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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:11 PM
Original message
Poll question: Which religion is closest to the truth?
Much of the world's current problems are due to differences in religious belief. So, one solution would be for everyone to sign up for the religion which is closest to the truth. Assuming God exists, then one religion out of all others must be closest to the actual truth about Him. And everyone who wants to be close to God should strive to be part of that religion. So which is it? Which religion is closest to the truth about God? Not necessarily perfect, just closest.
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Leprechan29 Donating Member (391 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:13 PM
Response to Original message
1. Each are close in their own way;
Or equally far away if you want to put it that way. Essentially, no one can know until some huge event occurs that proves the existence of one alone.
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FlashHarry Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:13 PM
Response to Original message
2. What, no Jedi?
:)
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baldguy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:40 PM
Response to Reply #2
24. Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader.
Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebel's hidden fort...
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Shadowen Donating Member (742 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:17 PM
Response to Reply #24
70. I find your lack of faith disturbing...
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FlashHarry Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 05:52 PM
Response to Reply #24
109. Don't be so proud of this technological terror you've created.
The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force
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ayeshahaqqiqa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:13 PM
Response to Original message
3. "Other"
Truth is to be found in the recesses of one's own heart. The paths to God are many, and they will all get you there.
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no_hypocrisy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
4. Truth is relative, not a fixed standard to many people. If you believe
there is only one truth, then you chose the creed and dogma that reflects your standard for the truth. Or you adapt the standard of truth dictated to you by your religion.
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no_hypocrisy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
5. Dupe - deleted
Edited on Mon May-31-04 07:15 PM by no_hypocrisy
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mhr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
6. Define Truth - Else How Can Anyone Objectively Compare Religions
eom
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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:22 PM
Response to Reply #6
12. That was Pilate's question: "What is truth?"
Jesus didn't answer.
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whosinpower Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
7. None of the above
There is only one law to rule them all. One law, which no man adheres to, no church upholds, no mosque relishes even though it is one law that is common in all religions.......

"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you"


It is so simple.....why do we need clerics, preachers, ministers, nuns, churches, mosques, temples just to adhere to one simple principle?????????
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libhill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:41 PM
Response to Reply #7
25. Power -
that`s what clergy is about, that`s where they`re coming from. "What profit hath we not derived, from this fable of Jesus?"
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freetobegay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
8. How fast before the flame fest starts?
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drdigi420 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:16 PM
Response to Original message
9. all are false, as god is a fictional character in a morality play
god is a metaphor, wasn't meant to be taken literally
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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:20 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. I'm not a relativist
It seems that if there is one God, then there are things which are more true about Him than others. A religion which says "God is Love" is closer to the truth than one that says "God Hates Fags." All religions are imperfect, but there must be one which is closer than the others. Or is it simply wrong to seek out truth about God? What's the point of seeking truth if there isn't any?
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drdigi420 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:24 PM
Response to Reply #11
14. seek truth, not god
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0rganism Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:42 PM
Response to Reply #11
27. What if God really does hate?
As Tyler Durden points out in the movie Fight Club, "You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you."

Hell, half the Old Testament is devoted to describing all the things that piss God off, when he's not busy telling his chosen people how to commit genocide against the Amorites, smiting the Sodomites, or raining down plagues upon the Egyptians. Why suppose God is a benevolent, kindly being? Maybe God is a total asshole.
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libhill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:47 PM
Response to Reply #27
33. I`d have to agree -
and if God is the creator of all things, then anyone who has ever stepped on a grass burr would have to wonder why a "God of Love" would create things that hurt his creations.
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0rganism Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:59 PM
Response to Reply #33
45. Exactly. Why would a "God of Love" create syphillis?
Edited on Mon May-31-04 08:00 PM by 0rganism
Or maybe there are several competing gods, as was supposed by dang near every religion prior to Christianity. Maybe some gods are into compassion, and others are into S&M. Maybe some, or most, or all of them are completely indifferent to the plight of humankind?

