What Is Your Religion?

[AlexLah]

Hi all,

I really do not understand why people need to follow some kind of religion.

What is it?

Insecurity?

Why you need to study for example Budhist teachings to know how to be good for others and yourself?

You cannot make that up yourself and need another person to tell you?

If I am good for all the people I know and meet but not believe in some God I will go to hel_l and will burn forever, what kind of God is that?

I had a talk with a friend of me and his father who is a preacher also joined.

I asked him if a person convicted of murder with clear evidence and his testimony that he did this bad thing would go to heaven when he converted to for example Christ ore catholic religion.

Yes he will go to heaven my friend answered.

How about me I asked, I never did something wrong always tried to help others and be good.

No, he said you will go to hel_l.

You followers of some type of religion need to wake up and understand that God is inside you.

But I guess you will never look there.

Kind regards,

Alex

Why do you need to understand?

What about live and let live?

If a system of beliefs/ideas helps somebody lead a happier life then why not?

I spent time working as a palliative care nurse and can tell you that many people were greatly helped at the end by their beliefs.

Call it insecurity if we want.

Hi Garro,

Thanks for your reply.

I am just trying to figure out what it is that makes people follow some kind of religion.

Maybe some followers of a religion here can try to explain to me as I have no clue.

Also I think there is some kind of paradox within religion.

A lot of them claim to respect others but yet do not accept other religions.

They all agree there is only one God as they say, so are they praying to the same God but call it different?

Why is it that some of you are bashing people that believe something different then you?

Or try to blame some bad things to a particular group of people?

Come on all, we are here to try to make the best of life without hurting other people.

Take care the earth and such.

Why is it so important to know what kind of religion someone is following?

As long as people not bother me with their believes I am OK.

Take care all and please be good to other people.

Alex

[bina]

first of all, habad house is not a restaraunt but a jewish missionary organization for jews (to rescue those that have 'lost the way' in thailand india etc) so he wouldnt be served; but if u go tomorrow for a pasover seder, with good intentions, i;m sure that u would get a seat its 500 baht on koh samui so i've seen in our news, for all the israeli and other jewish travellers and expats that are inclined to celebrate our running our of egypt (which doesnt explain the exodus out of israel to thailand and the sinai for pesach...) due to some natural disasters and a few dreams (who says the thai have a monoply on dreaming numbers and things for lottery...)

falafel isnt kosher for pesach anyway,; fortunately for many, rice and rice noodles are....

lighten up, listening to one idiot (well, reading one idiot, after all this is a keyboard universe) cant ruin the holiday spirit; and where did the OP go ??/

tried to convince my husband to go with me to my ex inlaws for a seder; he's not interested; tied to expain the connection between matza and moses in the bullrushes... didnt work....

i just know some mod is going to close this thread soon; some people should just be put on ignore or skipped over...

jinthing, just drop it... its useless to argue with someone who thinks he's right and pulls quotes out of a hat all the time, from the same sources its like argueing with a habadnik or a priest.... when i have more time i will check out these so called profs from hebrew uni (my vet's brother is a rabbi specializing in kashrut and species of animals (like is giraffe kosher etc) and is connected with one of the unis here, --

have a good shabbat all....

bina

[Huey]

I read through the forums since I posted last night and All I can say is for those who are listening, who are reading, who are seeking for themselves and not having all their opinions spoon fed too them, the deal with judaism is quite clear. And I'll leave it at that. As for Thais being exclusive.....please, like attracts like, good Thais welcome into their hearts with, no bias, good people Thai or forgreiners, bad Thais only attract scum, Thai or Foreigner. Same could be said for everyone I guess.

Oh and I gotta love Jing's, the decryer of racsism and bigotry against the jew, signature huh?

Barack Snobama (endorsed by Hamas, friend of American terrorists and racists), Unelectable

[Jingthing]

the deal with judaism is quite clear.

Huh? Maybe you should tell the Jews. You know how they always like to be on a good deal, wink wink.

Why don't you spell it out or are we supposed to read your mind?

Bina, you are probably right, but I do have masochistic tendencies. And you are right, the Chabad is more of a mission for Jews, not a public restaurant.

Edited April 18, 2008 by Jingthing

[MISTERBONK]

All this aggression and slagging each other off. For the first time in my life, I have really started to enjoy the excitment of religion, I am seeing the light. Much more entertaining than watching TV.

Religion is the root of all aggression!

[garro]

All this aggression and slagging each other off. For the first time in my life, I have really started to enjoy the excitment of religion, I am seeing the light. Much more entertaining than watching TV.

Religion is the root of all aggression!

Of course it is. That is why Stalin was such a non-aggressive leader.

