Is religion friend or foe?

[fred913]

I wish someone could tell me why, if I were a Roman Catholic, should I confess my sins to someone who may well be a far bigger sinner than myself, and why should this person be given the job of judging me then exonerating my indiscretions with a few hail Mary's. Surely a sinner should be chastised for his wrongs and not patted on the head and told to be a good boy or girl. This is a question of belief or disbelief, blind subservience, or think about it then make up your own mind in your own time without a nudge from the local Priest.

[jimggoldwing]

Originally Posted by fred913

I wish someone could tell me why, if I were a Roman Catholic, should I confess my sins to someone who may well be a far bigger sinner than myself, and why should this person be given the job of judging me then exonerating my indiscretions with a few hail Mary's. Surely a sinner should be chastised for his wrongs and not patted on the head and told to be a good boy or girl. This is a question of belief or disbelief, blind subservience, or think about it then make up your own mind in your own time without a nudge from the local Priest.

Your question here seems to be a bit of an obfuscation from the thread that you started --- however, in the interests of responding to the question that you asked, though it is a very lengthy read, you will find this CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Sacrament of Penance resource will provide a very thorough explanation of the sacrament of Reconciliation (or Penance) in the Catholic Church.

[tictalk]

Originally Posted by fred913

I wish someone could tell me why, if I were a Roman Catholic, should I confess my sins to someone who may well be a far bigger sinner than myself, and why should this person be given the job of judging me then exonerating my indiscretions with a few hail Mary's. Surely a sinner should be chastised for his wrongs and not patted on the head and told to be a good boy or girl. This is a question of belief or disbelief, blind subservience, or think about it then make up your own mind in your own time without a nudge from the local Priest.

Fred you are now questioning the faith that people have in the confessional, their priest and religion, if you do not have that faith why does it bother you ?

[THEBUDDHA66]

Originally Posted by angiebabe72

I believe in God.
God has no say in how we live our lives on this on earth. He gave us free will to do and say as we will. A young mother dying is not part of God's plan, but a result of man's evolutionary advancement, whether it be due to chemicals, war, or drug abuse. The plan was for us all to live off the land and there be no weapons or hatred, it was us who diverted, not God. There is a God. As for a virgin birth, who knows? But I do not believe it to be a ridiculous idea, something must have happened for there to have been so much commotion over it. So many people claim to see ghosts, or see the future, how can this be if there is nothing after this world? I have a very strong faith, which no one will sway me from, and if I am wrong, then I don't think I'll have anything to lose. I find it so, so sad for those who do not believe to never have spoken to their loved ones who've died just before they've gone to bed. What if your loved are really there and you have ignored them? If you don't believe then surely you have never whispered their name or asked them for help? Its a very sad existence for a man who thinks like this. No prayer? No asking God to keep them safe? That's not a very nice thought from a believers point of view. What if praying actually does help people to get to Heaven? Did those who don't believe not bother? I'd like to think they at least tried. At least I know I tried for my loved ones.

hi angiebabe and welcome to the op66 forum
i would like to comment on a few of the points that you mention in your post

first if god has no say in how we live our lives then why did he give us the commandments if we are allowed to do and say as we will

i also dont understand your comment about a young mother dying being about mans work through chemicals , war , and drug abuse werent there lame and sick in the old days im sure i have read about cripples and lepers in the bible (yes i have read it a few times along with religious books and texts from other cultures)

as for ghosts and heaven i dont believe in them either and i dont need anyone to feel sorry for me for that
i talk to my departed loved ones all the time they are with me in my head i do it to comfort me not in case they are beside me listining
as for asking god to keep you safe didnt you mention in the first line of this post that god has no say in how we live our lives so if a murderer wants to come in the night and do you harm then god has no say in that it is our free will

as for praying just in case there is a god well which one should i pray to there are loads what if i pray to the wrong one or the right one but i prayed in the wrong place of worship (protastant, catholic ,baptist ,shiite ,sunni, theraveda, mahayana, and thousands of others
which one is right

as i have said in other posts above people should have the right to believe and pray to whichever god they choose and i will respect there beliefs

i and many others just dont want people preaching to us that we should believe in a god and we dont need anyone feeling sorry for us because we dont

[fred913]

I was giving my opinion on the Christian religion in my original thread, and it is only my opinion. I don't expect anyone to agree with me, and I expected people to have the opposite beliefs. I do live by my beliefs, I treat people with respect and help everyone I possibly can in any way. If I do something wrong I expect to be punished for it without complaints. Believers in God are just the same as non-believers in my mind and worthy of the same help if needed.