We suppose so very much.
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texastoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 05:19 PM
Response to Reply #33
105. God is All
God is, as the Christians put it, the alpha and omega. The beginning and the end, the up and the down, the good and the evil (is it not written that the Christian devil exists by the mercy and plan of God?).

Therefore, God is the grass burr and the foot, the mosquito and the upper arm, the good tequila and the rotten lime, etc.
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Shadowen Donating Member (742 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:19 PM
Response to Reply #27
71. An infinite being must contain the capacity to hate.
If It did not, It would not be "infinite", now would it?
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amjsjc Donating Member (203 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 04:12 AM
Response to Reply #71
91. But would he use it?
Here's a question for you: Can a perfect, omniscient being make a mistake?
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Warren DeMontague Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 08:49 AM
Response to Reply #91
98. I believe
Perfect is a fault.

And fault lines change.
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texastoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 05:22 PM
Response to Reply #91
106. "Perfect" is a relative term
And so is the idea of "mistake." Depends on your viewpoint.
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amjsjc Donating Member (203 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 10:32 PM
Response to Reply #106
110. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but...
This is a philosophical conundrum meant to amuse, more than anything else.

Assume for a moment that there is an objective standard of perfection, and that he is personified within a diety...
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texastoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-02-04 03:31 PM
Response to Reply #110
112. Nothing like a good conundrum
I'm playing. I am assuming there is an objective standard of perfection and that "he" is personified within a deity. Then the answer is no, the perfect deity cannot make a mistake. Perfection is perfect, right?

However, I can choose not to like the perfection of it all, and especially if I am specie- or ethno-centric in my judgment of what is perfect.
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texastoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 05:26 PM
Response to Reply #27
107. Nah, God isn't the asshole
Guess who is? Those of us who exercise our free will to commit genocide, smite, and rain down plagues. We colletively CHOOSE to create that because we do not CHOOSE to collectively create otherwise. Free will, it's all about learning how to use free will in non-asshole ways. Don't blame God.
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The Stranger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 09:15 AM
Response to Reply #27
122. The god that Moses came down with from Sinai was a storm god.
"Yahweh" was based on a mean and nasty character, a local god whose belief system involved fighting and war.
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Speck Tater Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:25 PM
Response to Reply #9
15. Exactly...
Which is why the atheistic religions of Buddhism and Taoism are closest to the truth.
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lanparty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:03 PM
Response to Reply #15
64. The truth is ...

... that we can never "KNOW" it in this world. Pondering alternatives is the closest we can get. So CHOOSING takes you farther away from the goal.

It's just like Ray in Ghostbusters ... "CHOOSE AND PERISH!!!!!"

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Speck Tater Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 10:01 PM
Response to Reply #64
79. Precisely.
In fact, that is exactly what the Buddha said.
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lanparty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 01:15 AM
Response to Reply #79
87. Buddha saw Ghostbusters?????


Did he choose the Marshmallow Man as well???? ;-)
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L3on Donating Member (11 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 08:55 AM
Response to Reply #64
99. Truth is. Belief is not required
Most people confuse truth and belief. Religion is a repetition of affirmations that leads to belief.
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texastoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 05:14 PM
Response to Reply #99
104. Most people confuse, truth, belief, and facts
All "truth" and our perception of "facts" come through our belief system.

WE are the creators.
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L3on Donating Member (11 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-02-04 07:00 AM
Response to Reply #104
111. True
Edited on Wed Jun-02-04 07:01 AM by L3on
I see it the same way for everything that is based on speculative or abstract reasoning.
I wouldn't go so far and say that there is no truth in religion, after all I'm a mortal who wants to believe in eternal life ;)
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patrice Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:20 PM
Response to Original message
10. I'm reading the Bhagavad Gita
I'm impressed with how "complete" it seems.
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He loved Big Brother Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 05:15 AM
Response to Reply #10
115. Beautiful book.
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stavka Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 09:08 AM
Response to Reply #10
121. I'm reading "The Godfather"
seems to hold more life lessons for me
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camero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:24 PM
Response to Original message
13. Much of the world's problems are due to money
and people's so-called need to aquire as much as they can and control as many people as they can.

