Freedom is paramount.

Freedom only comes to one who agrees to be responsible.

To be responsible is to never blame anyone for your own plight.
To be responsible is to realize that you have manifested, attracted and/or invited absolutely everything into your reality.

You cannot be free until you realize you are completely responsible.

Jeannie

Big Jim,

I must confess that your laws of Satanism are admirable. They make much more sense than most other religions I know of, and they truly are “godly”. The world would be a great place if everyone lived by them.

I especially like rule 11. When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him.

In all seriousness I tend to agree with it. Hey, you shouldn’t have to ask twice, and if you asked once he was warned right? That’s as good at it gets.

Why thank you!

You’re so right, and it feels good to hear this. This is why I started this thread. I need to hear these spiritually positive things. Some religions are so focused on laying on the guilt trips that it starts to affect people on a subconscious level. Sometimes you just need to hear positive things to get your mind back out of the gutter.

I’ve been writing songs lately, most are about love, but in a human drama sense. I think I’m going to start writing some songs about spiritual freedom. That’s always inspirational, and they can reach for the stars with total abandon. :bigsimle:

I see so many people who use guilt trips to control others and manipulate.

I gave up accepting guilt trips from others.

When someone hangs a guilt trip on you, the first thing to do is recognize it and point it out, and then let them know that you are aware that they are doing it in an effort to manipulate.

I usually say, "Don't try to hang your guilt trip on me, I'm not buying it."

My own philosophy is:
1. If you are going to do something, don't have guilt about it.
2. If you have guilt about something you did, then just resolve to never do it again. Then forgive yourself and go on with your life.
3.Never ever let someone else hang a guilt trip on you.

For example:

"You offended me with your remarks."

4. Don't apologize unless you really are sorry.

5. Wear a sweat shirt that says "no guilt." to remind you and others that you not taking on any more guilt trips. LOL

ironic, lets practice a religion in which there is no fate based on your actions, makes religion pointless if you ask me?

“A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” - Albert Einstein

I have never looked to religion for moral values. I’m a naturally moral person and I have no need to be told how to be nice. I agree with Albert Einstein that men who need to be restrained by punishment or reward are seriously in a poor way.

I see God as being far above that kind of petty mentality.

This is why I feel that any religion that is obsessed with sin and salvation can only be the product of the demented minds of men. I don’t believe that a supreme being would be so petty as to based an entire doctrine on that single theme.

Jesus taught that we should love everyone, even our enemies. It seems that Einstein (as much respect I have for his accomplishments) felt that love should be given to only certain people. Christianity is based on the concept of unconditional love, which is clearly not what Einstein was advocating.

Evangelic Christians are the group who are advocating war. That is not love in my book. The Bible in the Old Testament did not teach people to love your enemies. They taught that your enemies were evil. Slaughter them with no mercy. Read Joshua.

If Jesus said "love thy enemy" he was a flower child. But he was not the son of the God of Joshua, or of Abraham. A God does not go from "slaughter your enemies" and "stone the adulterous" to loving them in a few hundred or a few thousand years,- which is no time at all to a timeless infinite God.

The God of the Old Testament and Jesus could not possibly have been related or the same entity. Anyone with any common sense can see this.

Only people who do not know how to love need religion to tell the the difference between right and wrong behavior.

If you act with divine love you will always do the right thing.
Unconditional love is divine love. Divine love is love of the spirit or divine origin that dwells within the person. It is not love of the personality. You can love all people but you do not have to "love" their actions or their personality which is flawed until it begins to act in love.

Love for the personality is conditional love. But you can have conditional love for a person close to you, and still have divine love for them if you decide you do not like the personality or the ego part of them.

Divine love sometimes requires you distance yourself from the personality. Divine love is an allowing love that allows complete and total freedom. Freedom is paramount for the soul.

Conditional love says, "I don't like you if....."
Divine unconditional love says, "I love you always, I wish the best for you no matter what.."

Jeannie

I'm afraid you lost me Spider. Where did Einstein say anything about love being given to only certain people?

Do you know what happen to the starter of this religion?????

hmmmm

I would really love to know where you get your information....because it is sooooo wrong.

This is a profound truth. The difference between the God of the Old Testament and Jesus is like the difference between night and day.

Amen.

I get my information from the Bible. Read the book of Joshua.

And from the 700 club.(What a bunch of strange people they are.)

(They are so excited for the end of the world to get here. They love war, and glorify it in the name of Jesus.)

Ethical behavior should be based on.

Sympathy
Education?
Social ties
needs

I'm not sure what the "education" part is, but wouldn't sympathy and social ties exclude love towards your enemies? "needs"? Everyone needs to be treated fairly, so that makes no sense to me. Unfortunately, Einstein isn't here to explain the parts that make no sense to me, but it seems pretty clear that Einstein is basing his ethical behavior on four critieria, which could allow many people to fall through the cracks. Christianity has one criteria for ethical behavior: Love everyone.

Talk is cheap.

When I actually see the love I'll believe it.

Until then it's just empty words.

Why would sympathy and social ties exclude love? Sympathy to me implies some empathy as well which is a form of love. Social ties could be "loving" or more casual.

And I believe Einstein is talking about motivations for ethical behavior not the behavior itself. E.g. he clearly states ethical behavior should not be based on fear of hell or to get to heaven.

I cannot speak (obviously) directly to what Einstein meant but I can see education as a motivating force for ethical behavior in several ways. Education and discussions help us understand what is the most ethical action where the choice is ambiguous. Education also shows people how ethical actions may benefit them- e.g. helping the less fortunate may result in those who are helped being more productive. Do we not educate children about what is ethical behavior and why they should make the right choices?

To me Einstein is merely saying in this quote that we should not be motivated by fear or to "get" something out of it. We can make the choice to do the right thing because as responsible, educated members of society who understand how the actions of the individual effect society as a whole and because we choose to do the right thing for it's own sake.

Most Fundamentalist Christians I have spoken in depth with believe in war and support the war in Iraq. They truly believe war is a battle to defend freedom and the American way of life. They believe the lie that there is a large terrorist organization plotting wreak havoc on our soil. They glorify and make heroes out of the poor deluded young men who have been convinced that going to war or serving their country is the right thing to do.

They preach "pro-life" and are against abortion, yet they support the death penalty. They say love thy enemy as thyself and yet they support war in some third world country.

I smell a rat in the mix. Christians are being manipulated by someone else with a different agenda altogether. They are being blindly lead to the defense of Israel which is a country that claims to be democratic but is very close to being communist. It is a country that does not believe in their Jesus and most do not even believe in their God.

Jeannie