Why do we need God to be happy? Why should the only reason people be nice to each other be because a Deity is watching you? I mean if God is necessary to keep the public relatively civil, then so be it, because I too feel I will be "rewarded" through good acts.
I will admit, that I do not know a lot about Judaism, Brim, so I do not know how to comment on that.
Karma or Heaven would be nice, but I really think life just moves easier for me and other by being "nice" and understanding. To evolve as a human, you should not need ancient writings and rituals to tell you what is right.
J-Dude said:
What the Hell hapenned to this forum? Isn't this supposed to be a DBZ forum? Where's the DBZ threads? Why does this forum resemble an ultra-left wing forum that talks about video games, the news, science advancements, politics and "why religion is a useless societal husk, regardless of the promise of life after death"?
I'm starting to get irritated (not at you though) of the idea that this is "just a DBZ forum". The fact is, the crowd that came here solely for DBZ has severely diminished. Though I still like DBZ, the rest of us have found other things to talk about. Why not go to a specific board for such discussions? Because I do not know those people as well and it's too formal. You for instance. I feel much more comfortable talking about politics with a guy who I was just agreeing on about a future video game.
But I know the question in your head is
"Why do these people actively reject religion?"
I think Alea made the best point in her first post. I am not ultra liberal really. Hell I may be a moderate liberal. But I do believe that it is
extremely bold to claim
"God Exist Because The Faith Tells Us He Does" or "There is no scientific evidence of God, so therefore he does not exist".
I do not believe in a God where he lives in the grounds with a long beard and robe. A God that will send you to fire if you kiss a man. A God who conveniently happened to make his declarations in the far past.
I strongly feel there is this force "governing" life, time, and what have you, but it is far more complicated than what religion teaches us. I believe religion is a stand in for our inability to comprehend the "true" God.
Now the purpose of the following statement is not to say "Why you are wrong/Why we are right" but why we believe this way. I don't want to speak for everyone here, but I have lived most of my life without guidance from God. I see these preachers and religious politicians on T.V. try to justify things through God, and then I have people say that they are exploiting/misinterpreting the teachings. Then I think to myself "Things would be so much easier if they were speaking for themselves, and not hiding behind God".
We have a curious generation, J-dude. Shoot we have a curious species. We've launched a man in space, cracked the human genome, and enabled a way for someone in Japan to talk to me in a manner of seconds. We like to experiment. But, when we ask about irrational tendencies of religion, the answer is "because he said so".
Now come on. You have to see why that is such an absurd claim to certain people. After all the work we have done through learning, to expect people to believe in "just do it, no questions ask" is insulting. And what's even more irritating, is how popular religion can be and that there are
actual people in power who do not question it.
I am not cynical, so I don't think "Religion causes wars. It's bad and primitive", but yeah the above paragraph states my personal reason for questioning the versions of God that exist in religions.
Oh, I forgot about this tid bit
Scientology
I think the general consensus here is that Scientology is downright silly...But why?
We dismiss the stories of Scientology, such as a galactic space emperor, jets, and "Thetans" as nonsense. Why is a man splitting the sea not nonsense? Or a lake of never-ending fire plausible? Why do the "real" religions have to be limited to the imagery that was useful in the time the religion was formed? Do shepherds, fire, animals, and floods have more credibility than jets, aliens, and volcanoes just because they are not contemporary?
Ugh..I never want to defend Scientology again.