Pure capitalism is a lot more evil than pure Marxist communism in my opinion.

Communism takes away freedom. Example: It's illegal to be emo in Russia. I don't have a problem with that law because emo people creep me out, but emo people will have a problem with that. Same thing goes with the whole gay situation over there too.

[Trik'Stari]

Sorry, but can you explain to me how communism is always evil? From my knowledge (depending on the type of Communism) it can work well. Pure capitalism is a lot more evil than pure Marxist communism in my opinion.

Communism puts all of the power and authority in the hands of a few (and thus all of the wealth as a result, this has always happened, look at any communist country and that's what it is) and allows for no questioning of those few. That is essentially the enslavement of anyone not apart of "the party". OR better yet, ask anyone who has lived under the boot of a communist regime, they'll tell you the exact same thing.

 

Go stand in a bread line, in fact "get off your computer, how dare you have a computer when others can't have one?" That's socialism/communism. you can't have more or better than anyone else, unless you are part of the "party" which you wont be

[Commander Llama]

There is a definite confusion of terms up there.

 

Capitalism and socialism are econonic doctrines, they are not political.  Communism is more of an all-encompassing ideology, though it is mostly still economic IMO, exactly how a hypothetical communist state (lol oxymoron) would be governed is still up in the air.

 

Of course, the world's superpowers being engaged in decades of propaganda on its citizens one way or the other sure has muddied the intellectual debate, hasn't it?  I would go so far as to say there has never been a communist state on planet Earth.  The label has been used, but incorrectly.  Even if certain communist principles have been attempted in the past via economics, they have been utilized by dictatorships.  This has created the false equivalence of communism == moustache twisting villain leader sniping peasants from his mansion.  Of course, you could accuse our capitalist societies of slightly less extreme, BUT STILL EXTREME, wealth gaps.  Millions are born into poverty and disadvantage, and will likely stay there, while a superelite is so wealthy they couldn't spend their money if they tried.  Our economies also heavily exploit third world labour, in a lot of cases similar to slave labour.  So hey, whose the moral victor?  The answer is George R. R. Martin.

 

Socialism might be an even stickier term but I like to think of it as a more realistic communism.  Pretty much all capitalist societies right at this moment are partially socialist, however loathe they may be to swallow that news given their level of brainwashing ("socialism == shooting your grandma in the face" since birth).

 

I personally don't think pure communism can work, but I'm willing to be surprised.  We would need an abundance of resources that is well beyond what we have now, everywhere.  I already know socialist policies work pretty well, and every year as the more socially-progressive countries of the world crawl up the various quality of life metrics, I feel vindicated.

[Mooshi]

Sorry, but can you explain to me how communism is always evil? From my knowledge (depending on the type of Communism) it can work well. Pure capitalism is a lot more evil than pure Marxist communism in my opinion.

 

Of course, you're 16. You have more years to mature to get ideals in order on why communism will never be a good thing and it's not edgy to bash capitalism. Crony capitalism is what is bad, not pure capitalism where the basic idea is providing a good or service that people want/need. From ordering a cheese burger to purchasing a car, capitalism makes this happen, the basic exchange of money for goods. Capitalism also empowers individuals to sell their own goods and services in exchange for monetary compensation for their work.

 

Seriously, this seems like a phase all teens go through with their outlook on the world, even I had this ideal at one point when I was an angsty teen who thought they knew everything about the world.

[Trik'Stari]

Well, communism is more economic than political. I don't think that's a case of communist regimes but more so of how laws are made. The middle east isn't communist, but it's still illegal to be homosexual in certain countries, if I'm not mistaken.

 

I know the good and the bads of communism, but I still think that pure, unregulated capitalism is worse than regular communism. Great Depression is a great example. Due to pure, unregulated capitalism our economy went down the hole in the late '20s and '30s. What we have now isn't pure capitalism, it's a socio-capitalist society, which I think is the best overall.

