Religious beliefs - Page 3

Thats what I was saying, that those people who are concious of their actions regardless of their belief will not stray.
But sadly, common sense is not all that common, and if it were declared that there is no use for doing good, then even more people will start creating havoc. Before Islam was introduced in arabia, people used to do terrible things because they did not feel accountable.Its like if your teacher doesn't *threaten* you to give you punishment, then you'd sooner bite her than study!

Common sense is beginning to become rare, i don't know why?

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Common sense is beginning to become rare

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The knownledge that man has amassed about which we are compelled to learn, has expanded to such proportions that we tend to focus upon an area of speciality. Being well versed in a broad sense, is to be considered mediocre so in a sense may be common sense fell by the wayside?

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Thats what I was saying, that those people who are concious of their actions regardless of their belief will not stray.

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ya, just what I mean, if we truely love God we would seek to do His Will, turning away from our in willfulness.
If we truely believed in the rights of the individual, we would allow others to exercise those rights, even if we don't believe that what others may do is right?
As to terrible deeds you only need to look back at our own (USA) history to know that mankind has always done these things to some degree. I wonder is it the increase in population or are we truely becoming worse?

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink?
But if you feed him enough dirt in his hay, he will want too!

An increase in population is a problem, but worse, our knowledge of science. In history as far back as you can go, the terrible things we have done? Today, we still do these terrible things, but what makes it worse is that there are more of us, but even worse than that is the weopons we have created and the destruction they create. As we increase in science we need to also increase in our ethics as to the care of this earth. But that sure aint happening. Now, we need common sense more than anything.

Maybe... man did not create the root of beliefs.

Man was the crafter of many religions for selfish benifits, but in the bible, God says to worship him. Maybe their is belief because God created it. If reality was that every religion was true to whoever percieved it and we could choose whatever religion we want to be true, then that is the same thing as being able to control the truth. I would like to see you try to control the actions of other people in a choice as simple as choosing what religion you wish was true.
We do not control the right religion, God does. But I tell you what I do believe. Whatever religion you are, whatever your beliefs are... if you do what you believe, what you honestly feel is right in your heart, then we will all see eachother again. Be it heaven, the greater existence, whatever it is.

I have spent many years trying to find the TRUE religion. I think the TRUE church has been taken up already. It happened just before the creation of the Catholic church. But it's just a theory. If it can be proven, the proof can be found in the catacombs of Rome and they are owned by the Catholic Church. I have not found the true church or religion on earth, maybe I missed it.

Good Luck on your journey.

Studying with a Church of Christ, they presented the idea that each era in history represented change in the level by which God judged the people? From an overall to the individual. So in a sense you could see the indiviual as unit of belief which form the overall Church, not the individual Churches?

What do you mean by taken up, Okck? Do you mean like, the truth was taken off the planet for a time?

I've heard that theory of different dispensations, if it is true, I don't know where we are at

Elemental - There is Jesus will return and then there is the church is taken up. Some believe they are both the same, some believe they happen at different times. According to my studies, I happen to go along with the crowd that believes these two happen seperately. Most Christians are waiting to be taken, however there is one large church who believes like I do that the church has already been taken. I can't remember their name - but they put out a magazine called the Watch Tower, you may have seen it. I think they call themselves the Nazarenes, but I'm not sure. They believe that the church was taken up after or during world war II. Their belief is very scriptural - it is based on the fact that so many Jews have died. However, I believe it was earlier than that. In the Navy I had a rare opurtunity to visit the Catacombs of Rome. If you had ever seen it, it would uterly amaze you. Vast tunnels under the city, so vast that most of them are blocked off to prevent people from getting lost in them. It was here that the Christians hid and worshiped in secret. This I believe is part of the true church that had been taken up.

Ok, I was just wondering. My religion has to do with this. According to what I believe in, when Jesus died, his practice continued by the apostles, by because they did not know everything, many chruches were made from the differing of practice and worship. If you think about it, it kinda means that all religions passed from this are at heart, true, lest they have been corrupted to a point. But anyways, you know the Native Americans? It is kindof a hard story to explain and I am afraid that if I do not explain it well enough, I will throw people off. But we believe that multiple times, God sent people from Europe to the americas, and there they lived like in the bible with records passed down. When time came that the last guy with these records had them at the end of his religious family, he buried them by God's instructions. Many centuries passed from the time Christ died and since the true worship and practice was on the earth. Kay, and so this guy asks God which religion to join one day, and you know that ask and ye shall recieve doctrine? God answered him and said none are true. God led him to the buried records with items that were passed down like a sword and armor and such. The guy translated it all and through this is how my religion belives it is true. When it comes down to it, I think now and suggest that it is not really the chruch you go to, but what you believe and how you practice.
I would like to tell many about my religion, but I do not know if I would be good enough at it, or if anyone discriminates my religion, or if I end up crashing some one else's religion.

