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A Religious Thread

Pete in Panama

Pete in Panama

Well-Known Member
Truthseeker said:
Yesterday evening I hosted a discussion about the Most Holy Tablet (also known as the Tablet to the Christians) by Baha'u'llah. Tonight with some friends we will be discussing God's Plan for Planet Earth by John Hatcher. Both on Zoom. I love the era of Zoom. With Zoom I can interact with Baha'is from every corner of the USA, and even from Panama. Specifically @Pete in Panama. He occasionally with others attends my Saturday afternoon Zoom meetings where we for a long period discussed the Hidden Words by Baha'u'llah, then we moved more recently on with my Sermon on the Mount series where I put side by side the Sermon on the Mount and Baha'i Writings. I was doing interfaith devotions every week, but due to overload and fear that I'll run out out of material in two years, I'm now starting to do that every other week. That way, when when I may run out of material in four years nobody will notice the difference.
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huh, u made Panama seem so far away but the reason I showed up was because I felt so much at home. A big part of my recent absence was there was a guy I needed to meet up w/ at the same time (local here) but he now has some other commitment so maybe I can get to be back again.
 
InChrist

InChrist

Free4ever
O
Trailblazer said:
That is also a Baha'i belief. Just as Christians relate to God through Jesus, Baha'is relate to God through Baha'u'llah.

3: O SON OF MAN! Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.

4: O SON OF MAN! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.”

5: O SON OF BEING! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.

The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 4
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Oh okay, I must have misunderstood what you were saying previously. I thought you didn’t like your religion and were feeling some kind of disunity or lack of peace between your spiritual and material life.
 
Yerda

Yerda

Veteran Member
JustGeorge said:
Just to even things out around here, I thought I'd create a thread about... well, religion. And how its affecting you currently in your daily life. (And I mean you, not the guy next to you, or your country, or your dog's squirrel friend.)

What's going on in your religious life? Examining any scriptures, or reading any religious texts? Find a new bhajan? Have an upcoming ritual? Taking part in your church's community? Content with your beliefs, or re-examining? How are things, religiously speaking?
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I've been reading and listening to little bits and bobs on hinduism, taoism, buddhism and paganism. Someone here recommended a book on paganism as a decent intro and I've read about half of it.

Also I don't know if it counts but I'm planning on visiting a local synagogue. My other half's granny was Jewish so we were going to have a look and see if we could find anything in their archives about her family. Also the building is nice.
 
Trailblazer

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
InChrist said:
Oh okay, I must have misunderstood what you were saying previously. I thought you didn’t like your religion and were feeling some kind of disunity or lack of peace between your spiritual and material life.
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It's not that I don't like my religion, it's just that I am not that comfortable with religious practices, since I was not raised in any religion...
It's not really a disunity or lack of peace between my spiritual and material life, it is an angst about the material life, which I have never been comfortable with, and it is much worse since my husband passed on and I am left alone to deal with the exigencies of everyday life.
 
metis

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
InChrist said:
I believe God desires a relationship with each person, rather than religion.
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Then why is "church" used 109 times in the NT? What about Jesus's statement "When two or more..."? Why did he appoint Apostles and tell the Flock to obey them?

Christianity is not a "Just do it yourself" practice.
 
Truthseeker

Truthseeker

Non-debating member when I can help myself
Trailblazer said:
I think you are being too black and white about this. Not everyone who truly sacrifices gets joy out of it. That is overly simplistic and does not take other factors of a person's life into consideration.

Even if I am mad about it, that doesn't mean it is not my spiritual side that is driving me. Moreover, I do not suffer without feeling joy at the same time. I suffer materially, but not spiritually, but suffering is suffering!

"O Thou Who art the Image of the Most Merciful! How long will it be ere Thou riddest me of the captivity of this world, and deliverest me from the bondage of this life?"

It sure doesn't sound like Baha'u'llah was 'joyful' in His sacrifice. That's how I feel. As I have told you before, if it was not for the cats there would be nothing I would want to keep living for, but I have to go on living anyway since I don't believe that committing suicide is the right thing to do and I don't believe it is a way out, since I might take my anguish with me.
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Endeavoring not to be mad at God, or whatever, for saying we should serve mankind and the Baha'i Faith is an attitude we should take. I think what I said missed the point in that regard. It doesn't help your well-being to be mad about the path you are taking, and I hope that you can work things out sometime in the future so you are not that way. I don't know if a therapist would help who doesn't believe in the Baha'i Faith. I don't really see within your psychology well enough. If you did it out of love that would help, but I don't know your motivation right now. I can't tell you how to get to the place where you do it out of love either.
 