Religion is just used as an excuse for that.
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RC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:27 PM
Response to Reply #13
16. Here I thought it was the other way around.
The church uses religion to get money and therefore power.
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camero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:46 PM
Response to Reply #16
32. The church is seperate from religion
It's the people in the church who want the money and power. And attending that church is accepting that agenda.
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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:30 PM
Response to Reply #13
19. The progressive movement lacks a sense of truth
Conservativism, for better or worse, believes in "the truth," and that makes it stronger as a political force. Progressives, like those responding here, aren't as concerned about absolutes. That may be better philosophically, but it makes them weaker politically. I say "them" because I do believe in God and Truth, and my social conscience is based on what I believe God wants me to do in this world. I think that if more progressives grounded their actions in belief in God, the movement would be stronger. So rather than complain about imperfect churches, why not pick the religion which is closest to what you believe is true?
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camero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:44 PM
Response to Reply #19
30. Because the church has whored itself out
and until they kick the moneychangers out, I'm not going back.

Conservatives don't believe in truth. They believe in money. That's it.

In case you haven't noticed, plenty of progressives have used the Bible to spell out a progressive agenda. That progressive message is all over the bible.
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shance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:13 PM
Response to Reply #19
51. Because essentially thats buying into the *team* theory
Which divides and capitalizes on trying to accentuate individuals differences and separates us into better than and not as good as, instead of learning that all of us are essentially the same species when you get down to it. I was reminded these are just more social caste systems, as one reader put it in another thread.

We need to get out of our separate boxes and learn to be big boys and girls, play together, and appreciate the differences we can learn from each other and build on that. There will never be a shortage of things to learn.

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AbbeyRoad Donating Member (848 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:30 PM
Response to Original message
17. Absolute truth?
As others have said on this thread, who exactly defines the truth? If every individual has their own definition of the truth, then that truth has to be sujective. Unless you take the Buddhist position that anyone can know absolute truth if they know the proper way to look.

Personally, I think absolute truth eludes us and I don't think that I can say that any religion is closer to it than another.
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JHBowden Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:17 PM
Response to Reply #17
69. Is it true that truth is subjective?
Edited on Mon May-31-04 09:20 PM by JHBowden
If so, then truth is not subjective, since that truth exists. The position is incoherent. A classical position is that truth is a correspondence relation with reality while modern deflationists have suggested for instance that 'grass is green', if and only if, grass is green. That's all there is to it.

Whether one has a belief that is true AND justified, however, is a different ballgame.
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AbbeyRoad Donating Member (848 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 11:02 PM
Response to Reply #69
83. I'm not an expert on this subject, and..
Edited on Mon May-31-04 11:03 PM by AbbeyRoad
perhaps I shouldn't have stated as concretely as I did concerning the subjectivity of personal truth. I grapple with trying to understand the concepts thouroughly, and I can not pretend to have a complete grasp on them. I do not prescribe to any particular religion, yet sometimes I do wonder if it the existance of Absolute Truth is possible. It seems to me, however, that just just the assumption of it's existance seems to imbue it with a sort of metaphysical inherency with which I'm not necessarily comfortable.

I'm open to other points of view on this.
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Roaming Donating Member (476 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:30 PM
Response to Original message
18. The word truth by its definition is exclusive--there can only be one
Edited on Mon May-31-04 07:30 PM by Roaming
truth, so as I see it, either ALL religions have it wrong, or only ONE has it right.
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Bombtrack Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:32 PM
Response to Original message
20. are you not going to include secular humanism?
If so, why not. It's understandable I guess. I think all religion is stupid but wouldn't be apposed to being called a secular humanist
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kaitykaity Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:35 PM
Response to Original message
21. There's no way to know for sure.
That's why it's called "faith." Also, when people believe
that their faith is the truest faith, they tend to also b
believe that their God has given them permission to give in
to their basest human impulses. It's the biggest problem
humans have ever created for ourselves.
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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:38 PM
Response to Reply #21
23. I don't buy that faith isn't somehow grounded in reason
I think that there must be some amount of reasoning and gathering evidence before you can say "I think this is true." We'll never know if OJ is a murderer, but we can say that we have "faith" based on evidence that he got away with something. So, which religion has the strongest evidence in its favor?
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kaitykaity Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:42 PM
Response to Reply #23
28. What you think is reasonable I might think is pure
claptrap. Who is to say?

