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[Ylanne]

Is there any religion outside of Christianity that treats Jesus' teachings as wise? Why are they the only way to God?

AARGH! That took four typos before the word quote for the tag was spelled write. Anyways, before I respond to that question, I like your username. Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. Sanskrit is so awesome. Did you know Pali texts are also used for ecclesiastical purposes in Buddhism?

....anyways. . . I don't think Christianity is the only way to God. Didn't I just say that? (What did I say, this was a while ago) By the way, Islam treats Jesus as one of the most revered prophets, and accepts the Injil, or Gospels, as holy books. Judaism tends to treat Jesus with some degree of respect, and most people, regardless of religious profession or lack thereof, tend to consider Jesus' teachings as having at least some value or wisdom.

I think Ghandi summed it up best with his; "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

Ha, spelled quote right the first time there! . . .Sorry.

Ahem. Anyways. OMG THAT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE QUOTES EVER! And I never, never say "omg". I do agree with that statement so much. I think the problem with wayyyy too many Christians, especially those in America, is they have confused their culture with their religion and their religion with their God. If that makes any sense. I wrote some essay about that. But I don't know where I put it.

Hope I've been of some insight.

[Maitreya]

Vajrayana Buddhist.
I don't feel the urge to explain myself much though. Just lemme tell you this: I've always been sure about some things in this world and found out how similar my own opinions were to buddhism. You could say I was a buddhist without knowing it. That's all.

Hi Gautama! Haha ... that's pretty funny to see us both in this thread. Buddha of past and future and all.

[Village Alchemist]

I think the problem with wayyyy too many Christians, especially those in America, is they have confused their culture with their religion and their religion with their God. If that makes any sense. I wrote some essay about that. But I don't know where I put it.

That makes a depressing amount of sense.

[Alexxxcali]

I'm a Christain, and was raised that way since I was born. But like most Christains in their teens, Im not fully devoted to all of it. Some of it confuses me, and some of it I dont personally agree with, and some of it I just dont find appealing. I know that in time ill learn to understand it all as i grow wiser and expierence it all for myself, but for now i'm open-minded to what other people believe in. Which is why I read everyones posts. There's no doubt in me though that thinks I will every stray from my religion.

I think its funny though that I'm a Christain, and believe in something that i simply cannot hold onto and touch physically. Since i'm a very logical person, the type that doesn't believe in big foot, aliens, ghosts, or any of that. But just watching totally sensible people at church, sing their hearts out, crying because they feel touched by God and Christ. Watching a teenager drop his 5 year weed splurg at the tip of a hat, because he found "him". My dad was slowly starting to become an alcoholic, and when he realized how close he was, he went into his room, and prayed, because he didn't want his children to see him drunk. Now he can't stand even the smell of alcohol.

But i also have a passion for psychology and maybe all of this could just be the tricks of the human mind. When i get scared or worried, I just pray right then and there, and I instantly feel comforted. Maybe its just an illusion and a habit that brings me comfort, or maybe its the Holy Trinity (God, Christ, The Holy Spirit) My mom said she saw my guardian angel clear as the sky when i was a baby, and I believe her, though i'm not that type of a person. It just seems so much more than a coincidence for all these people to be so convinced, and do such great things, just because they believe.

I guess there's no concrete proof, and maybe everything doesn't make sense, maybe some of it doesn't fit, but I still believe. I know it sounds cliche, but its just that feeling. Simple as that, the feeling that there's a god, the god, with you. And you'll move mountains because of his love.

[Village Alchemist]

Well, whatever floats your boat, Alexxxcali. Myself, I cannot make that big a leap of belief based merely on a fealing.

[Safisan]

I'm Catholic and I think there are way too many religions, and each flawed to some extent. I like the message they convey, don't get me wrong, I just dislike the wisdom being piled under prejudice and assumptions. Hell, I disagree with a lot of stuff I was taught in Sunday school.

Because it was made by men, to represent a higher power, we're stuck with a human -and thus, erroneous- representation.

On the subject of whether there is or isn't a higher power, I believe there is. While I can't take a picture and smother it in someone's face, I can tell you a world doesn't just appear spontaneously and that even if theories like the big bang are true, there had to be something to cause them or provide the necessary beginning.

