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Edited by OaklandPaintbalr: 1/21/2013 5:59:29 AM
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My take on religion

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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  • Edited by Steel Assassin: 1/22/2013 4:59:40 AM
    8 years I have avoided putting my religious beliefs on the public forum. Screw it. Compromise [spoiler]I believe religion/God/gods guide you to the proper path; a little push in the right direction, given your belief is strong. This by no means you are not capable of finding the right path by yourself. It's just traveling with a guide is easier than walking your path alone.[/spoiler] And while it is necessary for introspection to make yourself a better person, we are a social people. With or without religion, I don't find much merit to the belief "the only person you need is yourself." We can learn through introspection (and sometimes this IS necessary), but we also learn through failures with other people, through communication, and the sharing of ideas. Put aside one man. Give him 50,000 years - or make it a million, doesn't matter- to meditate in complete solace with all the resources needed to live well and to create anything (but not without tools or plans to make them). Give civilization equal time, and see who advances most. Civilization will achieve more because thoughts, philosophies, religious views, and all other ideas are shared. This indirectly applies to your topic, but take it as this: even though wisdom is mainly a solitary struggle, we can always learn from others. The challenge to learn oneself if much harder when completely alone and not reliant on others than it would be when we interact and gather support from those we trust and love.

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