Off Topic Religion

There has been a lot of talk about religion on this board recently.- If I was in any way religious this is the religion I would like to be involved with

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31557192

I have no doubt that someone will post something negative about this but this follows my philosophy help others and basically do to others as you would expect them to do to you

 

Religion is great for the community side, some of its ethical teachings, it's sense of charity and the peace of mind it offers its believers who need to believe in divine reward.

It's a **** for brain washing, corruption, preaching hate and so on and so on.

The Sikh religion is one of the better one's from what I know but I'd suggest none of them are much good.

 

I think its the case of the lesser of the evils they all seem to be manipulative

 

Treat others as you wish to be treated yourself is a fine motto

 

My grandad always telt me.... "Never discuss politics or religion... There is never any winners"!

 

Another of his was .."it's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice"

Bless Him

 

Grandson was in India last year and went to the Golden Temple at Amritsar where he was treated as pilgrim along with many others. He ended up staying two nights at the request of the monks not a penny charged nor a contribution asked for. But it was also in our bible teachings not to turn a traveller away.

Although not a religion as such, our Salvation Army also takes some beating.

 

The Sally bash there a helpfully lot

 

If you dig deep enough the vast majority of all worldwide religions are based on a similar theme, ultimately a form of controlling and suppressing the masses through fear (be good, repent, pray & love/worship God otherwise eternal damnation and no heavenly reward) - it's a scam and deception that incredulously humanity still buys into, they all borrow similar from themes of miraculous conception (mother son/sun worship) that date back to ancient Egyptian mythology.

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraculous_births

Also look at all the religious ideology, themes and even iconography that has been consistently plagiarised by religion worldwide. For example
in the UK most of us are educated from early school to think that the Bible is the original, absolute, inviolate word of God. But that comes into question when we realize that many of the biblical stories occur in other, older religions.
The scam that humanity worldwide has bought into includes these parallels between Horus, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus and near on 30 or so more -

Horus
The Legend of Horus is one of the most ancient myths in Egypt, and it was central to the ancient Egyptian state religion. He was worshipped three thousand years before Jesus and his worship lasted into the common era. The followers of Horus invaded Egypt in pre-dynastic history (before 3000 B.C.E.).
He is often shown as an infant cradled by his mother Isis. He avenged his father’s murder, and became recognized as the God of civil order and justice.
Both were conceived of a virgin.
1. Both were the “only begotten son” of a god (either Osiris or Yahweh)
2. Horus’s mother was Meri, Jesus’s mother was Mary.
3. Horus’s foster father was called Jo-Seph, and Jesus’s foster father was Joseph.
4. Both foster fathers were of royal descent.
5. Both were born in a cave (although sometimes Jesus is said to have been born in a stable).
6. Both had their coming announced to their mother by an angel.
7. Horus; birth was heralded by the star Sirius (the morning star). Jesus had his birth heralded by a star in the East (the sun rises in the East).
8. Ancient Egyptians celebrated the birth of Horus on December 21 (the Winter Solstice). Modern Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25.
9. Both births were announced by angels (this is not the same as number 7).
10. Both had shepherds witnessing the birth.
11. Horus was visited at birth by “three solar deities” and Jesus was visited by “three wise men”.
12. After the birth of Horus, Herut tried to have Horus murdered. After the birth of Jesus, Herod tried to have Jesus murdered.
13. To hide from Herut, the god That tells Isis, “Come, thou goddess Isis, hide thyself with thy child.” To hide from Herod, an angel tells Joseph to “arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt.”
14. When Horus came of age, he had a special ritual where hsi eye was restored. When Jesus (and other Jews) come of age, they have a special ritual called a Bar Mitzvah.
15. Both Horus and Jesus were 12 at this coming-of-age ritual.
16. Neither have any official recorded life histories between the ages of 12 and 30.
17. Horus was baptized in the river Eridanus. Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan.
18. Both were baptized at age 30.
19. Horus was baptized by Anup the Baptizer. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
20. Both Anup and John were later beheaded.
21. Horus was taken from the desert of Amenta up a high mountain to be tempted by his arch-rival Set. Jesus was taken from the desert in Palestine up a high mountain to be tempted by his arch-rival Satan.
22. Both Horus and Jesus successfully resist this temptation.
23. Both have 12 disciples.
24. Both walked on water, cast out demons, healed the sick, and restored sight to the blind.
25. Horus “stilled the sea by his power.” Jesus commanded the sea to be still by saying, “Peace, be still.”
26. Horus raised his dead father (Osiris) from the grave. Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. (Note the similarity in names when you say them out loud. Further, Osiris was also known as Asar, which is El-Asar in Hebrew, which is El-Asarus in Latin.)
27. Osiris was raised in the town of Anu. Lazarus was raised in Bethanu (literally, “house of Anu”).
28. Both gods delivered a Sermon on the Mount.
29. Both were crucified.
30. Both were crucified next to two thieves.
31. Both were buried in a tomb.
32. Horus was sent to Hell and resurrected in 3 days. Jesus was sent to Hell and came back “three days” later (although Friday night to Sunday morning is hardly three days).
33. Both had their resurrection announced by women.
34. Both are supposed to return for a 1000-year reign.
35. Horus is known as KRST, the anointed one. Jesus was known as the Christ (which means “anointed one”).
36. Both Jesus and Horus have been called the good shepherd, the lamb of God, the bread of life, the son of man, the Word, the fisher, and the winnower.
37. Both are associated with the zodiac sign of Pisces (the fish).
38. Both are associated with the symbols of the fish, the beetle, the vine, and the shepherd’s crook.
39. Horus was born in Anu (“the place of bread”) and Jesus was born in Bethlehem (“the house of bread”).
40. “The infant Horus was carried out of Egypt to escape the wrath of Typhon. The infant Jesus was carried into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. Concerning the infant Jesus, the New Testament states the following prophecy: ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son.’”
41. Both were transfigured on the mount.
42. The catacombs of Rome have pictures of the infant Horus being held by his mother, not unlike the modern-day images of “Madonna and Child.”
43. Noted English author C. W. King says that both Isis and Mary are called “Immaculate”.
44. Horus says: “Osiris, I am your son, come to glorify your soul, and to give you even more power.” And Jesus says: “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.”
45. Horus was identified with the Tau (cross).

