Since we've gotten told to stop talking generally about religion twice in the Homosexuality and Religion thread and were told that, if we want to talk generally about religion, we need to make a new thread, I have made a new thread.
Full disclosure: I am an agnostic atheist and anti-theist, but I'm very interested in theology and religion.
Mod Edit: All right, there are a couple of ground rules here:
- This is not a thread for mindless bashing of religion or of atheism/agnosticism etc. All view points are welcome here. Let's have a civil debate.
- Religion is a volatile subject. Please don't post here if you can't manage a civil discussion with viewpoints you disagree with. There will be no tolerance for people who can't keep the tone light hearted.
- There is no one true answer for this thread. Don't try to force out opposing voices.
edited 9th Feb '14 1:01:31 PM by Madrugada
Hinduism actually isn't pantheonic. It hasn't really been, since Vedic times. I'm a Hindu. Unless you're a Smarta or a folk practitioner, chances are that you believe in only one god.
edited 27th Mar '15 9:21:45 PM by SpaceWolf
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Which sect? And you have to follow that with what discipline? Many bhakti diciplines still hold to pantheons. Raja or jhana yogis wouldn't have much of a need for it.
Then you have to ask which country and culture to get to specifics.
"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
I'm a Vaishnava, but I'm still working out the specifics.
I'm an American convert.
edited 27th Mar '15 9:22:50 PM by SpaceWolf
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Nifty!
"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
Thank you!
I try to familiarize myself with the other sects, but I'm super weak on their details.
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Have you read anything by Nikhilananda? You may like him. His translations to English of various texts are pretty decent and easy to find as well.
"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
I haven't read him, but I will look into it. Thank you for the recommendation.
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There's almost certainly one or more in Egypt given the tradition of the Pharaoh masturbating into the Nile to ensure a good harvest.
Ah, nothing like a bit of demigod spunk to get the crops growing.
Speaking of Egyptian Mythology: Dear Eye of Horus, stop judging me.
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
NOT THE BEES
I love how in some of the renditions, the Eye of Horus looks like it's rolling.
"UUUUUGH fucking hell Set are you still on about on about the fucking throne give it up already"
So after a lot of introspection, I've decided that there IS a "god", but it doesn't have to be the god of Christianity or Islam or some other established religion.
And it doesn't have to be a giant invisible grandfatherly type man seated on a throne in the clouds or anything...
But I do believe in some kind of guiding force in the universe. Either Fate, or Chance, or just Happenstance, because the fact of existence proves that things are real and move for some reason. It might not be a reason that serves humanity, or God, or some other kind of great overseers, but it may just be for its own benefit.
That maybe the universe just exists for its own sake.
Never Trust
My take is that Something created the universe and the laws that govern it but that any attempt figure out His/Her/It's/Their/PronounWereIncapableOfConceiving's nature or whatever plan It (used for convenience's sake) has, if any, for the universe is, at minimum, as futile as a bacteria trying to figure out the nature of humanity.
edited 28th Mar '15 6:45:19 PM by tricksterson
Trump delenda est
United Earth
I don't see why the Universe needs a Final Cause, let alone one with agency. Especially if the Final Cause is itself Uncaused.
edited 29th Mar '15 4:50:30 AM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
If the universe has a purpose, I suspect it is simply "To Be".
Oh, are we sharing faiths? I believe in a personal God, meaning that he/she/it created the universe, has pretty much left it alone, yet maintains a connection to me in my mind. My detection of this connection is what allows me to have a faith in the first place.
After a while it just becomes an argument based on definitions.
"God", "design", "origins"...
Of course there's probably only one right answer to why it's all here, but it's sure sad that people are so cruel to each other about something they don't know for sure.
Jupiterian Local
For this reason!
I am devoutly antisemantic.
edited 29th Mar '15 8:29:07 AM by Keybreak
United Earth
I'm entirely comfortable not thinking about these things at all. To be blunt, Deist ideas strike me as esoteric and inconsequential; beliefs that don't change the way you expect the observable world to behave. If I want that kind of enjoyment, I'll just work on some higher math. Theist ideas are entertaining from a narrative standpoint. Pity that I don't like most gods much.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
How can you have a meaningful discussion if you can't agree what the words mean?
edited 29th Mar '15 9:23:20 AM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Lost in Space
I believe that existence is sufficient in and of itself. It is that is. QED. The need for a purpose is purely human, not something inherent in the universe, and all of our religions and gods and whatnot are our feeble attempts to give meaning to the meaningless.
It is with our own choices that we bestow meaning. To abrogate that responsibility in deference to a higher power that we ourselves invented is kind of silly.
edited 29th Mar '15 9:38:51 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Shop Owner
To me debating the existance or not of God is meaningless, what matters is helping people. If they do it in the name of God or Gods, good for them, if they do it in the name of humanist ideas good for them. My personal beliefs in YHWH's existence are meaningless when compared to the need for betterment in the lives of our neighbors.
United Earth
Actually I disapprove of both helping in the name of ideas and in the name of gods. One should help because one can't stand to see others suffer and/or because they enjoy making others happier. It has to come from the heart, not the head; from feelings, not principles.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
HGW XX/7
What makes principles less authentic than feelings?
Schild und Schwert der Partei
Pre-Hinduism covers everything before the Aryan conquest of the Dasas. The Aryans are the civilizations credited with the bulk of the Vedas.
And considering that the Hindu gods are beyond a physical sex and embody various genders, I have no problems saying gender.
The joy of the Hindu pantheon is you can have your pick of the litter. You can have "manly" men, wispy men, petite women, rougher women, and everything. You have the Ardhanarishvara which are gender fluid, androgynous, or up to your imagination.
The very idea of a superhuman deity having a sex is silly to me. They can be whatever they want.
"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur