IDEAS

This from an earlier blog of mine

Recent duels among followers of Bahai, Babi, Muslim, etc., have reminded me again of why I don’t give a dime for any of the major or minor religions. What separates the “God-sent” prophet from your ordinary philosophers and moralists is one or all of the following:

1) People in his immediate surroundings are so primitive or savage that the only way he can guide them is by scaring them into obedience using avenging God -- kind of like “stick and carrot” expres-sion so loved by western media. A good example is the God of the Old Testament.

2) People in his immediate surroundings are rich people who contribute to his rise in order to calm the angry masses by promising them a better life after this one. This situation is valid for Christianity, Islam, and most other religions.

3) He is delusional to start with or becomes so during his preaching – so much so as he starts to actually believe that only one sent from God can be as smart as he is.

4) Or he is simply just an opportunist that sees it as his right to manipulate and exploit the “lesser” people.

I watched a sermon by an American TV evangelist the other day. His fine clothes were man-made. The high-tech microphone attached to his fat head was man-made. The broadcasting equipment is all man-made. The podium was man-made. The building and everything surrounding the jackal was man-made and he had the audacity to stand up there and attribute all these things to God. But people are waking up.

It is no wonder that the number of “prophets” has dramatically decreased in recent times. Let us rid ourselves from these archaic ideologies and watch out for new ones. As man becomes smarter, “the prophet” becomes smarter too – kind of like antivirus and virus. Now we have Bahai, Scientology, Moonies, and the like. These new religions, having recognized that people are not fooled so easily these days (U.S. an anomaly), have become soft. No more a saber-rattling God, no more burning in hell, but ascension, and transcending to a higher level of existence has become their motto. Same ass, different saddle!

If we, as human beings, start taking responsibility and open our eyes to consequences of our actions as individuals, we will not need another person’s God to become ours.

Let us from now on each have a god per person. With 8 billion gods, the chance of the any of the gods becoming too powerful will almost be null and voila no more religious conflicts.

Organized religion is a business

       Organized religion is a business , it sells a commodity called: " Salvation" .

Dear Mohammad Ala

Thank you very much for this interesting article

My personal view is that the vastness of the human mind, both at the Conscious, and the Subconscious levels,  requires the exploration of any and all possibilities

As you have correctly pointed out, the whole concept of God could only be fully understood through Faith

In my view, no particular religion has all the answers: Whether that is Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc.  

The fact that a particular religion has come later in the history of mankind does not necessarily mean that it has superior revelations  

I have also realized that the people who claim to know the most, in actual fact, know the least

By that I mean, The More One Dwells In The Very Depths Of Spirituality, The More One Realizes How Little One Truly Knows

All You Need To Do Is Look At The Works Of Great Men Such As Mowlana (Rumi), And It Becomes Quite Self Evident

The Realm Of Spirituality Is An Ocean That The Deeper One Goes, The More One Becomes Aware Of Its Vastness

Again, Thank You Very Much For Your Efforts,

Sincerely,

PT

I disagree respectfully

religion is a unique expression of love and loyalty, something as part of human culture as old as humanity itself. it is fascinating and beautiful. none of the "bad" aspects are religion are actually the fault of the religion. you can see that people without religion are having just as many problems and issues.

some people feel they need it. others want to enter into a perfect union with a perfect God.

i disagree with your personal point but i know not everyone feels what i feel.

Worst than that

Religion is another form of Organized crime

The Enigma

Rational souls are existentially imperishable.

The current program of existence initiates and promotes distorted beliefs.

Theosopher

The Enigma of Religion

I was an atheist until I found out I was God :-D

Is there life after death?

Is there life after death?

The only kind of logic that can help us fathom and can guide us is the question,

Does the unborn child in the mother's womb know about its life after birth?

If there is any kind of existance after our physical death, what remains? and what is the purpose of that non physical reality?

Perhaps the development of the unborn child in the mother's womb can be some indication.

If we are to be content with the notion “When I die, I am content to fade away, into nothing. No show, no matter how good, could conceivably be good forever.” , is to somehow to believe that the development of life in the mother's womb has no purpose or future; that the development of the physical senses; SIGHT, HEARING, SMELL, TASTE, FEEL, alongside other bodily functions that have no use in the womb, do not have any use or purpose after birth in this earthly life.

If that is the case, and sense we are to develop the necessary "tools" to function physically in this world, and since there might just be another plane of existence in the hereafter, how are we to prepare ourselves?

Is there a spiritual counterpart and purpose for the senses we developed in our mother's womb?

If there is such an entity as the human soul, an entity that can not be explained in physical terms, or comprehended by the human mind; how can one be aware of its existance, purpose and qualities?

If there is more to life than these "few days" on earth, then Who, What and Where can one get this Knowledge?

One must not confuse our spiritual reality with what is called "Religion" today. 

What you justly reject as dogmatic and corrupt, is nothing but the contamination of something once effective and inspiring by (clerics) people who for throughout the ages have for their own self preservation, changed, added, deleted, interpreted things to suit their own purpose.( as they have and doing in Iran right now).

This is something that every independent thinking person has to meditate upon, using both one's mental as well as spiritual faculties; because without one or the other, the result is a the statement made by H. L. Menchken

My grappling with this subject started by reading "Some Answered Question"; it was written back in the early 1900s by a visiting American Lady who asked these very questions from Abdul- Baha about everything , from the existance of God, Religion, Life Death, etc etc..Here is a segment:

The human spirit may be likened to the bounty of the sun shining on a mirror. The body of man, which is composed from the elements, is combined and mingled in the  most perfect form; it is the most solid construction, the noblest combination, the most perfect existence. It grows and develops through the animal spirit. This perfected body can be compared to a mirror, and the human spirit to the sun. Nevertheless, if the mirror breaks, the bounty of the sun continues; and if the mirror is destroyed or ceases to exist, no harm will happen to the bounty of the sun, which is everlasting. This spirit has the power of discovery; it encompasses all things.

All these wonderful signs, these scientific discoveries, great enterprises and important historical events which you know are due to it. From the realm of the invisible and hidden, through spiritual power, it brought them to the plane of the visible. So man is upon the earth, yet he makes discoveries in the heavens. From known realities—that is to say, from the things which are known and visible—he discovers unknown things. For example, man is in this hemisphere; but, like Columbus, through the power of his reason he discovers another hemisphere—that is, America—which was until then unknown. His body is heavy, but through the help of vehicles which he invents, he is able to fly.

He is slow of movement, but by vehicles which he invents he travels to the East and West with extreme rapidity. Briefly, this power embraces all things. 

//reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAQ/saq-36.html

I am with you brother

I hope some day this nonsense of religion ends. Believing in god is like believing in Santa Clause. It is a good story but at the end it is just a story.