This thread is inspired by another: view original post
EDIT: People seem to be missing my point. I'm re-typing this to make it more clear.
I was talking to a former alcoholic today. He told about AA's 12 step plan to cure alcoholism, which relies heavily on turning yourself over to a higher power. They emphasized that one cannot be successful without accepting god. I disagree.
A universal concept of religion is turning yourself over to a higher power. To turn yourself to god's love and care, and through faith, you will find happiness and success.
I can't do that. I don't ask god for help when I feel pain; I go down, deep deep down, beyond exhaustion, beyond pain, deep down into [b][u]myself[/u][/b] to find the strength to continue. I don't believe in "I can't."
Yet many priests and pastors preach that you can't find happiness, love, and success without god. That you are unable to do those things on your own.
Why? Why can't I succeed on my own? I believe in myself, in my dream, and in my vision. I believe that [u][b]I[/u][/b] can reach those goals. But according to so many pastors, that's impossible, that I need god to succeed in life. That's something I disagree with.
To succeed, the only person you should need is yourself. You should look to your own willpower for strength, you don't need to ask god to give you strength.
(I'm Lutheran, by the way. I admire religion's moral codes, strong family values, and sense of community. But this bugs me.)
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5 RepliesEdited by Sapid: 1/21/2013 2:41:36 AMSorry to ruin your rant, but when they say you need God I think they mean if you follow his teachings and believe in his word, you will be more likely to succeed, not that you physically need God to wave a hand and give you stuff or that it is only because of God you get stuff. I dunno though, Lutheran might be different in that regard (that god gives you everything) than Roman Catholic (thats why its so hard to discuss this...there are so many different beliefs even within a religion). I also might be completely wrong, I am not that religious, lol. At the very least, good job on not making a troll religion thread to just see people flame each other, it looks like you legitimately want to discuss this.