DamagedGoods

Too early for deep, smart thing DG, come on! :P
Expressing your opinion should never piss anyone off. Maybe it's because I'm not an overly religion person, myself, but you aren't all preachy about it. That's usually the only thing that drive me mental, religious/atheist alike.

I am catholic. I respect anyone's opinion & believe everyone is entitled to believe whatever the fuck they want.

I DO believe that God is omnipotent, perfect & that he created everything. I am not mad if you think this is wrong. Nor am I disturbed or "sad" because your soul isn't going to get saved.

With that said, I do not agree w/what the bible says all the time. Why? Well let's see:

Let's start w/Adamn & Eve:

According to the bible these 2 are the first humans on Earth. If that it's so, then wouldn't that be dirty as fuck!? Not only that but if the bible tells me exactly how many people came out of her Hooha, then how come there are people in other continents? People that do not fit the description of what they would've looked like because of where they lived.

My explanation:

The scientists got it right. We come from monkeys. The homo sapiens is an evolutionary process (God DID create animals first) went ahead as they said and the the first homo sapiens elected by God as the "chosen ones" would've then been Adamn & Eve. This can explain the different races of humans around the world. This also goes with the whole humans had to develop thousands of years before they mastered their writing down history so that one fucker sat down & made it into the Old Testament. Not that but time is relative. So what seemed to us 7 days could be thousands of years to God.

And I'm sorry but all of this was passed down as the "word to mouth" (is that the correct phrase?) tradition & if you've ever played "secret" then you know people hear what they want & say some totally different shit.

Now let's discuss all the shit that can't be done or is wrong, evil & immoral in the bible. You know the "condemning" shit.

According to the bible women are property. Fuck that for obvious reasons! But, in all fairness women were treated as such IN THE TIME THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN. That was not done by GOD since Eve came from the ribs of Adam. And if she was made to look like God (which explains why Jesus had long hair but his apostles didn't ...wouldn't you even want to try to look like Him? Ooh Hanson tried to look like God! Yes, I'm a Hanson fan) why would you treat God like shit? Nope, women are supposed to be objects for popping out kids & uniting clans/tribes by marrying her off, all according to the bible.

Now about being homosexuals:

Whether it's a choice or you were born one, the bible still says that you are fucking condemned & you'll burn in hell no matter if you do NOT practice it. But, first off God made us & he knows how strong the sexual urges are (this is why practicing making kids is so much fun) so why would he condemned someone made to his image & likeness? Another thing is Jesus was born around the Roman Empire. Didn't the Roman Empire absolutely despised what the Greek Empire stood for? So much that even though they copied some of their stuff (cause they can hate all the want but something is ALWAYS copied/assimilated into their culture/ways) changed it's name & then it became good?

One of the things the Greek Empire liked was homosexuality. It wasn't something frown upon & people practiced it quite openly. Then it would go to show that this is a practice that the Roman Empire did not agree/like so they would condemn it completely in the book that they would say it's the word of God. Haters, that's what they were. Haters.

So while some shit IS relevant like those 10 commandments & the one Jesus gave us, things like women, homosexuality & the Apocalipsys (that crazy chapter... someone was using drugs & drinking & confused it with a "God chat" IMO) are just shit spewed by the writer in his time which was relevant, IN HIS TIME.

I once had a dream around 2003 (I remember because of how particularly weird it was) that what if God was just some crazy shit some dude spat & the government (Emperor or whoever) bought into it & it was like a cult type of thing. Then the next reigning dude came over & thought: "well, they seem to be behaving & acting rationally & nicely, let's keep up with this shit as to have a kingdom of decent people that are easy to lead". And the shit was just kept up by the government.

Then aliens came & got all the world leaders & asked them wtf was going on all these people believing in a "god" & what not, & the world leaders would say that the masses would be better citizens & would be better persons & easier to deal with so they just kept that ball rolling.

