What would have to change to make you follow a religion.

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cannotthinkoff
Deinonychus
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22 Apr 2014, 6:33 pm

I think religion, if used correctly, could be a very good thing. Think about love - it makes you do unbelievable things, gives you strength and will to live. I would like to follow a religion, something like eastern stuff, if it was free, transparent and rational. It is hardwired into people and so could be an amazing tool. More like a like minded friends circle, chanting prayers to sun and wind, admiring nature and engaging in meditation and whatnot. And then later reading some scriptures about quantum mechanics and neurology. That would be so much fun. I believe in so many things, like science, truth and human dignity. All that is, the reality and beyond, that's a pretty good god to me. Everything else - just linguistics and evil intentions

I wish I could find a "church" like that :( I see my christian friends, and they do so much together, they share and help each other. Too bad it's based on a selfish lie and all of them are delusional, but it looks like it feels good and comforting. I wish I could close my eyes sometimes



kraftiekortie
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22 Apr 2014, 6:43 pm

God would have to appear before me, and declare that he is God, and that I must worship Him.

Otherwise, the most I could believe in is a "superior" force which propels all other forces.



GGPViper
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23 Apr 2014, 5:43 am

In order for me to follow a religion, it would first have to provide me with:

1. One or more lightsabers (Compromise: A double-bladed lightsaber will do just fine)
2. L33T skillz with aforementioned lightsaber(s) so I don't chop myself to pieces
3. The ability to do cool Force stuff like the following (though not restricted to):
- Shoot lighting from my fingertips
- Move objects with my mind
- Jump vast distances
- Move at superhuman speeds
4. The ability to make menacing one-liners at will
5. An awesome black outfit



techstepgenr8tion
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23 Apr 2014, 11:08 am

The only way I could follow a religion is if it was 'right' but at the same time those that seem the closest to having it right tend to be against dogma which suggest that the very idea of a religion in the dogmatic sense being right something of a mutual exclusive from the modern standpoint (however at some time in the future is a dogmatic evidence-oriented spiritual religion possible? Who knows).

By the best approximations I've been able to come to however in looking over the world religions, my own experiences with the transcendental, and reviewing what's available, a few things jump out:

1) Mysticism is the one thing all religions worth their name have at their core.
2) Mystics tend to agree with each other moreso than not across the different religions. Things as different as Christianity and Buddhism or Hinduism start rhyming at that level.
3) Mystics within any religion generally tend to be heterodox and the fundamentalist letter-of-the-book types tend to hate their breach of that kind of thinking or the non-conformity of their results (which they'd perhaps often deem as deceptions from the devil).
4) Once you start actually looking into mystic orders and magic orders proper every one that I'm aware of roundly makes the claim that it's not a religion and that anyone of any faith is welcome to practice with them (whether Golden Dawn, Rosicrucian, Martinist, etc.)

It seems like the closer you get to the core metaphysique that everyone experiences when they actually get to such levels of experiences, the dogmatism breaks down and what you're left with are several different mystic/magic/esoteric orders which each regardless of some minor rivalries are generally in the position of understanding that different paths of spiritual development are just built for different people with different needs and accordingly where their own order doesn't fit one person another will. In that sense its more of a 'Which path do you want to take?' and not 'Do you want to burn in the fires of hell for eternity?' - they're not believers in the later at least in a literal sense to the extent that nominal and literalist religious institutions are.