Why Be Religous!?!?!?!?!?

"Why not just have your own opinion on it? I mean interpret the bible for yourself? Find what you think is the truth. Thats what Im doing. And Ive been happy with it."
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Coffee, please be careful when relying on your own interpretations of the Bible. This is the foundation of the many false religions in existence today. The Bible is straightforward in it's commands and instructions. If you need help, please contact me via PM. I will try to help, but if I am unable, I will point you in the direction that can. BTW, there is nothing wrong with being non-denominational. Good luck.

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Religion vs. Spirituality



That is a very interesting question. In a way, I think some people need some sort of religion in their life to have a sense of morals and ethics to guide them through life. All that extra stuff like redemption and hell, we don't need. I think thats a psychological scare tactic. I dont think fearing something should be requirement of faith in something. And as far as myself is concerned, I consider myself a spiritual person instead of a religious person. I believe there is an order in the universe and that it is maintained by some unifying element that is natural. I don't believe in some anthromorphic God in the clouds. Besides, Religions are dogmatic and limiting. I cant deal with a religion with only one way to enlightenment. When I think of something spiritual, I think of me being aware of our connection with the natural order of life and the wonder that is there.

There is no absolute truth. Truth is relative to the individual. Finding answers just leads to more questions. And thats the fun part.
 
OST

I think some people need some sort of religion in their life to have a sense of morals and ethics to guide them through life.

I don't agree that people need religion to gain morals and ethics. Sociology can determine what works best and makes people happy simply by studying relationships and behaviorism. By generalizing the results of the observations, we can make recommendations for conduct in general. In that way, ethics and morals can be gleaned from scientific study with personal happiness being the ultimate motivator.

Welcome!
 
"There is no absolute truth. Truth is relative to the individual."
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Relativism is the philosophical position that all points of view are equally valid and that all truth is relative to the individual. But, if we look further, we see that this proposition is not logical. In fact, it is self-refuting.

To say all truth is relative is to be illogical. If all truth is relative, then the statement "All truth is relative" would be absolutely true. If it is absolutely true, then not all things are relative and the statement that "All truth is relative" is false.

To say there are no absolute truths is also illogical. The statement "There are no absolute truths" is an absolute statement which is supposed to be true. Therefore it is an absolute truth and "There are no absolute truths" is false. If there are no absolute truths, then you cannot believe anything absolutely at all, including that there are no absolute truths. Therefore, nothing could be really true for you - including relativism.

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I agree with inspector. If life were to die out would the universe too? I doubt it. Just cause we aren't in interaction with something doesn't mean it stops existing. So why would truth be subjective? Maybe your perception of it, or your opinion on it, but the truth itself is objective.
 
Yes but speaking in regards to religion, truth is subjective. A Muslim's truth is just as real as a Christian's truth. And since they are both subjective there would be no reason to argue either.
 
Truth is only subjective to those willing to let it be? But then that is not truth, just their ignorance. Just as I am ignorant of the truth, but I do not claim my ignorance to BE the truth. Because no one has ever known THE truth, all we are left with is perceptions, and this makes it very easy to believe the truth is subjective.
 
It could be. Or we could ask what truth is behind it all... Of course it would only be speculation...
 
I agree that the Absolute Truth has to be objective. But religious truth and Absolute Truth are different.
 
Logical absolutes exist. For example, 'X' cannot be both 'X' and not 'X', right? Therefore, if God exists, He cannot be both the Christian God and the muslim god, right? However, this does not invalidate the evidence in favor of a particular God's existence. Evidence is simply evidence. Subjectivity lies in people.

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In John 18:38, Pilate asked, "What is truth?" That question is one of the best questions asked in the entire Bible...and it was asked by an unbeliever. "What is truth?" The answer to this question is very important since various religions, secular movements, ideologies, etc., all claim to ultimately base their presuppositions on the answer to that question. Of course, in Christianity, we hold to the truth that Jesus is God in flesh (John 1:1,14; Col. 2:9), that He died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-4), and that on the cross He bore our sins in his body (1 Pet. 2:24).

But truth to others can consist of believing there is no God, to believe God came from another planet (Mormonism), to God being an eternal divine essence emanating in the universe (New Age), to whatever other position that the human mind can conjure up. The problem is that they cannot all be true since truth does not contradict itself. God cannot be a man from another planet and NOT a man from another planet. We cannot have God exist and not exist.

So, what is truth? I like to say that truth is what corresponds to reality. Look at it this way. Reality exists. Reality is not an illusion (if it were, the statement "reality is an illusion" would be an illusion and not true). Therefore, truth is that which conforms to reality. Truth is not self contradictory and truth exists. Since truth exists and is not self contradictory, it is absolute. Therefore, what is absolutely true is that which corresponds to absolute reality.

Is it reality that Jesus is God? that He rose from the dead? that He walked on water? Yes, yes, and yes. Of course, there are those who will disagree with these statements. To do so, they would have to say that they are not 'real,' they are not true. But that is another subject for another time.

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interesting

I'm not familiar with the theories of logic. I'll see about getting hip to it.

As far as everyone's opinions are concerned, you have made interesting points. There is a difference between religious truth and absolute truth.
Religious truth IS only true to the followers of that particular religion. All Religions have their own truths. But they're not absolute and indisputable since beliefs and ideas evolve over time.

Heres the dictionary definition of absolute. It might help us out..

Absolute- not be doubted or questioned. positive. perfect in quality. complete.

an example of an absolute truth will be 1+1= 2. no question.

My conclusion based on the definition of absolute would be that since scientific theories, ideas, and religious truths are always question and doubted to make room for other ideas, then they couldnt be absolute and undisputed. That would make them relative. I dont think we can no the TRUTH TRUTH like somebody said in one of the posts unless I just went in a time machine to the beginning of the universe( if it had a beginning) and see what REALLY happened. But thats mere speculation.
 
truth is reality?

you said something that is absolutely true exists in reality and you can't dispute. And you said anything existing in reality must be true. That leads to what is real and what qualities makes something real.
 
The problem is that they cannot all be true since truth does not contradict itself.
Click to expand...

It is also possible that not a single one of them are true. By your quote I could simply write off Christianity due to the contradiction that exists inside the Bible.

And every religion must be held to the same standard. Knowing this, you should be open-minded enough to realize that your religion could not be TRUE.
 
"By your quote I could simply write off Christianity due to the contradiction that exists inside the Bible."
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What contradictions? I possibly have an explanation for any biblical passages which you might find contradictory. Can you provide a specific example?

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How about the two, contradictory, geneologies of Jesus?
How about God creating Adam at the same time as Eve, and yet God created Eve out of Adam's rib?
How about the question of whether or not God repents?
Does God want children to die?
Can God be found through reason alone?
Do evildoers prosper?
Do Christians need to follow Old Testament laws?
Just how many gods are there?
 
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