Order and religion help people take power. They create wealth for some people. People cant grab power while there is chaos. Using religion, people can create controlled chaos.
I believe religion was created to make few people powerful and wealthy while controlling the masses "the fear of god is the beginning of wisdom"....I will get back to you on the proper quote and where it is in the bible as I dont remember....now that's what's wrote on my little girls school wall as she walks in everyday...where is the love in that statement. FEAR god and you are wise.
Maybe you are right, maybe I'm right...maybe TT is right....but the difference with me and religious people is that i wont try force everyone that my man in a cave theory is right. I wont tell people they havent seen the light. That they are daft or their eyes havent been opened.
I'm not catholic bashing...this goes for all religions. Isnt it funny that everyone's god or gods are the real ones. Someone's got to ge wrong. Havent they???
yes I agree to certain extent
It can be used or maybe abused and has been by many charlatans.
But its hard to decide who has the answers or none without delving into it.
I have my path
It was different in the past.
I may be deluding myself but I think freedom, true freedom allows people to research in their own way or not at all.
Thats freedom. I think if its for you then it will bug you enough to do something about it.
Virtue does appear to be real and has degrees. As does vice, imo.
Now one guys virtue might conflict with another opinion on the subject. But again imo, 1 is better than the other universally even if its not universally accepted.
The search for the perfection of virtue and where it leads can be blocked by human culture or by necessity to deal with in the moment issues.
But again there is a hierarchy of necessity even if its culturally or politically conflicted.
To stop looking for the truth if you have the time available, then you certainly won't find the truth of it all.
Dont take anybodies word on it. Certainly not mine. But researching it is good imo since if you have clean heart free from life burdensome in the moment needs then it would be virtuous. Since I think that meditation on what is the truth is the foundation of virtue and from there you can try building up with reasonings.
You may find that your instinct was right and it is all keek. But you might find something in your new thoughts that makes you want to seek a little deeper.
Now my faith is built on my life experiences and self reflection and meditation on is this right or wrong?
Perhaps my conditioning and culture and life have led me down a bad path.
Perhaps the purpose of life needs that conflict to lead to becoming better and understanding what is right and wrong on higher levels.
Now I believe there are bad religious and its possible some not so religious are actually less evil than the religious.
But the non religious good people are imo following a certain code that must be in their heart which is virtuous.
And if virtue in the heart is meditated upon it leads to seeking further and refining towards something even better. Which is true religion.
So the non religious person who is a good man must be virtuous somehow.
And if they try get better in virtue then they are actually pious.
Lets take being a football player. to be the best football player you can be requires religious virtuous endeavour. training hard, using the gifts you received and refining them both physically and mentally. Now that training is religion.
But some football players aren't very virtuous but very talented naturally. But sometimes the less talented man can become better than the talented man by being more virtuous in his application.
If the virtuous guy can convince the non virtuous footballer to try harder and be more virtuous then he is doing the dude some service making his talent really better.
Now it can work other way.
You might have a really talented virtuous player who meets a lazy non talented player. And the lazy dude convinces the good player to abandon his virtuous course.
So in that case the bad habits of the non virtuous player has made football little less.
imo I think that works with all professions and hobbies and life.
Which means imo one religion is better than the rest. And it can only be found by searching rather than just culturally accepting the conditioning that has been nailed into the heart by bad people.
I am convinced the world is created from my research but that doesn't me its true.
But I do think my faith grows just like muscles when exercised
I have hope and hope that leads to perseverance in face of cultural blocks and I genuinely believe it makes me understand virtue better.
But I could be deluding myself.
But I keep trying and meditating on the truth of it all, which is a kind of prayer, imo.
Even the scientists who claim they are convinced God does not exist are really just having faith in their way of searching the truth. Some of them may be bad scientists and they may be wrong. But I think its important that they to try convince you of their truth if they genuinely think its the truth.
It may well be. Anyway that may not be useful. But who knows.
I dont believe in a bloke in the clouds with thunder bolts.
But I do believe that God is the truth and I am trying to meditate on the truth which imo is God.