 

Krishna
Another great pagan christ was Krishna of India. In the sacred books of India it is recorded that Krishna was born of the virgin Devaki, that his nativity was heralded by a star, and that though of royal lineage, he was born in a cave. (According to the apocryphal gospel of Protevagelion, a work attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, the Christian savior was born in a cave.) At the time of Krishna’s birth, the cave was mysteriously illuminated. (At the birth of Jesus, “there was a great light in the cave, so that the eyes of Joseph and the Midwife could not bear it.”) The infant Krishna spoke to his mother soon after his birth. (“Jesus spake even when he was in the cradle, and said to his mother-
‘Mary I am Jesus the Son of God, that Word which thou did bring forth according to the declaration of the Angel Gabriel unto thee, and my Father hath sent me for the salvation of the world’ ” according to the apocryphal gospels of 1 and 2 Infancy. )
Krishna was born while his foster-father Nanda was in the city to pay his tax to the king. (Jesus was born while his foster-father Joseph was in the city to pay his tax to the govenor.) The babe Krishna was adored by cowherds. (The infant Jesus was adored by shepherds.) King Kansa sought the life of the Indian Christ by ordering the massacre of all male children born during the same night as was Krishna. (This is almost identical with the story of the slaughter of the innocents, ordered by Herod.) Nanda was warned by a heavenly voice to flee with the infant Krishna across the Jumna River, to Gakul, to escape King Kansa. (Joseph was warned by a voice in a dream to flee into Egypt with the Christ-child to escape the wrath of Herod.) Krishna performed many miracles in the city of Mathura. (Jesus, while in Egypt, lived in a town named Matarea, where he performed many miracles.)
Krishna was a crucified christ. He is pictured in Indian art as hanging on a cross with arms extended. (Dr. Thomas Inman, a celebrated authority on pagan and Christian symbolism, states that: “Christna, whose history so closely resembles our Lord’s, was also like him in his being crucified.”) Krishna was pierced by an arrow while hanging on the cross. (Jesus was pierced by a spear during his crucifixion.) The light of the sun was blotted out at noon on the day of Krishna’s death. (The sun was darkened from the sixth to the ninth hour on the day of the crucifixion of Christ.) Krishna descended into hell to raise the dead before returning to the abode of the gods. (We read of Jesus Christ that: “He descended into hell, and on the third day rose again from the dead.” The Descent into Hell of Jesus is described in the apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus.) Krishna rose from the grave, and finally ascended bodily to heaven in the presence of a multitude of spectators. (A similar story is related of Jesus Christ.) In Indian art Krishna literally means “The Black.” (In early Christian art Jesus is almost invariably represented as a Black man.)