I might say that any religion that calls the diety
"Him" is invalid because it does not represent the female
half of the population.

I firmly believe that to be perfectly reasonable. You
would probably think it is claptrap.

So, I say again, that's why it's called "faith." You have
to make a leap in order to believe, and your leap may be
completely different from my leap, or from anyone else's
leap.

You can't say, I can't say, they can't say, whose leap
is more valid. They just are.
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Oddman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:38 PM
Response to Original message
22. We have no idea which is right, which is wrong, which is even close
if any are close at all. Most likely none are even close, there is no magical being that oversees us, there is no magical being that hates us. Religion comes from the long, long, long time ago need to explain the unexplainable. What is that big yellow ball in the sky? How does it stay up there? Why does the sky make loud noises with bright flashes of light? Why does the earth spew forth molten rocks? What are the shiny dots in the nighttime sky?

The miracle of life and nature is indeed a miracle.

If only our current "President" respected that . . .

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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:41 PM
Response to Reply #22
26. Your ideas about God are pretty simplistic
No one has ever believed in that kind of God. Have you read Plato, the Koran, the New Testament, or the Cloud of Unknowing? Yes, God is somehow unreachable, but also knowable. But don't argue based on images which no one has ever used for God.
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Oddman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:47 PM
Response to Reply #26
34. oh please . . .
enlighten me about the fundamentals of religion!!!!

I have read Plato and the Koran . . . you forgot to mention Kierkegaard and Descartes.

I must admit I have not read the Cloud of Unknowing!!!!

Does the Cloud of Unknowing eplain thought process after you die?

The Gods, in Plato's eyes, should only be represented as good, and pious, because it is the nature of divinity to be good.

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0rganism Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:43 PM
Response to Original message
29. Cthulhu scoffs at your paltry selection of humanocentric religions!
:evilgrin:
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Burma Jones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:45 PM
Response to Original message
31. All religions have validity
None know the "truth" because the "truth" is unknowable.
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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:50 PM
Response to Reply #31
37. Progressivism would be stronger if grounded in God
Just to say this again--it is possible to build a liberal society that is based on belief in God. This inability to claim something as true will always weaken the movement. If God has made it clear that there is one religion which reflects truth more accurately than all the rest, then it would be in our interests to find that religion and follow it. And build our world on it. So, which is it?
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Burma Jones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:57 PM
Response to Reply #37
44. People have been trying to solve this one for Millenia
You won't find the answer here.

If you want objective truth, then Science is the only way to go.

God is by definition unknowable by us mortals. You see, I think your problem is trying to link progressivism to a decidedly unprogressive notion that there is some sort of single "truth" out there that just happened to be captured by a small group of men, be they Jews, Arabs, Chinese, Europeans, Native Americans, Indians or Mormons. You can't be progressive and dogmatic simultaneously.
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Cleita Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:48 PM
Response to Original message
35. A religion that admits it doesn't have all the answers but is
open to discovering the Truth, to me, is the closest to becoming the one true religion in the end. Since this task is almost an impossibility, I don't think any religion has the answers people are looking for in this day and age.
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lastknowngood Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:48 PM
Response to Original message
36. OK here it is for all you non religious fools. The religion which
defines truth and is self correcting is WAIT FOR IT


Science.

