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Do you think you could pinpoint a particular idea that is unbelievable? In other words, could you say "I can't believe X, and Christianity requires X."
According to what sources?DNA wise ALL humans has the potential of an existential crisis and it is active in the majority of humans.
Again, according to what sources? Your claims so far seem to only be opinion, based on generalized anecdotes. What is the evidence what you're saying is true? For the majority of human history, religion had no way of dealing with personal crises. There was no promise of an afterlife. The gods routinely ignore mortals.Religion is the most effective tool to deal with the existential crisis/dilemma.
This doesn't follow, since you haven't substantiated the claims you made above.Therefore the majority of humanity need religions.
Still, on what basis?The Abrahamic religions [Judaism, Christianity, Islam] which promise instant salvation upon surrender and believe is the more effective group of religions to deal with the existential crisis at present.
"Inclusive" means "open". I think you mean "exclusive", correct?Judaism is very inclusive and thus not open freely to all within humanity.
This maxim is not unique to Christianity. It is found in religions older than Christianity. Judaism, of course, has the commandment to "love your neighbor", which specifically includes the instruction "you shall not hate anyone". The concept is found in many other religions, as well, which shows the desire to maintain peace with everyone in a person's community is a basic human need expressed across many cultures. This means it has nothing to do with the validity of any religion.Christianity has its cons but it pros to humanity is Christianity has an overriding pacifist maxim, i.e. 'love all - even enemies' which prohibit ALL Christians under all conditions from committing evil and violent acts upon non-Christians.
Christianity is much the same. Christianity's love and pacifism is conditional. When the apocalypse unfolds, love and pacifism are lifted. Revelation 19 depicts Jesus and his followers as a militant king and his army, wiping out their enemies and feeding their corpses to scavenger birds. This messianic war scene is found across literature from the time, so interpretations that try to soften the violence of the scene are not justifiable.Islam does provide those who surrender and believe instant relieve to the existential crisis via salvation.
However Islam in its full context do not have an overriding pacifist maxim that prohibit ALL Muslims under ALL conditions to commit evil and violence upon non-Muslims.
Islam in the Quran permits or even exhorts all Muslims to war and kill non-Muslims where Islam is under threat [fasadin] (very vaguely defined].
As you can see, I disagree with your conclusion, because I disagree with almost every point you make. Your starting premise seems to be an idea that you invented from anecdotal evidence. You badly misrepresent Judaism. You also miss how the eschatological context of Christianity subverts its pacifism.From the above, the most optimal religion for humanity at the present phase in thus Christianity.
Do you think you could pinpoint a particular idea that is unbelievable? In other words, could you say "I can't believe X, and Christianity requires X."
I guess first you need to define what your meaning by "existential crisis".DNA wise, the existential crisis has been with humans since humans emerged. This existential crisis is permanent until the day humans can tweaked the DNA codings which is not recommended.
These past 2000 plus years the monotheistic religions have been the source of some of the worst human horror upon human the world has seen. Talk about "existential crisis"!!The majority of humans have been dealing with this existential crisis since day one via a series of evolving methods from the basic, animism, primitive religions, polytheistic religions to monotheistic religions.
Your understanding of animalism is simplistic at best. Ignorance at worse. And your completely ignoring the depth and breath of family/community support in those cultures. From my perspective the monotheistic religions are a mighty step backwards.The earlier methods of animism and primitive religions were very crude [praying to trees, mountains, oceans, human sacrifice to please the gods or devil] and not very effective to deal with the existential crisis as human evolved further.
I'd argue that the monotheistic religions are less sophisticated, less open to the senses of the body to Living Nature, less open to the mystery, less open to the Divine within those of other belief, less open to the needs of Humanity, less open to the wholeness of God, and less open to the subjective perceptional activity of reciprocity we have with this Creation as we can see in the desecration we have bestowed on the Earth. And way more apt towards One True Wayism which in and of itself has generated huge amounts of existential crisis.Thus the need for more sophisticated religions like the monotheistic religions which promise instant relief upon surrender and believe.
The existential crisis normally as presented in psychology is the following;According to what sources?
I have researched deeply into religions and spirituality.Again, according to what sources? Your claims so far seem to only be opinion, based on generalized anecdotes. What is the evidence what you're saying is true? For the majority of human history, religion had no way of dealing with personal crises. There was no promise of an afterlife. The gods routinely ignore mortals.
Now that I have substantiated my claims,This doesn't follow, since you haven't substantiated the claims you made above.
The Abrahamic religions [Judaism, Christianity, Islam] which promise instant salvation upon surrender and believe is the more effective group of religions to deal with the existential crisis at present.Still, on what basis?
Yes, it was an error, I meant "exclusive""Inclusive" means "open". I think you mean "exclusive", correct?
