General

As for myself I believe that all religions are based on the same thing. An attempt by man to interpret the Divine. So therefore all religions are worshiping and celebrating the same thing.

But I also think that the face of the Divine changes from time to time. And that's why new religions form, as a reaction to the change. Why do you think there's always a God-King, lesser Gods (Angels? How bout it?), and in just as many Demi-Gods.

I just have one thing to say here. You claim that imminent and transcendant are pretty much mutually exclusive. I don't think so.

Especially if you are a devotee of one of the main three monotheistic religions of today, which is to say Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. To be a follower of these religions is to believe that all men and women were created in the image of God. Which means we are in some sense divine. So that makes these monotheistic religions a mix of imminent *divinity all around and within* and transcendent *divinity that lies in another plane of existence*.

Just my two bits.

The term spiritual knowledge is a false statement in itself. Belief and knowledge are two different things. For example: I know this is a bottle in my hand, so it doesn't require belief. I "believe" that I will wake up in the morning, but I don't "know" that I wlll. See the difference?

i don't agree with any of the statements.

man is afraid of dieing.
just an idea of 'noooo mooooore' looks so terrifying.
it scares the s**t out of him.

and all the rest he made up to distract himself of the horrible truth.

I was merely responding to the title of the thread, seeing as it was a faulty statement right off the bat. It wasn't a jab at any particular religion, seeing as they all share the faith motiff.

I have numerous problems with that article. However my biggest complaint is that the article doesn't even cite examples for a lot of the claims. It just keeps saying "successful artists have done this, successful artists have done that, etc." What about this elephant? Using this article's logic, that elephant must be depressed as hell with how successful he is. Pretty soon he'll be on drugs and trying to cut his ear off.

Also, I have never heard of depression and reclusive being the first words to describe artists. Having taken art classes and gone to numerous art/craft fairs in my region, I'd use the terms creative and rebellious more than anything else. I think this essay gets off on the wrong foot by trying to group all artists into this small category that basically anyone in any profession could associate themselves with if they find themselves being overworked. The article uses the same tactic Scientology uses when they try and recruit new members, "Take a stress test, OH HAY, you're stressed, join our religion."

IMO I'd probably recommend Krishnamurti as a starting topic for spirituality or any subject that involves thinking about the self, but IDK.

Just to clarify, there shouldn't be any splitting of hairs over the term "spiritual knowledge". There is a difference between knowledge and faith, yes, but you can have knowledge of your own religion and dogma.

Also, my point about all men being little divinities was solely based on the fact that according to almost every religion we are created in the likeness of the gods. This meaning we have the capacity and desire to understand and reason.

Two more cents for this thread.

I don't think, and have never thought, that evolution and science were completely at odds with religion and creationism. This is something that I've posted about before. I'm of the opinion that open minded people will be able to see the parallels between these so-called "conflicting" theories.

Wow this is a very interesting thread. I have to say that don't subscribe to one set of religious beliefs. I like some aspects of many particularly Buddhism, Taoism and some of the Hindu teachings as well, but I'm a confirmed Catholic. Not a very good one is you ask around, but my opinion would be that I'm better than most in practice. Now back to being humble lol And ever since I was little the "mythology" of the ancient civilizations has fascinated me. I still love how Zeus, Thor and God all look the same. Makes me laugh. Or that the "Devil" resembles a "pagan" religion's sun god around the time of Christianity's rise.



This particular notion has baffled me and go all googly-eyed when people bring it up. I first remember reading Angels and Demons (yes I know it's fiction so back off), but there is a part where man is trying to prove the existence of God through science and believes that science and religious beliefs are intertwined with one another. It's basically based off of Issac Newton's gravitational laws being developed to prove the existence of God.

Religious or spiritual teachings and beliefs are great in my opinion. The actual things that are taught to you to help you through life. The dogma and religion, a total load of crap in most cases. A non-sensical load of garbage to separate one person from another and to determine which is better based on lineage and who did what, where, and when (like martial arts fighting styles except with beliefs instead of physical movements).

Anyways, that's how I see things...sort of.