I am going to assume that you mean those from their OWN religion agree with and abide by their traditions. I am not religious, but I am Jewish by heritage and I do not abide with all of the Jewish traditions. Some are quite silly. I strongly disagree with some traditions of other faiths, such as those that degrade women or limit the freedoms that all humans should have. My rules are the original Ten Commandments...A few that I have broken at various times. I don't think any of the commandments said 'Thou shalt not eat pork or lobster.' All other laws are human and many of them are stupid.
In atheism there are no weird or absurd beliefs that could make it qualify as a religion even though some people do claim atheism is a religion.
This post was edited by Kittigate at October 25, 2017 5:28 PM MDT
Am not into Religion. Problem with Religions is that they only talk about God without giving you a direct experience of God. They keep you locked within the thought realm and one can never experience God through thought. That being said I prefer a direct experience of God through Meditation.
Religions tell you what RELIGION CLAIMS God has done so far, with each religion having different claims. They cannot all be right but they can all be wrong.
I questioned them plenty. Absurdity upon absurdity, in most every case; based on folklore or hearsay without basis in fact or reason, without fail.
Religion is for those lacking the intiative to question, to fulfill a need to believe. There is too much obvious agenda of controlling the minds of the masses under a pretense of spirituality.
I personally have no use for spurious rituals to honor mythical characters. Life is too short to spend on your knees talking to yourself.
This post was edited by Don Barzini at October 25, 2017 5:34 PM MDT
"and money which does not appeal to me." --------- wow, when you reach that level of religious practice they call it asceticism.
Just joking, just joking. Seriously though, couldn't you strip off harmful "mind control and money" from religion and then follow it, if those are your two objections?
No, that would be like rubbing salt in my eye. I can have a relationship with God without all the BS. If it works for others that is fine. We all have to do what gets us thru the day.
one hears the sentiment expressed in your second statement so much these days that if the number of people subscribing to it were to be considered as a sect then it must be one of the fastest growing ones.
Q "Each religion has it own traditions that no one questions however absurd it may sound. What are yours?"
I just dropped in to say that although traditions can have downsides that often make them appear quite absurd or laughable they can have upsides that are very uplifting or beneficial in many other ways. For example, the tradition of getting together 22 adults on a field, some of whom are paid exorbitant sums of money, to kick about a spherical sealed leather ball filled with compressed air, can seem quite absurd but the fact that people eagerly buy tickets, travel long distances and pack stadiums to watch the adults doing so, indicates the pleasure they get out of it. Soccer football, they say, is more than a game. It is a religion.
I am inclined to agree with you on the religious aspect of soccer, having attended several 'old firm' matches between Glasgow Rangers and their main opposition Celtic, I can confirm that religion does enter into it, when the lunatics take over the asylum. However this palls in comparison with the Aztec ball game which had a lot of ritual significance. It was mean to mirror the ball court of the heavens, this being the ball court of the underworld where the sun passed each night. The game represented the battle between day and night, and so was also related to the human blood sacrifices that were intended to keep the sun moving in the sky.
It is said that the ball represented the head of a sacrificed victim. In Tenochtitlan, the ball court was at the foot of the blood stained stairs of the temple, and the ball game itself would often be a scene of sacrifice. It is believed that the losing coach, or even the whole team, might be sacrificed. Some historians have disputed this - because it was an honour to be sacrificed, it may have been the winning team that lost their lives.
Interesting. I can imagine that "it was an honour to be sacrificed" considering the sacrifice was regarded to be to the ultimate and for a great cause and benefit. That's one of the things that puzzles me about the claimed sacrifice of Jesus. Surely, the God, the cause and the benefits in the case of Jesus were all far, far greater, so the honour should have been far, far greater too. Instead there was no honour at all. There was earnest praying and pleading by Jesus to be saved from the death !!!
I was thinking you were just asking what are your personal beliefs and traditions and it was starting to get me thinking because I don't follow any religion. I suppose I could have infinite beliefs about things. They would be my own personal beliefs about human welfare, kindness, behaviour, animals... Traditions... This is going to make me think a bit. I was brought up Christian. I didn't really believe that Mary was a virgin. I actually don't know an awful lot about the faith, certainly not about the bible. I only read about a page of it. A tradition is a repeated action recognising something I suppose that's been going for quite a while. Really I don't have any traditions in my life except for Christmas, just being what it is in this country. Gift giving. There isn't a same thing that happens every year now. There used to be more, but no religious ones really. I don't believe any of them were absurd and I expect most people here who followed a tradition wouldn't unless it was some religion somewhere that they had no choice of following or partaking in and in which they didn't really believe. I am interested in Paganism and I view some of the rituals in that as strange, but I don't have to follow or do certain set things, it's all very flexible and even the definition of a pagan can be argued.
Baba 