Being selfish is a perfectly understandable, common, emotion.
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Absolutely. Selfishness is one of the very basic premises for self-survival. To claim otherwise is to be a hypocrite or downright ignorant.
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I don’t see being selfish as a bad thing at all, most of the time (barring those situations where someone else is hurt because of it. even then, it depends). [/quote]
Agreed. I believe that:
a.) its all good as long as youre not hurting others/your environment, BUT as you said, there ARE most-definitely exceptions to that rule, and…
b.) optimally, one needs to find a balance between giving and taking, i.e. to get through life it is inherently necessary to be selfish, yet one needs as well to move beyond this sentiment in order to attain some level of harmony with ones entourage and live a satisfying, fulfilling and socially integrated` existence.
scientology is a religion because it has all characteristics of a religion. community, myth, rituals, sacred texts ect…
By that definition, then bodybuilding is also a religion. OK, so there are some texts that are very well respected and believed-in utterly, if not strictly sacred, lol.
And since the texts in scientology are writen by a man of our times, I don’t see them as different from a good BBing text; it’s the level of belief in them that determines them as sacred, in this case.
BBB
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Actually, Mormon beliefs stem from a man who was “of our times” and yet it’s now accepted as a semi-mainstream religion. I can’t help but feel at times that all organized religion has the hallmarks of Scientology - they require obedience, conversion, money, and have a structured hierarchy.
Actually, I think I’ve described a pretty good business strategy…
There is no ‘knowing’ in religion, since no one has ever met God (though some would claim they have). They believe in him, since that’s all they can do.
To try and equate mathematical proofs with religious ideals is IMO a fallacious argument.
Everyone is born with an inate ability to know right from wrong, good from evil? Why do you think that is if there wasnt a supernatural existance? Do you all believe there is evil in this world? Murder, rape, stealing are various forms of what anyone would call evil? If so then what does that evil stem from? People that are missionaries? Do you think they are waisting there life? Do you feel that the good they bring to others is a waiste? If there is nothing beyond death then why do we exist? whats the point of life, or to live for something if there is nothing? Especially to those people out there that try to live good and decent lives, whats so hard about believing? I mean if your going to live a christian lifestyle why would you choose to just not be a christian? Yep thats all i got to say
[quote]Turiel wrote:
Most people believe in afterlife or paradise, then why are most people afraid of death?
And why do they cry when a loved on dies, if they are going to paradise? [/quote]
Ok, I’m one of those people, so I’ll take a crack at this.
Because it’ll likely hurt to some extent. Maybe I’ll be turning blue, losing control of my bowels, eyes bulging, crushing pain in my chest, clawing at the air in front of me as I attempt to catch a breath. Maybe I’ll waste away with cancer, as 2 close relatives have.
And just because I believe in a paradise, doesn’t mean I’m going there.
I cry for loved ones because I’ve been seperated from them.
[quote]SuperHuman25 wrote:
essentially, if you are an athiest, believe in allah, scientology, or any other bullshit religions then you should be afraid of dieing because trust me my friend you will not be going to paradise. But if you believe in Jesus Christ and try to live a good life that is pleasing to him then you have nothing to worry about.
I have plenty of friends that have no fear in death whatsoever, thats not to say they want to die, but they do not fear it at all. To everyone that is going to flame me, Go open a bible, read it, stop being a prideful asshole and understand theres more to life then your pathetic presence.[/quote]
"Let not a rotten saying proceed out of your mouth… " - Ephesians 4:29. I would have personally chosen different language to prove a point about the bible.
When reading the bible, you will find there is a lot more to getting to paradise than belief in Jesus Christ and trying to live a good life. There are actual requirements. (1 Corinthians 6: 9,10) Among others.
I thought this to be a very humble statement. How can we be so bold as to be believe that we have met all the requirements to getting into paradise? It isn’t up to us. We have been given the rules, but we can never follow them perfectly. There has to be mercy on the being GRANTING that gift.
I think it’s safe to say that there have been very evil people who were atheists (Hitler), as well as very evil people who were driven by religion (bin Laden, leaders of the Spanish inquisition, etc.)
At the same time, there have been some very gentle and good people who were non-religious (Einstein), as well as with devout religion (Mother Theresa).
I’m not sure my examples are the best in the world, but I think the idea that either religious people are inherently nicer or non-religious people are, is bogus. People are people. There are good ones and there are bad ones.
Incidentally, when I was very young I was terrified of living forever. The thought was repulsive to me. I was actually so scared of it that occasionally I had to stop what I was doing and lie down. I was 12 before I had accustomised myself to infinity.
By the time I was 13 I had stopped believing in God. Now I’ve got the finality of death to wrangle with.
There is a tribe in the amazon called the piraha tribe. Their language is among the most complex on earth. Along with this they have no past or future tense. A missionary once spent years decoding their language so he could reveal to them the wonders of Jesus Christ. He told them the stories of walking on water, the multiplication of the fish etc. They were very impressed.
They asked what jesus looked like.
He told them that he did not know, for he had never met Jesus.