It is in general, that is why there are less than 10 million Jews adopting Judaism around the world at present out of 7 billion.Either way, this is a very poor representation of Judaism. For one, you're lumping all denominations together. More conservative ones do typically discourage converts, but this is only because they believe Gentiles don't need to follow the Torah. More progressive denominations are fully open to Gentiles joining them, but again not out of a need to follow the Torah. Even if we accept your initial claim as true (which I am doubtful about), your misrepresentation of Judaism doesn't really make your point.
Yes almost all religions promote peace at the fundamental level.This maxim is not unique to Christianity. It is found in religions older than Christianity. Judaism, of course, has the commandment to "love your neighbor", which specifically includes the instruction "you shall not hate anyone". The concept is found in many other religions, as well, which shows the desire to maintain peace with everyone in a person's community is a basic human need expressed across many cultures. This means it has nothing to do with the validity of any religion.
The Gospel is the main authority of Christianity. Others in the Bible are only supporting texts.What's worse, however, is the teaching originates in Christianity with Jesus in the Q source. This source is highly apocalyptic, promising punishment on people who don't follow Jesus or God. Hanging the threat of torment over everyone to compel them to "love others" is necessarily going to result in a very warped idea of love. The apocalyptic context of Jesus' teaching also casts it in a similar light Daniel's "wise" and the DSS's community, who believed in pacifism only because they expected God would unleash punishment on their enemies. Ideologies are hardly "loving" if the underlying assumption behind that love is "you'll get yours".
My focus is to contrast Christianity and Islam in this case.The one thing you hold up as the uniquely defining trait of Christianity is anything but.
Note my point above, Revelation is contentious and disputable as not belong to the Gospel and Amargeddon is likely to be an impossibility from the non-Christians point of view.Christianity is much the same. Christianity's love and pacifism is conditional. When the apocalypse unfolds, love and pacifism are lifted. Revelation 19 depicts Jesus and his followers as a militant king and his army, wiping out their enemies and feeding their corpses to scavenger birds. This messianic war scene is found across literature from the time, so interpretations that try to soften the violence of the scene are not justifiable.
Christianity is violent in its foundation.
I have counter your points, explain and supported my premises above.As you can see, I disagree with your conclusion, because I disagree with almost every point you make. Your starting premise seems to be an idea that you invented from anecdotal evidence. You badly misrepresent Judaism. You also miss how the eschatological context of Christianity subverts its pacifism.
As explained above, here it is again;I guess first you need to define what your meaning by "existential crisis".
You are conflating different variables here.These past 2000 plus years the monotheistic religions have been the source of some of the worst human horror upon human the world has seen. Talk about "existential crisis"!!
Don't condemn until you have define what you meant by 'animalism'.Your understanding of animalism is simplistic at best. Ignorance at worse. And your completely ignoring the depth and breath of family/community support in those cultures. From my perspective the monotheistic religions are a mighty step backwards.
I had not insisted monotheistic religions are the most effective approaches to deal with the existential crisis.I'd argue that the monotheistic religions are less sophisticated, less open to the senses of the body to Living Nature, less open to the mystery, less open to the Divine within those of other belief, less open to the needs of Humanity, less open to the wholeness of God, and less open to the subjective perceptional activity of reciprocity we have with this Creation as we can see in the desecration we have bestowed on the Earth. And way more apt towards One True Wayism which in and of itself has generated huge amounts of existential crisis.
A liberal Christian might say those things are unnecessary features of Christianity. It isn't clear to me what liberal Christians consider to be essential features. Even the historicity of the bodily Resurrection probably isn't essential for liberal Christians.You didn't ask me but if I'm picking a few out of thin air: the Exodus story, the Virgin birth, the resurrection, Moses tapping the rocks for water, Jonah and the Whale.
What is Christianity can be defined objectively.A liberal Christian might say those things are unnecessary features of Christianity. It isn't clear to me what liberal Christians consider to be essential features. Even the historicity of the bodily Resurrection probably isn't essential for liberal Christians.
That is what has made exiting Christianity so complicated for me. What is Christianity? Everybody has a different definition. It's like the old game "whack a mole". I whack the Nativity narratives, but some other version of Christianity pops up out of another hole in the ground.
A liberal Christian might say those things are unnecessary features of Christianity. It isn't clear to me what liberal Christians consider to be essential features. Even the historicity of the bodily Resurrection probably isn't essential for liberal Christians.
That is what has made exiting Christianity so complicated for me. What is Christianity? Everybody has a different definition. It's like the old game "whack a mole". I whack the Nativity narratives, but some other version of Christianity pops up out of another hole in the ground.
A personal, supernatural deity that interferes with reality by miraculous means and wants us to follow a code of conduct imparted to an iron age civilisation. Also, the notion that morality is not a social, intersubjective process but a metaphysical, authoritarian dictum where even minor infractions spell death and damnation for anyone who doesn't exploit a loophole smartly designed by said deity.Do you think you could pinpoint a particular idea that is unbelievable? In other words, could you say "I can't believe X, and Christianity requires X."
