Religion - a respectful discussion, for those interested

It's a little goofy and (unintentionally?) funny at times, but this movie really opens one's eyes to how far our society has fallen. It contains some Protestant ideas that are a bit "off", but overall it's an interesting, funny, and eye-opening film. Those who think we live in an "enlightened" age may be in for a rude awakening!

 

LOL .... this made me laugh, thanks for injecting some humor here! There have been some good-natured funny posts amid the mean-spirited attacks.

My favorites are the duck-billed platypus and the goofy 1970's getups! .... "Grading" God's creation like we do draft picks ... "I give God a D+ for the Platypus, seems like He could have come up with something better in the "2nd round" of creation" ....LOL!

 

Every time there is a tragedy in the news, the story is always the same: some deranged killer tries to spread hate and violence, and instead the end result is that it reminds us all that love, forgiveness, prayer, and God, the author of all of these things and of the universe, will always prevail.

The latest example .... the punk kid who shot and killed multiple people in a South Carolina Bible study group said he was trying to start a race war. Instead, the victims' families speak of "love winning out over hate", that they forgive the shooter, and even that they are concerned for the soul of the shooter! Truly heartwarming and humbling, I don't know if I would be able to say those things if I were in their shoes.

Just goes to show the importance of Religion. The same thing happened in New Town, CT, following the school shooting there. One by one communities in the U.S. are revealed as being composed, for the most part, of good religious families. The far left secular agenda the media tries to shove down our throats is a lie, an illusion. The moral majority is alive and well, we are still by and large a religious people, and Good still wins over Evil. Always has, always will.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/06/19/charleston-shooting-dylann-roof-hearing-relatives-bts-nr.cnn

 

Ah, the biggest lie and misconception out there! It's sad that some people still believe this line they have been fed. Most of the tyrannical, oppressive dictatorships in history were atheistic....Nazi Germany, Communist USSR, North Korea, just to name a few. Sweden is the rare exception. The Catholic Church, in particular, has been the greatest defender of human rights for over 2000 years. It was the driving force behind the fall of Hitler, and the Pope at the time was responsible for saving countless Jews from execution. Nobody else had the courage to step in until the Catholic Church led the charge.... I could go on and on, but you will likely just ignore all of this and respond with a one line sound bite from your hyper-liberal propaganda-spewing church-bashers. The influence of the devil in the world is real, but as I showed earlier, it is always overcome by the moral majority. Good always wins out over evil. God is love, and he created the world in love. Human nature is infused with God's love. People who turn away from God may become infected with demons and do evil deeds, but it only serves to magnify the good all around us, that too often goes unnoticed. When the devil tries to spread hate, lies, and violence, all he does is increase the good in the world by the massive response of love by all the good people in our communities. 9/11 was the most awesome demonstration of this; New Yorkers are often thought of as being crude, selfish, and immoral, but the loving response by thousands of New Yorkers following that evil act showed how good the people of NY really are, by and large. Even in a city draped in sin and debauchery on the surface, the good lying just beneath the surface was unearthed by Bin Laden and his cronies.

Don't be deceived by the father of lies, the evil one....discover the real Truth for yourself. Don't just take my word for it. The Truth is all around us, if we are willing to search for it with a humble attitude.

 

None of that is true. I did a research paper on the importance and relevance of religion in the 21st century, and I found a ton of evidence that Religion leads to happiness, psychological health, physical health, and a host of other benefits. I found so many good sources, I couldn't come close to using it all! And all of the facts show that Religious societies have less crime and a much higher standard of living than secular ones. What you said could not be further from the truth!

I will start with this, from the Washington Post:

"Religion is a sure route to true happiness

Catherine Sanderson, a psychology professor at Amherst College, recently gave a talk, “Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness,” in which she described things that we think will make us happy but don’t and things that really do. It turns out that a private plane would not make me happier. (I’m still not convinced.) It also turns out that people who have religious or spiritual beliefs are happier than those who don’t, no matter what their beliefs.

Religious beliefs, she says, “give people a sense of meaning.” It also gives them a social network. “It gives a sense of well being or comfort.”