All others are Myths i.e. a system of beliefs used to bring a large group of people together as a unit for good or evil.
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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:52 PM
Response to Reply #36
39. Walker Percy's "Message In A Bottle"
W. Percy has a great essay about God called Message in a Bottle. It's worth reading.
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Oddman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:54 PM
Response to Reply #39
43. Lost in the Cosmos
was better
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Oddman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:52 PM
Response to Reply #36
40. Ain't it the truth!
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KittyWampus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:54 PM
Response to Reply #36
42. Or, The Science Which Measures Reality
Edited on Mon May-31-04 07:55 PM by cryingshame
and instructs us how to manipulate that Reality in accordance with the Universal Will is Alchemy.

All other sciences are Incomplete Systems used to bring large amounts of resources together for the benefit of a Ruling Elite.
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NashVegas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:07 PM
Response to Reply #36
65. And That's Just as Fucked Up
The trouble does not come from those who are following their curiosity to find the truth, but from those who attempt to use science to justify and promote their truth.

Whether scientific or religious, charlatans can be found just about anywhere.
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kiahzero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:52 PM
Response to Original message
38. What if we disagree with the fundamental premise?
Assuming God exists, then one religion out of all others must be closest to the actual truth about Him.

Not necessarily. If most religions are just different ways of percieving the divine, then none is "closest to the actual truth" about the nature of the divine.
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undergroundpanther Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:01 PM
Response to Reply #38
47. Gnosticism,paganism
With a strong native American slant and a little bit from Buddhism seems the closest to the truth kinda sorta combo I have worked out for myself.But that could change at any moment.The only truth I have seen is there is negative side to life,the existence we live in is deeply flawed and sometimes even gets hostile to love and kindness,and no one controls their life really and they can't control others or what the world does either. We just truggle and cope,hold onto the good stuff and keep outta the toxic and do whatever it takes to be true to your spirit and integrity.
In reality The unknown is vast and it's well,unknown,the rest of whatever I think truth might be is somewhere between my preference ,empathy and a guess.
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historian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 07:53 PM
Response to Original message
41. NONE
Only a rational mind is the truth
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DemBones DemBones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:56 PM
Response to Reply #41
60. You're just saying that YOUR god (a rational mind) is better

than anyone else's god.

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historian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 03:35 PM
Response to Reply #60
102. not at all
a rational mind doesnt god into cosideration at all
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readmylips Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:00 PM
Response to Original message
46. Religion? None, None, None....
Religions are man-made, twisted rules and regulations for men to get away in justifying their wrong-doings.
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GreenPartyVoter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:04 PM
Response to Original message
48. They all have a hint of it, I imagine
but I think it is a very rare mind/spirit that can grasp "truth" in this life. I think we have to die to be able to understand it.

Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/liberalchristians.htm
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Itchinjim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:06 PM
Response to Original message
49. MINE GODDAM IT!
May the Lord smite the rest of you heretics and blasphemers!
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KittyWampus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:11 PM
Response to Reply #49
50. Now THAT'S The Spirit!
my god can kick your god's ass!

:toast:
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texastoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 05:35 PM
Response to Reply #50
108. LOL!
That's how Yaweh got to be God!!
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:29 PM
Response to Original message
52. Equifinality
Sort of renders the issue mute.
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Oddman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:34 PM
Response to Reply #52
54. the end does not justify the means!
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:51 PM
Response to Reply #54
78. Truth is one, paths are many
A Hindu concept, I believe....
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LWolf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:31 PM
Response to Original message
53. Other.
They all are, including the belief in atheism or science.

There is no one "right" way. Or one "more right" than another. Each way is "more right" to the people who choose it.
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DemBones DemBones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:36 PM
Response to Original message
55. Your premises are false.

They may all have been "the true religion" in the beginning but religions (ALL of them) are embedded in cultures. Cultures modify the original teachings and then you have schisms and reforms and before you know it you've got a slew of religions.

The best anyone can do is choose the religion that fits him best, that feels truest to her. Don't drive yourself nuts looking for the perfect religion since religions are built by imperfect humans. Look for truth, certainly, but not perfection. Only God is perfect.
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Walt Starr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:42 PM
Response to Original message
56. I had to answer "Other" because of the way the poll question was posed
For me, Wicca is the Truth.