...I do believe there's hardly a tl;dr aspect to my post. No lazy version available!

[Gautama]

Buddha of past and future and all.

Buddha-face.

While I can't take a picture and smother it in someone's face, I can tell you a world doesn't just appear spontaneously and that even if theories like the big bang are true, there had to be something to cause them or provide the necessary beginning.

Are you here defending an intelligent universe from an apathetic one? It might be too much caffeine talking, but I can read the "necessary beginning" as several different kinds of thing.

[Safisan]

...It's the coffee talking, Gautama. I'm just saying for theories like the big bang, that rely on something else (be it dust to force an explosion or whatever) they'd need to have a something (would that be a someone?) mess about and give it.

God brings dust > dust goes boom > big bang

[Gautama]

Safisan, I'd agree with that. Every thing has a cause. What drives me to caution is if we have something like an eternal cycle between periods of expansion and contraction, supposing we take "Eastern" views seriously, because then even if we pin the causes of our universe down, these causes might not even be that revealing.

*shrug* The more I learn about religion and philosophy, the trickier this all gets. I still feel like a beginner.

[Maitreya]

Did I say something wrong? o.O
If so, I'm really sorry.

[Gautama]

No, no, when you said,

I don't feel the urge to explain myself much though.

I thought you didn't want to go into more detail. I kept my reply as brief as humanly possible.

I can understand how discovering Buddhism can be like finding the vocabulary to express secular thoughts you already had. Also, I find it much less mysterious than than Christian mystique, so I have less to ask.

[Moniker]

Good honest Heathen-type, here!

If the Old Gods were good enough for our grandfathers, they should be more then good enough for us! *Tongue in cheek.*

A quote from the 'teachings,' eh?

Praise day in the evening,
A wife, when dead,
A weapon when tried,
A maid, when married,
Ice, when it's crossed,
Ale, when it's drunk.
-Excerpt from Hamaval, Odin's poetic 'Autobiography'

[Aniihya]

I use to be in the non-trinitarian Arianistic (dont get mixed up with Aryan) Church then I couldnt believe in one almighty god so I converted to Mesopothamian Paganism (Pantheon of the Sumer, Babylonians and Berbers). I worship my main gods (who mirror my personality) every day and the other gods on special occasions. It is the true religion for me. We have no fanatics, no forced conversions and the gods want equal rights for everyone (including gays). Bel'ur is my guide and Ishara is my heart.

[Gautama]

To mod who changed the titles: I see no flame war here, just a careful attempt to bring the "debate" back into discussion and debate, and to measure the forum. It's hard to do while wearing kid gloves, but I know you guys have your own comfort zone. Personally, I feel like a Carebear.

To the polytheists: it's hard to tell who's being honest. Not that I particularly doubt the existence of polytheists in the world. I'm just not all that familiar with that approach.

[Ponats]

Gautama: Those are tags. It is because people said them in here. Mods didn't do that.

Also guys and girls, please keep the stabs to a minimum. And by minimum, I mean none.

***

I prefer agnostic. True Neutral 'religion' for those DnD fans out there. I respect other religions as long as they respect others as well, a problem I see with some doctrines.

I know some Abrahamic religions sects, Islam and Judaism, believe Jesus lived. They just do not believe he was the messiah. That is the Christan belief.

[SlowlyCrazyIAmGoing]

I'm a kind of a weird point in my life. It's less of a "I'm having problems knowing what to believe" problem so much as a "I'm having trouble getting around to actually following it" thing... wow that sounds so bad after reading it back.

Anyway, I consider myself a logical person too, so when I consider the laws of nature and physics that state that energy cannot be created from nothing by natural means, that means that all energy had to come from somewhere not natural. And for me that solves my "Is there a God" problem. Yes, there is some form of inteligent being that set existance in motion.