This is the place were you talk about religion - with respect ofcourse to other religions, but - you share what you believe.

Sounds to me that what you are describing is the Morman church. The Mormons were very big at teaching the indians early on and the indians pretty much liked the Morman teaching because it taught that the truth was here on this continent as well. It could be you are a member of a tribe that has been taught by the Mormans and has accepted the Morman teachings. The indians and the Mormans got alone very well.

I don't believe in the book of morman. But technically I am a member, because once you join you are joined forever. As far as the truth being here in the America's, I believe it was, but I haven't studied enough of the indian religions to come up with any conclusions. The only one I really studied is the Hopi. That's very interesting - but the rest is just bits and pieces.

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What do you mean by taken up, Okck? Do you mean like, the truth was taken off the planet for a time?

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Prophesy about the disciples of Christ would be taken up before some of those who were eye witness of Jesus died, so their was an expectation among the early christians that Jesus would come for them. Yet the life of most apostles are traced to their death? With the passing of each milleum, the hope and prayers of Christians turn toward being taken up.
Note that the Fall of the Roman Empire, these early churches disappeared such that the Dark Ages only the reminent of the Roman Churches held to any known copies of the New Testament.

I really do NOT need to defend my faith. I really should not care enough to be a role model.
If there were no God, and no religion to give me the 'Baptism, Communion, Marriage' etc,..I would be just an angry person.
Doing what idle minds do. Seeking revenge and being unjust.
I would fulfill ONLY my self inflated ego, and to hell with anyone else. I would not respect my elders, nor my parents. I would have no cause to refrain from stealing what YOU have. I would covet all you own, and possibly covet your spouse for my own. I would destroy your property, and defame you with every gossip inflicted story I could manage. I would beat your children, and maim you, because I decided you should not live.....and desire to kill if angered beyond control.

No one would have peace, if I did not have relgion and faith.
And no one would dare cross my path. I would be likened to all, who had no self control. Because there would be NO retribution for my actions. Matter of fact, laws would not exist. Laws come from the faith we have in God. God gave laws, man mimics them in national laws.

I do none of this........SO just trust me, I refrain because....
In my actions I proove there is a God.

Before I learned to walk, I was assisted by angels. The most innocent are those who see. Life with all it's 'logic' becomes illogical.

Ponder this, good folks, what if we are living in a dream now, and when we wake up, we discover God was watching us sleep?

I cannot give answers to a closed mind. An open mind catches more. A closed one cannot.
When Jesus returns He said there will be two women sitting in a field working, one will be taken, one will be left.

Not everyone can nor will believe. I am just glad and rejoice for whatever reason, the Lord enlightened me and gave me faith. Faith, my friends is a gift. It is not surrendered to hard of heart.

For now is your time, your glory, and your importance.
I am proud to be fanatic in my own personal faith. But I have lived, learned and sought out answers. Because I sought with an honest heart, I was given answers. If one seeks with a ahard heart, they cannot recieve the answers. Much like a cell phone that is turned off. You cannot get the signals.

I am not here to convert anyone, and really not to justify my beliefs. I am here to give one more account that not everything must be prooven to exist.
I believe in life here and now. God gave it, He protects me in it, and He will be my judge. If anyone cannot follow it, I will not judge. That is not my job. Only that I bear witness to God. I have, and peace to all!

I thought that after looking through these posts, I would have found what my idea was... I didn't yet.

Maybe... people do not need a belief. Some might go insane witht the thought of no afterlife, some might get angry, and such forth.
Maybe, some people do not NEED the thought of afterlife to make them happy.

I do not need my religion. I do not need it to keep me sane or happy.
Religion is not about deciding what truths you want to live by. There is a truth to the universe, and that truth can not be altered, wether people need it or not.

For me, afterlife is a truth to the universe. I would be fine if there was none, but to me, it seems like it has to exist.

When I was a kid, I would think about time, God, and existence and all. I got scared at nights and ran crying to my mom and dad cause I was like 5 years old and it freaked me out. It freaked me out because in my religion, we believe in living forever after you are dead and all. They explained to me about afterlife and all, but it did not make me feel so good because it did not answer my questions about why we live forever.
It was like I needed to not believe in the afterlife to be happy because Ii did not understand it.
But later on in my life, I figured out something about my religion. We believe that we can live with God, our families, and one very important relation for all of eternity.
We believe we can live with the one we marry for all of time. To me, there is no other possible way to exist in this universe besides living with your one true love forever. I look at families, I look at stories and morals, I look at the world and its history.
I do not need to believe that I will live forever with the girl of my dreams.... I simply believe that is the only way to exist in the afterlife.

Some people need religion more than others. Everyone is different. I've seen people who don't believe in God do great things. But you know what (secretly, when no one is looking, they believe), but they just won't admit it. But God knows and counts it as faith.