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Hey everybody come check out my religion.

Deism.

You can find a bunch of sites on the Internet but these two are the most thorough.

http://www.deism.org/
http://www.deism.com/

Its not an organised one, there are no church's or centralised worshiping locations (because we dont worship anything), there's no holy book and you wont find any priests or prophets either.

It's very similar to Atheism except that Deists believe in a supreme intelligence that created the universe. Apart from that we share many of the same beliefs as Atheists. Bettering our future and humanity through our own technology and social advancements. We feel that all organised religions are wrong and detrimental to human advancement.

We believe in god because science and reason has led us to this belief, not some revelation in a "holy" book.

The array of the universe and creation here on earth, the complexities of DNA and nature are so great that something intellectual must've played a role in its conception.

I''ve hear of Diesm. Wasn't Thomas Jefferson one?

Sounds interesting.

I dont believe there is a deity of any kind. I believe in soul, and I believe in Karma, and I believe in spirit and that it moves through everything and everyone.

I dont necessarily believe its a god...

cant be cause here I am diety and no Thomas aint one of us

Edit.

Sounds like a good religion to me

Can you believe in ghosts and psychic abilities? (I ask this because my old regilion christianity did not believe in them, so I got pissed).

I think you can..

No ghosts or psychic abilities.
Just science.

I thought spirits (ghosts) were a big part of Christianity?

No, It's a bad thing...

To christians ghosts and stuff is a bad thing.

I was thinking of becoming a Deism.

Not anymore.

I fully believe in ghosts and psychic abilities.

See, I cant accept anything that is purely based on ''this is science - if i can see it its there, and if i can't its not real'' because that in itself is faulty.

Just because we dont have the knowledge or the equipment to observe something, it dosent mean that it doesnt exist or isnt there.

The simplest example of this is high pitch sounds humans cannot hear. If we didnt have the technology and the knowledge to hear this, it doesnt, evidently mean it doesnt exist - just that we dont hear it and dont know about it.

I dont believe in God (not the way Quran, Bible or Torah describe 'him' anyway) but i do believe in spirits, reincarnation and Nirvana.

Finally! Someone else on these boards that believes in ghosts!

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
See, I cant accept anything that is purely based on ''this is science - if i can see it its there, and if i can't its not real'' because that in itself is faulty.

Just because we dont have the knowledge or the equipment to observe something, it dosent mean that it doesnt exist or isnt there.

The simplest example of this is high pitch sounds humans cannot hear. If we didnt have the technology and the knowledge to hear this, it doesnt, evidently mean it doesnt exist - just that we dont hear it and dont know about it.

I dont believe in God (not the way Quran, Bible or Torah describe 'him' anyway) but i do believe in spirits, reincarnation and Nirvana.

Deist's never set their beliefs in concrete. Ideas and beliefs change as new information is presented and knowledge is gained. Nothing is above questioning or reproach.

Every religion and philosophy is faulty.

Originally posted by Tex
Deist's never set their beliefs in concrete. Ideas and beliefs change as new information is presented and knowledge is gained. Nothing is above questioning or reproach.

Every religion and philosophy is faulty.

Originally posted by Tex
No ghosts or psychic abilities.
Just science.

I was only observing what you said.

Religion and philosophies are interpretations and observations - since there is no such thing as an absolute truth - even what im saying right now is matter of interpretation - my truth doesnt necessarily equal your.

Religion and philosophies are only faulty if someone elses perception and interpretation of certain school of thought or idea is fed as a ''fact'' everyone else, especially if that perspective greatly differers from their own.
Reality and truth differ from person to person, they are subjective, thats why (organized) religion in any form doesnt work.

You got that right sista! *mhm mhm*

How would you explain reincarnation seeing as the population is constantly increasing?

I can understand if you were referring to the law of conservation of energy states that energy may neither be created nor destroyed. But that's just a nice way of saying upon death people are maggot food.

I'd like to be reincarnated as Fabio's thong! droolio

Tex..when i first looked at the picture under your name, it looked like a bunch of bananas....

