god and faith (important stuff people)

i prefer things where u trust yourself more than other things that you can't even commute to like gods....

But what can you really trust?

things that will really happen like negative occasions....

Makes sense, but what about the positives. They always happen too. You can't have bad without good.

not being an ass here but let me tell you something i have experienced my ownself... in my time of my life that i have living i have realize that in things that you take granted for is always depends on which side of the things u see... lets have a scenario here if u take that things fail in ur anticipation then u can at least prevent it or have a backup plan you know ? is sorta like prepare to win and prepare to fail which is fair enough i have taken too many failures in life to expect or believe that i could win at every shot i take ... got it ?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to cram any religion down your throat. I'm not even religious myself. I'm just asking a couple questions. If anything I believe there is a balance between good and bad, and if bad things keep happening to you then justly there will be a streak of good things that will happen too. It's like newtons third law, Everything has an equal and opposite reaction.

well in the frequency of good an bad things that happen i find it to live and cope with the bad is better then expecting good things to appear don't you find getting to feel let down all over the time is painful rather than u never expect it to work ?

Yes there should always be doubt in a persons mind, so when it does go wrong you can have that satisfying feeling of being able to say "I told you so". But at the same time, you have to have hope. Or else you're just going to stop trying and then you're in the pits. Because how would you ever know what could happen without trying.

i never try i always go for it when i am certain that it works but bear a ratio of doubt larger than success even though i am sure is gonna work my life all this while has been this way and the only thing i never doubt is friendship... then again let me tell u EX_Soldier i am in the pit already... haven't you noticed ?

Here is my take on religion: I am a Discordian. I agree and disagree with everything everyone said even though I only skimmed through most of it and didn't even read several posts. Also I practice/believe in Discordianism in a most likely very different way than every other Discordian therefore I'm probably doing it better than they are.

When people ask, I say I'm spiritual not religious. Religion gives you a structured system of beliefs and say, "this is how shit works." I go to the belief buffet and pick and choose what I see as "right" and "wrong." Of course, I don't just take them at face value. My uncle, who was kind of like a spiritual mentor to me always told me, "Take things in, digest them, and interpret them for yourself." Its been a long time and I don't remember it word for word, but essentially, he was saying to be open to everything and if something makes sense adapt it to what you believe in the way that you can accept. Beliefs are dynamic and can be changed, its all a part of spiritual progression. My beliefs are a crazy stew of East Asian, Vedic, Dharmic, Abrahamic, Middle Eastern, Ethnic/Folk beliefs with hints of different philosophical schools and a unique taste that comes from things that I've picked up and come up with over the course of my life. It may seem a little crazy, but someone once said, "there is a very fine line between spirituality and insanity."

As for the subject of good and bad, right and wrong, and all that dualistic crap, of course I do belief in it to an extent. However, any kind of dualism is a concept created by the human mind. With the logic and intelligence that we possess its necessary to create some sort of moral/ethical boundaries. Without it, well the world would be the way it is or even worse lol. Things are right or wrong because we judge them to be as such. Take murder for example, of course we're all going to find something wrong with it, but it has its positive sides as well. The truth is that the act of murder itself is neither right or wrong, its just an action. When combined with a subjective perception of reality, it becomes, in essence, black and white.

I've been studying all kinds of religions, spiritual traditions, and beliefs for so long and I was raised in an environment where any conversation or situation could become some sort of spiritual discussion of rant.

I've kind of strayed from my path in the past couple years, but for some reason I was looking out the window, staring into the sky, a few months ago and I realized that I needed to find my way again.

...oh, right.

Never explained my viewpoint.

Err...

Right.

I'm gonna come right out and ask:

Mainstream Religious members of Fakku: Is God an asshole?

I've been looking over the "Holy Texts" for most mainstream Religions, and, setting aside Scencefictiontology, God seems to come off as a Vengeful, angry, and stupid son-of-a-bitch.

Now, I'm not trying to prove God(s) doesn't(don't) exist. I'm an Occultist. I've got deitys. Its just that, if God is the Benevolent Omnipotent Father of the Cosmos, why the fuck does he act like a prat?

The way I see it, it's simple:

The "Word of God", as we know it, in all Religions, is bullshit.

We don't know the true word. We might have, at one time, but "Love thyself and thy neighbor" doesn't pay church maintenance fees, while "Jesus wants you! (to donate)" does.

I won't mention Muslim faith. I have my share of complaints about them too. As soon as I coherentize them, I'll post them.

