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Luff_the_Hufflepuff

- 3 years ago

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If religion didn't exist, would the way you act remain the same?

There are so many people in this world who dislike, or even hate, gays/lesbians/bisexuals/transgendered individuals, without even knowing them. The most common answer? Because my religion says they're bad. And this reasoning goes beyond the gay issue: to things as serious as abortions, pre-marital sex, stem-cell research, to smaller, harmless every day actions. If "God" wasn't ever watchful, and there was no worry about following their rules to get into Heaven or you'll suffer Hell, would we treat each other the same? Would gays and lesbians be able to leave their houses without the majority of society hating them, simply because of their sexual orientation? If we never had God in the first place, how would we see each other? Think about it.

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@CABLAMetc I'm glad you brought up some of those things up. What I was trying to get at with my question is would we be more tolerant, and less likely to follow a doctrine to get into a heaven, that may not exist, but everyone just wants to be safe and follow the rules in case it's real. I am a little confused about one point you mentioned. I would love to have some clarification, if I've completely missed your point. Quoting you, "if I never had believed in God, i would assume that i would absolutely be different than I am today. I would care about only myself and those i know personally, getting what I need, accumulating stuff, making money, living a comfortable life, being liked by other people, and having a good time." What I am getting from this is that those who do not believe in God are selfish, miserly, egotistical, and hedonistic. From personal experience, all that you said could be applied to leaders of almost every religion. I could at least list 30 names of "God-loving" leaders who you just described to a T, and if I needed to, I could go dig up even more names without much effort. I am not a follower of Christ, nor apart of any other religion. And yet, I lead several cancer/heart awareness fundraisers, and I've helped and attended many benefit concerts for those in Africa: Darfur & Sudan, South East Asia, Mexico, and poor parts of the United States of America. These acts aren't because I'm going to receive a reward, and I don't just care about myself. And I'm not the only person who is this way. I feel as if that was a little presumptuous on your part, however: I will admit fault if I incorrectly read your statement, and I will have no problem for apologizing for coming off so brash when you didn't mean it like that. And if that is my bad, then I'm very sorry and I mean it out of the deepness of my heart. However, if you did mean it as such, please answer the following question: How often do you or anyone else, for that matter, pray for things about other people? And how often do they pray for things concerning themselves, regardless of the reason?

@CABLAMetc I'm glad you brought up some of those things up. What I was trying to get at with my question is would we be more tolerant, and less likely to follow a doctrine to get into a heaven, that may not exist, but everyone just wants to be safe and follow the rules in case it's real. I am a little confused about one point you mentioned. I would love to have some clarification, if I've completely missed your point. Quoting you, "if I never had believed in God, i would assume that i would absolutely be different than I am today. I would care about only myself and those i know personally, getting what I need, accumulating stuff, making money, living a comfortable life, being liked by other people, and having a good time." What I am getting from this is that those who do not believe in God are selfish, miserly, egotistical, and hedonistic. From personal experience, all that you said could be applied to leaders of almost every religion. I could at least list 30 names of "God-loving" leaders who you just described to a T, and if I needed to, I could go dig up even more names without much effort. I am not a follower of Christ, nor apart of any other religion. And yet, I lead several cancer/heart awareness fundraisers, and I've helped and attended many benefit concerts for those in Africa: Darfur & Sudan, South East Asia, Mexico, and poor parts of the United States of America. These acts aren't because I'm going to receive a reward, and I don't just care about myself. And I'm not the only person who is this way. I feel as if that was a little presumptuous on your part, however: I will admit fault if I incorrectly read your statement, and I will have no problem for apologizing for coming off so brash when you didn't mean it like that. And if that is my bad, then I'm very sorry and I mean it out of the deepness of my heart. But if you did mean it that way, ask yourself one question: how often do you or other followers of Christ or any other religion pray for things that have to do with theirselves. Please have a nice day, and I'd love to hear your reply.