Then I woke up.

And while I'm not enthusiastic about it, I believe that there are Aliens. Why not? God was like, fuck I made a mistake, let me start this shit somewhere else & see what I can do to make'em not so stupid.

And if God let me have that thought, then why not!? He gave us all a brain to use so if we could come up with it, it's cause God let us.

Nice blog post

I am a Christian and to be honest not until this very point have I ever thought about people thinking God is without flaws because that isn't true. The bible itself states that God is a jealous god and that he get's angry. Those aren't the traits of perfection to me.

That being said I don't believe that you ever need to go through someone to understand the bible or to deal with God. In John 14:6 Jesus states “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." <= No middle man or bible is mentioned. Just Jesus, which is what I believe. My relationship with Jesus and Jehovah God are with them, I don't need an interpreter or some human giving me absolution. I can get that myself through Jesus.

I said all of that to say that while I do believe that the bible is the word of God I don't think it's necessary to have a relationship with Jesus or God, to know right or wrong or to get guidance and direction from God personally. The same way that I don't believe that you have to be a believer to be a good and honorable person.

Please accept my apologies if I offend anyone, but this is my opinion.

I am convinced that god is a way to understand things we cannot explain.
The universe is a giant physics problem that is obviously way past our grasp of comprehension.
I studied specific religions when I was young, and began comparing them. The common thread I found was, it is a great way to exploit the fundamental curiosity of human beings and control the masses.

To go further, god has dumbed us down. That which we should have tried to understand and penetrate the reasoning behind things has been medicated by this belief that some entity that has rational thought like we do, is controlling all this. Let him do the thinking for us.

There is a god. His name is Gravity and The Laws Of Attraction. It what has recycled the universe forever. It never started with a big bang, It always has been.
That is another subject I would love to talk about on another blog.

As for DG's question of how can we trust a bible written by man instead of God, well we can't. in fact, why believe the bible? Why not the Koran? I have always been amazed by Christians who say anyone who does not follow the bible will go to hell, while the other 2/3 of the world is Muslim and other. What about those guys? POOF!, they all get incinerated. and banned to a shithole of purgatory. i gotta say that is one fine god. That's enough proof right there for me the Bible is worthless. We only buy into it because we are trained to.

I will say it is one clever book compared to the Koran. The Bible is ambiguous as hell and is full of room for interpretation. The Koran is pretty simple. and straightforward. Praise that motherfucker Allah and kill anyone who thinks otherwise, then be kind and loving to your brothers.

I was raised Christian, and for awhile I deferred that path and followed Paganism. Now I am somewhere in the middle. "Spiritual" is what my SIL calls it, but not necessarily religious. I think she might be right. I do believe faith comes from within and without faith, we've little in the way of hope. I believe that the Bible is meant to be a guide, but not the 'end all be all' for us to live by. The ten commandments define the guide a lil' better for those of us who don't really 'get it', but I don't think it was intended to be anything more than that. Nice post btw. :)

My religious/spiritual beliefs are rooted in Christianity, specifically Catholicism.
I used to live with the fear that the God all powerful might strike me down if I thought different than what I was taught to believe. I moved on from that way of thinking.

There is a book I read called "The Shack" that moved me spiritually in a way I hadn't been in a long time. I recommend it only that it's not what you expect. The bible I see it as the Word of God as interpreted by men. Not that I want to conveniently omit what I don't agree with but more that some of it is utterly ridiculous, cannot believe that God would think as feebly as we do.

Is he perfect, omnipotent? I don't think it's that simple. I think of God more in terms of light and energy and takes form at will. Not a he or she but something we yet don't fully understand. This life is but the gift he gave us. We can't see it now but there is far more waiting, far more than we could possibly imagine. The time will come when all questions are answered.

I wasn't at all offended by your thoughts DG. I think we should question and scrutinize. I also believed he wants us to find our way to him. If you look around he's there. You'll have to trust me on that. I have tried to lose him.

