I agree with this. I do believe that all manmade religions have value (Christianity included).

But they aren’t ON/OFF switches.

Also if they work for some people more power to them. The problem I have is when they want to try to push those beliefs onto everyone else, especially in a political sense, or via an idea of world proselytizing.

I mean, I think there was even value in Greek ‘mythology’ which isn’t all that much differnet from Christian ‘mythology’ as far as I’m concerned. I think all mythology has elements of truth in it.

In fact, most people probably aren’t even aware that the Greek religions were serious competition for Christianity in the early going. It was actually the Christians who eventually ‘conquered’ the Greek religions and proclaimed them to be mythology. It could have just as easily gone the other way. Then we’d all be worshiping Zeus today or maybe Apollo which is more the equivalent of Jesus.

The big problem I have with what Christianity has become is their insistence that they’re religion is the only way, and their doctrine is the only way. That kind of attitude just causes division between men.

Christians say, “We like to see the whole world live together and get along”

But what they really mean is, “We’d like to convert the whole world to Christianity”.

Because they can’t get along with non-Christians without proselytizing at them, telling them that they are rejecting God.

Who wants to live with a bunch of people who are always praying that you’ll eventually be converted to their religion? That’s hardly world peace.

"Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."
Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

That's so true. And I image he was referring to the animal kindom as well as all humans.

So people who are belittling others for being 'heathens' with respect to their own beliefs aren't even extending the cirlce of compassion to all men, much less to all living things.

hey abra...I don't do that

I still am lost in here though

you are just scare to ask the hard questions without seeming offensvie and that's why the knowledge pertaining to these beliefs never moves beyond fantasy so "yellowrose" allow me to clear it up for you..

pantheism is just another splinter sub-sect of christianity also known as "New Age" without the crystals but edging a tad bit above scientology, Pantheist like many other christian sects have realize that the laws God have set forth in the Old Testament are so insane that only a sociopathic serial killer could ever follow all of these laws but yet their sunday school programming have forbid them to deny the existence of that God

their belief is the same as christianity that all creation is connected to God except that the Pantheist have placed theirselves into the roles of an anarchial demi-God above the jursidictional laws of society and religion with the belief that they exist as the delusion of a higher God

you know what funches???? you could have explained it without being a jerk about it.
I am NOT in the mood to put up with the nastiness or belittling or ANYONE that does it

explain what is nasty about it and then I will explain why it's right on the money ...you shouldn't ask questions of start threads if you don't want to know the answer ..you're always harping on how everyone has their own opinion or beliefs but soon as someone don't explain things to your standards them you have a meltdown ...so quit crying and just click the report abuse button

I'm talking about how you began it. all you had to do was post the last 2 paragraphs...but you just have to try to make others feel small

ty

never mind...knock yourself out funches

later

yes you're right..from now on I will e-mail all my post to you to screen and censor before I post them

That might have been true if it weren’t for the fact that pantheism actually predates the birth of Christ.



Well, I’ll be the first to agree that there is a lot of truth to this one. There are only two ways to escape the bigoted insanity of Christianity. One is to become an atheist. The other is to turn to a pagan religion.

I wish I never heard of the religion to be quite honest about it. I wish I had been raised as a pantheist from day one and all the negativity of Christianity never even existed in the world at all - ever. Not even in history books! It's an extremely psychologically damaging religion.

The demagoguery of being forbidden to deny the existence of God is extremely powerful. It is this extremely guilt complex that keeps 99.9% of all Christians in their place. They are simply terrified to even consider the possibly that the dogma might be wrong, to even question it is considered rebellion to God. It’s an extremely powerful brainwashing technique and is precisely why the religion continues to infest modern society today. People are simply scared to death to question it or challenge it in any way. So they make all sorts of excuses for it and support it at all cost, no matter how absurd they might be.

Beats risking being sent to hell as a non-believer.

The people who designed this crap knew precisely what they were doing. And yes, the content of the Bible was indeed designed by men.

That is a the absolute truth.

But people are afraid of the truth. Because the Bible threatens to send them to hell if they believe the truth.

1. God created all that is seen and unseen
Christians believe that God is the creator of all people, the world, the universe, and everything seen and unseen. This is based on various Bible passages, including the Bible's book of Genesis.

2. Jesus is the Son of God and is One with God
Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is one with God, and that He was sent here for our salvation. In John 10:30 (English-NIV), the Apostle John quotes Jesus as saying, "I and the Father are one."

3. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary
Christians believe that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit of God and born through the Virgin Mary. As explained in Matthew 1:18 (English-NIV), "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."

4. Jesus suffered and was crucified
Jesus suffered for our sins and was crucified. As explained in Matthew 27:23-56 (English-NIV), Jesus was falsely accused of being an anti-government rebel. He was brought to Pontius Pilate to be crucified. He was mocked, beaten, taunted and crucified.

5. Jesus died and was buried
Jesus died after being crucified. He was buried in a tomb owned by a man named Joseph of Arimathea, who was a follower of Jesus. In Matthew 27:57-60 (English-NIV), the Bible says, "As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away."

6. Jesus rose again (the Resurrection)
Jesus was resurrected, which means that He died, but was brought back to life again. You can read more about the resurrection in the New Testament book of John, chapter 20. People who believe in Jesus will also be resurrected after they die, and brought into the kingdom of Heaven.

