a religious experience is something that is personal.
I had a religous experience just last................. oops wrong forum
Anyhow, I do not beleive in God, gods or any form of beings higher then ourselves that deserves our worship. I however do beleive that we as modern humans have many abilities that we do not fully understand or know how to use. I sight the many mystery places, such as the pyramids (in the Americas Africa and Asia), Easter island, Pomnpea island (in the south Pacific), as wellas this tiny little island I live on of Guam. In each of these places there are things that science has yet to fully figure as to how they could have been made, they try unsuccessfully to explain them, but every time they do it just seems to open the door for more questions.
One place that I didn't mention above is much more modern then the ones I did. The Coral Castle, located in Florida. It was built in the 1920's by one skinny little man,that if he turned sideways he would disappear, yet he hoisted a 30 ton block of coral by himself into it's position on the top of the construction he built. There are many, many other rocks extreamly heavy (I mean in the mulit tons) but that was the largest. The door to this place is a 9 ton rock that you can push with your little finger, it is so well balanced. Science, as well cannot explain how it was built. There are eye wittnesses that know he never had outside help in the construction. How did he do it?? His own statement is "I have learned the secrets of the ancient Egyptions"
All religions seem to have a begining in trying to explain the unexplainable. Most of them are adapted from other older beliefs. The Hebrew belief system was adapted from the Canaanite beleifs with Egypt and Babylonian thrown in. Mush of the Egyption and Babylonian beleifs came from the legends that came from Sumer. It seems that from very acient times each religion has adapted from an older one, thrown away some of it and made a new religion from older beleifs. Each time they create a new belief, they seem to start a new culture. All of the Cultures around the world have their basis in the religious evoloution of the area they are in. Religion is what has made the world today what it is, that is why it is ok to do one thing in one place and not ok in another.
I think it is more correct as someone said earlier that we have created God inour own image, not the other way around. God is an excuse to explain what we cannot except as natural, or that need to explain untimly situations. He is an excuse, not a being or entity, but a figment of our imagination and dreams.
The god of the bible is a cruel and unusual punishment type of god, I looked one time at a sight that listed all of the atrosities mentioned in the bible blessed or commanded by this god, and for someone to say he is loving, is an outragous statement. An example of how the christians like to explain the evils errr love is best put by Pat Robertson in the following quote.
"The wars of extermination have given a lot of people trouble unless they know what was going on. The people in the land of Palestine were very wicked. They were given over to idolatry; they sacrificed their children; they had all kinds of abominable sex practices; they were having sex, apparently, with animals; they were having sex men with men, and women with women; they were committing adultery, fornication; they were worshipping idols, offering their children up; and they were forsaking God.
"God told the Israelites to kill them all -- men, women and children, to destroy them. And that seems to be a terrible thing to do. Is it? Or isn't it?"
"Well, let us assume there were 2,000 of them, or 10,000 of them living in the land, or whatever number there was of them. I don't have the exact number. Pick a number. God said, 'Kill them all.'
"Well, that would seem hard, wouldn't it? That would be 10,000 people who would probably go to Hell. But, if they stayed and reproduced, in 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 or 100 more years, they could conceivably be -- 10,000 would go to a 100,000 -- 100,000 could conceivably go to a million. And then, there would be a million people who would have to spend eternity in Hell! And it's far more merciful to take away a few than to see in the future a 100 years down the road, and say, 'Well, I have to take away a million people that would forever be apart from God, ' because the abomination was there like a contagium. God saw that there was no cure for it. It wasn't going to change; their hearts weren't going to change; and all they would do is cause trouble for the Israelites, and pull the Israelites away from God, and prevent the truth of God from reaching the Earth."
"So, God, in love, took away a small number that he might not have to take away a large number."
--Pat Robertson, "The 700 Club" May 6, 1985
Now doesn't that sound like love? sheesh
Seedy