The question whould have readd, "which religion is closest to the truth for you." The I could have answered Wicca.
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morgan2 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:46 PM
Response to Original message
57. other, atheism
there is no god, its the stupidest idea ever invented by man.
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Null Pointer Donating Member (108 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:50 PM
Response to Reply #57
58. Agreed.
Read "Evolution" by Stephen Baxter.
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Eye and Monkey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:51 PM
Response to Original message
59. Why are all those religions lumped together? Buddhism-Taoism, etc?
There's a great deal of difference between them, isn't there?
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starroute Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:58 PM
Response to Original message
61. The Eastern religions have all the best lines
"The Tao that can be named is not the Tao."

"If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."

"Truth is one but the sages call it by many names."


Kinda trumps all the rest, don't it?
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Zorra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 08:59 PM
Response to Original message
62. LOL. People say uniting Democrats is like trying to herd cats.
Edited on Mon May-31-04 09:01 PM by Zorra
Trying to get people to agree on what is true and sign up for the same religion would be like trying to herd wolverines.

Look at all the different christian, christianist, and paulist sects, for example. These dogmatic sects cannot agree on what is true, although they usually profess to believe in the same God. Many of them seem to be wacked out fundamentalist hate groups. Take the freeper fundies, for example. Many of them seem to believe that it is just fine to randomly kill Arabs. They do not seem to understand that the philosophy that they profess to believe in is based on love.

Compare these Christian Bible sayings with the actions of George Bu$h, a man who believes he talks to God, and who has ordered the deliberate bombing of innocent civilians, and who claims to be a christian:

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is Love."1 John

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of a1l the commandments?" Jesus replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with al1 your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12

Is deliberately bombing innocent people an act of christian love?

What is truth?

"Each one must learn for himself the highest wisdom.
It cannot be taught in words." Smowhala




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lanparty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:01 PM
Response to Original message
63. According to South Park ...

Mormon is the correct religion ;-) So says the big rat GOD ;-)

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Feanorcurufinwe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:09 PM
Response to Original message
66. Buddhism doesn't assume god exists.
Does it?
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amjsjc Donating Member (203 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 04:17 AM
Response to Reply #66
92. It assumes no supreme being...
I believe the various schools of Buddhism clash as to the existence of lesser dieties. In all instances, however, the focus of the religion is on the personal attainment of enlightenment, rather than worship. Though I won't pretend to call myself an expert...
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crossroads Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:15 PM
Response to Original message
67. Other!
The poll did not list my belief system. UU would be the closest thing to describe it...
:shrug:
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kodi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:16 PM
Response to Original message
68. mine. now give 20 bucks for showing you the path to truth
i just love l ron hubbard, dont you?
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JHBowden Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:19 PM
Response to Original message
72. Judaism benefits from simplicity.
Though as an atheist, I insist they are all false. The concept of gods is loaded with problems, and empirical, historical, and cultural evidence undermines the competing assertions of all of the religions.
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Generator Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:20 PM
Response to Original message
73. Gnosticism
Evil overlords rule.
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leesa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:22 PM
Response to Original message
74. What kind of crap, no-answer question is this??
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malatesta1137 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:28 PM
Response to Original message
75. NONE
The only difference between a religion and cult is the number of participants. Fool is the one who can't see it.
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loyalsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:41 PM
Response to Reply #75
77. I'll agree with "none"
-not sure about the rest. I do think that believing that a "truth" exists might be a mistake. Clinton gave a speech at Georgetown shortly after September 11.
One portion of it discussed the fact that when people believe they have "the truth" and need to spread it around, they become loose cannons. This is an indictment of individuals in our own country and he admitted it. I think he was on target, because it horrible things seem to happen repeatedly when people become deeply entrenched in any kind of belief system that they believe carries absolute "truth."
Now, whether or not you classify this as a cult, or not is speculation unless you have some very intimate contact with individuals involved. The historical evidence does back up Clinton's observation, however.
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noiretextatique Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 10:12 PM
Response to Reply #77
80. i agree with none also
Edited on Mon May-31-04 10:13 PM by noiretblu
i think religion can serve a useful purpose, if its truth begins and end with self. perhaps one day humans will figure this out, and stop trying to control and dominate others because of their religious beliefs.
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UTUSN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 09:31 PM
Response to Original message
76. I Say "Zeus" n/t
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TexasBushwhacker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 10:28 PM
Response to Original message
81. Recognizing that religion is a cultural construct is the TRUTH ...
and that's what we need to understand. There aren't too many Buddhists in small towns in Mississippi. They aren't many Jews in China. There aren't many Muslims in South America. If we could accept that religion is something that human beings created to understand their world, give them comfort, and explain the unexplainable we'd be much better off. There is no one religion that has ever dominated the world, or even claimed 50% of the world population as followers. If there is ONE TRUTH, why would the higher power, in all his/her wisdom, set so many people on the WRONG path?
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noiretextatique Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 10:42 PM
Response to Reply #81
82. human race consciousness
is what the religion scientists call this. they believe "god" (in its various manifestations) in a kind of life force that connects all people and things to each other...that we are all reflections of the one. they believe that any thought that separates us from god (and thereby each other) is a manifestation of ego (and race consciousness), not god (some call this the christ consciousness), which is above any particular religion.
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bushgottago Donating Member (98 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 11:05 PM
Response to Original message
84. The Church of Reality
Is closest to the truth!