Truthseeker

Truthseeker

Non-debating member when I can help myself
Sgt. Pepper said:
I never liked the religion of Christianity when I was a Christian, but I felt trapped in it, so I was shackled in emotional bondage to it for the majority of my life. I feel like I was imprisoned, but only my cell door was always open, and it took me a long time to realize that I could leave whenever I wanted to. I never once felt "freedom in Christ" or genuine peace in my life, as other Christians claimed to experience in theirs. Christianity was a prison for me, but I'm now free of it. I finally freed myself from Christian indoctrination (emotional manipulation and psychological bondage) after spending the majority of my life trapped in it. I feel no more shame for allegedly sinning against God or allow myself to be guilt-tripped by Christians accusing me of sinning against God or accusing me of being a sinner, and I no longer fear any alleged future wrath or judgment from the biblical God or going to hell either. I've been practicing Wicca for awhile now, and more recently, Druidry, and it has been a liberating and positive experience for me. I don't feel pressured to obey or appease any particular god, nor do I feel threatened by any god. Other than saving myself from abuse when I was a teenager, I cannot think of anything more empowering than finally understanding that I don't have to believe in the biblical God or follow Christianity or any other deity or religion in order to feel emotionally whole or make moral decisions in my life. I don't want to make these same mistakes with my current spiritual beliefs, so I keep them in a rational perspective. I'm well aware of the potential emotional downfalls I could face from being overly trusting in spiritual beliefs or in any god (or other deities). My beliefs are important to me, but not to the extent that I rely on them or that I feel like I can't make a decision about something without them.
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Christian theology is messed up. It has been for a long time.
 
Trailblazer

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
Truthseeker said:
Endeavoring not to be mad at God, or whatever, for saying we should serve mankind and the Baha'i Faith is an attitude we should take. I think what I said missed the point in that regard. It doesn't help your well-being to be mad about the path you are taking, and I hope that you can work things out sometime in the future so you are not that way. I don't know if a therapist would help who doesn't believe in the Baha'i Faith. I don't really see within your psychology well enough. If you did it out of love that would help, but I don't know your motivation right now. I can't tell you how to get to the place where you do it out of love either.
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I am not mad at God, but sometimes I am mad at life in the material world, and to the extent that I see God responsible for that life, sometimes I cannot separate the two.

My counselor tries to help me with my anxiety about material things and my situation of being alone, that is what her job is.

I have problems with love, big problems. I could psychoanalyze why I have those problems, but what's the point? It doesn't change how I feel.
I know I love the cats, but that is a very special kind of love. I don't know if I am capable of loving God the way you seem to think I should love God, but I am capable of caring about truth and doing my duties towards God and people. My motivation right now is out of duty.
 
Truthseeker

Truthseeker

Non-debating member when I can help myself
Trailblazer said:
No, I don't have 10 cats anymore. 6 of those 10 passed on :( but I was able to find 4 more to adopt and buy, so now I have 8.
It is @JustGeorge who has 10.
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It has been a good amount of time since one died. I'm glad for that.

Sara and I were just talking about "Born Free" which was about a pet lion that was released back into the wild. I watched the movie and was very touched by that. At the time I had a great love for cats, especially Softpaw, who was alive at the time. My love for cats isn't the same any more. Softpaw seems to crowd out all other cats in my heart. We loved each other. I loved Softpaw more than my family.

What do you love about Persian cats?
 
Truthseeker

Truthseeker

Non-debating member when I can help myself
JustGeorge said:
Lucky, Yodel(aka Cow-Cow), Quesa, Kore, Cub, Troy, Nina, Lamar, Swatty, Mustachio(aka Stupid).
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Lamar Jackson is the quarterback of my favorite team in any sport, The Baltimore Ravens. I'm wearing a Lamar Jackson T-shirt as I write this. I don't suppose that that is the inspiration behind the name of one of your cats.
 
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