I disagree. Spirituality was invented as a form of control.

For the same reasons you mentioned, humans want to believe we are superior to animals, even if we share common instincts. We want to believe we are gods chosen species.

My belief is best said by agent Smith.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Na9-jV_OJI

In other words, we were not created as a mirror image of gods perfection, but another organism in his grand plan. Our greatest weapon, and curse is our intelligence.

But people cannot accept, that we are as we are, Just another brutal animal, fighting for survival, they need an explanation. When others disagree, they want to fight over it, how silly.

Right Crusaders, and Jihadists?

An invisible spook in the sky, would make people forsake thier own species because they refuse to believe as they do.

Then again male Alpacas like to try to kick each other in the nuts, same as we like to exterminate those who are not part of our clan, or religion, or gang...

Have fun with your indoctrination.

My god is no where near as cruel as yours.

Not all aimed at you Dark Wraith, I springboarded off your comment, then adressed the OP. Just wanted to clarify. :)

Perfect time to see if he would have been able to turn the other cheek!

Seems they were more concerned with her cheeks..:oops:

First off, spirituality and religion are not one in the same. Spirituality is a belief that there is something that exists that is greater than one's self. Religion on the other hand, uses precepts, rituals and education to indoctornate its followers in a belief system. Spirituality is unique in that it differs in each person. Take a camping trip in early fall and get up for the sunrise and you will completely understand what I am saying.

I've been in a few wrestling matches with angels in my time. Let's see, there was Kim, there was Melissa, there was Corin, there was Alyssa....

:arrgh!:

We have a picture from that night. You shouldn't hit a girl you know...

http://bearmythology.files.wordpress...y-im-sorry.jpg

You've gotta admit he is wearing a rather fetching white bikini top though :O:

Spirituality: to ask for where one comes from, where one goes, and why life and cosmos do exist. Spirituality is a state of an asking mind. - The spiritual mind knows that it does not know.

Religion: an opportunistically hijacked condensate resulting from assuming one knows answers to the above questions, while in fact one knows not. Lacking knowledge gets replaced by acting as if one would have that lacking knowledge nevertheless. The cognitive dissonance resulting from this contradictory situation, as well as the need to defend this behavior against criticism by people not acting by this scheme, both in order to maintain one's own attitude nevertheless, results in an ideology that gets defended the more bitterly the more the contradictions become obvious and get pointed out. The climax is reached when the state of not knowing becomes declared a virtue and thus any need for asking questions becomes denied. Here the journey towards dogmatically founded tyranny is completed. - The religious mind believes it knows, but since believed knowledge is no knowledge, but belief only, the religious mind is stuck with believing exclusively. This is not any different from any person in a mental asylum believing he/she is Napoleon, is a cosmic superman with supernatural abilities, or is monitored and controlled by mysterious powers living in the inner core of the Earth. Religion is a hallucinating state of mind resulting from lacking education and lacking knowledge.

Of course, it gets used for political crowd-control as well.

In Zen they say: "Small doubts - small enlightenment. Big doubts - big enlightenment. No doubts - no enlightenment. " - Very true!

Alexander Pope said: "Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed."

F. A. Lothar Kempter, a Swiss-German componist, director and poet: "Schließe die Augen, dann wirst du schauen. / Brich deine Mauern, dann wirst du bauen. / Lerne harren, dann wirst du gehn, / lasse dich fallen, dann wirst du stehn."

The more you believe you know, the less you know for sure. The more spiritual you are, the less religious you can be. The more religous you are, the less spiritual you can be.

Lao Tse: "Those who talk much, don't know. Those who know much, don't talk."

A bamboo flute without holes is no flute, but a hole without flutes is something totally different. :D

Now you guys have done it. You've got Skybird going on yet another anti-religion rant.

Proverbs:
"Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent."

:hmmm:

The Bible is just full of senseless trivialities.:shifty:

What, religion again ??

Lets rather talk about ingrown toenails. If you want I can show you a picture of mine :D


About religion ??

I'm somewhere between August and Skybird.
I can't stand religion in it's current state. When I say I'm an atheist I simply say: not convinced. I won't go yelling in peoples faces: there is no god !!!. Just that there is no god of the Bible or Quran.
I'll find the truth soon enough. Until then I'll enjoy the earthly pleasures but without ruining some other blokes life. A saint and a sinner

What is the current state? For me, religion is a business and institutionalized.

+ abused for political gains of a few priviliged people

That's my opinion.

I agree, it has become a tool to dissuade or persuade a few/many. I don't know.

I have other thoughts and opinions on the institution of religion. That's for a different thread.

You want some more religion?

Then you should read this alternative to the bible

http://www.urantia.org/

here are the whole book

http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book/...ia-book-online

Markus