http://www.churchofreality.org

If it's real - we believe in it!
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lanparty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 01:18 AM
Response to Reply #84
88. The most profound form of revalation is ...

EXISTENCE. So science is the most religious of all endevours.

That is unless Satan changed genesis BEFORE he was created.

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No Passaran Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 11:15 PM
Response to Original message
85. Stupid poll
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ContinentalOp Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-31-04 11:33 PM
Response to Original message
86. Church of the Subgenius
#1 Church of the Subgenius followed by:
#2 Freemasonry
#3 Church of St. John Coltrane
#4 Marxism
#4 Thee temple ov psychik youth
#5 Unification Church
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Delano Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 01:18 AM
Response to Original message
89. Atheism.
n/t
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Dead_Parrot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 03:12 AM
Response to Original message
90. We're not ready for the truth.
Edited on Tue Jun-01-04 03:18 AM by Dead_Parrot
Asking a human to understand the truth is like asking a potato weevil to understand particle physics and the poetry of Yeats.

"You had enough of sorrow before death--
Away, away! You are safer in the tomb."

Here, have some more fries.
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truthspeaker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 06:59 AM
Response to Original message
93. you need an option for "none"
I voted "other".
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nolabels Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 02:50 AM
Response to Reply #93
113. Options are for people who don't understand there are no real choices
Just more learning experiences, I didn't vote



http://www.newcomicreviews.com/albums/

(snip)
If God can see his own future - then God has no free will..

And - since God can see into the future - then God must know his own future - and therefore God has no free will either. Since God already knows what he's going to do - he can't change his mind, can he? I mean - if God changed his mind then God would be wrong. How could he not know that he was going to change his mind? So praying to God for God to do something has no effect because in praying to God to do something - you are lobbying God to make a different decision or it influence him to decided something different than what he has already foreseen he is going to do. In praying you are wasting your time because God already knew what he was going to do long before you were born and that is the only thing he's going to do. God can not change his mind.God is totally bound by his own laws and has absolutely no free will to change anything in even the slightest way.