Buddha was born of a virgin name Maya, or Mary. His birthday was celebrated on December 25. He was visited by wise men who acknowledged his divinity. The life of Buddha was sought by King Bimbasara, who feared that some day the child would endanger his throne. At the age of twelve, Buddha excelled the learned men of the temple in knowledge and wisdom. His ancestry was traced back to Maha Sammata, the first monarch in the world. (Jesus’ ancestry is traced back to Adam, the first man in the world.) Buddha was transfigured on a mountain top. His form was illumined by as aura of bright light. (Jesus was likewise transfigured on a mountain top. “And his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” After the completion of his earthly mission, Buddha ascended bodily to the celestial realms.
Osiris, the father of Horus, was another virgin-born god of ancient Egypt. His Sufferings, Death, and Resurrection were celebrated in an annual mystery-play at Abydos, on about March 25, an approximation of the Vernal Equinox, i.e. Easter. The Pharaoh Amenhotep III, of the seventeenth dynasty, was hailed as the son of the virgin Mutemua. His birth is pictured on the inner walls of the Temple of Amen in Thebes.
Mithra, a Persian sun-god, was virgin-born, in a cave, on December 25. His earliest worshippers were shepherds, and he was accompanied in his travels by twelve companions. The Mithraists kept the sabbath day holy and celebrated the Eucharist by eating wafers embellished with a cross. The great Mithraic festivals were the Birth (Christmas) and the Resurrection (Easter).
Quetzalcoatl. The Spaniards, on arriving in Mexico, were surprised to find the Aztecs had a story of virgin birth, too. See Kingsborough’s Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi, p. 176, where it is said “an ambassador was sent from heaven on an embassy to a Virgin of Tulan, called Chimalman . . . announcing that it was the will of the God that she should conceive a son; and having delivered her the message he rose and left the house; and as soon as he had left it she conceived a son, without connection with man, who was called Quetzalcoatl, who they say is the god of air.” Also, like Jesus, he was tempted and fasted for forty days. He is shown in the Borgian Ms., on a cross, with nail marks on his hands and feet. He is depicted as a man of sable hue. After being crucified, he rose from the dead and went into the East. The word Quetzalcoatlotopitzin means “our well-beloved son.” The Mexicans were expecting his Second Coming when the Spaniards invaded the country in the sixteenth century.
Other examples of virgin born Gods:
Krishna was born of the virgin Devaki
Savior Dionysus was born of the virgin Semele.
The old Teutonic goddess Hertha was a virgin impregnated by the heavenly Spirit and bore a son.
Scandinavian Frigga was impregnated by the All-Father Odin and bore Balder, the healer and savior of mankind.
Baal was born of Ashtaroth – Israel (Judges 2:13)
Before her, Neith, the Virgin of the World, whose figure bends from the sky over the earthly plains and the children of men, was acclaimed as mother of the great god Osiris.
Jupiter was born to Venus in Roman mythology
Tammuz was born to Semiramis in Babylon
Examples of mother and child worship:
The Babylonians, in their popular religion, supremely worshiped a Goddess Mother and a Son, who was represented in pictures and in images as an infant or child in his mother’s arms. From Babylon, this worship of the Mother and the Child spread to the ends of the earth.
In Egypt, the Mother and the Child were worshiped under the names of Isis and Osiris.
In India, even to this day, as Isi and Iswara.
In Asia, as Cybele and Deoius.
In Pagan Rome, as Fortuna and Jupiter-puer, or Jupiter, the boy.
In Greece, as Ceres, the Great Mother, with the babe at her breast, or as Irene, the goddess of Peace, with the boy Plutus in her arms.
And even in Tibet, in China, and Japan, the Jesuit missionaries were astonished to find the counterpart of the Madonna and her child as devoutly worshiped as in Papal Rome itself; Shing Moo, the Holy Mother in China, being represented with a child in her arms, and a glory around her, exactly as if a Roman Catholic artist had been employed to set her up!
Please be beware Religion is a mass mind programs to indoctrinate and control

http://ejop.psychopen.eu/article/view/401/html

 

apologies for the long reply

 

Sikhs have a great reputation, it's a shame many of them are confused for another religion so often.

I have no doubt there are bad Sikhs also mind.

Their inherent family values, good nature and kindness firstly comes from their genetic make up, as does all of these things from every person on the planet. People who credit religion with what the human mind and body is naturally programmed to do, have fundamental flaws in their ability to perceive and understand.

 

All religions are greedy ****ers that seek to control the minds of the masses.
Anybody that believes in God is a ****ing sheep imo.

 

What pisses me off mate, is when people attribute kindness and being a good person to religion. There's some great moral values that religion teaches but the same morals can be ingrained in society through education and good parenting rather than instilling a fear of god into every child from birth.

People can be amazing without religion the same as people can be very nasty who follow religion.

This misconception that it keeps people 'pure' is pathetic.

 

One interesting trend that has come about because of the disaffection of Religion is that more people nowadays claim to be more spiritual than religious - that for me seems much more wholesome than the scenario men in robes going through inane and archaic rituals preaching what we should and shouldn't be doing with our life!

 

quite like this

 

There'd be far less people prepared to die in the name of allah by the MO of blowing themselves to pieces in crowded place, if they weren't brainwashed into thinking they were off to Disneyland for a non-stop sex marathon with untouched beauties.

Also, almost every time I see a death row documentary I see the prisoner saying things like 'I just hope god forgives me'... what a ridiculous and pointless thing the execution is if the prisoner is allowed to believe that they will be absolved of their punishment as soon as the lights go out.

 

I'm very weary of listening to or reading books by the like of Steven Fry or Steven Dawkins or ****ing Russel Brand (presume he's squeezed the cash cow to talk about god), because by listening to these people and forming your own belief system as a result of their texts and teachings, you're no better or no better enlightened than the christians, muslims or jews who worship their own idols and study their own texts.

Atheism is just another religion in that atheists usually call those with religion unenlightened (non-believers) and show no tolerance for different sets of belief.

No religion is the way to go in my eyes. Believe what the **** you like, accept that others believe in what the **** they like, but don't get involved in organised religion, pay money for the sake of these idols or preach your own beliefs.

Live and let live.