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God?

raised as a buddhist, now at the age of 18 a reasonably open minded atheist who's looking forward to dying so he can find out exactly what the fuss is about, and in the meantime is just trying to be a decent person...
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Does anyone really notice the stupid quotes people place here?
 
Hey Pleonastic, thanks for reading my rant.
You asked
"Does pantheism involve vegetarianism? Are you yourself vegetarian? Does the religion distinguish between the rights of animals and the rights of plants?"
I can't speak for any other pantheists (never met any), and it's not a beleif system where you have to follow any rules. But as I understand there is some disagreement on this point between other pantheists. I haven't heard the arguments but I would imagine they would go thusly-
1) We have total respect for other creatures and therefore we should not eat them
and
2) Eating animals is part of the food chain and has developed naturally so it is a natural thing to do.
Personally I was a vegiterian for a few years but I really lacked in iron and eventually I decided seemed silly to deny my body the things that nature had intended for it to consume. I do feel sorry for the animals that die for me to eat, but again that is part of the circle of life, animals eat each other and die and get eaten by other animals and so on.
As for plants, I guess that is a tricky one. Pantheism is sometimes called Scientific Pantheism as it totally accepts scientific discoveries as telling us more about our facinating universe. Science so far does not seem to think that plants have the same feelings as animals, so therefore it is probably not too bad to eat them. I also think that again it is just part of nature which I have huge respect for. It has developed amazingly delicately balanced ecosystems over millions of year that seem to work just fine, with you eating this plant that pollinates in your hair which is picked up by bugs which are eaten by frogs or whatever and so on. The bottom line is we have to eat something. We have to build our shelter out of something. We have to get warmth from something. And what else do we have but what nature provides? I think you have to try hard to respect other things and I know as humans we do a lot of really horrible things to ourselves and other animals and the planet but I am a selfish human and I do really enjoy who I am and what I experience. It is easy to get bogged down with guilt over what is the right thing to do but I think you have to try to do the best within reason, deal with it, and continue to experience all the wonderful things that we can in this form on this amazing planet.
Hope that made sense
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after being baptised a catholic and going to a catholic school for my whole education (kinder-12) i find it impossible to comprehend some of the shit that they try and feed you. personally after going through all that the mere thought of organised religion makes me feel sick.
the thing that frustrates me most is the way it is all forced upon you when you are still to young to make informed decisions.
needless to say after that little outburst i no longer (and havent for years) practice.
on the other hand i can see how some people need to believe in something (especially during a crisis) and i can understand that.
peace.
 
after being baptised a catholic and going to a catholic school for my whole education (kinder-12) i find it impossible to comprehend some of the shit that they try and feed you. personally after going through all that the mere thought of organised religion makes me feel sick.
the thing that frustrates me most is the way it is all forced upon you when you are still to young to make informed decisions.
needless to say after that little outburst i no longer practice (and havent for years).
on the other hand i can see how some people need to believe in something (especially during a crisis) and i can understand that.
peace.
 
after being baptised a catholic and going to a catholic school for my whole education (kinder-12) i find it impossible to comprehend some of the shit that they try and feed you. personally after going through all that the mere thought of organised religion makes me feel sick.
the thing that frustrates me most is the way it is all forced upon you when you are still to young to make informed decisions.
needless to say after that little outburst i no longer practice (and havent for years).
on the other hand i can see how some people need to believe in something (especially during a crisis) and i can understand that.
 
Was in a roman catholic school (co-ed) from age 5 to age 18, it never really rubbed off on me, despite being baptised and confirmed (confirmation ticks me off, as if i knew at age 11 that i wanted to follow the RC church pfft). Then went to a roman catholic college for the first 3 years of uni, only further distanced me from the church. I could never get around the hipocrisy and overt brainwashing that goes on in most organised religion. I do however see merit in many of the moral values that are inherent in some organised religions, makes some things run smoother.
As to whether god exists, stuffed if i know. I haven't experienced enough of the world yet to come to a conclusion. If a god/s do exist then I doubt they are perfect. I would expect they would have many of the flaws us humans have.
The thing that scares me is that humans are coming closer to gods all the time (genetics is one example). I hardly think we possess the requisite knowledge/foresight to use such power (but then thats a whole other debate)
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.
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insanity is the in thing this season..
 
