What do you think of this saying?

Question

"Religion s beautiful when used for self control. It get's ugly when it is used to control others."

Do you agree or disagree? Why? Give me some insight, and examples if you can.

Answer 1

That is very true. It's beautiful when it is something you believe in and cherish. Something that you take seriously. When you use it to try and force someone else to believe, it's as if you're a drug dealer trying to get a child to try it for the first time. It's horrible. There is nothing wrong with you believing what you want but there's also nothing wrong with someone not having the same beliefs. Don't force anything upon anyone.

Answer 2

There are many religions and all can't be true . They contradict each other. One religion says there is one God. The other says there are many. Yet another says all is God and God is all. Religion is not the answer per say. Jesus' problems were with the religious. They killed Him. I think the answer is a relationship with God. Religion are man made. True Christianity is a relationship one has with God.

Things get ugly because people are ugly. We all are. All have sinned the Bible says. Controlling others is wrong but all of us do it. The religious and the non religious. Some control their spouses. Others control people or want to. Still others control their possessions. As far as self control- how many of us blow our tempers . Or say things out of anger that we shouldn't say. How about addictions ? You see we all are messed up. The only solution is a relationship with God and a desire to be like Christ.
To be a disciple. And that takes dying to ourselves. Dying to have it our way.

Answer 3

I do not agree in either:

Religion:
Academic literature is filled with attempts to describe what religion is and many of those attempts are very unhelpful. Definitions of religion tend to suffer from one of two problems: they are either too narrow and exclude many of the belief systems which most people will agree are religious, or they are too vague and ambiguous, leading one to conclude that just about any and everything is actually a religion.

Religious people are killing each other like: Iraq, Israel, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, throughout China, Africa and in many other countries in the world.

Recognize that beliefs such as those can kill you and those you love if the fervor and brainwashing education is active.

We must abide by the Constitution and protect ourselves from those types of stupidities and provide for the "general welfare" as the Constitution directs - by any means possible.

Do not fall into the "even playing field" or "fairness" doctrine or the "separation of church and state" lie. Those folks have put governmental laws into religious establishments in violation of the Constitution and correctly not allowed religion in government. But, it is not a one-way street. Government needs to get out of religion.

we have to be more like Christ. He came to save, not to kill, this is why Jesus never had a religion and He will never be a religion.

Answer 4

I could agree with that to a point. If I agreed that two people could have the same belief.

Oh do I have examples!!! But I will just use one..

How about the LDS church, sending a letter out to the members, telling them to write their legislators regarding the movement to change the Constitution of the United States to include discrimination, the changing the definition of marriage. This is encouraging hatred and intollerance. This is a perfect example!

Answer 5

I completely agree with the quote. Im not a religious person by any means. But I don't mind people believing in whatever religion it may be. Its beautiful that someone can do what they do. But when it starts to overflow into trying to get others to join your religion, its disturbing. Let me live the way I want. I may not be religious, but im not worshipping the devil either. I just treat others the way I would like to be treated, which is my motto in life. But seems that others like to force their way on others, which ends up starting wars. :( I love religion was about love and acceptance, not hating and killing. Its very sad.

Answer 6

Religion used as a form of control, whether this is directed towards self or others, is always unprofitable.

All religion is a map by which we find our way to return to the unity which is our natural state. When used in this way it is a valuable tool for our growth and development.

We are all one in this. We are seeking the oneness.

Use the "map".

Answer 7

What makes religion beautiful is when you let go of all that in which you can not control. Religion is not used for self-control, if it is then why do we need God? It is our self-control which leads us into deception and draws us into sin. It is self-control which makes us think that we have all the right answers. It is self-control that leads us to believe that we are more than what we're actually are. In the book of
GALATIANS 6:3 it says
3) For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

It is self-control that puts us up on a pedestal. It is our self-control that we use to force on others. Religion( GOD ) teaches us to give up that control and to let him be in control. Control to be use us as vessels to reach others who has that same self-control. We must learn how to let go and let God. In
GALATIANS 6:5 it says
5) For every man shall bear his own burden.

Burdens are caused from self-control, self-actions. When you give God control all burdens are lifted, and all you have to do is trust and have faith. in the book of
PSALM 55:22 it says
22) Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

When you cast your burdens upon the lord that means that you are giving up all control. So be an example of giving up control and let God's light shine; and He will do all the rest.

P.S this is to the responder Evy and all others. God has a religion written throughout the bible and the religion is what God is himself. And what we as servants must do once recieved into his religion is
JAMES 1:27
27) Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Answer 8

excellent!


my definition of spirituality:

"My Personal Relationship With My Higher Power"


When I give my higher power a name: Yahveh Elohim.....
thenreligion is born....
and, indeed religion can be useful
a beautiful tool;
but, it seems we so soon forget about
this deep close personal relationship
we once had and allow
ourselves to be lulled to sleep
within the opiate of religion...to the point we begin to say:
"My god is better than your god"
and we try with all our collective might
to shove our doctrine down the throats of others....when, in truth all that is neccessary is to realize:

every particle in our universe

every structure

every being

is a shell that contains sparks of holiness

Our Task is to Release Each Spark from the Shell and.....

Raise It Up!

And, how do we raise these sparks? Through acts of:

Lovingkindness

Being in Harmony with the Universe

By maintaining a deep close personal relationship with your higher power

Our opportunities to raise sparks are unlimited. The choices we make, the words we choose here on Yahoo Answers, our interactions with our family, friends, neighbours, business associates..........even strangers, the books we read.


everything in daily life presents sparks locked in husks awaiting release

seems to me like religion....oftentimes puts a lacquer over these husks




thank you

Answer 9

The illusion is that you can control others. You can't.

The devil can deceive, whisper, but he can't just control you if you are a believer.

So, I think you mean manipulate. If a person manipulates the religious text, taking it out of context as a means to influence and persuade others to meet some personal agenda, I do believe that is ugly and evil.

Answer 10

Agree. Source: the Universal Theology of the New Jerusalem by Emanuel Swedenborg. Read the original writings not third party opinions or extractions.

http://www.mechanicsburgnewchurch.org