Don't forget the "Flat Earth Society" and the "Tinfoil Hat people."
When it comes to "living ones' life" it appears that a lot of people have many different opinions of what to do and how to do it, so just follow whatever leader floats your boat; it's nice to have some guidelines, like a Bible, and something to be able to blame things on other than yourself. If you don't like some part of whatever religion you're following, just start a new branch and leave the part that bothered you out of your new "Holy Book," or try some other version some other cult is following. Hopefully, you will find one that meshes with your thinking and comforts you.
IMHO, organized religions are mostly various methods of controlling people, which isn't all bad since without some "guidance" chaos would result. It's when a particular religion gets so strong that they believe their way is the only way (to get rewarded by "heaven," punished in "hell," or whatever) and if you don't do what their leader, or guru, or prophet, or preacher, says you will go to hell or some other place of punishment for your sins or transgressions against the rules they have prescribed. Of course, these people that believe there is only "one way," and there are a number of religions that believe this, maybe they should consider that if only one way is "right," how do they know for "certain" that their way is the correct path, other than "faith in something they can't see, hear, or touch" that was told to them by someone who is referencing a document that was written by some other man, or many men, or women.
I'm not an atheist, and I believe in a Supreme Being, but I've had many more than one preacher ask me "How are you doing?" And when I've replied "I'm still alive." Quite a number of them have responded with "Well, that's better than the alternative!" Now that simply flies in the face of what most of them preach - - is heaven not the better alternative! Do they not believe what they preach?
Why does it matter to you, or anyone else, what I happen to believe in, other than promoting a cause or gaining strength in numbers? If I'm cast out of heaven, if such a place exists, there will be more room for you, so what's your beef? What you believe religiously is absolutely none of my business and I don't really concern myself with it. I have no intention of arguing about this with anyone reading this, so don't expect me to respond to criticism or your concerns, harsh or otherwise. If what I believe doesn't physically hurt you, why should you care? Why do preachers and doctors go to heroic efforts to keep a terminally ill person from dying and going on to a "better place," even when they have expressed a sincere desire to die and they are in terrible pain? We treat horses and dogs better than we treat people, we put them out of their misery when necessary; I don't like losing a good horse or dog, but I'd rather not see them suffer needlessly. I hope, when I must go, and I will eventually have to go, that I get the same consideration; I certainly don't want to end up an expensive and burdensome barely living vegetable for my family to take care of, they don't deserve that and neither do I.
Blade_Runner wrote:
You could combine all the sacred texts of those religions and philosophies and they would not come close to matching the number of Bibles in the world. The Bible is the world's most widely distributed and best selling book in history. No other scripture has been studied, researched, read, and treasured by so many people all over the world.
Confucianism is a Chinese philosophy that presently has about 6 million students in just 6 countries.
Buddhism is primarily a Chinese polytheistic religion with about 400 million practitioners.
Zoroasterians number about 190,000, half of them are in India.
Tu'er Shen or Tu Shen is a Chinese deity who manages the love and sex between homosexuals.
The Mari is an ethnic religion of a small group of people in the Mari El region of Russia. Many have converted to Christianity but still practice some of their traditional rituals.
The Hellenes is an ancient Greek pagan belief with about 2000 followers world wide.
Kemitism is a contemporary revival of an ancient Egyptian pagan belief. The number of practitioners is too small to even be recorded.
The Church of Thor (Nordic), Nahua (Aztec), Romuva (Baltic/Lithuania), Tengriism (Mongols), Nova Roman (not a religion), are all pagan beliefs, most of which are dead.
Christianity, Judaism and Islam are the world's only monotheistic religions, two of which are based on the Holy Bible, and all of which recognize Abraham as the patriarch of their faith. All three of these monotheistic religions acknowledge Jesus. For Christians, He is the Messiah, for Jews, He is an imposter, and in Islam, He is a prophet. There are 2.2 billion Christians, 15 million practicing Jews, and 1.6 billion Muslims on earth. Almost 4 billion people, 60% of the world's population, acknowledge His existence.
You could combine all the sacred texts of those r... (
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