What if I made up my own Religion?

[greenberg]

What if I made up my own Religion?

I wonder what would be so wrong with that?


Here's what I would do:

I would take views, stances, statements from various religions and philosophies; and try to combine them into my Religion.

My criteria for accepting those various views would be as follows:

1. Acting on those views should not cause suffering to myself or others. If I would predict that acting on a particular view would cause suffering to myself or others, I would abandon that view.

2. Those views should positively address my Worst Case Scenario, give me hope for something better despite the possibility of the Worst Case Scenario coming true.

3. Those views should not provoke anger, ill will, hatred or sensual desire in me. If they would, I would abandon those views.

4. Those views should be such that I could act on them each moment of each and every day, 24/7, no matter what the situation, circumstances or my state of mind at the time.


There, I predict this would make for a good Religion.

 

[Jozen-Bo]

This sounds like what I already did myself! Minus the part you included about views that don't provoke sensual desire in me, as I actively seek such views out as long as they don't tread the other views you mentions. How could I overlook sex, when I was conceived by it? It must have something to do with my existence and therefor be a holy rite, or at least my view is as such. Other then that, everything here sounds very familiar to me!

 

[Jozen-Bo]

Almost forgot, would you give your religion a name?

 

[ashura]

What is the Worst Case Scenario?

Aside from that, sounds like it would be a pretty good religion... to me. However, considering the role other religions play in giving hope to people via the promise of an afterlife of bliss so long as they're good in this life no matter how much they may suffer, I can't imagine it would seem that appealing to some others.

 

[greenberg]

What is the Worst Case Scenario?

Eternal hellfire.

However, considering the role other religions play in giving hope to people via the promise of an afterlife of bliss so long as they're good in this life no matter how much they may suffer, I can't imagine it would seem that appealing to some others.

My criteria already address this - if acting on particular views causes suffering, they should be abandoned.

 

[greenberg]

Almost forgot, would you give your religion a name?

Yes, I suppose so, once I'd be sure what that religion is.

 

[ashura]

And suppose you run into a situation where you can either cause suffering for yourself, or for someone else. Either or. Which would you do?

 

[Lori_7]

What if I made up my own Religion?

I wonder what would be so wrong with that?


Here's what I would do:

I would take views, stances, statements from various religions and philosophies; and try to combine them into my Religion.

My criteria for accepting those various views would be as follows:

1. Acting on those views should not cause suffering to myself or others. If I would predict that acting on a particular view would cause suffering to myself or others, I would abandon that view.

2. Those views should positively address my Worst Case Scenario, give me hope for something better despite the possibility of the Worst Case Scenario coming true.

3. Those views should not provoke anger, ill will, hatred or sensual desire in me. If they would, I would abandon those views.

4. Those views should be such that I could act on them each moment of each and every day, 24/7, no matter what the situation, circumstances or my state of mind at the time.


There, I predict this would make for a good Religion.

why do you have to have a religion? why can't you just be you? imperfect, unindoctrinated, unsubscribed, and free to experience life, and learn from it?

 

[greenberg]

why do you have to have a religion? why can't you just be you? imperfect, unindoctrinated, unsubscribed, and free to experience life, and learn from it?

Which part of our agreement to ignore eachother do you not understand?
This is the third time you have breached it.

 

[ashura]

What part of the ignore button don't you understand greenberg?

 

[greenberg]

And suppose you run into a situation where you can either cause suffering for yourself, or for someone else. Either or. Which would you do?

I don't think such an either-or is possible in the first place because we are interconnected, subject to eachother's actions. If I would cause suffering to others, this would come back at me in some way, so by causing suffering to others, I'd be causing suffering to myself. But also, by causing suffering to myself, I would indirectly cause suffering to others.
- Note that this would not apply were I to believe that I and others are completely separate, independent entities - but that I don't believe.

The bigger problem your question points at is this - Is it possible to act in a manner that does not cause suffering to anyone? I'm afraid not.