I was raised by a Catholic mother, then sent to my father’s side of the family who are Evangelist (They be scary).

Although I soaked in what they taught me, I also formed my OWN opinions based on common sense. I don’t believe in confessing my sins to another mortal that is NOT perfect and may have sins far greater than mine. So what makes that person ole so special that I must use them as a mediator? Nothing. My relationship is with the God I believe in and his Son, Jesus Christ.

I pray daily, believe it or not. I do that because it’s something that brings peace to my soul, and makes me feel connected. I don’t impose my beliefs on ANYONE even my own family. My oldest son, who I adore, is an atheist. He doesn’t regurgitate what I have taught him, and I am proud of my boy for being just as I was at his age. He was taught about God, and he made his own mind about what he felt was truth. I have always had a conflict with the Bible. It’s God’s word interpreted by men. While in God I trust, I don’t trust man.

DG as a believer myself, I do not take offense to your blog. I actually liked it. I respect other people’s opinion.

WOOT! If I go "advanced" I can post!

I'm glad I didn't offend any of you :D.

I was raised in possibly the most loosely christian based household ever. We never went to church, and I guess to be honest my parents would best have been described as Deists. My mom never really discussed religion with me. My father and I used to discuss it often. He never taught me religion so much as he told me what he suspected and invited me to think about it and what I learn from everything around me. One of his theories was that the bible was a book of allegories, to be taken with a healthy grain of salt due to the taint of men writing in things that best serve their own interests.

As I said, I'm atheist, but bordering on agnostic. I've posted some stuff that could be construed as anti-christian in the forums, though rarely. I'm anti-fundamentalist, but not anti-christian. And by fundamentalist, I really mean people of ANY belief who think that everyone should do as they do, no ifs, ands, or buts. I believe that no one really knows. We can only make the best of the information available to us, and all in all, it ain't much.

Whenever I think about the origin of life, I wonder what came before that. What happened before life started? Eternity of nothing? If it was God or gods or something intelligent; what was he doing before he decided to create life? Where did he come from?

OH and on aliens. Yeah I strongly suspect there are aliens. If only because it seems ludicrous that in the whole universe ours is the ONLY planet with life. Insane. 1 tiny speck, something so miniscule in comparison to the rest of the known universe is the only place with any life?

I used to question the same things, where did God come from. What was he doing before creating us? I was told that I shouldn't question it, that I should accept it. As a kid that didn't make sense. If God created me and is responsible for my intelligence and my inquisitive nature, then why can't I ask these questions? Why do I just have to "accept"? It told me one of two things, either the info is some sort of brain washing, or the person I asked didn't know the answer themselves.

This is one of the reasons my son doesn't believe. That and the fact he is gay. He tells me that he doesn't understand how he should worship a God that condemns his homosexuality. I could have rambled and given him the same shut up line my family gave me, however, I too didn't know why so I stayed quiet. There is just so much we don't know and don't know if we will ever find out.

Aliens scare me all together. For the sake of being able to sleep without the need of a night light, I will leave that topic alone....

I don't believe a word of any scriptures (Jewish, Muslim or Christian) that were written by men thousands of years ago.

Really, how could you?

Would you be willing to trust your physical life to medical methods used two thousand years ago?

So why your spiritual life?

Originally Posted by Lily

I don't believe a word of any scriptures (Jewish, Muslim or Christian) that were written by men thousands of years ago.

Really, how could you?

Would you be willing to trust your physical life to medical methods used two thousand years ago?

So why your spiritual life?

Only a quick question Lily,...If you don't believe a word of any scriptures as you stated, then what makes you so sure you have a spiritual life in the first place? Not meaning to be sarcastic, I'm just really curious how you came to that decision. Was it a near-death experience or something?

