do ya worship anyone?

[zzz]

dunno - never saw him carrying a gun but he did have some altercations with the daleks.

[Beanpole]

Its great to see people debating the meaning of existence but philosophy and religion intersect at odd angles.The surfs been pretty flat the last few days,yes?. Perhaps that explains why everyones debating religion

Any religious group offers more than faith to its followers. It offers connections. People love to create hierachies and mediate their experience through structures.
Some of the kindest, most worthwhile people I have ever met were athiests. Unlike the get rich because you deserve it Hillsong crowd.

The premise of all old testament based religions is flawed beyond repair in my opinion, but who cares?
Bush and the born agains, the Jews and the Islamic world are all tied together.
I don't believe in god but I believe in heaven: unmediated.

[ric_vidal]

Trouble with the whole creation debate is 'religion'.

“God (or whomever you choose to believe in) never created religion. Humans did. And this human-made invention has done nothing but create separation between people. Tragically, more blood has been spilled on behalf of religion than from all other diseases and crimes combined.

“Religion fosters hatred. It gives rise to war and genocide – all in the name of God.” Yehuda Berg - The 72 Names of God (Kabbalah)

I wish I had the insight to come up with this and the other gems contained within this and many other books, I didn't, but it doesn't come as a great surprise either and it's probably why a lot of us are fairly cynical when it comes to religion.

There are amazing parallels between 16th century Kabbalist teachings and current day beliefs from physicists regarding both the 'Big Bang' and 'Strings and Strands' theories.

Some interesting reading in both 'The 72 Names of God' as quoted above, and 'The God Code' written by an ex-NASA scientist who spent years studying human DNA and a connection to a God code contained within our genes. Not really religious books, despite their titles, just informative in many ways.

None of this is necessarily helping my lot in life or those of you who take the time to read, or is it? It is an interesting topic though to say the least.

[Larry]

Twelve tribes Johnno - and where do I join one of 'em

- JC nabbed me when I was a kid locked up in a boarding school for 4 years from age 5 - Nuns all over the shop - Mum and Dad a thousand miles away ridding themselves of war ghosts - and the 1st thing I saw when Sydney became home was Bondi, and men riding waves.

and I'm reckoning that you know this stuff as well as I do ~

[Larry]

ric vidal - Your voice sounds like wind in a cave.

[Johnno]

Twelve tribes Johnno - and where do I join one of 'em

Email me, got to see the account next Tuesday to start a new religion for tax purposes................

Still got a few positions open ..............oops mean need a few high priests .................

[bookster]

I understand what you are saying Hawkeye and Larry, but;

if one studies the Buddha, Abraham, Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna and all the other prophets, real or myth, exactly the same logic applies, so haven't you just bought the Jesus concept because he was the first, or the latest, stall you came to on the highway of life.

Hey, I was brought up a catholic, I know the dogma. And Johnno was right, the catholic church, and christianity generally, was a small band (cult) for the first 300 or so years with almost no resemblance to the christian religion of today.

Buddha wasn't a prophet- he actually ponted out the folly of relying on benign saviors or to crave for illusory happiness in an after life through the worship of imaginary Gods or by irresponsive prayers and meaningless sacrifices....
His words- "Be you islands unto yourselves, be you a refuge unto yourselves, seek not for refuge in others."

[Ivan]

"God is a sphere with endless radius." Borges.

I think one should discover world, elements, others and himself thru others before making a decision. Im not ready yet.

Hawkeye, I read somewhere that "word" is not appropriately translated, "thought" might be a better translation. It just makes a bit more sense, for me.

Wittgenstein Good stuff. Clif, was it "The duty of genius" which you read?

[macca202]

god is an imaginary friend for grownups