My most highest beef with most religions is the teaching in the religions of giving themselves up to a higher power and removing ultimate self responsibility from it's members.

I can understand the juvenile comfort one would get from passing responsibility to a higher power or psuedo parent but when will humans decide to grow up and face their personal responsibility in each and every choice they make in every minute of every day as long as they live?


I constantly hear about the "Psuedo Entitlement" social ill of society, especially from the religious right or conservative right and yet they believe there is an ultimate power that makes things happen in everyone's lives or this entity has a grand plan of which we have no control over, etc.... when in truth this belief removes their personal responsibility and adds entitlement to them by their beliefs.

My opinion here of course.

Hello Dragoness, good to see you back here

I can safely agree with everything you are saying. Breaking away from religion and taking responsibility for my own life at an early stage has made me stronger, more determined, and, I hope, more caring.

Thanks, was away on vacation with my daughter

I know my detachment from religion has made me more objective in life decisions, also it has made me more considerate of differing opinions.

I also have grown spiritually past any point I could imagine.

Thats wonderful

And there is nothing wrong with sharing that opinion. I like the pic - and the santa hat.


I have noticed you have offered some pretty sound advice and thinking in many of your posts.

I have not personally experienced that kind of teaching so I don't know to what degree it exists.

I consider myself simply a believer rather than belonging to a particular denomination. So through my faith I have a strong belief that I am responsible for the choices I make and for my 'Christian walk'.

I find that to be true from friends and others that I have met through the years, who have other 'faith-based' or religious beliefs than myself.


I wish you a very Happy Holiday.

Yes, I think that is the main point why I broke away in the first place. I felt restricted in most aspects of my life, mostly in my spirituality. I'm still exploring and searching, changing beliefs to suit me as I go along, and I'm glad that I can do that unhindered.

Happy Holidays to you too. Glad to see that you are not removing your personal responsibility in your personal beliefs. I see many who do too.

We walk this path once and every moment of it is a revelation and learning experience. Any limitations to this process is a sacrilege to our very existance.

If they took out the entitlement, superiority, unacceptance of other religions and the judgements of others, the religious experience would probably be more healthy for people. My opinion here of course

I think that any belief system that allows one to abdicate responsibility for anything, is dangerous. It does not matter whether it is political or philosophical or religious. If it permits or condones or ever refrains from opposing, irresponsibility, it is detrimental to the individual and everything he is associated with. That may sound harsh, but I see it as simply practical. Any time we allow irresponsibility, in ourselves or others, it will come back and bite us. To think that one can avoid the consequences of ones actions simply by having faith, is ignorant as well as irresponsible.

This is true, but once you are embezzled in the system of organized religion, politics or philosophies you get blinded to these things. It's too easy to throw responsibility somewhere else.

"i prayed for freedom, but recieved no answer until i prayed with my legs" - frederick douglas, an escaped slave

You know what triggered this thought process in my young mind? The saying " the devil made me do it" and the belief of this statement in the religious community.

I saw the jokes with the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other shoulder and the proximity to the head of the person and had the epiphany that it was the person's own brain having the struggle of doing what is possibly right and possibly wrong. I also then realized that the choices we make are sometimes both, right and wrong at the same time.

To believe in a God who makes rules is to automatically shirk responsibility.

Especially when those rules are being used to judge the behavior of other people.

To say "It's against God's will" is the same as saying, "I'm not responsible for this judgment".

Judgmental religions are just a way for people to shirk responsiblity for their own bigotry and to push their bigotry onto God.

Fortunately all religions are not judgmental.

Unfortunately the ones that are judgmental are highly voiciferious and proselytize their bigoty onto others in the name of God.

That just makes it all the worse because then they are not only shirking their own responsiblity for their judgmental bigotry but they are also spreading that same irresponsibility like a cancer onto the rest of society.

This is why it is our responsiblity as humanitarians to speak out against those irrsponsible religions that relentlessly proseltyize their bigotry in the name of God.

Self responsibilty?

Ultimately on this human journey... there is nothing else, no matter how desperately we would like to give over the blame... (funny thing... how often do you see and hear of others... handing the blame to something/one else, but ALWAYS taking the credit themselves? hmmm)

religion is as simple as having an excuse to feel more... the plumping of the ego... the belonging to a club/group....


the ole safety in numbers... them and us.

Self responsibilty will bite EVERY ONE on the arse eventually.... sadly for some, it's a deathbed scenario....


(oh and the ole "OH GOD why have you forsaken me" thingo?...derr!!!!! Illusions and delusions aren't sustainable)