That's hot. eyes

But alas...
http://gallery.neosynthesis.net/albums/album19/bm4.highlight.jpg

Originally posted by Tex

How would you explain reincarnation seeing as the population is constantly increasing?droolio

Animals have souls too. All creatures are equal and to be equaly respected - the trouble is that they are not and thus being re-incarnated into an animal is a form of punishment (depending on what kind of animal, of course)

Having that said, even His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama has already said that the re-incarnation of one soul can happen in more than 1 person.

I'd like to be reincarnated as one of my favourite celebrities children. Therefore they'd love me and we could have a cool time!

just because Dalai said it doesnt make it a fact though

Considering that I dont believe in absolute truth, nothing is a fact. I dont take it as a fact, I take it as a possibility, an observation, and I choose to acknowledge it.

I take it as swada

...which makes absolutely no difference to me.

..............to which I really dont care

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
Animals have souls too. All creatures are equal and to be equaly respected - the trouble is that they are not and thus being re-incarnated into an animal is a form of punishment (depending on what kind of animal, of course)

Having that said, even His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama has already said that the re-incarnation of one soul can happen in more than 1 person.

I dont think anyone is holy or above anyone else in a spiritual sense.

I think reincarnation is as improbable and fantastical as the immaculate conception and resurrection.

But whatever makes you happy.

Originally posted by finti
..............to which I really dont care Nope, but you thought I cared.

Originally posted by Tex
I dont think anyone is holy or above anyone else in a spiritual sense.

I think reincarnation is as improbable and fantastical as the immaculate conception and resurrection.

But whatever makes you happy. Like I already said, its your personal interpretation - I cant prove re-incarnation to the same extent you cannot disprove it.

The ''such and such thing does not exist'' argument is pointless as noone can prove or disprove either.
Same goes from 'god'.

However - the fact with me still remains that I do not follow a set religion - I am spiritual, but I do not have a religion which conditions me to believing on or the other.

I have taken the bits that make the most sense from Buddhims, Hinduism, Christianity, Peganism and other multi gods religions as well as astrology and the likes - those make up my spiritual side. My ''religion'' doesnt have a name or a prophet/maker of my religion, nor does it have a following - once you establish a religion with the following, you need to esptablish the rules and set ideas which autmatically makes it organised.
I am open minded and flexible - and any new thing that appears in my path, religion or spirituality wise if it seems like its making sense, I will embrace it and check it out.

In the words of SOAD - '' Spirit moves through all things ''

Question:

If you share similar ideas with Atheists.....how do you deal with skepticism?

I can look at scientific research obtained about the complexities of the universe and reason that its so complex and intricate that its statistically impossible that it was created by countless chance coincidences. Hence my belief in a super intelligence.

You believe in reincarnation because years ago some "holy" person said it existed.

This is very interesting:
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/
...

Skepticism? I'm a very skeptic person; but its individual.

Originally posted by Tex

You believe in reincarnation because years ago some "holy" person said it existed.

Nope. Buddha never claimed to be a god, a prophet, a son of god or the god's messanger - he was a teacher. Buddhists do not believe in God - just in cycle of life, nature and spirits.

The fact that some people worsip him, possibly makes him really pissed right now.

Jesus didn't want people to worship him either. Of course this was before the church came into existence and high jacked his persona.

You respect Buddha and feel that he is an authority in the spiritual, hence:

....
An Appeal to Authority is a fallacy with the following form:

1. Person A is (claimed to be) an authority on subject S.
2. Person A makes claim C about subject S.
3. Therefore, C is true.

So is there any other reason beside Buddha that you believe in reincarnation?

Dont get me wrong, Buddhists are fabulous dolls and they're the only organised religion that TRULY preaches peace and compassion and isn't trying to force their beliefs upon anyone else.

Originally posted by Tex
Jesus didn't want people to worship him either. Of course this was before the church came into existence and high jacked his persona.