(DG inspired me and got me to thinking so I just wanted to share some thoughts with her, and anyone else who cares to read it) I think now is as good a time as any,.... I've been wondering if I should come out or not, but since I believe we're all adults, I hope you can see that I'm the same person you knew before,...but I am....a Christian. (gasp) lol I love punk, industrial, goth, metal, classical music,..I like liquor, cigarettes, even a little pot in my past. lol I read the bible with a grain of salt, but I gather that the main message is to treat each other how you'd want to be treated,...and what's so wrong with that? Can you imagine what a nice world it would be if people did that? I love all kinds of people,...there might be some I don't like, I just haven't met them yet. I hear all the time "Islam is a religion of peace" MY ASS. Where are the 'Moderate Muslims" defending their faith and denouncing the radicals? I honestly haven't seen many. Yet we see all kinds of examples of radical Christians ..giving the majority of people the idea that all Christians are like that. So this is my feeble attempt at speaking out against the freaks. There are numerous denominations and cults claiming to be "Christian",...personally I think the Catholics and Pentecostal Holiness are the biggest freaks of all, but that's just my personal opinion. So I am here to, at least, speak for myself. I believe in a creator and a saviour, and I don't go to church. I feel closer to God in a car at a stoplight, or in my garden,..a church is just a building and I don't need it to feel 'close' to God. It's a shame that if anyone speaks negatively about any other religion, it's automatically labeled intolerance and politically incorrect. but if it's Christianity, ...say whatever you want about it. Why is it like that? For the record,...all christians are not fanatical lunatics. Admittedly, many are,...but not all of us. But the thing I resent the most is when someone presumes to tell me what I believe based on what they think I'm supposed to believe. If I don't know something, I like to try and ask first before making assumptions. (and thanks DG for letting me vent on her blog!!!)

I spent a lot of time writing a response to this however; my computer ate it when I hit post. So I'm going to leave it brief. I have not read any other comments yet because I need my response to the first one I had to DG's orginal blog.

I am a Gnostic Christian. My beliefs do not fall anywhere near those of the mainstream church. Here is a definition of Gnostic just so you get a better idea.

Gnostic Christianity is a Way of Life based on the original teachings of Jesus Christ. A gnostic is a person who believes that salvation is gained through the acquisition of divine knowledge or gnosis. Gnostic Christians believe that the knowledge necessary for salvation has been revealed through Jesus Christ. Gnostics recognize that this world is subject to powers of darkness that distort our concept of reality. As Jesus explained, "The shadows of this world are perceived by mortals, and they think they know the Truth, but the Reality which casts the shadows is hidden from them, and they do not perceive the Light." (Sayings 2:2)

Those of you who are Christian probably have never heard of Saysings 2:2. That is because they are from the gospel of Thomas. One of the many gospels/stories left out of the bible. This is my biggest gripe about the bible. It only tells you what a select few centuries ago decided they wanted you to know. To me that is not a complete picture. There is more to be known then what the bible presents. Also the bible written by men. That is not the direct word of God. The stories of the bible were taken by witness account and often times not even recorded for generations. Also the bible is open to interpertation. It is not precise. If it was we wouldn't have so many types of Christianity out there. We do not have one Christian relgion but we have several each teaches the bible as they interpret it. I prefer to interpret it myself with my own personal truths.

Second main point is that DG is right. No one person is more connected to God than another. The Pope in Rome is no more closer to God than you are I. The relationship with God is personal and nobody should dictate how you handle that relationship.

I am not religous. I am highly spiritual. I have a relationship with God and nothing or nobody is going to tell me what that relationship should or should not be. I believe the answers to the questions about life and our purpose are within every one of us and if you pray and dig down deep within yourself you will find the answers. Seeking that ultimate knowledge and working on your spiritual growth is the way to God. Not reading a book written by men.

