Soup forgot his password Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 That doesnt make any sense at all. I can think of tens of hundreds of examples where religion boosted the power of the government. Not only that but religion started as the first government and created the first laws and judicial system. How the fuck does less religion equal more government? Thats like saying fewer guns means more war. You need to read more about religion starting with mesopotamians, the indus, etc And religions never did anything towards peace. Merchants and trade routes have always been the ones who establish peace and tollerance amongst different races and religions. Do your homework starting with mongolia. merchants cause world peace throughout history, because they protect anyone among trade routes. Not to mention most of them throughout history were muslims. You gotta look up african kings of timbuktu, the silk road, merchants of the indian sea... But the important part isnt their religion, its that they were merchants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nsmbfan Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 I want to know your stance on all of the above. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it overused? Underused? I've got a lunatic as a roommate who wants me to go to the initiation of his cult called the "Landmark Forum." This is a guy who has been living in my apartment for about a month and really seems latched onto spiritualism to a point where I wonder what the fuck is going on. He never talks about himself except to say "I dated a model" "I did some modeling" basically whatever we're doing his respons is he's done it bigger and better than me, which is funny coming from a lanky software engineer who's about 15 years behind the social skill curb. I would have to do less babysitting if my 16 year old brother came to stay with me, and yet this is the guy who peaches so much about self help, self improvement, spiritualism etc. I've made a lot of different kinds of friends over the years from different backgrounds and the one thing they all had in common was that they couldnt hide who they were. They would tell you every gritty detail of their life, never skipping a chapter, because they felt it was necessary. They needed to articulate aloud their life to make sense of it, and to make sure it made sense to other people as well. They were analytical, logical, very honest, and very generous with their time. That's my ilk. This guy is not one of them. I feel like he's fell into a cult because he is so ashamed of who he is that he needs spiritualism to destroy any sense of self he still has. I think doing that only leads to more pain, alienation, disenfranchisement from society and ultimately more denial and self hatred. This landmark forum thing is supposed to be for rich people who seek self help but the vibe so far (I havent gone to this thing yet) is pretty similar to when i had friends who were in AA. Ive done cognitive therapy before for Social anxiety disorder (not that i ever had it) and have mixed feelings about any self help that is a lot of talk and not actually working on yourself. I think you're better off with a hammer than a self help book, mentally, physically, spiritually. But maybe someone disagrees with me. What's religion, self help books/seminars, spiritualism, etc done for you? I'm wondering what 12oz things, since I'm guessing that we all can relate to this. why do you live in san francisco if you can't afford to live without a tool for a roommate? you do know housing is cheaper in other cool places, right? people who can't help themselves introspectively and rely on outer sources and be all extroverted about how they're helping themselves, including reading a self help book in public and/or talking about it, are fucking hopelessly lost and you should not have them in your circle. religion is there for those who require it. spirituality too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup forgot his password Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 I live here for the job opportunities around San Francisco. The city itself and the people in it could die in a giant earthquake and it wouldn't affect me. Also my rent is fairly inexpensive, considering the amazing location that I live in. $650 beans and my roommate covers the rest. If you ever want to crash in Walnut Creek send me a pm. And religion at this point in history is just fucking laziness. By believing in god and following religion you're basically saying, "I could learn about things that are real but why bother when there's I can just make shit up?" I truly believe that you're setting your entire family and region back into the fucking bronze age by following religion. FOLLOWING religion. I use that word specifically because I dont give a shit if you're part of a religion because people join religions for a lot of reasons... but FOLLOWING a religion is the stupid part. And here's the thing, nobody NEEDS spirtuality or religion. In fact, one of the longest and most economically stable and successful countries in the WORLD has, for the most part, NEVER been religious. CHINA. Those yellow little chinks are some of the smartest, innovative and generally hospitable bunch of folks I've ever met. And yes they pay me to say that, because they're loaded and own everything. In fact let me put it this way: EUROPE throughout history has been killing eachother over religion since before there was a europe. Compared to europe the rest of Eurasia's history has been pretty fucking peaceful. Its mostly been greeks, romans, christians and catholics conquering people for money, or at least trying to. Alexander the Great nation was a fail. Rome was a fail. The crusades were a fail. Hitler's deeply Catholic regime was a fail. And european christian America is a fail too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLovin Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Depends on what your definition of fail is ...... oops did i just pull a clinton with that remark? lol :P EDIT: I thought China was always a Buddhist nation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup forgot his password Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 By european standards Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion. There is no god commanding people to do shit, no church making laws about what is or isnt blasphemy, no taxation on the community, no church with a pastor preaching what is good or bad, no heaven or afterlife that