Being able to see into "the future" is the most limiting power of all because once you can see the future then you can see you're own future and you no longer have the illusion of choice. You become infinitely powerless by becoming infinitely powerful. Imagine if you will God looking into the future and seeing himself remembering the moment that he looked into the future seeing himself remembering the past. Kind of like a tunnel of mirrors, enough to even give God a headache. (Whoops - another limitation - God can't get headaches!) Of course - this assumes God is subject to time (entropy) and if he is not - if God exists in all time simultaneously, then God is as stagnant as a lump of concrete and has no power to change anything at all. hmmmmm .... maybe that's what God depends on John Ashcroft and the Reverend Sun Myung Moon to do his work for him?
(snip)
http://www.churchofreality.org/god.htm
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Warren DeMontague Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 07:33 AM
Response to Original message
94. Hail Eris

Anyone who thinks the Goddess of Discord isn't running the show hasn't turned on the t.v. lately.
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Az Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 08:37 AM
Response to Reply #94
96. Fnord!
Hail Eris!

No buns! No Buns!
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Walt Starr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 08:44 AM
Response to Reply #94
97. REPENT BEFORE ODIN FOR RAGNORAK IS AT HAND!!!
Loki has FOOLED so many into worshipping his penis!

REPENT BEFORE ODIN AND GAIN ALL GLORY IN VALHALLA!!!!
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porphyrian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 08:12 AM
Response to Reply #94
120. All Hail Discordia! - N/T
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noonwitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 08:27 AM
Response to Original message
95. All express the same truth in different ways-that we are spiritual beings
Not just physical bodies. That there is more to life's experience than just what we can perceive with our ordinary 5 senses. Mostly, that there is something bigger than humans and animals that helps to give us life and bring us together to make a better world.

The problems come about because of our imperfections, but we have had glimpses of what is possible.
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SarahB Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 09:28 AM
Response to Original message
100. I don't see how one can answer that question.
Spirituality is generally personal and undefinable. For me it is anyway. I see many elements of many thoughts within my beliefs and over the millennia, we have had many great teachers from many different traditions.
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Angelus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 09:39 AM
Response to Original message
101. Christianity, of course.
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PVnRT Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-01-04 03:54 PM
Response to Original message
103. Yes
n/t
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LibertyorDeath Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 03:10 AM
Response to Original message
114. Religion has nothing to do with Truth & everything to do with

Control.

You believe

you have Faith

and they have control.

Religion was the politics of the middle ages but it has not outlived its
usefulness yet.

Spirituality is different IMO
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JSJ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 05:32 AM
Response to Original message
116. self-analysis (nt)
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mandyky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 05:58 AM
Response to Original message
117. Mysticism & Spirituality beat Religion anyday
Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet was my "bible" through my agnostic years.
Seth and Jane Roberts "explained" consciousness to me in scientific terms.
A Course in Miracles mixes Christan termonology with Eastern philosophy and a "new" approach to Christian values, especially love, forgiveness, ego, disease, etc.
The 12 steps of Alchoholic Anonymous allow anyone to have a life based on good, and a Higher Power of their choice.
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BonjourUSA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 07:37 AM
Response to Original message
118. To answer this question is to be closest to the war.

"Assuming God exists, then one religion out of all others must be closest to the actual truth about Him". This is the most stupid idea of the Humanity but the most efficient for killing each other.
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porphyrian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 07:51 AM
Response to Original message
119. Agnosticism
We currently lack enough information to either prove or disprove the claims of any religion about the existence (or non-existence) of a God or Gods (or Goddesses). I believe that it is meaningless to argue about which religion is more true than others until we have more information about life, the universe, and everything. Thus, I think it to be just as ridiculous to be an adamant atheist (believing there is no God based on what little information we have) as it is to be an evangelical Baptist (believing there is a God based on what little information we have). I also believe that we are unlikely to obtain enough information to make an argument in our lifetime.
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Kazak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 09:20 AM
Response to Original message
123. I picked Pagan/Native American/Wicca/Nature-based religions
Even though I think there are vast gulfs of differences between even all of those positions. Had you had Naturalism as a choice by itself, that would've been my choice. :shrug:
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DoNotRefill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-04-04 09:37 AM
Response to Original message
124. They're all equally crap.
based upon superstition, fear, and ignorance.
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