Religion has made God in its own image. That is a serious sin because it is a false image.Folk bang on about the Catholics and their images and see them as breaking God's commandments because they have plastercast statues in their churches but their are images that are a lot worse than these. The image of a wrathful, angry, jealous God is graven in so many religious peoples hearts. That is the number one false image of God. That is worshipping a false God. God made in the image of small minded people is not God. God is not the problem. Religious pea-brains put Christ to death because of his radical view of the Father...He loved sinners..he couldn't stomach hypocrysy...ritual and religious practice, even the Scriptures took second place to love. Religion still does the same to Christ. Hammers his teachings to the gibbet daily but has recreated him as some king, some lord...titles he himself rejected. No it is not God who needs to be removed from the equation...we've already done that ! We need to remove our own small mindedness from it and let the real God back in.Then it wont matter if youre a man in a frock or a woman with a wife or a man with a husband or a man who wants to change your sexual identity because of an accident of birth. Everyone of us is a child of God. He has no favourites.Jesus clearly taught this but then Jesus did not come to start a religion did he? We decided that for him after we executed him. Ygorra laugh.

If religion didn't exist, there would be other forms of social control. There would necessarily be historical and societal changes if religion had never existed - the world would be changed because the motivations/excuses/reasons for some pretty important and world changing events have been removed. This is not to say that other motivations/excuses/reasons would not have brought about the same outcome. In this case, I can't say whether or not I would act the same, as the societal norms would likely be different. Perhaps, if religion had never existed, we would be more advanced as people like Galileo would have been more free to develop their thinking. Philosophers would not have had to twist their ideas to include god. Who knows? If, however, I woke up tomorrow and religion was gone...of course I would act the same. I've not believed in religion for a very long while. Societal norms and laws based on these norms as already in place would continue, although those which are somewhat based on religion (perhaps like the attitudes to homosexuality and stemcell research) would change. Perhaps people would become accountable for their actions for a change.

actually i think i'm a much better person because i don't follow any particular religion, or have any fear of a punishment in hell. my lack of religion and contemplation of a new spirituality is the cause of this. i understand that my actions have consequences, and those consequences effect me in my future as well as my children and other people...this is enough for me to want to treat ALL other people with loving kindness, to treat animals with respect and not eat them, to consciously nurture and preserve or natural resources and respect our planet. i see the big picture, and i want the best life possible for humanity. i strive to be unconditionally loving like Jesus, yet i don't feel the need to call myself a Christian. and i don't think he'd have a problem with that. i strive to have the compassion of the Buddha, yet i don't need to be called a Buddhist. i think he's smiling an auspicious grin with me. I try to embody the teachings of the tao te ching, and i don't go around telling others they must do the same or burn in hell. God isn't the problem it's the ego. the ego created religions.

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okay, looking at the question again, what if religion did not EXIST. We would essentially be no more developed than animals

If i did not have spirituality in my life I would probably be addicted to weed, maybe alcohol. I would have a deluded idea of sexuality. I would like to think my personality would remain similar to what is now, but who knows. And I would certainly not be actively involved in unifying the world or have any idea about how to go about helping the betterment of the world.

What truly causes me to think are the number of people who mistakenly think God requires that we hate anyone. Think about it.

For all intents and purposes, religion does not exist for me, but I know myself, and I would act no differently if it did "exist".

I'd probably gossip a lot more than I do. Whenever I think of saying something behind someone's back, I see Abdul-Baha staring at me and then I think of "The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice," and I'm reminded at how backbiting is such an injustice to an individual. I might see others as a lot different because I'd have never heard the concept that all the religions come from the same God. In fact, I might even think religion is awful, because I wouldn't have known of one that brought all of them together and made them make sense to me. I'd probably drink. Not like an alcoholic, but I'd have a couple drinks and I'd enjoy wine and such. I might not even be a vegetarian. I bet I'd be more forward with guys. Oh wait, I just remembered the biggest thing... I wouldn't be alive. haha. My parents met because of the Baha'i Faith.

I think I'd act the same. Religion has no impact on how I live my life. I think I'm a good person. I treat others with respect. My conscience guides me in how I act. One of the biggest factors is how I was raised by my parents. They did take us to church on Sundays when we were young but outside of that there was no religious training or discussion in our house. I think most people want to do good things in the world and for other people. I think most of these religious laws are not necessarily Gods laws....but merely mans interpretation

@Luff_the_Hufflepuff Candy Mountain, Washington State

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okay, looking at the question again, what if religion did not EXIST. We would essentially be no more developed than animals

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