Just reply with this... "Hey <insert name here>, I'm actually in the market for a new Bible, but i couldn't find it in the fiction section at Barnes N Nobles...can you help me out??" Okay, a little harsh. I don't want to offend any religious types, but my views of religion are nothing more than simple brainwashing. If you don't like what one group of people teaches, just break off and start your own church. Hundreds of religions..and each one beleives their interpretation is correct. Blah. I'm not saying I don't beleive in God. I mean, as complex as the universe is, there has to be something big out there right? Then again, there was a Family Guy skit that summed up the universe as nothing more but a light bulb some alien turned on. We don't really know, so i refuse to say there is no God. My family is catholic, and i try to respect this and not insult anyone in any way, but when i get directly challenged (such as eating steak on Friday during lent) I just reply I do not believe their superstition. If they disagree, i just ask them to prove to me that they are right. Sorry if this offends anyone. I really hate discussing this as i feel my veiws directly insult anyone who is religious, which I don't mean to do. While i think God is great (if He does exist), i think a lot of pain and suffering in the world over the course of history has been caused by disputes over religion.
I totally understand what you are saying and that's pretty close to how I've always felt about it all. All the different religions....which one is right ya know? One thing that I've slowly started working on....and it has been very slow....is what I bolded in your quote. Right now I'm at a point where its not about a religion or anyone else telling me how I should worship....but its about whether I actually believe in God. Personally it has a lot to do with letting some of my control go. Haven't done that yet. I've gone to church about 3 times in the last few months which is about equal to the same number of visits I've had in the previous 30 years. And I can't really put words to it, but the times I've gone to church lately I've sat, very hesitant and just ready and willing to be defensive, but the words and message that were spoken were PERFECT for the situation I've been in my life lately. I honestly felt like the whole service was built around me showing up. The wifey and I have been having a lot of issues....the first time in many many years (like 20) I felt a reason to goto church....and the service at the church I found was all about marriage and relationships and the correlation to a relationship with a higher power. I know it sounds stupid.....trust me I've been arguing religion and God for 30 years. Anyways, it was shocking to me....and I still haven't figured it out. I do believe in some sort of higher power, whether its God....whether its the Force....whatever. I have always felt like there is some force in life that connects every living thing together. Thus, as much as I've fought religion, I have actually found some peace for my life going to church. I still don't buy into it all.....but sometimes just a few words of what is spoken connects to me and it brings me some peace and comfort. I'm not trying to push anything, just sharing a very very very defiant person against religion and my recent experience. Like I said I haven't figured out what it all means, but I have become a bit more open to trying things. Heck I dunno. </insert>
It's not really like that I still have an occasional beer, love to track my car and go about life etc etc. I do have to admit however that my view of the world has changed. I have a more emotional reaction to those around me. I'm much more sympathetic to the plight of others. My political views have softened and aren’t nearly as important to me. I talked about the Bucs game and my experience earlier but I didn’t really go into detail. What I saw that I didn’t really see before was drunken rage, violence, intense anger, belligerence................and over what? A football game? That was me, it’s just not anymore.
That's basically where I am too. I've already decided that I just can't buy into a religion. I don't argue that religion has done a LOT of good in the world and has helped a lot of people deal with situations in their lives, but i don't beleive that a supreme being did all this so we could sit in a building and tell Him how great He really is? But i do admit that many people live better, fuller, happier lives because of it and have learned to appreciate things. It has given many people a reason for just being. For this i cannot argue that religion is bad. In fact, i think we need it to remain good and moral. For the sake of humanity, i really hope there is something big out there...God, the Force, Super Aliens, whatever...that has some control on us to a point. I really do beleive there is something. There have been many times in my life where I feel things have happened to me by design, and not by simply chance or even my desire to achieve it. I can think of many examples in my life. Whether this is Fate, or God, i will find out one day. For us to be alone in this world.....is scary. I'm sure we also have thought about death once or twice and where we will go after that. We all hope there is something else after this, and that may play a huge role in the rise of religion. Give people hope, and they will live happier lives. I hope to hell when i die...that it isn't all there is to life. I do find myself from time to time asking God for help in my own little way. But to do so in the form of an organized religion is just something I won't do at all. I'm from a very strong Catholic family, and even went to catholic HS, but I just don't think religion is for me anymore. Anyone who wishes to join one and practice can do so...but the minute they try to impose their beleifs on others is when i get mad. They have ZERO proof that their religion is the correct one (if there is even any "correct" religion at all) and yet what gives them the right to criticize or judge or try to impose their beleifs on others. That's where i draw the line. The debates on gay marriage, abortion, birth control, etc should not have religion tied into them at all. If God comes out and tells me this is wrong..they yes I will believe it then, but i'm not going to make my choices in life based of a man's interpretation of a book that wasn't written down for many generations until after the events reportedly took place. Again, i hate discussing religion because I always feel I am directly insulting those that are devoted. I don't mean to at all, but i just have my own opinions about it.
Wooo, good thing she is avoiding that movie. I mean it has some horrible things in it! It's not like she blindly agrees with spusal abuse! o wait, she does. Helpful Not Helpful Matthew 5:32 ESV / 1 helpful vote But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. A beaten woman shouldn't divorce, and if she does then everyone should shun her. So ask her. Why are you against vampire movies but are against abused women from leaving their husbands. When she denies it, ask why she picks and chooses verses.