I was raised in a Judeo-Christian home and in a non-denominational Christian School all the way up through high school and I've taken my fair share of bible classes. One of which was a Cults class. Yes that sounds bad, but we used the definition "a religion or sect considered to be FALSE, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader" (Dictionary.com "Cult" 6) like in how we believe that every religion other than Christianity to be false and as such it was basically a world religions class. It was actually really funny when a girl in the class said she was talking to a couple of mormons and she quoted a lot of stuff from the class, they were surprised she knew so much about mormonism and asked her where she learned it, she told them it was from her cults class (here in the story telling even our teacher winced) and that kind of spoiled their little chat due to the bad connotation. I digress. Anyway, I remember learning a lot from that class about world religions and how a lot of what they teach doesn't add up. I don't remember many specific examples (convenient for me, I know) but I do believe Christianity solidly based on the New Testiment of the Bible is the only way.

I'm not sure who said it (I'm just a fountain of sourceless information right?), but a quote that I've always liked is "If you want to get rich, start a religion". And there are a lot of religions out there where their founders, and their immediate followers, have gotten REALLY rich, or REALLY powerful REALLY quickly. In the beginning Christian church there was no promise of status, fortune, or prestige. Their nation hated them (Jews), their government hated them (Romans), and they got victimised, tyranised, and terrorised everywhere they went for nothing more than the fact that they believed in something with such a passion with nothing more than the words of a man that they saw die and come back to life after three days who said that he was the only way to God and promised eternal life in Heaven, forgivness of the evil in their hearts, and a purpose to live for. That's something of a reason to believe what they died for, and most of the reason I want to.

[Aniihya]

Most of my germanic ancestors died at the hands of christians because they didnt want to convert. My paganism allows me to honor the gods of my ancestors but I mainly believe in the Sumer/Babylonian pantheon. Pagan religions are very liberal and you arent forced to convert. I just cant believe in one omnipotent god. Before I was pagan I was in a non-trinitarian church called the New Arian (named after Bishop Arian) Church. And about prestige or fortune. My circle is a community, we dont make one person rich for our religion. We use the money to invest in a Pagan community center and give some of the money to the local facilities like a clinic and an orphanage. If you want a confession that is based on the new testament then go to a non-trinitarian church. They are hard to find but they are there.

[Safisan]

I've been reading a lovely book that speaks of the Wicca. Long story short, it depicts how we may find Christ in our lives through virtually anything. In it, there's the example of a mechanic. The guy knows about cars, yes, but he also performs 'magic' (in this book, the definition is 'a bridge between the invisible and visible') in order to fix the vehicle; by staring into it in the beginning, he's speaking a wordless language with it, even if it's unknowingly. Then, he starts to fix it, going first for the part that was damaged.

I used to help give Sunday class, but I found a secular way of serving Christ just recently. I'm sticking to it because it's not only more organized, but there is a clear difference in the lives of the people involved, something I'm afraid the former didn't offer.

Tl;dr, I think you may find a supreme being(s) through any religion/activity so long as does good to yourself and others.

[SlowlyCrazyIAmGoing]

Well for me it's a lot easier to believe in one perfect omnipotent God than to believe that there are several that are basically humans with absolute power and immortality. Correct me if I'm wrong, but with those human traits comes the potential for deciet, betrayal, murder, theft, etc. so how could I trust them?

By non-trinitarian I assume you mean that they are against the belief that God, Son, and Holy ghost are one and the same being? Because that's kind of a staple of what I believe in. Again, correct me if I'm wrong please.

[Aniihya]

The gods arent human they are existant souls with supreme powers and immortality. Only the demigods have flaws like Ereshkigal, the goddess of death. Those who believed in Ereshkigal believed they were her hands but the last religious kill of one of those followers was in Arabia in the 3rd century. If your god, killed the people by floods and killed the people of Sodom and Gomorra, then he is not perfect, he is flawed. If your god hates homosexuals, then he is flawed: Why does he hate and why are they gays then?
In my religion Ki and An, the mother goddess and father god, created everything with a reason. Without people opposing each other and etc. people would probably die of boredness. Without evil, what would be good? Everything and everyone has a destiny.

The non-trinitarian New Arian Church, saw God as the created, Jesus as a warrior sent by god and didnt have a holy ghost but more like every person is linked someway with god. But I rejected the belief of one allpowerful god. Everyone has to find their own belief but I believe a lot of religions have connections.