It is also the reason why athiests are all fun loving people who never get into arguments.

[elkangorito]

It's about time people got into the "guts" of religion...especially when it's banned/censored in many places. The more discussion/arguing, the better. The same goes for sex & politics.

As for myself, the poll does not allow my choice, which is quite simply "no religion". It seems to assume that all people have some sort of religion, which to me me is incorrect.

[Tomkagai]

All this aggression and slagging each other off. For the first time in my life, I have really started to enjoy the excitment of religion, I am seeing the light. Much more entertaining than watching TV.

Religion is the root of all aggression!

Of course it is. That is why Stalin was such a non-aggressive leader.

It is also the reason why athiests are all fun loving people who never get into arguments.

Stalin studied to be a priest...

[elkangorito]

Stalin studied to be a priest...

For what purpose? Power...or the seeking of true "enlightenment"?

[elkangorito]

Geez Garro, I've defrosted my fridge twice while I've waited for your post...lol

[garro]

All this aggression and slagging each other off. For the first time in my life, I have really started to enjoy the excitment of religion, I am seeing the light. Much more entertaining than watching TV.

Religion is the root of all aggression!

Of course it is. That is why Stalin was such a non-aggressive leader.

It is also the reason why athiests are all fun loving people who never get into arguments.

Stalin studied to be a priest...

So basically your argument is that it is impossible for someone to become an athiest unless they were born that way?

Interesting theory, but very predictable. Unfortunately since the publication of recent popular 'anti-religious' publications it has become far too frequently used.

So let me get this straight. Stalin no longer considered himself a Christian. But you arguing that he still was Christian. So would you conclude then that most of the people on this forum who are claiming to be Atheist are lying if they were influenced by religion in there early years. So basically once you belonged to a religion you can't really leave it and all your later actions should be judged by your earlier membership?

Interesting that Atheists would use the exact same argument as the those of other beliefs when confronted by things they don't want to hear, 'well, he wasn't a real atheist'. I must admit the theory of 'cognitive dissonance' really does make sense.

Edited April 19, 2008 by garro

[elkangorito]

All this aggression and slagging each other off. For the first time in my life, I have really started to enjoy the excitment of religion, I am seeing the light. Much more entertaining than watching TV.

Religion is the root of all aggression!

Of course it is. That is why Stalin was such a non-aggressive leader.

It is also the reason why athiests are all fun loving people who never get into arguments.

Stalin studied to be a priest...

So basically your argument is that it is impossible for someone to become an athiest unless they were born that way?

Interesting theory, but very predictable. Unfortunately since the publication of recent popular 'anti-religious' publications it has become far too frequently used.

So let me get this straight. Stalin no longer considered himself a Christian. But you arguing that he still was Christian. So would you conclude then that most of the people on this forum who are claiming to be athiest are lying if they were influenced by religion in there early years. So basically once you beonged to a religion you can't really leave it and all your later actions should be judged by your earlier membership.

A bloody good post, I say. This may explain why some people have difficulty realising that they can "choose" a religion or simply "not choose" any religion. How many times have you heard someone say, "I can't do <blah blah> because my parents are <insert religion>. They then further say, "If my folks are <insert religion>, so am I".

Religion is not inherited...nor is it commanded. It is simply a choice. Always has been...always will be.

[garro]

Geez Garro, I've defrosted my fridge twice while I've waited for your post...lol

Sorry, it's hard to type when you're shaking your head due to many of the silly arguments put forward on this thread

[elkangorito]

Geez Garro, I've defrosted my fridge twice while I've waited for your post...lol

Sorry, it's hard to type when you're shaking your head due to many of the silly arguments put forward on this thread

Very true...lol

Anyway, it's hard to ignore the fact that most of the problems in the world today are either religious or cultural. I class religion & culture in the same ugly boat.

Edited April 19, 2008 by elkangorito

[Tomkagai]

Stalin studied to be a priest...

For what purpose? Power...or the seeking of true "enlightenment"?

Don't know... you would have to ask him.....or may be its was so he could get close to the choir boys..!!!..who knows...

Before I make a decision on on whether to follow a religion and seek enligtenment....think I will

wait and see what the aliens have to say on their next visit...

[elkangorito]

Stalin studied to be a priest...

For what purpose? Power...or the seeking of true "enlightenment"?

Don't know... you would have to ask him.....or may be its was so he could get close to the choir boys..!!!..who knows...

Before I make a decision on on whether to follow a religion and seek enligtenment....think I will

wait and see what the aliens have to say on their next visit...

