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I am tired of 'being nice' in life. So you, dear anonymous internet stranger will bear the brunt of my retort. >have you given religion a try? I don't believ

I am tired of 'being nice' in life. So you, dear anonymous internet stranger will bear the brunt of my retort. >have you given religion a try? I don't believe in imaginary people. Organized religion is one of the worst things our species has come up with and is nothing more then a method to exert control over a population. So please go away.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
elwell 8y ago
> I am tired of 'being nice' in life. So you, dear anonymous internet stranger will bear the brunt of my retort. If we expect to make any progress, we have to be brutally honest. So thank you. > I don't believe in imaginary people. OK, of course I don't either. (I feel like you gave "strawman" argument) > Organized religion is one of the worst things our species has come up with I agree as much as I can with a blanket statement like that. However, the message of Jesus seems pretty different: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” > is nothing more then a method to exert control over a population Again, that may be true of some religions or sects, but the message of Jesus would probably be the opposite of that. I mean, the Roman empire tried to destroy the followers of Jesus because their "Way" threatened the organization and control of their empire. After "Christianity" became institutionalized and part of the government it seems to have strayed from much of Jesus' actual teachings. > So please go away. If you're sure that's what you want, then I can unwillingly (doubt it or not: I care) oblige. But I would still feel obligated to respond to any further comments, since this is a public forum.
- goldfeld 8y ago
  You didn't have to try to be nice and then just push Jesus like that. I mean there's at least a handful of other religions that would go in its place just as fine, but the person you anwser to already gave you clear directions regarding religions, so why push harder?
  - elwell 8y ago
    Because I care about them.
    - justtopost 8y ago
      Sounds like you care about your own sect more than him.
      - elwell 8y ago
        Not sure what you mean. If we're taking the perspective that I actually believe Jesus' way can help OP, then wouldn't it be more selfish to keep quiet?
        mnsc 8y ago
        Nope because you are a follower of an organised prescriptive proselytizing religion. You can not help another human being if the answer for that human beings spiritual search is Islam, Buddhism or a pantheistic nature religion. You are not unselfish, you are acting in the way that your religion tells you,to try to "save" people and up the numbers in the group with the "right way". I try to empathize with and if you can love Jesus and that keeps you a good person, great for you. But please stop trying to push your solution onto other people looking for answers. Listen to them instead. Learn about other ways to look at life beside your own Christian way. Please.
        goldfeld 8y ago
        People are ready for things at different times and you have to respect that. Some people undergo deep philosophical changes in a spurt, others very gradually, and at some point you need to accept some of the people will never warm up to some things, like religion or Jesus in this case. Then again not believing in reincarnation makes it harder to accept that some people need more than a lifetime to come to certain conclusions themselves. In any case pushing things is seldom helpful and just makes the subject more disrespectful of, in this case, anyone who claims to follow Jesus, so you're doing harm to more than one person this way, possibly to a multitude of fellow believers over a lifetime, with just one unthoughtful act.
olleromam91 8y ago
Organized religion sure, you could make that argument. Anthropologists and historians often argue that religion and spirituality - in their purest forms - are actually a coping mechanism that humans evolved into. Think of the hunter gatherer cultures - or even before language was invented. Every moment not spent hunting and gathering and reproducing, they would spend worshiping the sun, or trees, or turtles, anything. An expression of wonder and albeit servitude to the mystery of life. It wasn't until Pharoahs that we started to worship humans (which could be where we screwed up =/ ). Nonetheless, this is how people have made sense of their existence. Still in present days, even absurdists (myself) or atheists/agnostics are just doing their best to apply logic to an existence that doesn't make a lick of sense. We're still searching for a concrete reason for being. I think it's hilariously unlikely, and so amazing that a billion years of wandering stardust turned into an organism that strives to question where it came from. Just wow. If I could convince you read one book, I would choose "Be Here Now" by Ram Das. It is by no means ordinary english literature - but it's a fantastic journey inside and outside of yourself. I've read all your comments in this thread, and it sounds like you've spent quite a lot of time in despair - and I want to share my sympathies with you. Love will always be able to bring us out from those dark places. Hey...Obi-Wan Kenobi said so.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