 

But yeah, I am sorta in the phase of questioning things and having a bigger outlook on politics and what not

Do you mean from a personal standpoint or do you mean from a general economic standpoint? Communist countries have been very successful in terms of becoming global superpowers and establishing themselves as minor hegemony. I see what you mean from a personal, liberal point of view though. You're completely right about that

 

I guess it's sorta a matter of perspective and what type of communism you have at hand. Marxist communism is not close to modern communism now, and the idea of having the government control industries/economic construction and ultimately political institutions is a huge deviation from what Marx had in mind. The government controlling laws and economy profusely is not originally a part of the basic idea of the Communist Manifesto.

Ok, you seem to not have any knowledge about how communist countries actually work. Communist countries are nothing but dictatorships, they always have been and always will be, you cannot argue with history and what has actually happened.

 

Yes, the Communist Soviet Russia became a global super power, they also killed many times more of their own people than Hitler did, based mostly on "political dissent" meaning they sent anyone who asked too many questions to a work camp. Do some research on it, communism is the greatest evil to have come out of the 20th century.

 

Communism is pure evil, it enslaves most of the population under what those in charge want to happen, and gives no power or respect to the "little man". The problem with your idea of "modern communism" is that it doesn't actually exist, it always goes back to a few people with absolute power and authority, taking everything for themselves, and giving everyone else only what they "need".

 

Also, the great depression wasn't necessarily a bad thing, the idea that companies can fail and go under and crash the economy, is necessary to capitalism. Without it you have what we have now, companies that make shit products being bailed out by governments when they should have gone under, creating a vacuum that some other company, or a new company, could have filled.

[Trik'Stari]

Well, good things came out of the depression like government regulation and ABC companies, but overall it's a bad thing. Regular depressions happen all the time in capitalist societies, that's completely normal. The Great Depression was tremendous in terms of how hard the economy went down the drain...

 

As for the communist thing, I'll leave it at what you said. I still think communism can be beneficial economically. Liberally, it's a different story. Also, I think modern communism is the wrong word...but there is no arguing that the original idea of communism is not what is seen today or what was seen in the Soviet Union.

It is where communist societies always end up, they always have.

 

Depressions aren't just common, they are necessary. When a company grows too large, and starts screwing over it's customers, they fail and get replaced by someone better.

 

Take my example of the current system of corporate welfare. You yourself we have a socio-capitalist society. What do we see? A small group of rich people running everything(congress), taking care of their friends(corporations), lying to everyone else(all of us in the US) (Who is too distracted by facebook, myspace, miley cyrus, etc. to care), and only doing what they must to keep themselves in power. Immigration is a great example, it used to not be a huge problem, when they had this thing called the migrant worker visa, where someone could come into the US to work farmland for a season, make good money, and go home when the season was up. Then they stopped giving those out, and now claim immigration is a problem. They have EVERY reason to not solve any problems, because then they can "promise" to work on it IF they get re-elected.

 

It's a smoke and mirrors show, nothing more. They avoid changing the status quo as much as possible, because if they did solve all the problems.....then why would we need them any longer?

[Yoinkerman]

I've found a lot of American Christians like to wear their religion, and their religiously based bigotry, on their sleeve. So they get called out for their bigoted beliefs, and then cry they're being persecuted, when really they could have just left others to themselves and nothing would have happened.

[Trik'Stari]

I've found a lot of American Christians like to wear their religion, and their religiously based bigotry, on their sleeve. So they get called out for their bigoted beliefs, and then cry they're being persecuted, when really they could have just left others to themselves and nothing would have happened.

Not all are "bigoted". Most are judgemental however. And far too many people (not just christians) wear their religion on their sleeve.

[TopWargamer]

Oh yea it's not about clearing your mind of all thought. It's just a matter of letting your thoughts come and go effortlessly. It helps to focus on your physical self; Your heartbeat, the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe, maybe focusing on each muscle individually from your toes to your head and willing it to relax. That takes you out of your thoughts. It's ok to have thoughts while you meditate- that's what the brain does. Just don't dwell on them or start worrying about things in the past or future. Just be in the present moment.

I do similar things to keep me calm and relaxed, because if not, I get anxious very easily and feel like everybody's judging my every action. It doesn't keep me calm all the time though, but most of the time it works just fine.

[Guest]

All of you will see the truth when the loli aliens return and take me with them. Guess what they aren't taking you.