I am God and that's kind of what we do

:hee:

We also smite and sh1t

My "who said God was invisible" was a rhetorical question, not directed at anyone. :fist:

I responded to a comment you made about "total flakes" to which you said that's exactly why the religions were created, for flakes. So, yes you did.

This is what I stated 'allowing many to be total flakes in the vain hope that the cloak of religion is enough to cover any and all flaws.

I said many not all. I also said people like that didn't I?

I believe religions are institutions of power and greed like many organisations and run like a business.
I also think they are a cover for those who don't have the godliest of intentions too...Not all you understand, just to clarify.

No, you insinuated that religions were specifically CREATED for those flaky followers. Not that all of their followers were flaky.

I questioned that to clarify and you then responded with "Bingo!".

You still haven't answered my follow up question of why religions want these flaky people and not the devout ones?

.

This is what I am referring to.

The main reason they are invisible is because they don't exist

Yeah, kind of like oxygen. :hee:

This, in a nutshell.

I don't pretend to understand the mysteries of the universe and I don't completely reject the idea of some sort of intelligent creative force.

I do completely reject the idea of God (capital G), Allah, Jesus, Zeus, Vishnu, etc.

Organised religion is a power scam that feeds on people's insecurities and fears. Nothing more, nothing less. Anything written in a "holy book" of any description is deliberate bull**** or, at the ABSOLUTE best, human guesswork.

The arrogance and blinkeredness necessary to follow any organised religion is mind-boggling to me. You not only have to insist that YOUR super-special religion is the right one denouncing all others (there are hundreds, probs thousands of minor ones) but you also have to shut yourself off to an entire Universe of infinite unknown possibility. WHY anyone would want to do that is beyond me.

Not really.
I'd say the majority of religious people are anything but arrogant and a hell of a lot of them respect other religions and just find it simply different people/cultures interpreting and worshipping the same force/being.

Much like how we're all humans who communicate with each other. In a multitude of different kinds of spoken/written/acted languages but still all essentially the same.

'Yeah, let's create a religion with strict moral codes and some even with clothing and food restrictions' This is what I said bingo to, it's pretty much what I was thinking.

Again ..I said many not all. I also said people like that didn't I? Not all obviously but I think it is exploitative imo.
Generationally then you have a devotion to the religion but not god, the need to be recognised as one of many guises supersedes the main objective.

Well you breathe something else and see how you go

:hee:

Wow LT you've got it sussed! :rolleyes: Soo... What's the point of this thread then? Just another excuse to bash religion?

No. You've not answered why these religions are designed for the flaky ones?

Why they purposely create rules simply for them to be broken by the flaky people.

Laughing gas is amazing.

:clap1:

Nah true arrogance is the people that believe that someone's decision to live in faith has anything to do with them rather than the person choosing to go on a journey for themselves. Yes Christians have their opinions but so does everyone else. You either agree or you don't.

Shut ourselves off to an universe of infinite unknown possibilities like what? Aliens? Creating robots that have their own minds? What possibilities are you referring to?

Am i to not have an opinion?

No one has said why gods are invisible yet?

Yeah, there's many questions in the universe that nobody on earth can yet answer, so how is that proof of anything? :unsure:

They are organisations of social control, they have set rules some people like rules, they have leaders some like to be lead and they have community ( as long as you remain within the remit of the religion on the surface you're fine) many also like this.

Those rules are then bent, stretched, re written,re imagined or simply broken at will. As long as it's either seen to be acceptable by established church leaders or other recognised religion advocating organisation (government) that's fine.
Or you keep it to yourself.

What you're saying is that religious people accept that there is an unknown / unknowable "greater force" in a very general sense and that the rest of each holy book is simply made-up human fluff.

Made up by people.

Feeding on people's inherent spirituality, as a method of power and control.

Either that or they think that all of the others are worhipping the same force but "in the wrong way, and theirs is actually the correct way". Otherwise, why subscribe to one?

If people really do accept that all are worhipping the same being, why not simply accept that it isn't one dumbed-down, defined deity described by any organised religion? But, as I said, some unknown, unknowable creative force in a universe of infinite possibility.

This is a pretty good illustration of why people are religious, I think.

He doesn't exist that's why

Like?