Will you eventually work your endless cycle of hate to my religion as well? Please do, we'll have a grand time.

well since this is the first time ive ever even heard of a discordian(and im prolly not the only one...or maybe ive just been living in a box for a long time whatever) maybe you should explain the basic idea behind it before we go hating on it eh?

No if you're going to insult my religion (that I follow pretty much none of the tenants of and don't even remember the rules of and only call myself said thing because I "worship" the same goddess, though I refer to her as Eris not Discordia) then you should either go look it up or randomly talk out of your ass. Either way it needs to be work and I'm not interested in work because I'm lazy.

well since im not in the business of ass-talking and im too lazy to be bothered with google right now i guess ill just leave it alone.

I dunno. I like the idea, but you are literally the first one I've ever heard of actually using it.

Do you have a church? Are you obligated to kill/hate certain people because they are different?

Do you know why kids love cinnamon toast crunch?

If all of those are no, then I don't think I have a problem with it.

It's less prat, more like a jealous lover. And whenever you have a structure in religion, you have people who want to make cash, push their interpretation of whatever on you, and generally make life difficult for everyone. The way I view it is: Humanities default state = going to burn. God drops a rope to climb out, you can take it, or not. It's an invitation, and should not be forced on anyone. In fact, the most that is actually required is that the option be known to everyone. That's it.

I don't believe in religion. While good can come from it, it has tremendous influence over its followers, and I find that to be somewhat dangerous. I like to form my own thoughts on existence. I do not deny, nor do I truly believe in the existence of a deity. I do not agree with the die hard followers of religion, nor do I agree with the atheists who spend all their time and energy disproving Christianity (most atheists don't do that). The Bible isn't 100% right, but some people actually devote their lives to it. Should I mock how you live your life? No, I don't think I'll stoop to that level. I also do not believe that a follower of Christianity should condemn an atheist for his/her beliefs(or lack thereof). Once again, should I mock you for being a hypocrite, hating when your religion teaches you to love (and for supporting sexually explicit material, which is shunned by your religion?)

So what am I trying to say? I don't know. I just hope you enjoyed the rant.

~Sharzademar, The Wind Walker

Any debate about religion is going to be circular. Its basically pointless and I don't see why either side really tries. Usually, I stay away from these religious debates but, I've heard/seen too many arguments and I just have to go on a tirade otherwise I'm going to kill someone (oddly enough it'll be to Andrew W.K. "Get ready to die")

I'll point out that the more "religious" one becomes the more they try to prevent any dissenting thoughts or even new thoughts in general. The "extremist" Muslims in the middle east that are fighting with U.S. forces. These are prime examples of the religious people I hate. Christians, Scientologist and Muslims are the usual suspects when it comes to using their numbers or their other typical methods to browbeat people who don't "follow along" like sheep.

Abortions is an example. Rather than the Christians just letting people go about their business they try to use the American political system to force their bullshit on everyone else rather than just following their doctrine and keeping to themselves. If my g/f, wife, fiance' or whatever doesn't want a accidental baby (condom ripped or something) then we should be able to do it while the people who don't like abortions should keep their mouth shut and pop out as many babies as their vagina's can pump out . Your religion gives you no right to enforce your beliefs on people that don't follow your system.

The more fanatical (religious) a group is the more extreme they will become until they use violence to achieve their means. People wonder why Christians get so much flak. The answer is simple, the majority of your members brow beat anyone who isn't in line with them. If I'm sent to court to testify I'll be dismissed because I'm Atheist (thus when I swear on the bible it has no "meaning") obviously we Atheists are just liars and cheaters so anything we say isn't worth shit. If I publicly say I'm an Atheist people shun me and even outright avoid me. O.J Simpson would get better reception from a crowd than I would for being an Atheist. If I place a bumper sticker on my car promoting being an Atheist I can promise you that my car would be scratched to hell by some fanatic.
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Is religion a bad thing? No, religion can give people hope that their lives aren't pointless and give them encouragement to be good people.
Are the masses that follow blindly without questioning their faith dangerous? Hell fucking yeah. They give themselves up to their religious leaders to be used as a tool for the promotion of their leaders.
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For my Atheist brethren; Just stop arguing, the people your trying to convince that there is no god are too dependent on the idea of a god existing. Its like the people who are plugged into the matrix. Some people are ready to be unplugged and others are just too dependent and will kill to defend it.
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For all of my FAKKU family who I offended. I'm sorry I wasn't aiming directly at you but, as a general statement that holds truth. I love each and everyone but, as long as you follow one rule I'll be fine with you "Keep your doctrine to yourself. If your religion forbids or condemns something then you need to avoid it and leave the rest of us to our own devices." If you follow that statement then we'll be fine.

*Turns blue and passes out*