[Amber30]

My last post was deliberately confined to the concepts of Faith,because it is core to every organised religion,and Spirit because it is core to every living thing.
Religions are also known as Faiths.The definition of faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person,idea or thing.
If everyone had faith in the idea that love is a good and noble aim then the world would be a better place for all.From what little I know of organised religions,they ALL attempt to convey this same message using different methods.The attempts to personify the spirit of goodness and love were around long before Jesus tried to spread the message in his own unique way.Sadly,there is a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the true nature of the message due to the use of
examples and metaphors which are perhaps sometimes taken too literally.This can lead to people believing in a god as a seperate entity to themselves and, as a result, not looking inward to change the things that are negative or destructive.
So...in answer to the original question put by Fred,I would have to say that religions are merely different vehicles used to convey essentially the same idea, and that it is not the religion but the interpretation of the message that can cause so many problems for the world.
Jim put the question "what is the point of living a virtuous life here on earth,OTHER than to live in laws of a civilised society?"
My answer is that the laws of civilised society ( I googled the definition),are created by people to facilitate trade,and fair treatment for all,including the ideas of justice and free speech.Many of these manmade laws are relatively recent.The basic idea behind the message of love is far older (and simpler).We all should try to live in a good and virtuous way,a way that doesn't vex the spirit,so that we are able to be happy and so pass it on to others.If you have a clear conscience then you are in 'heaven' but a clear conscience is a very difficult thing for most of us to achieve and the very few people who can reach that state are the ones we refer to as holy people.We should never give up on the struggle to achieve inner peace because without it there can be no peace in the world.Love begins at home.That is a good reason for trying to lead a virtuous life. Keep the faith!
I hope no-one is offended by anything I 've said,in the end we each have our own views and it's nice to see such an open and (so far) unbigoted discussion of them.

[sandokan23]

I personally believe everyone has a right to freedom of speach, school, religion etc.

I respect people who practice a religion. But personally i don't believe in any of them, because i think there is a lot of goodness, kindness and love in people and we should pass it over to ours friends, familiy and people we like. Help them when they are in trouble or in need.
Do we need a god for this. In my opion we do not.

When a take a look at teh vatican and see what their messages are, it personally makes me sick. It is a multimillion dollar coorparation, who say we need to do more for the poor. Well they cant start with doing it theirself, and don't live in so much luxury.

And what really makes me mad is the abuse in the past and present. And are those priests and pastors in jail. Of course not, they start an internal investigation. They should be properly investigated and put in jail for those u are guilty of abuse. Everyone is equal, right.

And if there is a god, please god take some action about this, and if not to much trouble, fix the chat on the tables so we can communicate normally at the tables, and 1 more, please fix the chatroom again.

It isnt my intention to unsult or hurt anyone, but here is my opion about religion. Maybe i will go to hell for saying this, but i am told it is warm over there.

Sandokan

[fred913]

I think we are on the same wavelength Sando, I agree with all you say mate.

[tictalk]

It would appear statistically that there is a large gulf between believers and non believers in a God.
I am not saying who is right or who is wrong, but found this project on the world we live in to be very interesting.
100 People: A World Portrait
100 People was founded on the principal that we can only begin to care about our neighbours once we learn a little about them and hear their stories. Once we start to care about the people that share our planet, we can begin to care about our shared resources, and the planet itself.

[Pocket_Ducks]

to be serious for a minute i'll say i was born a christian, as i was christened by name Zak (not zachary, or zachariah, or zakarious as some m8s call me now for some stupid reason...)

does that make me a christian now tho?

Technically, yes. But i do not follow their beliefs however. And so, i am a non-practising christian.

As for faith, it is an essential that everyone must have. This past Sunday, i had faith that Guns and Roses would turn up not too late at the Leeds fest and play the whole way through and NOT walk off like they did in Reading.....This came true but that dont mean God was there to make it so lolz

They say god moves in mysterious ways....well so did I, attempting to walk back to my tent...but that dont make me god now does it lmao!

kwak