What aliens? Are you mad?? Don't you realise that they visited us a long time ago & saw how stupid we were with our ridiculous laws that they decided to never come here again? Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you think people stupid if they punished each other for not wearing clothes...given the fact that we are all born naked & grow up naked, for the world to see? Wouldn't you think people stupid who punished each other for words spoken that were disagreable?

No wonder the aliens don't come here!! If I was an alien, I'd stay well away from earth until the idiots depart...which will be never.

[p1p]

Ladies - Please try to restrict discussion to the topic at hand;

"What Is YOUR Religion?"

Extraneous chatter and flaming on other subjects has almost taken over this thread. I will close it and possibly issue warnings or worse if the flaming and off-topic gibberish continues.

[PeaceBlondie]

Thank you, p1p.

"What is your religion?" has given us responses from two Jews, one of whom claims to be agnostic, the other Buddhist. It's like Mennonites or Amish: you can be ethnic without practicing (such as John Denver). Mendelsohn was baptized as Catholic even though his grandfather was a great Jewish scholar. Lots of Thais obviously are about as religious or as Buddhist as the lamppost, depending on definitions, including the definition that Buddhism is not a religion.

It would be a good idea to close the impossible poll.

[higgy88]

Thai Visa should never ever give hatred a platform to present his/her views, no matter what the sources or how well it is presented. That´s my take on any discussion of religion.

[Huey]

the deal with judaism is quite clear.

Huh? Maybe you should tell the Jews. You know how they always like to be on a good deal, wink wink.

Why don't you spell it out or are we supposed to read your mind?

Bina, you are probably right, but I do have masochistic tendencies. And you are right, the Chabad is more of a mission for Jews, not a public restaurant.

As much as I would enjoy a long heated debate/conversation with you about that. The mods are probably right, its off topic and unlike a chat face to face or private emails, this can and will be censored. So perhaps another time.

That being said, not all religion harbors negative aggression and hatred. It is not the root of all evil or hatred as many atheists would like you to believe. Can anyone show me some hate or aggression in Wicca or Janis Hinduism? anyone have any other examples of religions with peaceful doctrines?

[LinkPopularity]

Mike-rad is a neo Nazi and don't think his hate speech filth even belongs on this board.

I guess you don't get the contradiction even now that I'm pointing it out ...

inferior people always create some kind of cult that allows them to feel superior nevertheless and after many centuries of confusing excuses for reasons, they start to believe their own lies

[garro]

<br />

Mike-rad is a neo Nazi and don't think his hate speech filth even belongs on this board.

<br /><br />I guess you don't get the contradiction even now that I'm pointing it out ...nferior people always create some kind of cult that allows them to feel superior nevertheless and after many centuries of confusing excuses for reasons, they start to believe their own lies<

I don't think that you will get much argument from me here. Even if it is because I can't understand what your saying. Your post doesn't make any sense. You are accusing somebody of starting a cult centuries ago and now believing in their own lies???? I know some old people turn up in Thailand - but surely not that old. Sorry I don't want to get in trouble with the mods for drifting off into the topic of immortals- interesting as that is. I think we were meant to be discussing our own beliefs.

[MISTERBONK]

Religion is not inherited...nor is it commanded. It is simply a choice. Always has been...always will be.

Religion is generally a choice in the West, but in the Moslem countries, and especially Afghanistan, people are generally forbidden from changing their religion. I recall last year a Moslem man converted to Christianity and received a death sentence for doing so. He was eventually reprieved, but had to leave the country.

In my Isan village a Thai girl, formerly a Buddhist converted to some form of christianity to please her farang husband and she is now condemned by all the women in the village. Their view is that as a Thai she must be a Buddhist! But for most Buddhists, Hindu's and Moslems, they receive no education about religions, and there is therefore little likliehood of their wanting to convert.

On the subject of Atheists, it is my belief that those of us who call ourselves such, probably had some religion ascribed to us at birth by our parents, but as we grew up, we realised that all we had been told was a load of nonsense and therefore decided that religion in any form was not for us. My kids have never been raised with religious beliefs, but have been told that they are free to adopt any beliefs that they may desire. So far none have! My Thai born son will NOT be either encouraged or forced to enter the monkhood for the seemingly mandatory week at around 20 years. Neither my wife or I require our son to make merit for us!

[Jingthing]

I think it is true that Muslims are born into it, like Jews, but Muslims also aggressively recruit, unlike Jews. The growth of Islam in places like Africa is amazing. Muslims, depending on their country, are strongly discouraged from abandoning their faith, unlike Jews, who seem to make a sport of it. My money is on the Muslims.

Edited April 19, 2008 by Jingthing

[p1p]

It seems posters can not, or are unwilling to stay on topic. I am therefore closing this thread.