I'm starting to rethink my position on organized religion

by sabastious 29 Replies latest jw friends

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  sabastious

  I have been one to demonize organized religion because I had attached an "enemy tag" to them at some point in my life. When I started going through the reasons why I consider it an "enemy" I figured something out.

  Organized religion's are just large dysfunctional groups. My family is a smaller dysfunctional group and I worked for a business that was also just a small dysfunctional group. I can make logical comparisons between all three experiences because they are all group dynamics. Let's call them "Circles".

  Circle of Spirituality
  Circle of Family
  Circle of Employment

  What do all these have in common? They make up large parts of everyone's life by consuming the most time. People, by nature, are survivalists; [1] some will choose to obtain survival on the backs of people within their Circles [2] while others will find means to coexist.

  Both means of survival can end in termination. [1] The man that attempts to control his peers has the chance of being overpowered by them. [2]The man that attempts to coexist might do so at the expense of himself.

  This concept uses "the patten of two" which may start with Good and Evil.

  In "life concepts of two" I have observed people trying to heavily ultilze only one side which provides imbalance and tranlates poorly within their lives.

  (I know I might be crazy, but whaddyagonnado?)

  -Sab
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  Rocky_Girl

  I believe that being involved with an organized religion (not a cult) can be good for a lot of people, IF they never lose sight of the fact that they do not NEED the religion. Use religion to enhance your own lifestyle (family friends, holiday events, etc) Don't get caught up with the 'you need to be saved!' God-hype.
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  thetrueone

  One thing that religion has a hard time dealing with is that middle ground between the parameters of good and evil, which one could liken to

  as living within reality itself, for there is no such thing as human perfection and there never will be.

  If organized religion projects, ignorance, corruption and hypocrisy and draws people to act in acordance to what that religion

  entails, then all that religion has really done is only increase a bigger circle of itself.

  An enlargement of a cancerous tumor of detrimental unjustness toward all humanity .

  Maybe its time to consider humanistic values as an ideological concept SAB.
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  sabastious

  Maybe its time to consider humanistic values as an ideological concept SAB.

  We have to learn how to govern ourselves without crumbling from within before we can devote the amount of time to humanistic values it deserves. Everything is second to survival because nothing is usable if you don't exist. I believe our survival is being threatened right now from more corners of the earth than usual.

  -Sab
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  james_woods

  I believe our survival is being threatened right now from more corners of the earth than usual.

  Rather remarkable to think that one of the primary threats to our "western" survival is in fact a hardline, violent, medieval religion.
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  cantleave

  I believe in compartmentalising the parts of my life that are necessary but not importatnt, i.e. work.

  The important things, i.e family, social and entertainment always come first.

  Spirituality does not enter into the picture.
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  sabastious

  Spirituality does not enter into the picture.

  Any of the Circles mentioned can temporarily contain only one. You can't tell me that when you climb to the top of the highest mountain you have ever climbed you won't contemplate, even if a little, "Why?"

  The only way you can hide from your spiritual self is to choose not to grow.

  -Sab
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  thetrueone

  I believe our survival is being threatened right now from more corners of the earth than usual.

  Why do you think that SAB ?

  Wasn't religion in its historical past a threat or a blight to mankind's ever survival.

  Since religion was rooted upon human ignorance of which it has sustained itself for centuries, where are the elements of

  survival ?
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  sabastious

  Wasn't religion in its historical past a threat or a blight to mankind's ever survival.

  No because they ensured it with oppression and tryanny. Today we are softer and might fall prey to the "coexistence termination" thing I was rambling about in the OP.

  What if Muammar Gaddafi gets a nuke, attaches himself to it and flies it to Washington DC? The world might not recover from a deed of a man that was killable a few months ago. Even if they successfully shot it down the world would find out how close it came the End.

  Game Over is a real threat now.

  -Sab
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  Nickolas

  I believe our survival is being threatened right now from more corners of the earth than usual.

  Yes, you're probably right, Sab. The earth goes in cycles like this. Some species or another dominates the planet and then there's a mass extinction and some other species gets to take over. The next one, I understand, will be the cockroaches.

  The only way you can hide from your spiritual self is to choose not to grow.

  An atheist might argue that since spirituality does not exist the only way to grow is to let go of your spirituality.

  I know I might be crazy, but whaddyagonnado?)