Perplexingly, the things we believe will make us happy actually don’t have any effect on our sense of well being, according to Sanderson. A high IQ doesn’t make you happier. I know some really smart people who are miserable. Money? Forget it. Sanderson quotes Benjamin Franklin: “The more one has, the more one wants.”

One often-asked question is, why are religious people happier? Sanderson thinks it’s less about what you believe than the fact that you have a community, a church, a synagogue, a Bible study group. It’s the social support network that is fulfilling. You could well be working in a soup kitchen, joining a book club or belonging to a neighborhood watch. It’s the sense that we are looking after one another that matters.

She also says that people who are believers have a certain mind-set; the power of prayer, the belief in an afterlife, the sense that someone is looking after you, that there is a higher power, that things happen for a reason. This mind-set, she says, helps people make sense of tragedy, struggles and loss. One can believe, “I’ll see this person later,” or “God only gives you what you can handle,” or “There is a silver lining in the suffering.” “Religion,” she says, “is about helping other people and having others looking after you.”

http://forums.theganggreen.com/thre...r-those-interested.84098/page-27#post-3265888

Here's another article:

"studies demonstrate a close link between religious and spiritual engagement (practice) and happiness.

Scientists who study this phenomenon hypothesize several possible reasons for a link between religiosity, spirituality, and happiness. Religious organizations provide strong social support from like-minded people, providing various opportunities for socializing, community service and making friends with individuals from a common network.

Spirituality and prayer also provide people with an opportunity to engage in a meditative act. Meditation has been shown to have a strong link with well-being because it calms the body, reduces stress and anxiety, and also supports positive thinking. The cultivation of “sacred moments” in daily life, whether through journal-writing or daily spiritual exercises, has been associated with reduced levels of stress and an increase in psychological well-being. Finally, both spirituality and organized religion can help provide people with perspective, hope, and a deeper sense of meaning. By believing in something greater than themselves, it may help them stay positive in times of sadness, and foster resilience in its role as a coping strategy."

http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-of-happiness/spiritual-engagement/

And another....

"Why Religion Matters: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability
By Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D.

"The time is ripe for a deeper dialogue on the contribution of religion to the welfare of the nation.

America has always been a religious country.

At the heart of religious practice is prayer: Americans pray even more than they go to church. According to a composite of surveys, 94 percent of blacks, 91 percent of women, 87 percent of whites, and 85 percent of men regard themselves as people who pray regularly. Some 78 percent pray at least once per week, and 57 percent pray daily. Even among the 13 percent of the population who call themselves agnostics or atheists, some 20 percent pray daily.[5]

When policymakers consider America's grave social problems, including violent crime and rising illegitimacy, substance abuse, and welfare dependency, they should heed the findings in the professional literature of the social sciences on the positive consequences that flow from the practice of religion.

For example, there is ample evidence that:

• The strength of the family unit is intertwined with the practice of religion. Churchgoers[7] are more likely to be married, less likely to be divorced or single, and more likely to manifest high levels of satisfaction in marriage.
• Church attendance is the most important predictor of marital stability and happiness.
• The regular practice of religion helps poor persons move out of poverty. Regular church attendance, for example, is particularly instrumental in helping young people to escape the poverty of inner-city life.
• Religious belief and practice contribute substantially to the formation of personal moral criteria and sound moral judgment.
• Regular religious practice generally inoculates individuals against a host of social problems, including suicide, drug abuse, out-of-wedlock births, crime, and divorce.
• The regular practice of religion also encourages such beneficial effects on mental health as less depression (a modern epidemic), more self-esteem, and greater family and marital happiness.
• In repairing damage caused by alcoholism, drug addiction, and marital breakdown, religious belief and practice are a major source of strength and recovery.
• Regular practice of religion is good for personal physical health: It increases longevity, improves one's chances of recovery from illness, and lessens the incidence of many killer diseases.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1996/01/bg1064nbsp-why-religion-matters

 

Ummm.....what was that about a "bad fig tree"?! LOL.