elwell 8y ago

> I am tired of 'being nice' in life. So you, dear anonymous internet stranger will bear the brunt of my retort. If we expect to make any progress, we have to be brutally honest. So thank you. > I don't believe in imaginary people. OK, of course I don't either. (I feel like you gave "strawman" argument) > Organized religion is one of the worst things our species has come up with I agree as much as I can with a blanket statement like that. However, the message of Jesus seems pretty different: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” > is nothing more then a method to exert control over a population Again, that may be true of some religions or sects, but the message of Jesus would probably be the opposite of that. I mean, the Roman empire tried to destroy the followers of Jesus because their "Way" threatened the organization and control of their empire. After "Christianity" became institutionalized and part of the government it seems to have strayed from much of Jesus' actual teachings. > So please go away. If you're sure that's what you want, then I can unwillingly (doubt it or not: I care) oblige. But I would still feel obligated to respond to any further comments, since this is a public forum.

goldfeld 8y ago
You didn't have to try to be nice and then just push Jesus like that. I mean there's at least a handful of other religions that would go in its place just as fine, but the person you anwser to already gave you clear directions regarding religions, so why push harder?
- elwell 8y ago
  Because I care about them.
  - justtopost 8y ago
    Sounds like you care about your own sect more than him.
    - elwell 8y ago
      Not sure what you mean. If we're taking the perspective that I actually believe Jesus' way can help OP, then wouldn't it be more selfish to keep quiet?
      - mnsc 8y ago
        Nope because you are a follower of an organised prescriptive proselytizing religion. You can not help another human being if the answer for that human beings spiritual search is Islam, Buddhism or a pantheistic nature religion. You are not unselfish, you are acting in the way that your religion tells you,to try to "save" people and up the numbers in the group with the "right way". I try to empathize with and if you can love Jesus and that keeps you a good person, great for you. But please stop trying to push your solution onto other people looking for answers. Listen to them instead. Learn about other ways to look at life beside your own Christian way. Please.
      - goldfeld 8y ago
        People are ready for things at different times and you have to respect that. Some people undergo deep philosophical changes in a spurt, others very gradually, and at some point you need to accept some of the people will never warm up to some things, like religion or Jesus in this case. Then again not believing in reincarnation makes it harder to accept that some people need more than a lifetime to come to certain conclusions themselves. In any case pushing things is seldom helpful and just makes the subject more disrespectful of, in this case, anyone who claims to follow Jesus, so you're doing harm to more than one person this way, possibly to a multitude of fellow believers over a lifetime, with just one unthoughtful act.

olleromam91 8y ago

Organized religion sure, you could make that argument. Anthropologists and historians often argue that religion and spirituality - in their purest forms - are actually a coping mechanism that humans evolved into. Think of the hunter gatherer cultures - or even before language was invented. Every moment not spent hunting and gathering and reproducing, they would spend worshiping the sun, or trees, or turtles, anything. An expression of wonder and albeit servitude to the mystery of life. It wasn't until Pharoahs that we started to worship humans (which could be where we screwed up =/ ). Nonetheless, this is how people have made sense of their existence. Still in present days, even absurdists (myself) or atheists/agnostics are just doing their best to apply logic to an existence that doesn't make a lick of sense. We're still searching for a concrete reason for being. I think it's hilariously unlikely, and so amazing that a billion years of wandering stardust turned into an organism that strives to question where it came from. Just wow. If I could convince you read one book, I would choose "Be Here Now" by Ram Das. It is by no means ordinary english literature - but it's a fantastic journey inside and outside of yourself. I've read all your comments in this thread, and it sounds like you've spent quite a lot of time in despair - and I want to share my sympathies with you. Love will always be able to bring us out from those dark places. Hey...Obi-Wan Kenobi said so.