true, but belief in your own ever evolving independent understanding of life trumps ANYTHING anyone can ever posted on youtube, printed in a book, or preached to a choir.

As a Christian this didn't really bother me, because the believe in God is done so in faith. I can't prove he exists, but what's important for me is that he does inside me.

I'm such a heathen for thinking what I just thought.


But yea, I have no problem with people who believe what they believe for the betterment of themselves. I do have a problem when people extend that belief to other people, like their own children, and it becomes an issue of safety and control. And religious organizations taking advantage of faith, for profit.

But if you truly believed in your religion wouldn't you believe it was for the benefit of others if they followed it therefore inclining you to pressure others into others? I just don't agree with such rigid ethics and morals of organized religion. Morality should be developed much like a science to maximize the well being of humanity. It may be hard to get pure data for something like this but there are certain things we can rule off quickly: things along the line of promoted violence or unprovable beliefs preventing stem cell research.

Why?

^ because i'm the one who's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way i want to.

also...

depends on why you're religious in the first place. if it's because you're looking for the right answer and think you've found it in the teachings and practices of X religion then yeah proselytizing would make sense, but i'd still think you were an idiot, not because you believe in a deity but because you believe that it's somehow 'right'.

on the other hand, if you're religious because you've contemplated your self to a point that happens to be in line with an organized religion's dogma then i can't see why you'd be expecting others to reap the same rewards and benefits without having traveled your path. which just loops back to that Hendrix quote i started with.

Would some one really believe in something they did not think was right? Your last part seems more inclined with spirituality rather than religion. Religion can be used for finding ones spirituality and help them find a sense of happiness beyond traditional things but no one doing true introspective self realization internally will ever be in line with organized religious dogma. There are many things can cloud this sense of internal resonation.

@ Gravity Slips sorry this is a little off topic but I love your avatar.

this is the ENTIRE challenge of a faithful belief - remember, just because it's not 'right' doesn't mean it's 'wrong'.

i don't think it's possible to find individual spirituality if you've already made the choice to associate yourself with an organized religion. it becomes more of a thing about believing in something because you do, or believing in something because you're told to.

if you're just learning the basic tenets of various religions to use them as metaphysical stepping stones to glean varying perspectives on existence that's one thing. on the other hand, if you've already gone through the ceremonies and rites to become a full member of X religion and continue to actively practice it i don't really see how you'd really continue to expand freely from the greater confines of that religion's scope.

i also think people are more likely to find themselves leaning towards the fundamentals of X religion through contemplation (which can be a very hard pill to swallow) than they are to find spiritual satisfaction by diligently attending religious services.

That's exactly what I am saying.

excellent :beer: