Let's face it, you can't really pick something apart until you have distilled it down to it's most basic form.
If you haven't removed all the fluff and extraneous nonsense from something, you will be deceived on exactly what it is you are looking at in the first place.
Take organized religion for example (and believe me when I say take it because I don't want any part of it).
Religion is nothing more or less than a way to control the masses with fear of death and the unknown.
One may argue that it is a set of rules (unique to each faction) that help guide you through your life. A set of ethics and morals so you can be a better person.
But lets be honest here.... why do they say they want you to be better person? Not because it's the right thing to do or because it's good for your fellow man.... it's so you will make it into a promised land in the afterlife.
Everything they preach in every religion I have studied boils down to the same thing. Follow what we tell you and God (or whoever) will be pleased and allow you eternal happiness after you die. If you do NOT follow what we are preaching then you will doomed to suffer eternal damnation. Or at the very least purgatory where you aren't tortured but you're not exactly having a party either.
They claim to be able to calm your fear of death and answer the questions of the unknown that follows it. Is there any better hook to catch the unsuspecting masses?
Most people figure it's best to err on the side of caution and just go with what they are being told "just in case". And if it ended there than I guess I could just say "Live and let live" but unfortunately the religious do not have the same motto. Their's tends more to the "Live like me or don't live at all" mantra.
If you look across history there are very few conflicts that did not start without religion as a spark. People hate other people because of what they believe about the afterlife. You know.. the great unknown? Or as I like to call it the great "can't possibly be known"?
And if you delve into how each religion knows what happens after we die you find that someone somewhere at sometime spoke directly to the supreme being and was given that knowledge. Now why is it that speaking directly to God, having an actual one on one conversation with the almighty was a perfectly normal thing thousands of years ago? But today it's a one way ticket straight to the loony bin?
I guess the rules of the universe have changed since the olden days and God is no longer allowed to talk to anyone directly (maybe it's for his safety due to his increased celebrity status or maybe he's just too busy to grant personal appearances nowadays) but whatever the reason, speaking with God is a big No-No in this day and age if you want to stay out of the padded room.
So the only thing people have for the foundation of their core beliefs is the thousands of years old doctrine written out by people who in todays standards would have a personal relationship with those guys in the white coats.
All this strife and anger and violence because someone doesn't believe in the same invisible deity and how to get to heaven and stay out of hell. Somehow if someone believes differently than someone else it negates the others conviction. And the only way to make sure YOUR way is the right way is to get rid of (or convert) everybody who thinks differently.
All over something that you can't see, touch or prove.
"But you must have faith" we are told.
When looking up faith in the dictionary I find the definition "Belief that is not based on proof".
And while I deeply and sincerely believe that we are much more than our physical bodies, with a soul that transcends death, I will never ask others to believe as I do. I cannot prove it, I only feel like it is the right thing for me. But it is what gets me through the darkness of the night as they say. And that is what matters.
If I had one wish it would be that people kept their highly personal and completely unprovable beliefs to themselves. That it wouldn't make a difference if a person was a Jew, Muslim, Buddhist ,Christian, agnostic. As long you both respected each beliefs you could be best friends and the world would be a more peaceful place.
If you haven't removed all the fluff and extraneous nonsense from something, you will be deceived on exactly what it is you are looking at in the first place.
Take organized religion for example (and believe me when I say take it because I don't want any part of it).
Religion is nothing more or less than a way to control the masses with fear of death and the unknown.
One may argue that it is a set of rules (unique to each faction) that help guide you through your life. A set of ethics and morals so you can be a better person.
But lets be honest here.... why do they say they want you to be better person? Not because it's the right thing to do or because it's good for your fellow man.... it's so you will make it into a promised land in the afterlife.
Everything they preach in every religion I have studied boils down to the same thing. Follow what we tell you and God (or whoever) will be pleased and allow you eternal happiness after you die. If you do NOT follow what we are preaching then you will doomed to suffer eternal damnation. Or at the very least purgatory where you aren't tortured but you're not exactly having a party either.
They claim to be able to calm your fear of death and answer the questions of the unknown that follows it. Is there any better hook to catch the unsuspecting masses?
Most people figure it's best to err on the side of caution and just go with what they are being told "just in case". And if it ended there than I guess I could just say "Live and let live" but unfortunately the religious do not have the same motto. Their's tends more to the "Live like me or don't live at all" mantra.
If you look across history there are very few conflicts that did not start without religion as a spark. People hate other people because of what they believe about the afterlife. You know.. the great unknown? Or as I like to call it the great "can't possibly be known"?
And if you delve into how each religion knows what happens after we die you find that someone somewhere at sometime spoke directly to the supreme being and was given that knowledge. Now why is it that speaking directly to God, having an actual one on one conversation with the almighty was a perfectly normal thing thousands of years ago? But today it's a one way ticket straight to the loony bin?
I guess the rules of the universe have changed since the olden days and God is no longer allowed to talk to anyone directly (maybe it's for his safety due to his increased celebrity status or maybe he's just too busy to grant personal appearances nowadays) but whatever the reason, speaking with God is a big No-No in this day and age if you want to stay out of the padded room.
So the only thing people have for the foundation of their core beliefs is the thousands of years old doctrine written out by people who in todays standards would have a personal relationship with those guys in the white coats.
All this strife and anger and violence because someone doesn't believe in the same invisible deity and how to get to heaven and stay out of hell. Somehow if someone believes differently than someone else it negates the others conviction. And the only way to make sure YOUR way is the right way is to get rid of (or convert) everybody who thinks differently.
All over something that you can't see, touch or prove.
"But you must have faith" we are told.
When looking up faith in the dictionary I find the definition "Belief that is not based on proof".
And while I deeply and sincerely believe that we are much more than our physical bodies, with a soul that transcends death, I will never ask others to believe as I do. I cannot prove it, I only feel like it is the right thing for me. But it is what gets me through the darkness of the night as they say. And that is what matters.
If I had one wish it would be that people kept their highly personal and completely unprovable beliefs to themselves. That it wouldn't make a difference if a person was a Jew, Muslim, Buddhist ,Christian, agnostic. As long you both respected each beliefs you could be best friends and the world would be a more peaceful place.
