Any thoughts on religion?

Question

This only started off as an answer to someone elses question but it kinda evolved into a question of my own;

I'm a catholic who lost the faith a long time ago. I have thought long and hard about re-finding religion, but all the events in my life, whether tragic or exhilarating, have never inspired me to give due thought and acceptance to the fact that religion is nothing more than an over-cooked conspiracy...I am not an Atheist, but i have a lot of unanswered questions.

How does a proven and totally logical explaination to our existence like evolution get over-looked and nay-sayed, just because it doesnt co-enside with the story of Christ?

If God's design for humans and humankind so idealogically perfect, why has man been correct and improving this for centuarys.

And the age old question: Why do bad things happen to good peope?

I could go on...

P.S The Church and its foundation is one of the biggest recievers of untaxed donations in in world

Quote Abandoned Pools - Lethal Killers;

"Is it not enough for you to be alive, did you have to create God to survive"

Are you living for a heaven, that might not be there"

Answer 1

I'm in a similar frame of mind.
We know that ALL cultures separated ALL OVER THE WORLD document a similar story regarding God and our relationship to him/her/it.
Back then, when people wrote things down, it was NOTHING like today where any trivial garbage is worthy of print. Writings were sacred and rare and histories were recounted with humble good faith to the best of their limited ability to understand.
EVERY culture or group has a 'creation story', 'laws' to live your life by and an 'Armageddon story' (even science). We need to accept that ALL these writings have inaccuracies and misconceptions but stem from one COMMON TRUTH that has been lost to the past. We should be trying to decipher the TRUTHS hidden therein. NOT scoff at them!
It's not hard to see that SOMETHING fundamental and possibly NON-scientific occurred at the dawn of humanity.
I dare not attempt to hypothesise on exactly WHAT that truth might be but I WILL say that neither RELIGION nor SCIENCE has a satisfactory answer to our deepest questions.
I will also say that I believe science has the best approach, though it needs to broaden it's horizons and not be so arrogant toward non-scientific methods.

Answer 2

Most of the questions you ask are truly un-answerable by Christans AND atheists. The difference is that while atheists continue to advance with science and answer more questions as time goes on, but Christians continue to state things like "God works in mysterious ways", "God has a plan", "God gave us free will". None of these answers actually answer the question.

On the other hand, you might consider reading some texts about religion. Maybe some religion and science texts. I would suggest The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, but note that it is biased (he's an atheist) although it is well written and contains very helpful and informative stuff.

The thing that amazes me is that while Christians find it SO hard to buy into a scientifically correct theory (evolution/natural selection) they easily buy the stories of Jesus (walking on water, turning water to wine, raising people from the dead). This inconsistency astounds me.

The best thing you can do, is read. Reading different texts will offer a lot of information that you can help to answer some questions you might have. And consider, maybe Christianity isn't for you, but another religion might suit you better. Good luck,

Answer 3

First of all Catholicism is the largest cult in the world. So, I would say any religious foundation you may have is flawed at best.
Your belief that evolution is an acceptable explanation for our existence shows you have not studied this out. Look at 'Answers in Genesis' and 'Institution for Creation Research' on the web, they can dislodge any false misconceptions you may have about evolution-"if you give them a try".
As far as church-whew this will be much harder-Catholics and Jews are the toughest people to convince that they are wrong. Look at 'Apologetics index' on the web, there will be many links there to provide info on different religious movements. They are fair and balanced. If you are in the USA try to find a Baptist church and go there and try to learn as much as you can. I know this will be hard. But the Baptist are about as straight as you can get. They are about as hard headed as can be, but their theology is dead on. Once you have the basics of Christianity down pat-then move on to a different church. Stay away from cults-see 'Apologetics Index'. You will eventually find the right church for you. Eventually you will learn how to discern a real church from a false one.
Why do bad things happen to good people. Sin. You will be able to see that later.

Good luck.
If you are serious, you can email me. I will be happy to help point you in the right direction. I don't know everything, but I have been along way.

Answer 4

Instead of asking, "What religious dogma should I agree with?" you should be asking what religious dogma agrees with YOU. There's only one person who should be deciding your morality, and it's not some old virgin wearing a dress. If no religion fits in with your idea of right and wrong, then screw 'em and get rid of them.

I'm an atheist, but I won't steer you toward that view if that's not what you're after. What I will say is this: The only "god" concept that is not obscene or insulting and I would entertain is the "poker dealer god".

Life is a game of poker, five card stud and nothing is wild. You take the cards you're dealt and do the best you can with them. Some people are born with two pair and play it like a full house (eg. Jesse Orosco, if you follow baseball) and some people are dealt a four of a kind and blow it (eg. Dwight Gooden).

Praying on your cards does nothing; the dealer doesn't interfere and doesn't change your hand no matter how much you plead. It's how YOU play your hand that determines your success in life and (if you believe in "god" myths) your judgement after death.


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Answer 5

The Amazing Qur'an
The basic question one must ask oneself is "Could this Qur'an be the words of any other than God." In reaching your conclusions there are a number of factors to bring into your judgement. Firstly we must consider how this object came into existence and how reliable is the description offered of how it came into existence. Then we need to begin our investigation of the object in question. Through doing this we begin to notice certain characteristics about the text and start to study it in detail, noticing certain subtleties. The establishment of general consistency with our knowledge is of primary importance since if we find things in it which contradict what we know, it will immediately be making demands on our credulity rather than challenging our conscience to accept it as true, so that we would feel guilty not accepting it. Further investigation shows consistency with current knowledge that is quite amazing. Coincidence also plays an interesting role in discovering curiosities about the Qur'an which show some amazing aspects of the structure. In the process we continually consider whether there is any credible alternative explanation of the origins of the Qur'an and ask ourselves, is it too hard for us to accept any other explanation with a clear conscience that our thinking remains good? What are our doubts about the explanation that this amazing Qur'an comes from other than God? Are these doubts reasonable?
This section takes you through the above process and the next section will try to tackle some of the important questions about the moral teachings of Islam which amount to doubts that prevent people from accepting Islam. These doubts are usually down to lack of knowledge about the correct teachings of Islam and in answering them I shall try to explain the relevant details of Islamic teachings to clarify the misunderstandings.
The Proclaiming of the Qur'an
The Writing of the Qur'an
The Consistency of the Qur'an
The Structure of the Qur'an
The Opening of the Qur'an

http://islamic.org.uk/I4WM/amazing.htm

Answer 6

Each soul is potentially divine. the goal is to manifest this divinity within by controling nature, external and internal. do this either by work or psychic control or philosphy , by 1 or more of all these & b free. this is the whole of religion. doctrines or dogmas or rituals or books or church or forms r but secondry details.

Answer 7

God is not into religion he is inot relationship so seek a relationship with him not religion