While I find my own words crude on this topic, Jesus has already succinctly answered your questions better than I could: "Unless you become like little children, you cannot know the meaning of Life, for your minds must be cleared of the falsehoods of this realm if you are to be taught Eternal Truth."......What! having a catholic priest putting his hand up my shorts, lol, I don't think that type of Eternal Truth is what Iam looking for:) But jokes A-side, The old religions or new, have Nothing to do with truth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPAC_cGVnUg&feature=related

If religion is your type of truth, Knock yourselves out:)

Peace and all that jazz.

LEAP

*GROAN*

The point of this article was simple: the wording of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, if adopted by the world's nations, will have the effect of elevating all of nature into a legally protected domain from which many new laws and regulations will be used to restrict and control our lives to the point of of our incredulousness.

As a metaphor, 'Mother Nature' is a beautiful thing that certainly deserves our respect and care, but as a recognised legal entity it is frought with great risks to the freedoms and rights of individuals and societies.

All this poppycock drivel about 'life energy' and the true nature of gods/godesses or the existence of some fantastical 'human soul' is merely further anecdotal evidence that anti-scientific religiosity is rampant in the minds of the ever expanding collective ignorance.

I support the tenet of freedom of religion, but only if that also justly includes freedom FROM religion.

"I support the tenet of freedom of religion, but only if that also justly includes freedom FROM religion........ Collin Mullane, you of course have every right to say so....I think:)

The United Nations are looking at the future forecasts of human development and the Human-rights lobby are backing the thoughts
in relation to evidence produced by independent analysis on the
effects of what religion is having, with some/area/people in the 21 century.

The question I ask..........is it time to play down religions universal calls, that it claims to have on all.

Last time I checked, I was born as free as you were.

LEA

QuantumLeap,

Nobody forces you to be religious in the 21st century other than your inherent and innermost loving nature.

(in fact, nobody could ever force anyone to be religious: we know of course that people through the ages were forced to follow certain rituals and external acts, or to declare allegiance to certain religious orders - I strongly condemn all that, but none of it could actually make anyone religious against their will, it could at most turn people into actors)

If you truly want to be free from religion, then you have some hard work ahead:

You will, for example, need to stop loving your parents. You will in fact need to stop loving anyone, and hate everyone instead. You will need to banish any sign of goodness and become a mocking clown like the guy in your URL, you will indeed need to become a demon lest a glimpse of God's light penetrate through your defenses. Anything short of that might draw you closer to God, or in other words make you religious - which you seem to abhor.

No matter how hard you try and how much pain and suffering you inflict in the short term on yourself and others, in the end God will win.

Goodness is stronger than evil;
love is stronger than hate;
light is stronger than darkness;
life is stronger than death;
Victory is ours through God who loves us.

- Desmond Tutu

Yuyutsu.

I could verbally hack you to pieces for that ridiculous groupings of rubbish, however.....religion did teach man to love in its own way. See, not all are the blood thirsty war-lords my friend, and some religions were found be the bloodiest. The teachings of love, is a patent of nature its selves and some religions have capitalized on this, and now the real evil, are the big one's that run it.....not the little guys:)

See! the little guys I support, the more love in this world would be commended not demoted or ex-spelled. " and Iam trying as I've wrote years ago to tell people like yourselves, " The Bible was the first type of law and order that stopped humankind from being and continuing to be a savage beast." and further more.....it moved mankind ahead so rapidly in evolutionary terms, with out it......I think war and warriors would be still the norm.

Again! If all religions were a substance of love.....I think you would hear a pin drop from the other side of the world.

But we dont do we:)

LEA

Lea,

I am so glad you spared my life!

"Religion" is spelled: R-E-L-I-G-I-O-N, no "S" in the end.
Like "water" and "air", if you attempt to make it plural it comes to change its meaning.

Religion is not a product of culture, it is not a product of historical development, it is not subject to change, it even pre-dates the bible, it even pre-dates mankind - it is in fact born with the universe, hand-in-hand.

Historically, various religious orders were created in order to interpret religion and apply it as best they can to current conditions and circumstances. Some were more successful than others while others did abysmally.

Sadly, it is the nature of even the best religious teachings to degenerate over time and lose their original spirit. Jesus for example came and found that Judaism has lost contact with God and degenerated into petty technical rituals and ethnic/class prejudice. He then revived its spirit as best as he could, at a great personal expense as we all know, but then I don't need to tell you what horrible acts were made 1000 years later in the name of Christianity. Buddha also admitted that in 500 years his teachings will degenerate to the extent that his followers could no longer become enlightened.

Fortunately, the way to God is never blocked for those who sincerely want Him. One need not call it "religion", it is not even required to have an intellectual concept of God, or one could use different concepts just the same. The reality is God, there is no other reality and we all are heading there, each in their own pace.