Many of my beliefs are so off the wall they almost sound crazy. I have come to my personal truth through experiences, reading outside the bible and medidation and prayer. The human spirit is an amazing thing. It's sad the church is too concerned with telling people how they should live and not teaching people how to advance themselves. I guess that wouldn't be in the church's favor because if everyone learned that you don't need a church to build your relationship with God then they would go out of business.

I believe the soul orginated in Heaven. I believe it returns there when our lessons here are done. I believe we live to experience things that can only be learned from actual living. I believe we do this over and over again with each life bringing new experiences and knowledge. It is our purpose to not only further humanity but to also elevate our own spirit.

Relgion and spirituality are not the same thing. An atheist is not always a dark soul, and a religous man is not always a light soul. God knows what is in your heart and in the end that is what matters.

Originally Posted by JGo555

I am catholic. I respect anyone's opinion & believe everyone is entitled to believe whatever the fuck they want.

I DO believe that God is omnipotent, perfect & that he created everything. I am not mad if you think this is wrong. Nor am I disturbed or "sad" because your soul isn't going to get saved.


And I'm sorry but all of this was passed down as the "word to mouth" (is that the correct phrase?) tradition & if you've ever played "secret" then you know people hear what they want & say some totally different shit.

Now let's discuss all the shit that can't be done or is wrong, evil & immoral in the bible. You know the "condemning" shit.


And while I'm not enthusiastic about it, I believe that there are Aliens. Why not? God was like, fuck I made a mistake, let me start this shit somewhere else & see what I can do to make'em not so stupid.

And if God let me have that thought, then why not!? He gave us all a brain to use so if we could come up with it, it's cause God let us.

I shortened your quote so it wouldn't take up so much space but I love it. You are so dead on in a lot of your points. Oh and I believe in Aliens too...however; I don't believe they are green men with big eyes. I think God has started over again in other places. The thing is we just don't know about the other "Earth's" out there with people just like you and I having the same conversation.

Originally Posted by malq

Please accept my apologies if I offend anyone, but this is my opinion.

I am convinced that god is a way to understand things we cannot explain.
The universe is a giant physics problem that is obviously way past our grasp of comprehension.
I studied specific religions when I was young, and began comparing them. The common thread I found was, it is a great way to exploit the fundamental curiosity of human beings and control the masses.

To go further, god has dumbed us down. That which we should have tried to understand and penetrate the reasoning behind things has been medicated by this belief that some entity that has rational thought like we do, is controlling all this. Let him do the thinking for us.

There is a god. His name is Gravity and The Laws Of Attraction. It what has recycled the universe forever. It never started with a big bang, It always has been.
That is another subject I would love to talk about on another blog.

As for DG's question of how can we trust a bible written by man instead of God, well we can't. in fact, why believe the bible? Why not the Koran? I have always been amazed by Christians who say anyone who does not follow the bible will go to hell, while the other 2/3 of the world is Muslim and other. What about those guys? POOF!, they all get incinerated. and banned to a shithole of purgatory. i gotta say that is one fine god. That's enough proof right there for me the Bible is worthless. We only buy into it because we are trained to.

I will say it is one clever book compared to the Koran. The Bible is ambiguous as hell and is full of room for interpretation. The Koran is pretty simple. and straightforward. Praise that motherfucker Allah and kill anyone who thinks otherwise, then be kind and loving to your brothers.

I am Christian and I believe highly in both Gravity and the Law of Attraction. Yes I've read "The Secret" lol. However; as a Christan I do not believe my God is hateful. Sure he can be angry but no I don't believe God send Muslims to Hell. I don't believe in Hell to begin with so that alone should clear it up. However; Allah is God to muslims. Therefore they praise God and if they live within the light that is "Allah" then they too can find their way to the kingdom of Heaven. I don't think the Jewish community will perish in purgatory for rejecting Christ as their savior. I feel it's ulimately about who you are as a person that matters. We are not judged by what church we did or not attend but by what we have done.

I don't believe God dumbed down the masses but religion did. Read my post on my views on the subject. I'm Gnostic and we are always trying to aquire divine knowledge and unravel the secrets of the universe.