I'm not here to argue against the objective definition of Christianity. I do understand that way of approaching religion is important to a lot of people. But I have to take a whole different "subjective" approach towards religion. One where God becomes animated by Life and the Mystery. And where God becomes alive and vibrant in people and in how people make God a reality in their lives. Yes, Christianity can be objectively defined. But there's no way to do the same with Christ. Which pretty much explains why I believe that first on one hand we have Christ, and on the other we have the religion called Christianity...and that it's only on occasion that they cross paths.What is Christianity can be defined objectively.
How do you know that what you experience is actually God as opposed to merely a state of mind? I have a DVD that inspires me from the Self Realization Fellowship. I agree with much of what they say, but I am skeptical that they actually experience God through their spiritual disciplines (kriya yoga, love of God, etc.). I am sure they experience a blissful state of mind, but how can anybody know if that state of mind is an actual experience of God?I'm not here to argue against the objective definition of Christianity. I do understand that way of approaching religion is important to a lot of people. But I have to take a whole different "subjective" approach towards religion. One where God becomes animated by Life and the Mystery. And where God becomes alive and vibrant in people and in how people make God a reality in their lives. Yes, Christianity can be objectively defined. But there's no way to do the same with Christ. Which pretty much explains why I believe that first on one hand we have Christ, and on the other we have the religion called Christianity...and that it's only on occasion that they cross paths.
That's a question from an objective perspective and I get why it's being asked in that way. It's how we in the west generally perceive things. What I was hoping to do was to point out the subjective aspect of knowing. And in welcoming personal revelation these days for myself it seems to be in the exploration of the Life Force that is within all of Creation. It's a mystical exploration of that sort of thing. Many Christian Mystics point towards it. Yes, its very subjective...which drives the objective proof crowd crazy. But to answer more directly, I don't know what else to call this presence of that Life Force I pointed towards that is "experienced" as whole, united and One with all there is, other than God. Though in thinking about it, I often do use the word "Divine" because of the way it shines and strikes me when I see it.How do you know that what you experience is actually God as opposed to merely a state of mind?
This example probably wouldn't satisfy the most skeptical people, but my priest told me a story about seeing the remains of a bad car accident and then being spiritually guided to the correct hospital and the correct room where he was able to minister to the religious needs of one of the victims. An example like that seems to be evidence that my priest's spirituality was not merely a state of mind within the boundaries of his own head. The only problem with this example is that my priest was a casual and habitual liar, so if he didn't completely fabricate the experience then he almost certainly embellished it for effect.That's a question from an objective perspective and I get why it's being asked in that way. It's how we in the west generally perceive things. What I was hoping to do was to point out the subjective aspect of knowing. And in welcoming personal revelation these days for myself it seems to be in the exploration of the Life Force that is within all of Creation. It's a mystical exploration of that sort of thing. Many Christian Mystics point towards it. Yes, its very subjective...which drives the objective proof crowd crazy. But to answer more directly, I don't know what else to call this presence of that Life Force I pointed towards that is "experienced" as whole, united and One with all there is, other than God. Though in thinking about it, I often do use the word "Divine" because of the way it shines and strikes me when I see it.
Philosophically and rationally, one must take always has an objective view of anything, else, anything goes.I'm not here to argue against the objective definition of Christianity. I do understand that way of approaching religion is important to a lot of people. But I have to take a whole different "subjective" approach towards religion. One where God becomes animated by Life and the Mystery. And where God becomes alive and vibrant in people and in how people make God a reality in their lives.
If Christianity can be objectively defined and grounded on the Gospel, then we can defined Jesus Christ objective as reported by the Apostles in the Gospel.Yes, Christianity can be objectively defined. But there's no way to do the same with Christ. Which pretty much explains why I believe that first on one hand we have Christ, and on the other we have the religion called Christianity...and that it's only on occasion that they cross paths.
You should do extensive research on the subject ofThat's a question from an objective perspective and I get why it's being asked in that way. It's how we in the west generally perceive things. What I was hoping to do was to point out the subjective aspect of knowing. And in welcoming personal revelation these days for myself it seems to be in the exploration of the Life Force that is within all of Creation. It's a mystical exploration of that sort of thing. Many Christian Mystics point towards it. Yes, its very subjective...which drives the objective proof crowd crazy. But to answer more directly, I don't know what else to call this presence of that Life Force I pointed towards that is "experienced" as whole, united and One with all there is, other than God. Though in thinking about it, I often do use the word "Divine" because of the way it shines and strikes me when I see it.
Perhaps. Perhaps not.Most of my experiences of God could have been nothing but psychological.
I have no problem with the idea that the mystical experience is basic to the Human experience. So from that perspective, the root cause I'd say is Human consciousness.Therefore if anyone have had any 'mystical' or supposedly divine experiences, it would be wise to find out the root cause which could be any of the above.
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