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quoted by MilanLoyalty
I do not agree when people say god created actual people (Adam&Eve)...
quoted by MilanLoyalty
Evolution and Religion (to some extent) when combined make a lot more sense than one without the other.
quoted by MilanLoyalty
They've told me the worst (I'm going to hell) ect, ect.
quoted by MilanLoyalty
As long as I believe in god and show my faith inside, why would I have to go to a church and express that.
quoted by MilanLoyalty
.......it looks to me as if the religious leaders were only looking for power. Religion was a feared idea back then, and some people looked at this as an opportunity for something.
The problem with some churches is when they become *highly organized*. Any organization (Not just Religions, but governments/corporations/secret societies/etc) that reaches a certain size & level of influence is bound to eventually be infiltrated by those who seek their own agendas & personal advancement at the cost of other people. Why else does the History of the Church contain so many "heretics" & why have reports of child abusers in the Catholic Church been infested with child abusers come to public attention in recent times? Why did the Bavarian Illuminati (Created & led by Adam Weishaupt) infiltrate & recruit new members from Ingolstadt University & the Lodge of Theodore of Good Counsel (A Masonic Lodge in Munich) in the late 1700's?
It's because some people within the *organization* seek to use their positions to gain control over others...Those hungry for power tend to congregate towards organizations that *have* power. Even the people who are sincere may be seeking to place themselves as intermediaries between you & God (or between you & social authority of any reasonable extent), when you don't really need any such "middlemen". Having Faith in God does *not* equate with having faith in Organized Religion. This is also why the Revelations chapter in the Bible describes the coming of "legions of false prophets" in the end-times...Those who use the power & influence of the Church (or any other large organization) for their own gain instead of using that power for the benefit of all humankind. These are all logical predictions if you understand the nature of human greed & power-lust.
quoted by MilanLoyalty
Why can't we agree on 1 god, because if there is a god, there is only 1.
Actually, God Himself has admitted that there is more than the One God...Look at the First Commandment; "Thou shalt not worship other gods before Me". In this one statement, God has admitted that there *are* other gods, but He wants you to worship Him above them all. Even then, of the 4 or 5 major religions you've mentioned, take notice that Islam & Christian religions worship *the same God*, but they merely worship Him in different ways! Of all of the branches of Christianity (Baptist, Catholic, etc, ad infinitum) they still worship the same God too, but they choose to worship Him in their own ways! Native American Indians have a belief in The Great Spirit! Dualistic religions recognize one God of Light (As well as having a God of Darkness as a rival)! Buddhists may venerate the various incarnations of Buddhas as those people who've led holy enough lives (In numerous reincarnations) to escape the cycle of birth/death/rebirth & now live with the One God! The older, Pantheistic Religions recognized that *one* of their gods was "above the others" within their religion! Even the old "pagan" religions profess that, while there are many lesser spirits & divinities, they were ruled over by a superior, some referred to that superior divinity as Gaia, the spirit of the Earth that we all "came from"!
quoted by MilanLoyalty
I do not believe in religion because I haven't a clue on which one is right.
Once you've performed enough research to realize it, you'll come to realize that all of these religions are right, but they're also wrong! At least, it sounds like you already "feel" the answer even if you haven't *recognized* it as such. The main reason why there are so many different religions is because of geographical separation & cultural upbringing. As technology of travel progressed enough for the different cultures to begin mixing & learning about each other, there have *always* been "false prophets" who would use their power within their "organized religion" who sought power by subjugating people of other cultures/religions...Thus, while professing to worship a God of Love, they would manipulate the "faithful" into committing crimes of hate. I've seen an article at The Onion that, even though it uses a seemingly irreverent method, puts forth God's Message quite clearly in an attempt to emphasize the *importance* of that Message: www.theonion.com...
quoted by MilanLoyalty
Is there anyone like me?
Actually, there's more of us than you probably realize...But if they've been able to gain enough attention of the "mainstream" religious organizations, they may likely to be found labeled as "heretic" or "excommunicated" (as if one human being could possibly "excommunicate" another from God Himself). I'm not one of those kind of people, but just be careful; Some such people who've fallen in disfavor of the Religion itself may actually be quite looney...The Church isn't *always* wrong about their judgments even though *some* of those judgments may be skewed by relying on the mistakes of altered scriptures in the Church's history. Such happens when you mix politics & religion...
[Edited on 22-9-2003 by MidnightDStroyer]
Originally posted by MilanLoyalty
he liked things to be his way or no other way.