You respect Buddha and feel that he is an authority in the spiritual, hence:

....
An Appeal to Authority is a fallacy with the following form:

1. Person A is (claimed to be) an authority on subject S.
2. Person A makes claim C about subject S.
3. Therefore, C is true.

So is there any other reason beside Buddha that you believe in reincarnation?

Dont get me wrong, Buddhists are fabulous dolls and they're the only organised religion that TRULY preaches peace and compassion and isn't trying to force their beliefs upon anyone else.


I am not a buddhist (per se), but I respect and acknowledge many things Buddhism has to say, not because Buddha said it, but because it makes sense to me - it made more sense to me that we are reborn over and over again till we pay off our dues and wrong doings (seeing how living in itself is suffering) then the idea that you live one life, do something thats sinful and then pay for it for eternaty in hell.

Reincarnation made more sense to me personaly than the statement above - it had nothing to do with Buddha, since he wasnt the one that preached reincarnation first - he acknowledge it.

Buddha was a Hundu.

The idea of reincarnation came from Hinduism, since it is the oldest main religion in the world today - noone knows who started Hinduism - they dont have a prophet, or gods messanger - it was a ''people faith'' just like multiple gods in ancient greece were, i suppose.

Thus the idea of reincarnation comes from Hinduism, and Buddha was brought up a Hindu - thus such idea was around long before he was born.

You are not made to believe anything - it is your choice. Unlike Muslims, Christians and Jews who believe that God will only admit them into Heaven, Buddhists believe that anyone who can end his/her own greed and be content with himself/herself will ultimatly find peace - regardless of religion.

With reincarnation wouldn't it be more difficult to pay off our dues and wrong doings as time advances? Seeing that as society advances into the future temptations are greater and easier to access than previous years?

I think it would've been easier to have good Karma in 1405 as opposed to 2005.

If reincarnation is true I think every life cycle just makes it harder to reach Nirvana.

However, reaching Nirvana doesnt consist of torturing yourself to death - Buddhist encourage pleasure, but warn that overindulgence will cause you to suffer more in this life - you dont sin if you enjoy yourself, but in order for you to not suffer you need to understand that such thing is not permanent.


Basically Buddhist say -

We all love to have good food, and every toy possible and good company, but the problem is that most of us are not satisfied with having good food and good company and all the toys - because once the food is eaten, and once the company has been enjoyed and once the toys have been broken, we are sinking in depression - in order for us to be happy, we need to have more and more and more of the same stuff.
And sometimes in order for us to get the means for that, people resort to crime or even violence.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying, if you have self control, you
can enjoy it and then be happy you had it, and move on.

Attachment to material things is what brings the problems for us - we want more and more of the material things and we are never satisfied with what we have. Once we can enjoy what we have, and always be satisfied, never ever desire more - we are that much closer to Nirvana.

They dont believe there should be too much of anything - but thats not the matter of forbidding, its the matter of self control. Forbidding doesnt work, because if you are forbidden, then you want it more - its about self discovery and will.

Basically -

Nothing lasts forever. Understand this and be not attached to what you are experiencing, otherwise you will experience suffering. When you experience happiness know that it is a reaction to circumstance and it is not a permanent state. Conversely, when you are suffering know that it shall not be eternal.

Craving sensory stimulation, craving existence, and craving non-existence give rise to the continuity of being, and with it its attendant suffering. To end this cycle of being, attaining a state of non-craving should be part of your daily effort.

One can end eternal suffering by ending the craving that leads to the continuation of suffering.

Ending the craving that leads to the continuation of suffering is brought about through living by the ideals of the Noble Eightfold Path. The Path avoids two extremes--the pursuit of complete and ultimate sensory pleasure, or the pursuit of utter self-denial


^^ I just like that idea, because I can see the ultimate truth in it.

Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion I would say.

no

icecream

Originally posted by Tex
Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion I would say. Exactly my thinking.

How can Deists believe in God, or "a supreme intelligence that
created the universe", yet reject the possiblity that such a Being
would have certain sets of laws and commandmants that He/It
wants followed; and/or such a Being would contact a human to
spread word of His/It's existance and laws (that is, prophets)?

