Is being Religious a part of being Successful

Religion and spirituality are two competley separate things. Religion can be a vehicle to spirituality but does not always achieve spirituality.

Being spiritual, connected and the knowing that you are not just a body existing in time is absolutely needed for success. It’s needed for inner connection and happiness and happiness creates wealth and success.

Not only are we not our bodies but time does not exist either - this realisation has nothing to do with blind worship of some external male god thing

 

Ultimately like I've said multiple.times before im not anti religion in any way but just like any other group or institution with such significant influence, all religions must be held to a high standard and be held accountable should there be unacceptable behaviour in any way

The discussion around validity of tax exempt status is one we should be able to have without such a defensive reaction as it is literally taking money away from every person in this.country in order to support a select minority and just like we discuss welfare or negative geariny or any other major government expenditure, so should this be discussed.

If that makes you genuinrly believe im anti religion then it's appears you wish for all religions to operate pretty much unchecked and immune to criticism, while enjoying the benefits of being tax exempt and continually attempting to influence the laws and policies of this country outside of their church/mosque/temple and regardless of if the person affected is a follower of that religion or not.
Welll that's not going to happen in 2017

 

Many Pentecostal wealth celebration churches are only there to generate cash for themselves. And with it they buy vast tracts of real estate and their founders travel the world first class to "minister" to their flock.

 

Again, why people have an issue is the fact it's run like a business for profit but uses tax laws designed for "regular" places of worship that are actually community and altruistic driven. You're right, it's a choice for you to go and them to teach you but society at large should not have to pay for it

 

Although in English god is often referred to 'he' , an interesting fact (once you get studying into kabalah) that most dont know is that in Judaism god is not male or female, but is both genders at the same time.

 

Speak for yourself @Pentanol. I am a man of faith and I respect followers of all religions. I have close friends from many different faiths whom I respect and always try to learn a thing or two about their religion just as they do mine.

It's clearly evident that you are passionate about your religion and I can honestly respect that. But when you use insults and name calling to win an argument it pretty much makes your points null and void in my view.

You've stated in an earlier post that Christianity is more powerful as there's only one God whereas other religions require many Gods to do the job of just one. This I found to be disrespectful hence my earlier reply. I have no issues with everything else you've said as I have nothing to contribute to that discussion.

Lastly, if you do believe your God to be superior to all others claimed by other faiths then by all means go ahead. You wouldn't be the first person I've come across to say that. But please don't accuse us all of having a lack of respect and disdain for people of faith... because I don't.

 

In Judaism , fundamentally we believe as long as your a good person ( dont kill, rob, adultery and a few more general stuff, the major bad stuff most ppl dont do anyway) then you will find your way to 'heaven'. Judaism does NOT believe or require that all other ppl from different faiths etc need to become Jewish in order to have a spiritual connection in life and go to 'heaven'.

 

Thank you Leo. I actually learned about this from a young Israeli lad my friend and I met while backpacking in South East Asia many moons ago. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn of the many similarities in our faiths that people usually (and conveniently) forget when discussing religion and always concentrate on the differences.

 

I think fundamentally all religions are the same they are lost souls seeking a meaning and damaged beings trying to put a meaning on to something that cannot be defined by a damage mind. We Don’t have the consciousness to define God we can only create religions that do nothing but control people using a damaged emotion idea of God created through ego.

I’m not arguing that ancient Scriptures have no meaning I’m arguing that are damaged being that runs through ego cannot see a meaning. Not yet

 

I think that "religion" is a community for kind, loving but damaged people to hang around together supporting one another. All nice and sweet until some human comes along, makes themself the "leader" and corrupts the party.

From my nearly 50 years of experience and questioning (analysing) everything in the religions i have explored, I have concluded (sciency stuff here) this:
We come to a place in our personal development when we outgrow the warm-fuzzies that one can get through participation in a religious community. At this point we can stay trapped in the same mindset as our peers, or we must leave that group and continue on our own journey. As investors we know that we have to surround ourselves with like-minded people, and so we need to leave the religious kindergarten and move forward.

On my own journey, I left some pretty "nice and cosy" social clubs and moved onto the Pentecostal club. Here I learned so much more, and I am very grateful for this. I practise all the good stuff, rejecting the few not-so-good sections from their rule book. After a while I had to leave that party too, it was also cramping my style. The moment I was offered a paid position on their staff, along with the whole sign on the dotted line papers, I was out of there.

