I believe the following:
- The existence of God cannot be proven or dis proven.
- If heaven does exist, it should allow the good in regardless of belief.
- Your life should be dedicated to being a good person, not praising God.
- Whether Jesus is or is not the son of God is not important, his teachings are universal.
- If God truly is almighty he would not need you to give him thanks. Remember that Jesus had skeptics but he didn't cast them as damned.
- IF heaven is disproved you should still dedicate your life to being a good person.
- Starting wars, genocide, and hurting innocent lives are evil deeds. God, if he/she is proven to exist should never give just cause to any of them.
- Religion has caused more deaths then it has saved (number 7), although anything could happen. Many murders may have been avoided because the potential murderer has religious beliefs against killing.
- Religion should not but can act as a moral compass.
- Religion should not be irrational or have rules.
- The history of a religion is not important. The only thing that matters is the lessons it teach to make you a better person.
There's a lot more to keep in mind. Religion is ambiguous. Every one's perception of religion is different. I just think even if God exists, I still won't change who I am. I was raised Catholic but I'm now agnostic because God cannot be proven. Many religions REQUIRE that you believe in him. In my opinion, they are wrong. Belief and irrationality are two different things. Just cause you believe doesn't make you stupid. It means you have faith. I may not have faith but I try my best to a decent human being. So don't think I'm going to commit murder and rape because I don't believe there's a heaven.
-The way of the good is more important than the way of the right.
4 comments:
Plus there's other religions like Hindu and Buddhism that have completely different gods which just makes it even more confusing.
Here are my thoughts on yours, with numbers corresponding to your own:
1. Perhaps the existence of God could be proven simply because of all the miracles that happen everyday that could not happen otherwise.
2. What if, in God's eyes, someone is not good because they refuse to believe in him? They may do good works, and may not be inherently "bad" in the way our culture defines the word, but by denying his existence a person commits a very big sin in God's eyes.
3 and 5. God may not need our thanks and praise, but don't you think we could at least give him that much? He has done so much for us, and the least we can do is thank him. That does not mean we thank him and then go murder someone, however... :)
4 and 6 are very true.
In number 8 you kind of contradict yourself, though you make two good points. God did not intend these things to happen, but humans are humans and they are selfish. Still, this world is only temporary.
9. Why should religion not have rules? Aren't rules what religion is essentially about? I think religion is about having convictions, personal and/or divine, of some degree or another. Atheism has rules--you can't believe in God. Otherwise you cannot be an Atheist because that would really be missing the whole point.
10. Being a better person is good, but you can do that without religion, and often people who call themselves religious are not very good people.
On another note, I find that people, usually agnostics/atheists, tend to classify people who believe in a higher authority as "religious", and I see that they obviously are not fully aware of what they are talking about. The term "religion" is really referring to something you practice dutifully, etc. Buddhism and Islam are religions. Catholicism is a religion. Christianity is more of a belief. Judaism can be one or the other, depending on what kind of Jew you are. The kind of Christianity/Judaism that I think is best is the kind that people had in the Bible and what Martin Luther addressed in the 95 Theses, and that is man having a personal relationship with God. Sure, there are things God requires you to and to not do, but it is not something you do ritualistically as it is something you do because you love your creator.
Anyways, those are my thoughts on what you said. I am sorry this is so long! If you have any other questions let me know...
How is 8 contradictory? People have killed because of religion and people have not killed because of religion. That's it, simple and straight forward. Just like you want to say something crass and rude to somebody, but decide to hold it back because it's not the right thing to do.
Well, he didn't phrase it like that. Instead of , "Religion has caused more deaths than it has saved...many murders have been avoided." Inserting a "however" might have made it more clear. Otherwise it was my fault I read it wrong.
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