Wow, this thread is old!
Insecurity : start a conversation? haha, i couldn't even complete a sentance
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I did not feel good at all. But it was a great night
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But anyway. I'll give my 2c.
I don't follow any religion. I live my life how i want to live it. I try to lead a life of kindness and i try not to deliberately harm others. To me whether or not God exists doesn't matter, why should it? If I had undeniable proof that God did or did not exist I would not live my life any other way. I try to keep my mind open to the beliefs expressed by the worlds religions, but it can be hard *cough* christianity *cough*
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Nah, you christians are alright
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Toasty: Wordsworth/Pantheism: yep you're right that's what i meant but i didn't have a name for it. definitely a nice way to look at the world.
Organised religion: useful for moral guidance? i think that the major religions have for years been the motivation for a lot of people to behave, but the reasons for behaving were all wrong. as a few people have said, they only followed the rules out of FEAR of condemnation/damnation, or even just of being a pariah in their (formerly religious) communities. i really don't think that it's good enough that we play by the rules just so we don't get bitten, not because we recognise the value of the rules to society.
besides, when religion gets into morality you end up with lots of quirky rules like "no contraception" which seem to have no benefits. it seems to me that this moral absolutism is somewhat outdated and irrelevant to the future global society, where the views of the world population are incredibly diverse.
maybe it's time for a system of values that doesn't rely on simply saying "God wills it this way, if you don't submit you will be damned". as far as i know there is no existing ethical theory which adequately explains how we should construct our morality. Kantian ethics, consequentialism, act utilitarianism, rule utilitarianim and all the other variations.... and none of them seem to be able to contrast moral rules with our desires and the reality of life.
but if i knew the answers, i'd write a book and sell a billion copies
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hmmm....
DQ.
 
Mr Horse not according to everyone, I guess it depends on your view of religion. Religion is, partly, the "recognition on the part of man of a controlling super-human power entitled to obedience, reverence, and worship", according to The Macquarie Dictionary.
Buddha was human, not super-human. Quite a few books and buddhists state that it is a "way of life, not a religion". I guess it depends on your upbringing and way of life and definitions.
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DJC
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"We are the children of the revolution"
 
Deception... all life is deception, for without deception few can face the cold impartiality of the universe or the fact that it will go on and we will die, never benefiting fully from what was or at all from what we have struggled to create, but striving against the darkness of self-deception. Yet... the struggle in itself has meaning because the universe exists. Merely existing, the universe lacks meaning, and only a deceptive being can bring meaning to the impartial fact of meaninglessness.
And, as I can, that is what i will do, knowing that we, or the ancients, have created a being that some call God. Our old dreams have been found wanting, even as we are more than gods, more than truth, for truth does not exist, never has. I will fail, and failing, will succeed. I will die, later or sooner, and what I understand will be lost, for when men and women seek truth, what they find is as deceptive as lies, and neither truth nor lies exist outside of a deceptive soul. -gravity dreams, l.e. modesitt, jr., 1999
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["a young boy puts a feather into his mouth..." -jeff noon] | [vurtopia]
[This message has been edited by vurtomatic (edited 26 May 2001).]
 
Can I say that I'm a hedonistic Christian.
Bluntly, I'll say that, IMHO, evolution and christianity are mutually exclusive, as if there is an omnipotent God, then why not in six days? why would an omnipotent God choose to use evolution, and ensure that doubt would revolve around the existance thereof.
::shrugs::
the answer? you work it out.
My 2 cents, consider entropy.
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Cya
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Fylar
=most legendary, most incomprehensible=™
 
Hello all I had to add my two cents worth:
it was interesting to read all your posts and I am just so impressed that it didn't turn in to a slinging match which it totally could have.
Having been raised in a very hardcore religious family that locked me in the house for years and let me out only for school i find it rather difficult to be objective about religion.
To me treating everyone with the respect they deserve and continually striving to be the best person you can be in every way will always be way more important than what anyone professes to believe. As for wether or not there's a God I really find it difficult to care - people are what matter to me and the way I treat them.
My admiration for the Bluelighte site has just grown hugely with the way this potentially inflamatory subject was handled.
Well done guys!!
 
"To me treating everyone with the respect they deserve and continually striving to be the best person you can be in every way will always be way more important than what anyone professes to believe"
Amen
 
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