 

I understand your view point @Xenia and whilst I don't share similar beliefs, I can understand how many people come to similar conclusions as yourself. Regardless, I respect all people's beliefs (within reason of course, ISIS would be a no no) as long as they respect my right to have my own too.

 

I lived and served in Israel (though I'm not Israeli) and it was an eye opening experience. If I hadn't lived and served and seen the situation first hand, I maybe would have been swayed by some left anti Israel world media. But I know now (for certain) just how raw a deal Israel gets and what they have to contend with on a daily basis.. Anyway I'm way off topic.

 

Tell me where I used insults or name calling? I called sanj a baiter because he tried to get understand my skin by saying that his not so sure everyone will agree with what Dave said about cover ups. I also said he should ashamed of himself because he used a journalist as his reference and the journalist does not even have a reference for their figures. I also says he comes across as stupid and inaccurate for not using better sources. Thus I have a reason for saying all these things.

As for my God being superior that's my way of choosing the religion I have, it's got nothing to do with disrespect for other religion. I also did not say all of you have a disrespect for people of religion, I said most. I can say that a fair few of you want the government to double dip in taxing the church where they raise money from people who are already taxed and how do you think people who are not property investors feel about all the concessions we get? We tell them it's their choice for not using it and this is what I tell you too; where a lot of you have said that church cover up abuse when what we've seen especially in recent years that every industry has done the same thing and yes churches should know better but they are humans like everyone; that believing in religion is irrational when it's probably mostly done by the most risk averse individuals please my argument on the Pascal's wager.

Obviously I'm not saying everyone are like this but I've summarise most people's view on religion.

 

I thought isis is just the USA army not a religion

 

I was talking about ISIS's beliefs. With regards to ISIS being USA army... I'm not exactly sure what you mean.. but I can take a guess.

jeez, isn't property/making money a lot more fun to discuss

 

Agree. In fact religiosity spoils the spirituality of religions.

I’d rather be scientific and materialistic than religious. But I’d rather be spiritual than scientific and materialistic.

Disagree. Spirituality isn’t needed for success. Some people can be both evil and successful.

Some others can be both spiritual and successful but spirituality is best achieved through the lack of motivation for material success.

Wholeheartedly agree. The diversity of faiths hide their common heritage. May I add that people can also be spiritual without following any faith.

Absolutely true for me too. Each of us will ultimately have to travel the journey on our own. Even long loved scriptures will have to be discarded and their meaning rediscovered through our personal inner experience.

ISIS is an example of religiosity being practised to the extreme.

 

Most hilarious thread ever, thanks for the laughs

 

My issue was when you called him 'stupid' and something else which I cannot recall at the moment. These posts have now been removed by the Mods for obvious reasons.

I understand you're generalising here but with regards to us wanting the government to double-dip in taxing the church or having a go at the church for covering up abuse etc, I have personally not engaged you in these topics for the simple reason that my knowledge here is quite minimal and the last thing I'm going to do is make stuff up just to win an argument.

That was all.

 

Didn't know this, thanks for info. Sikhism has a similar approach of accepting and respecting other faiths without compelling it's followers to try and convert others, which is something I've always felt uncomfortable about with some faiths.

Eg all Sikh temples are open to everyone anytime to visit, grab a meal etc and no one will ever turn you away, question your faith, attempt to convert you if not sikh and there is no need to contribute financially

I suspect that's also partly at least a sign of when it was founded, just like many churches have moved forward with the times , be it with non Christians participating in christenings or it's views re divorce, gay people etc, Sikhism being only a few hundred years old and having the benefit of having the ability to be influenced by other religions in some way probably explains the lack of overly harsh and hard and fast rules. Eg im sure no matter how religious someone is they'd probably not really consider wearing a cotton and polyester shirt ot eating prawns to be as sinful as committing murder but 2000 years ago there was a different time

 

@Pentanol again I ask that if you are to refer to myself.or my posts you do so in context of the discussion and try to be factual. I have made no assumptions about you and have kept discussion purely to the topic at hand, as well as provided the basis for my.claims or links to the evidence.