The Old Testament/Tanakh/Qur'an(most of it anyway) would agree with you. The whole soul/heaven/hell thing was assimilated by all monotheistic faiths from other faiths seen as a threat.We all die and are broken down into teeny tiny pieces by bacteria.
About 659million, I believeHow many people do I have to get to say they believe something before we are given the protections religion gets?
Ultimately all religion was started by one person who made some stuff up and it snowballed from there.
An excellent bookSapiens,a Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Think a few on here would enjoy the chapters on religion in this book, cheers @Rascal for putting me onto it.
'God' for me is just a word, just a term that's expresses what might be called 'essence.' If it leads to arguments then feel free to drop. Rumour has that's why the buddhawhy do you think that? they are just questions
point out to me where the abuse is please or is just another attempt at obfuscation
and if you think the way i write is abusive i can think of some posters you wouldn't want to communicate with believe me
i'll try again
how do you know the feeling you had came from a god?
I've finally figured it out .'God' for me is just a word, just a term that's expresses what might be called 'essence.' If it leads to arguments then feel free to drop. Rumour has that's why the buddha
didn't use this term - to go beyond arguments of 'my God is better than yours.'
And perhaps 'abusive' was not the best term to use - perhaps it might have been better to suggest that it felt unlike the loving kindness that is the nature of our shared ('divine') essence.
Anyhow, I have found this thread helpful in exploring something that has brought me much conflict. Namely, this nagging feeling that football fan culture can be one expression of a way of thinking that perhaps isn't so great.
It like one decides to live in ignorance of an inner joy, so that I can con myself that 'this' makes me happy, 'that' makes me unhappy. City win - woohoo, am happy; City lose, ahhh what tragedy best demonstrate my loyalty by being miserable. In both ways, I forget the joy within. Maybe this is just a bit of harmless fun? Sure, this is possible and yet...
What of people were able to access an inner joy, for free? Would this make people less likely to hoard good and resources and so bring about their more equitable distribution? Would it make war less likely, as the financial gains that come from war naturally come to be less important? Would it lead to less sickness - the state of joy a perfect antidote to stress related conditions? Would it help with the environment - perhaps in joy fold might treat the planet with a little more consideration?
So, maybe this model is not so great -for football or society in general. But I am not advocating a ban on football or that people shouldn't support a team. More raising the possibility that the nature of the relationship can change to one that brings a deeper joy, a deeper felt sense of connection. Then, perhaps, this might spread into others areas of life (dare I suggest it, even religion?). Kind of like a beauty-full, empowering infection.
Or maybe just a 'language' you don't understand?I've finally figured it out .
You're speaking in tongues.
When the ball was played through to Dzeko at the swamp for our 6th, I can definitely say I felt I was witnessing a 'greater being' that I could worship. At that moment I felt at one with God...or David Silva to give him his full name. Does that count?Or maybe just a 'language' you don't understand?
Anyhow - here's a thought or two,if you want.
Have you ever felt touched by beauty, even if just for a fleeting moment?
Ever considered that, in that moment, you came to be 'infected' by beauty? One might try to control this beauty, or fight it, or deny it, or forget it...resist it, buy it or even steal it. No matter - yet it just starts off a process in which you eventually come to lose to it. 'Dying' into Beauty, so as to as to be 'reborn' a more empowered being. Going through cycles of this might be said to be a maturation process that some would call opening to 'grace.'
Jogo bonito. The beautiful game. What a wonderful thing.
Fucking great! Enjoy. Drop the religious dogma and heavy morality and life is as simply wonderful as this.When the ball was played through to Dzeko at the swamp for our 6th, I can definitely say I felt I was witnessing a 'greater being' that I could worship. At that moment I felt at one with God...or David Silva to give him his full name. Does that count?
I was watching the game with a rag, who felt sure he was witnessing witchcraft or the devil.
I have witnessed divinity. Unlike religious folk, I have video evidence to prove my god exists.