The point is, by believing in God, one should be open to the belief
in the various monotheistic religions (or even maybe gods, like
those of Hinduism for example).

yet they have holy relics like supposedly bone fractions of Buddha

Originally posted by King Burger
How can Deists believe in God, or "a supreme intelligence that
created the universe", yet reject the possiblity that such a Being
would have certain sets of laws and commandmants that He/It
wants followed; and/or such a Being would contact a human to
spread word of His/It's existance and laws (that is, prophets)?

The point is, by believing in God, one should be open to the belief
in the various monotheistic religions (or even maybe gods, like
those of Hinduism for example). because having a book that was written eons ago by some men who claimed to be inspired is not enough proof. Science has given us many clues to show that an intelligence lies within nature. Blind faith has brought us nothing but strife against one another, wars. If it wasn't for the modern world and a seperation of church and state, Christians would still be burning us at the stakes on a weekly basis. I can't wait till scientists find life on other planets so all the Christians will commit suicide when they realize that they are not the center of the universe. Science is the way, not petty prayers to a splintered cross. Thou shall not bow before any graven image, right?

Originally posted by lil bitchiness
However, reaching Nirvana doesnt consist of torturing yourself to death - Buddhist encourage pleasure, but warn that overindulgence will cause you to suffer more in this life - you dont sin if you enjoy yourself, but in order for you to not suffer you need to understand that such thing is not permanent.


Basically Buddhist say -

We all love to have good food, and every toy possible and good company, but the problem is that most of us are not satisfied with having good food and good company and all the toys - because once the food is eaten, and once the company has been enjoyed and once the toys have been broken, we are sinking in depression - in order for us to be happy, we need to have more and more and more of the same stuff.
And sometimes in order for us to get the means for that, people resort to crime or even violence.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying, if you have self control, you
can enjoy it and then be happy you had it, and move on.

Attachment to material things is what brings the problems for us - we want more and more of the material things and we are never satisfied with what we have. Once we can enjoy what we have, and always be satisfied, never ever desire more - we are that much closer to Nirvana.

They dont believe there should be too much of anything - but thats not the matter of forbidding, its the matter of self control. Forbidding doesnt work, because if you are forbidden, then you want it more - its about self discovery and will.

Basically -

Nothing lasts forever. Understand this and be not attached to what you are experiencing, otherwise you will experience suffering. When you experience happiness know that it is a reaction to circumstance and it is not a permanent state. Conversely, when you are suffering know that it shall not be eternal.

Craving sensory stimulation, craving existence, and craving non-existence give rise to the continuity of being, and with it its attendant suffering. To end this cycle of being, attaining a state of non-craving should be part of your daily effort.

One can end eternal suffering by ending the craving that leads to the continuation of suffering.

Ending the craving that leads to the continuation of suffering is brought about through living by the ideals of the Noble Eightfold Path. The Path avoids two extremes--the pursuit of complete and ultimate sensory pleasure, or the pursuit of utter self-denial


^^ I just like that idea, because I can see the ultimate truth in it. Nirvana can't be reach without a strict regimen of meditation( sitting and focusing on a mantra, breathing, breath counting). Look it up. The mind the way it is without meditation is considered by Buddist's to be misguided and bombarded by the self/ego. Only through meditation can you break through the shell of ignorance and find the true you. It takes years of meditation, not lifetimes of talking. Then again thats up to the person. Either you decide or nature does it for you( like making you a dog, or the manager of Burger King or something)NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!jawdrop

Originally posted by Darth Odious
because having a book that was written eons ago by some men who claimed to be inspired is not enough proof. Science has given us many clues to show that an intelligence lies within nature. Blind faith has brought us nothing but strife against one another, wars. If it wasn't for the modern world and a seperation of church and state, Christians would still be burning us at the stakes on a weekly basis. I can't wait till scientists find life on other planets so all the Christians will commit suicide when they realize that they are not the center of the universe. Science is the way, not petty prayers to a splintered cross. Thou shall not bow before any graven image, right?