I will have to amend my first criterion into

1. Acting on those views should cause as little suffering as possible to myself or others.
Comparing two or more views, I would choose the one where I would predict that acting on a particular view would cause lesser suffering to myself or others, than acting on other views.

 

[ashura]

This sounds almost utilitarian. You haven't mentioned a focus on increasing pleasure, but decreasing suffering could account for that.

 

[greenberg]

What part of the ignore button don't you understand greenberg?

I will not have her post in my thread, we agreed we wouldn't post in eachother's threads or reply to eachother's posts. Period.
We had an agreement and she breached it.

 

[cosmictraveler]

Here's a few links to help you on your way to forming your own religon.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2172580_start-own-religion.html

http://www.start-your-own-church.com/how_to_start_a_church_or_ministry.html


http://www.atheists.org/nogodblog/index.php/2007/01/29/start_your_own_religion_today_franchises

 

[Lori_7]

Which part of our agreement to ignore eachother do you not understand?
This is the third time you have breached it.

i never agreed to ignore you. that was your idea. i don't like it. what's the matter with what i've said here? i don't understand why you dislike me, and your reaction to me seems a bit strange and emphatic and overly emotional.

 

[John99]

why do you have to have a religion? why can't you just be you? imperfect, unindoctrinated, unsubscribed, and free to experience life, and learn from it?

Good point but this will only excite them. Into a frenzy.:xctd:

 

[Lori_7]

greenberg, i think your religion sounds good, as far as religions go. the only flaw i find is in one's ability to identify and comprehend the extent of suffering. sometimes i think it's not obvious to us, even if it's ourselves who are suffering. if i were you i wouldn't worry about eternal hellfire, and i'd seek the truth barring all consequences. because after all, you can't control consequence. the only thing you can ever control are your intentions.

 

[Vkothii]

You need believers to have a religion - try a bit of preaching and proselytising, come back and tell us how many followers joined up.

 

[redarmy11]

And you need some kind of reward system to have believers - so work on that.

 

[lightgigantic]

What if I made up my own Religion?

I wonder what would be so wrong with that?

This is more of a moral system than a religion - religion, in the proper sense of the word, is an issues of realization/revelation, and everything else follows that (eg moral system/regulative principles etc). Doing it the the other way around is kind of like getting the horse before the cart.

maybe you can get a better idea what I mean by seeing as follows

Here's what I would do:

I would take views, stances, statements from various religions and philosophies; and try to combine them into my Religion.

My criteria for accepting those various views would be as follows:

1. Acting on those views should not cause suffering to myself or others. If I would predict that acting on a particular view would cause suffering to myself or others, I would abandon that view.

there are all different types of suffering - for instance the child is suffering because the parent is making them go to school, but the parent understands the nature of this world and how an education plays a vital role in one's future happiness.

IOW when one understands the issue of ultimate benefit, then the issue of suffering can be properly analyzed.

2. Those views should positively address my Worst Case Scenario, give me hope for something better despite the possibility of the Worst Case Scenario coming true.

not sure what you mean here since there is an array of significances one can drive into such a statement - for instance the worst case scenario for a criminal would be getting caught by the police (IOW there are pre-existing issues of our values/knowledge that need to be addressed before we can rightly establish our hopes as divine or conducive to spiritual advancement)

3. Those views should not provoke anger, ill will, hatred or sensual desire in me. If they would, I would abandon those views.

ok

4. Those views should be such that I could act on them each moment of each and every day, 24/7, no matter what the situation, circumstances or my state of mind at the time.

well that might be ideal but it may not be practical - basically to be properly conscious in all circumstances requires purity, and purity requires practice

There, I predict this would make for a good Religion.

they are excellent general principles for morality, but the issue or entering into a state of "connecting" with god is the real mechanics of a religious system - since god is the topmost of purity/morals/etc, by coming into contact with him all such issues are automatically resolved - kind of like when you go to a restaurant and order a meal you don't have to especially request that they bring it on a plate (it is already resolved that a meal will come on a plate)