True. Religion can motivate people to do things like that. Good.
Of course. But if you apply the same criterion of assurance for you to become a Believer to any, say, romantic relationship, you’ll never find a lover. :nope:
What I meant was this:
I’ve read through this entire thread, and I know I’m jumping into the game late here, but this question really struck me. I would like to ask you one of my own: Do you really think that this need for God is an imagined need?
Thank you for your response. I also once came close to suicide when I was rejected by all M.D. programs I applied to. It’s very competitive no matter how high grades and test scores are. I am working in a position that is one step below the type of diagnostic specialist I would rather be and will will probably start medical school at age 30-31 but oh well. I’m glad you are still here
I am not sure if it is an imagined need or not. Your response is based much on emotions, feelings, “God shaped hole”, etc. I know we experience realities external to the material world: love, romance, enjoyment of music/nature, etc. Right now, I think I just have a thirst to be correct. Non-religion or religion, and if religion, which one?).
You are right, the world isn’t the way we want it. Things aren’t working the way we want them to. You wrote “we ache for God to fix it all”. This is where I’m afraid all religion is a form of escapism. Just because we want it to be true doesn’t make it true. Maybe Theism has been around for all this time because of the desires/aches you mentioned?
Maybe humanity is escaping this possibly imagined need for the Divine/religion/God? People are becoming less religious, even religious ones. Examples: the whole "Christianity is a relationship not a religion (don’t here that much among Catholics), progressive Christianity, Christians that don’t go to church, etc, etc. Maybe all of this is just that continuation of what humans have always been doing and the existence of multiple religions (past and present) is evidence of that?
The world sucks. If religion is just invented escapism, I would rather do without it. If not, I feel Catholicism is the best choice, but I could be wrong about that. If I embrace Theism and becoming Catholic I might be able to handle the thought of Catholicism being wrong due to a change of mental “frame of reference”.
I hope you can all see that I am not here to negatively criticize religion. I’m thinking about things I think every religious person should, and it seem like people driven enough to go on a internet forum do so. Kudos:thumbsup:
Question for you specifically:
You desire I return to God’s embrace. What would you think if I became Catholic and not your religion (Christian but not Catholic)? Would it bother you? Both are are different conclusions about God.
Peace and Happy Thanksgiving.
I meant “maybe all of this is just a continuation of what humans have always been doing”.Thank you for your response. I also once came close to suicide when I was rejected by all M.D. programs I applied to. It’s very competitive no matter how high grades and test scores are. I am working in a position that is one step below the type of diagnostic specialist I would rather be and will will probably start medical school at age 30-31 but oh well. I’m glad you are still here
I am not sure if it is an imagined need or not. Your response is based much on emotions, feelings, “God shaped hole”, etc. I know we experience realities external to the material world: love, romance, enjoyment of music/nature, etc. Right now, I think I just have a thirst to be correct. Non-religion or religion, and if religion, which one?).
You are right, the world isn’t the way we want it. Things aren’t working the way we want them to. You wrote “we ache for God to fix it all”. This is where I’m afraid all religion is a form of escapism. Just because we want it to be true doesn’t make it true. Maybe Theism has been around for all this time because of the desires/aches you mentioned?
Maybe humanity is escaping this possibly imagined need for the Divine/religion/God? People are becoming less religious, even religious ones. Examples: the whole "Christianity is a relationship not a religion (don’t here that much among Catholics), progressive Christianity, Christians that don’t go to church, etc, etc. Maybe all of this is just that continuation of human
The world sucks. If religion is just invented escapism, I would rather do without it. If not, I feel Catholicism is the best choice, but I could be wrong about that. If I embrace Theism and becoming Catholic I might be able to handle the thought of Catholicism being wrong due to a change of mental “frame of reference”.
I hope you can all see that I am not here to negatively criticize religion. I’m thinking about things I think every religious person should, and it seem like people driven enough to go on a internet forum do so. Kudos:thumbsup:
Question for you specifically:
You desire I return to God’s embrace. What would you think if I became Catholic and not your religion (Christian but not Catholic)? Would it bother you? Both are are different conclusions about God.
Peace and Happy Thanksgiving.
I was raised Roman Catholic, became an Agnostic for maybe a year, then slowly became Pagan.
So you basically dislike almost everyone who is not Catholic? Your post sounds extremely dogmatic. If you read carefully you can see that I’m not trying to be a bad influence to anyone, I’m just trying to understand being religious.
Have you read CS Lewis’ Argument from Desire?
I never read it but will consider it. CS Lewis wasn’t Catholic but oh well.
All truth is Catholic truth, Path.
Any thirst you have for truth, knowledge, goodness, beauty, love (and, of course you have those!) is a thirst for God.
Well, I am blessed to say (noteworthy that this is Thanksgiving) that I have not been burdened with “hard times” and I am very religious.
Thank you. All of this sounds like what religion seems to be: verbosity/prose/poetic to give more meaning to life.
Yes, some religions exist to give meaning to life.
Yep. See above.
You don’t “need” to? Okay. But, again, you should only believe in something because it’s True, right? Not because it makes you happy.
Except, you can look at society and see that this paradigm has failed miserably. No one who does whatever they want when they want is *ever *happy.
What you desire that’s good and beautiful and true is a desire for God.
Exactly. Poetry and prose are quite necessary and beautiful expressions of truth!
Yes. I thirst for what is true. I believe in being open minded about religion, but the following seems more true than religion to me, so far:Yes, some religions exist to give meaning to life.
Some religions exist because they’re true.
Your job is to believe in something because it’s True, not because it makes you feel happy.
Heck, belief in Santa Claus can make you feel happy, but as it’s not true, sadly, if you live your life by that belief, you’ll never truly be happy.
Yep. See above.
You don’t “need” to? Okay. But, again, you should only believe in something because it’s True, right? Not because it makes you happy.
The Emperor’s New Clothes folktale limns that quite trenchantly. He believed in something that made him happy, but, alas, the truth was he was parading around butt naked and appeared an imbecile for believing in something just because it made him happy.
Except, you can look at society and see that this paradigm has failed miserably. No one who does whatever they want when they want is *ever *happy.
(BTW, did you mean “exciting” and not “exiting”?)
What you desire that’s good and beautiful and true is a desire for God.
Exactly. Poetry and prose are quite necessary and beautiful expressions of truth!
EXCELLENT analogy!
So true!!!Thank you. I will think about this. I get what you are saying: everything before Christ was preparation, etc. Another other religions peopled followed are/were false, etc.