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Old 09-18-2008, 12:06 AM   #7 (permalink)
jibber
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Istanbul was Constantinople now it's Istanbul not Constantinople...
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My beliefs:

There could be a "god", but i doubt it. This god is not some big man in the sky, nor does he/she/it oversea life on earth and keep tabs on all of our behavior. No one religion is "right." It seems incredibly closed minded to me to believe that there is only one path to take in life, and all others will burn in eternal hell if they do not agree with the doctrines laid out in that religion. Hinduism and Bhuddism are perhaps the most tolerant religions in this sense, believing that there are many paths to personal spirituality, though as with others, they do have strict moral guidelines to live by.

If anything, I believe in the possibility of karma and reincarnation. But that stems more from a universal source of energy than what one typically thinks of "god" as being. If you put good energy and good thoughts into the world, good will come back to you, and vice versa. Again, this is not because some being is keeping tabs on our actions and thoughts and punishing or rewarding us accordingly, but if you think positively, strive to help people and do your best to make positive changes in the world, people will want to do good by you. You will get satisfaction from giving to others, that in itself is a positive outcome. I don't believe that bad people will be made into tampons or toilet brushes in their next lives, but I do believe that some part of us is recycled in living form when we die, be it human, animal, plant, or anything else living.

As for the question of is there a god, or is there not a god, or what is our purpose in life, how did we get here etc. etc. Why does it matter? Isn't it enough to know that we're here? Isn't the fact that we're living on this earth enough to want to make the most of it? This quote sums up the last paragraph nicely.
"Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" - Douglas Adams
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