Somebody answer this please...

[venator]

I would love to have a faith, but these are some of the contradictions and difficulties I can't sort out. Help would be appreciated


RC and Muslim friends in particular are confident that they are following the "true path" and that everyone else is wrong.

In world war 1, priests on each side told the soldiers that "God is on your side"

Hundreds of religions promised life after death only if you were of their particular faith. For instance, Egyptian Pharoahs went to extraordinary lengths to ensure this.. were they successful, or was the religion one of the best con tricks of all time?

When the dodgy popes sold indulgences, did the purchasers get what they paid for?

I could go on, but you should have the idea by now...

Straight factual answers would be good, not copy & pasted chunks of gunge...

[Khandro]

vanator; //From the first caveman who decided that the big shiny thing in the sky was a god,// - Well, switch it off, or even diminish it slightly, and all life is kaput, pdq. There's been no reduction in sun-worshippers.

[jomifl]

Venator, for there to be a purpose there has to be a creator... therefore there is no purpose.

[venator]

Khandro - only Zoroastrians, really?

jomifl - your hair splitting approach to language are worthy of a Jesuit -have i found you out?

I think this thread has reached the same stage as most of my researches - a dead end which has descended into triviality.

Thanks for all the sincere posts.

I shall continue to worship Ab Editor -

And can anyone tell the First Church of Answerbank apart from their favourite religion?

[mibn2cweus]

//Perhaps mibn2cweus and Nietzsche have the answer - we are not yet sufficiently evolved to be able to discover the purpose of it all.//

You put me in the same boat as Nietzsche? . . . Man overboard!

Purpose is easy. Purpose is working intentionally to realise a vision. Such is possible only to beings in possession of knowledge informed through reason, capable of seeing alternatives and determining which alternative is preferred, all driven by an appreciation for what is at stake, an existence which is conditional on being alive, able to think rationally and to act freely to achieve ones goals.

When one is unable to see alternatives and choose a goal, perhaps the pursuit of new knowledge, (or confirmation of the old), should be near the top of your list . . . ones primary purpose being, staying alive long enough to enjoy the benefits provide thereby.

I've enjoyed having you amongst us here in AB's alternative religious section venator. No abundance of contributors here capable to engaging in cogent discussions. I'm a big fan of 'certainty' myself . . . another thread perhaps. Look forward to future discussions with you when/if ever you feel inspired to drop in again.

[Khandro]

m2c; ^ an extraordinarily, patronising post. Are you suggesting that you have some form of monopoly on "being alive, able to think rationally and to act freely to achieve ones goals." ?

[vetuste_ennemi]

If I'd been Nietzsche it would have been I who who jumped.

[mibn2cweus]

//m2c; ^ an extraordinarily, patronising post. Are you suggesting that you have some form of monopoly on "being alive, able to think rationally and to act freely to achieve ones goals." ?//

Reality is an equal opportunity employer. Have you submitted an application?

//If I'd been Nietzsche it would have been I who who jumped.//

Either way, you'll be needing a life jacket. The Nietzsche is not a sea worthy vessel.

[Khandro]

//The Nietzsche is not a sea worthy vessel.// How do you mean?

[weecalf]

Never forgot what a guy once said to me .Weecalf never get religion and God mixed up .Religion is supposed to mans gift to God so if you dont feel like being part of a particular gift then dont worry about it.

[sandyRoe]

Didn't Nietzsche's nocturnal dalliances lead to an incurable illness which eventually took his wits?

[jomifl]

Sandy, if you are making scurrilous allegations about Mr. Nietzsche I hope you have the evidence to back them up. On AB only the highest standards of debate are acceptable and anything less will be rejected. Errr...by the way what did he get up to ?

[sandyRoe]

Suffering from tertiary syphilis he ended his day in an asylum. How he contracted it is anyones guess. Though it probably wasn't from a lavatory seat.
Could serve as a warning to us all. Well, the younger ABers, anyway.

[jomifl]

There is more than one kind of Nietzschean ship...
http://andromeda.wiki...ki/Nietzschean_Empire

[jomifl]

We older ABers will die of old age before we get tertiary syphilis so what the hell.

[sandyRoe]

I'm wrong yet again, then. :-(

[Khandro]

I think most mariners have the odd quote from Nietzsche pinned on their cabin walls, things like; "When you gaze long enough at the tempest*, the tempest looks back at you."
*or 'abyss'.

[jomifl]

Khandro, I just had the tide tables... much more useful.

[seadogg]

Mariners may have VHF frequencies pinned up and maybe a ready reference to bad language. As to staring at the tempest, it can be useful in a small craft to avoid "shipping it green".

Organised religion is little more than social control.

[mibn2cweus]

////The Nietzsche is not a sea worthy vessel.// How do you mean?//

While Nietzsche was perhaps instrumental in raising an awareness of the moral and intellectual vacuum that existed in the wake of (and largely a consequence of) Christianity's millennia long paralysing influence over the evolution of philosophical development, he did little to eliminate the void that remains largely unfilled to this day. Perhaps it's not so much the vessel or the efforts of its captain that should be faulted as the largely uncharted and treacherous waters he was attempting to navigate along the rocky shores he was required to negotiate in the midst of a tsunami of criticism and misinterpreted intentions.

[Khandro]

On the Good Ship Nietzsche, most here would not even qualify as deck-hands, - he detested atheists as much as theists. I no doubt would have been piped aboard without hindrance. ;-)