7. Jesus ascended into Heaven
Jesus ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. This happened after Jesus was resurrected. We too will go to Heaven, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. As explained in Mark 16:19-20 (English-NIV): "After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."

8. Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead
Jesus will return again to judge the living and the dead, and to establish a kingdom that will have no end. In Matthew 24:30-31 (English-NIV), Jesus is quoted as saying that He will return during the last days of man: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."

9. People who repent their sins will be forgiven
People are "saved" and forgiven if they confess their sins and confess their belief in the resurrection of Jesus. As explained in Romans 10:9-10 (English-NIV), "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

10. Anyone can have salvation
All people may receive salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. In Romans 10:12 (English-NIV), for example, it says: "For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him…"



I was led here with purpose and so another way to look at things...but of course yellowrose the decision is yours and yours alone.


panthiest believe they are God, the flowers are god, the trees are god, my cat is god......except their god is a woman, and together they are at one with the universe.....IMO it's an excuse to do as they please and makes it so they are not held accountable for anything......jmo

This is a pantheism thread feral...

PANTHEISM...

Perhaps you would be fine with me if I barged into your Christian threads with page-long ideas and support for something else... say satanism or something?

Besides that, your post is full of bull****....

Get a clue!

Divine cosmos, sacred earth.
Pantheist religious practice: ritual, meditation and mysticism.
Ethical foundations.
Pantheism and environmental ethics.
Natural death
Mortal immortality.
Unity of religion and science.
Unity of religion and aesthetics.
Why traditional religion is not suited to the Third Millennium.
Why do we need religion at all?
How you can help spread pantheism.

When we say the cosmos is divine, we mean it with just as much conviction, emotion and commitment as believers when they say that their god is God.

But we are not making a vague statement about an invisible being who is beyond proof or disproof. We are talking about our own emotional responses to the real universe and the natural earth.

When we say "That tree is beautiful," we are not saying anything about the tree in itself, but about the way we feel we must respond to the tree. We are talking about the relationship between us and the tree.
In the same way, if we say THE UNIVERSE IS DIVINE we are making a statement about the way our senses and our emotions force us to respond to the overwhelming mystery and power that surrounds us. We are saying this:

We are part of the universe. Our earth was created from the universe and will one day be reabsorbed into the universe.
We are made of the same matter as the universe. We are not in exile here: we are at home. It is here and nowhere else that we can see the divine face to face. If we erect barriers in our imagination - if we believe our real home is not here but in a land that lies beyond death - if we believe that the divine is found only in old books, or old buildings, or inside our head - then we will see this real, vibrant, luminous world as if through a glass darkly.
The universe creates us, preserves us, destroys us. It is deep and old beyond our ability to reach with our senses. It is beautiful beyond our ability to describe in words. It is complex beyond our ability to fully grasp in science. We must relate to the universe with humility, awe, reverence, celebration and the search for deeper understanding - in other words, in many of the ways that believers relate to their God.

When we say THE EARTH IS SACRED, we mean it with just as much commitment and reverence as believers speaking about their church or mosque, or the relics of their saints. But we are not making a statement about the supernatural. We are saying this:

We are part of nature. Nature made us and at our death we will be reabsorbed into nature. We are at home in nature and in our bodies. This is where we belong; this is where we must find and make our paradise, not in some spirit world on the other side of the grave. If nature is the only paradise, then separation from nature is the only hell. When we destroy nature, we create hell on earth for other species and for ourselves.

Nature is our mother, our home, our security, our peace, our past and our future. We should treat natural things and habitats as believers treat their temples and shrines, as sacred - to be revered and preserved in all their intricate and fragile beauty.

The dominant religions describe their gods in many ways: mysterious, awesome, all-powerful, omnipresent, transcendent, infinite, eternal. These descriptions are not simply projections of human characteristics. The traditional attributes of God are based on the real properties of the universe (see The real divine attributes.)

When theists worship gods, they unknowingly worship the cosmos. If they believe that God is also present in nature and the universe, they will perceive a part of the glory of Being, yet still they will attribute this glory to something beyond Being. Still they will fail to connect with nature and the universe in the deep intense way that pantheism makes possible.

But theists who believe that God is separate from the universe separate themselves from Reality. They turn their deepest attention away from the real divinity before their eyes, towards an imaginary divinity inside their head. It veils Reality like a thick mist. It turns believers into sleepwalkers.

I can certainly see how that is quantified after reading this.

There ya go feral... a little closer to the reality of it all, pantheism, I mean...

Nevermind feral...

It seems she may be sleepwalking through her own posts...


Good eyes Wiley...

well abracadrabra it's nice to see that you understand that I wasn't trying to offend Pantheists but was just trying to explain the belief in a way that everyone could possibly understand it and if I was wrong about parts of it you would interject




that's the way I was trying to explain to "yellowrose" ..she was playing clueless and playing around like she was scare to ask the hard questions ..how else can someone learn about the religious beliefs of others ..

...er.. feralcatlady ...so wouldn't that mean that Jesus was a Pantheist?


DISCLAIMER
I (Funches) is not trying to start trouble because I felt like this is a legitimate question to ask

@ funches...