people are trying to get into... It's not like that. And even then buddhism only makes about a third of the population. The government is ardently aetheistic, much like America was supposed to be when it was first founded. We werent supposed to have laws that prohibited gay couples from marrying. Thats a very religious law written into the government. Most of China just follows what is called Confucianism. Confucius, or "Kung Fu Tze" was a philosopher who made up a lot of really good rules to live by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fist 666 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 so my brother and sister in law are paying about $4k a piece to go to this http://www.ellerslie.com/Home.html and my brother quit his job (had been unemployed for almost 2 years) in order to go to this because his faith is so strong...... i'm really speechless and confused about how to react. it pisses me off how selective christians are about jesus' most basic messages, let alone reality. family... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back In 88 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 it's all shit drink smoke fuck don't worry we all end up in thee same place.. Amen. Don't sweat the small stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup forgot his password Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 I just wanted to add to this thread that I never kicked my roommate out, that he's not an all around terrible guy, and that in actuality he's a pretty good roommate. Through him i've met a lot of other first generation Indian immigrants and I've gotta say he's the most outgoing and willing to do venture outside of the cultural indian norm. He doesnt get pissy or do annoying petty things that a lot of my previous roommates do.This could be for a few reasons. He could just not understand the dinosaur shitpiles of sarcasm I throw his way every day. He could just be from a magical place of acceptance and understanding. He could just not be a selfish whiny american. His sikh religion might've taught him to be more understanding than your average american. OR, it could be because of the landmark forum, which he claims has made him into the more outgoing, accepting and competent person he is today. I'm just gonna leave it at that. And I'm not gonna judge anyone who at least checks out Landmark for themselves. ESpecially if they report back and post their experience. I also just wanted to add a few things about Christianity, which really is so fucking similar to Islam it's retarded that American christians would hate the other. Christianity and Islam are so similar that some Muslims actually read the bible and accept christ as the son of god. In the Quran Jesus is a prophet. They both have the same code of ethics, both proselytize in the same way, both support charity in the same way. In fact Christians and Muslims have lived together for thousands of years and this bad blood didnt start until American Texan Christian Politicians like Charlie Wilson fucked up relations. I know a lot of americans believe that quran believes in supporting terrorism, but believe me Charlie Wilson did more to fund terrorism than Bin Laden. If you are an american christian and you hate muslims you need to rethink some things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walter White Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 look at this dude thinking his christ and his followers.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup forgot his password Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 I watched that before, and what shocks me is how Vice is so fucking stupid to have missed the biggest thing: No use for currency, no capitalism, no drugs, and a god-like leader? That's fucking Stalinism, Communism, Socialism, etc. People misuse he term "atheist" all the time. If you worship a dictator, you're not a fucking atheist. I want to punch Vice journalists in the face so fucking for their anti-intellectual pseudo-gonzo crap reportage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLovin Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Does anyone have an opinion about what happened to the folks in waco texas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fist 666 Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 what happened in waco has nothing to do with cults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friend of The Devil Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 I personally feel that people should be allowed to partake in whatever religious and/or spiritual practices they wish as long as it's not hurting another individual or groups of individuals. In China there's a lot of oppression against a sect of Quigong that became popular at the beginning of the 90's and the Chinese government is jailing, torturing, mutilating, and even murdering people for practicing it. Jail sentences of up to 18 years and removal of internal organs for practices of peaceful meditation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLovin Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKQLbFfRF4s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua17 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 New agers arent any different from religious fanatics...any obsession beyond self can lead to the same irratic or irrational behavior. Some of my "new age " friends and acquaintances are pushy with their beliefs and views just as much as religious nuts. Extreme in any direction is a no-muthafuckin-no. I'm all for spirituality, I believe in God but ultimately, just don't be an asshat and be kind, and love others. Cults are kind of cool to study though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLovin Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Great interview with ex-moonie Steven Hassan http://theunexplained.tv/paranormal-podcasts/edition-103-steve-hassan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CancerDancer Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 the thing i respect about religion is that almost everyone who participates in it feels at home. they have something to look forward to in life and can go to it anytime they want. the same reason why i see some religious people more happy than non religious people. i know religion creates narrow minded fucks but who gives a fuck if theyre clueless on whats going on if theyre happy thats all that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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