different way of viewing religions

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One, this was just a theory, I never once stated it to be absolute fact. There is no harm in discussing ****THEORIES***.
Aliens on earth is a theory, but I can almost guarantee that the UN is a totalitarian organization headed in the direction of world domination, rather the aliens are here or not.

But my post wasn't supposed to have anything to do with conspiracy or aliens, which is why I TRIED to get this discussion back on track. My post is supposed to be about rather there is another way to interpret modern religions scientifically and metaphorically.

The "United" Nations is not unanimous enough to make a very effective totalitarian regime, snake321. Of course the presence of extraterrestrials on earth is at this stage a hypothesis rather than a statement of fact proven beyond reasonable doubt. You have raised some interesting theories. Incidentally, though, the Big Bang was, in currently accepted scientific opinion, the origin of the universe, not just the solar system.

Interesting theory on Satan being an allegorical embodiment of the human sub-conscious mind. In some movements branded heretical by what became the dominant orthodoxy in Christianity, the devil was associated with the creation of the "flesh" and indeed of material reality, only the spirit being directly created directly created by God in this view. There was an influence from Platonist, or Neo-Platonist, philosophy in some of this dichotomy between spirit and flesh. Augustine of Hippo, a fifth century theologian in North Africa, while generally considered comparatively orthodox, was also influenced by Neo-Platonism - he had actually been a Manichaean earlier in his life before embracing Catholic Christianity(NB long before Reformation, therefore Roman Catholic would be anachronistic; the distinction is over and against Protestants, those using the Nicene Creed still describing themselves as believing in "one, holy, Catholic (in the sense of universal) and Apostolic church; Augustine was earlier than even the schism between the Western Catholic and Eastern, specifically Byzantine, Orthodox Churches, itself taking place centuries earlier than the Reformation).

Interesting points raised on Buddhism. There selfish desires are the cause of suffering. A fairly accurate diagnosis. My issues, raised in another topic thread, were more with the cure which seemed overly optimistic about human nature. This was the common feature between the utterly diverse strands of Buddhism, Marxist socialism, and the philosophy of your nemesis, Awesomelyglorious that puzzled you and him earlier. You could equally retort that Christianity's, particularly Protestantism's emphasis on Grace over Law is capable of being misconstrued by many individual Christians as an excuse for moral laxity. In practise, of course, Protestants are just as capable of the reverse extreme of excessive legalism as anyone else. I hope you do not regard these diverse points as too off topic.

I think you're absolutely right, religions are paths to the same goal but are basically distorted and, as you say, taken too literally and so fail to work as they intend themselves to do: invariably people start to take the religion as the ends rather than the means, dogma takes over and conflict is the inevitable result

the Ancient Egyptians, I believe, set the world up with religion as a means of salvation for the human race but we fail to take advantage of this due to the human propensity to power and self-aggrandisement, (whether the Egyptians got their wisdom from an alien source I don't know although personally I think it's plausible)

anyway, religions at their best (or should I say human beings at their best) work towards a self-transcendence that I believe is the ultimate goal and aim of humanity - what often goes by the name of sufism is the closest I can see to how we can live our lives in the light of reality but sufism is not really a religion as such, more the esoteric and mystical aspects of whatever religion happens to be the external shell

it's all about God, really

The evil part.

Another thing - religious people with OCD have often thought their obsessions were Satanic suggestions. If you google religion and OCD you'll find there's quite a history of this...


But you don't really care for music, do ya?

(from Shrek!)

Yes, I agree all religions are connected.

They are all BS.

Yup, I believe firmly it was meditation that started them. The exploration of your 'mind' is viewed, by me and some others, as a 'universe unto itself.' Hence all the same 'positive values' and 'beliefs' spread across the religions