Originally Posted by Silvahalo

My religious/spiritual beliefs are rooted in Christianity, specifically Catholicism.
I used to live with the fear that the God all powerful might strike me down if I thought different than what I was taught to believe. I moved on from that way of thinking.

There is a book I read called "The Shack" that moved me spiritually in a way I hadn't been in a long time. I recommend it only that it's not what you expect. The bible I see it as the Word of God as interpreted by men. Not that I want to conveniently omit what I don't agree with but more that some of it is utterly ridiculous, cannot believe that God would think as feebly as we do.

Is he perfect, omnipotent? I don't think it's that simple. I think of God more in terms of light and energy and takes form at will. Not a he or she but something we yet don't fully understand. This life is but the gift he gave us. We can't see it now but there is far more waiting, far more than we could possibly imagine. The time will come when all questions are answered.

I wasn't at all offended by your thoughts DG. I think we should question and scrutinize. I also believed he wants us to find our way to him. If you look around he's there. You'll have to trust me on that. I have tried to lose him.

I am going to see if I can find that book. I have never read it but I also think in terms of light and energy . I also believe there is much more waiting for us and that to find our way to God is to seek the divine knowledge that will unlock the endless possibilities. I too believe that the Truth will be revealed to us however since I believe time is only linear in this exsistance we may not see the truth until our days here are done. I also believe some of that truth is already known deep inside ourselves at the most subconcious levels. We came from Heaven (I call it Home often) and we still have strong soul ties to there. Why would we not know the orgin or our being? We are created from that energy form known as God therefore our bonds are not severed upon birth.

This blog entry has offered many good replies DG, I don't think anyone has judged anyone and the conversation has turned pretty enlightening. I really enjoyed reading every one's responses. I hope you don't regret writing this DG it doesn't feel like anyone at all is offened :-)

I always felt the Bible were just stories to inspire others written in a time that fit that way of life (others here have said the same and I wholly agree with you). With the exception of Jesus I believe the Bible is a total work of fiction. I believe Jesus's story was probably not very accurate either.

I do however believe in God and also the law of attraction. The one book I read that reinforced pretty much everything I always felt was true was a book called 'Conversations With God : An Uncommon Dialogue' and the others that followed.

The man that wrote these books says he wrote down every answer that came to him from no where while he asked questions (some questions like the one's in this blog). That no where the answers came from of coarse he says is God responding.

What I take from that is actually that God lives in us all and will give you answers if your willing listen to what you inherntly already know. If that makes any sense.

This book pissed off allot of people because it flies in the face allot of what many believe to be true and flat out tells them they are wrong and further more says God says so himself.

To quote this book "Do not accept the unacceptable". So no one has to accept the Bible as facts when you know damn well it's bullshit.

Nah I don't regret writing it at all. I'm really enjoying the responses actually

Oh & to rat somemore on the Catholics:

When I was little in the Catholic school that I went to we were shown religious cartoons. We were shown one in particular: The Fatima Virgin Miracle.

You know where the 3 little kids in Fatima, Italy were tending to some sheep & all of the sudden Virgin Mary shows up to them. I was TERRIFIED of the Virgin Mary. Sure the Miss is God's mom & all but I was like:

"what if I'm sleeping & she shows up!? I don't want her to show up! She scares me. To me it was like a scary ghost that would make me poop myself".

Catholic school trying to make me holy: FAIL!

As to the age of the writings in the bible being reason to dismiss them. I agree and I disagree; age does not necessarily negate the usefulness or truth of teachings. However, it does create a need to pay more attention to context at the least.

Or is there nothing to be gained from learning about ancient Chinese philosophy such as: The Art of War, Taoism, and Confucianism to name but a few. Or from ancient Greek and Roman philosophers? Aristotle? Plato? Cicero? How about Buddhism or Jainism?