Well it's true. The reward for persevering and sticking to whatever you're trying to acheive will nearly always outweigh the initial difficulties and problems of doing it.

Sometimes it's those habits and old ways of thinking which can be the most damaging. They essentially act as filters and color any other feelings or actions. Discovering what you really think or feel is mostly about bypasing and getting rid of these.

I'm currently going through psychotherapy, and one of the biggest parts of the process is really about finding out what internal rules or thoughts I've formed for myself, why they've been formed and how I can deal with them to get rid of them. Some of these thoughts, such as my feeling I'm never good enough, have been quite damaging.

Sometimes these things go beyond being about any one religious system or a particular system. Going to what you say in the last section of your post about how principles should and do stem from internal principles, it seems that well before you found out about the name of these principles and things you were thinking (the ahimsa thing) were known to you, you were already very much in tune with them.

That would make sense. I'm a believer that my upbringing among people of all sorts of different races, religions and backgrounds may have served to point me in the direction I'm going in now with regard to religion. Bear in mind my family isn't particularly religious. It was school and socially that I started to meet people of other religions, other cultures and languages, and really learn for myself about spirituality and religion. Made me really think and get out the vaguely Christian rut of my family.

This is what Judaism teaches. Judaism teaches that mere blind faith and practice is a bad thing indeed, whether it be belief in God or following a mitvot or keeping Shabbat. It's not just some external law which has to be followed but something which you have to find some connection with personally on a mental and emotional level.
For example, I keep Shabbat because for me personally, the idea of a representation of what it is like to be in the World To Come is important for me personally. The structures of Shabbat help me acheive that goal of being able to dedicate myself to G-d in a way which is to me personally meaningful. So the whole concept of Shabbat isn't anything 'new' to me in some ways, but it simply agrees with something I already held to be important.

To break that absurd taboo according to which all religious figures are, by definition, more "respectable" than the rest of human beings (past, present and future) on this planet.

I was stating a general approach to the matter. That is, from a global point of view, not necessarily religious. I mean, the main question was: why would anyone (religious or not) follow those principles? And my aim was to contrast moral autonomy with blind obedience.

It doesn't matter. I just wanted to remark the eminently rustic nature of the three Abrahamic religions' origin.

Peoples create their religion in their own image and likeness. And the historical and geographical context play a key role here. People's knowledge of the physical world has a reflection on their religious world. Thus, a narrow husbandry geographic area corresponds with a narrow and simplistic religious view.


Exactly. On Earth as it is in Heaven. Or In Heaven as it is on Earth. Or in other words: in religion (and therefore in morals) as it is on the land. Physical sheeps projected on moral sheeps. Sheep. The stupid animal par excelence, who always needs to be guided. Only suitable for blind obedience. - "Abraham, kill your son!" - "At your orders, my Lord!"


As an opposition, the Greek Civilization. Explored the entire Mediterranean Basin:

mine is more of a case of selective autonomy

i only pick the bits of the Bible I agree with, then I follow it (no restrictions of food)

if it's nonsensical, i rebel (Earth created 6,000 yrs ago)

"Abrahamic Religions" is a misnomer, the fact is Abraham never started three religions, he is only mentioned in those religious texts.

So that can't be so bad if it is simplistic, so it follows lex parsimoniae why is it ok for athiest to habitually invoke Ockham's Razor when one mentions God, if one says "God created the universe" that too complicated because of Ockham's Razor, but when it comes to religion "simplicity" is not good enough? Sometimes the mark of genius is doing something in a more simplistic way than others would do.

As far as sheep being "stupid" I have to object, that's only your understand of sheep, it doesn't reflect how they feel about themselves and they are a lot smarter than you think they are.

We are all born without knowledge and need to be taught and guided, we all learn from someone else. George Lucas said that a person will always be in need some mentor, someone to help them even till old age. He studied all religions around the world and to him that relationship between a teacher and a student is important, and something he explored in his space epic - Star Wars.
So even if a person says he rejects religion, there is some philosopher or other writer he reads and study, as if that person needs to be guided by them.

The Akeidat Yitzchak is one of the most import stories in the Bible. Stories from the Bible are very interesting and are food for thought, and comentaries are just as enlightening.


I don't share your view that the ancient Hebrews were just rubes herding sheep and therefore less cosmopolitan or philosophical than other civilizations or religions. Reading the Bible you would learn that in their stories they also came in contact with other people wether they were captured, enslaved, sought alliance with, the only difference is that the plot of their story was to hold fast to their faith.

"lt's the centurion's faith that wins him divine favor." - (Randy Quaid) Kingpin

If I truly believed that God was telling me to do something, I would do it.

Although this would likely be the result: :jailed:

My religion doesn't have "rules". I believe things. I suppose there are certain things that would stop me from truthfully being able to say I am a participant in my religion if I did them, but I don't want to do those things, so it's not really a rule. How am I supposed to answer this?

^Huh?

My religious identity is Pagan. I choose this term because it describes who I am. I'm not going to stop myself from believing or doing anything because it isn't in line with Paganism. If that happened, I would just stop calling myself a Pagan.
This, in contrast with some other religions, where people are like "I can't to that, I'm _____!"
In essence, my identity determines my religion, not vice versa.

i observe religious people wasting their lives and having racist biased views. but thats me, the hardcore atheist.

^ This