Some thoughts by me:
-Both Santa Clause and the tree where invented by religion to pull pagans back into the faith. They also did this in order to save a dieing fish trade, as this is why you eat fish on Friday.
I think its more or less a technology/society based trend. Today kids have instant excitment / pleasure all day long with music / games / drugs / TV / ipods / etc. Plus the media and entertainment in general pushes that these activities are “cool”. Sucks that no one thinks for themselves anymore doesn’t it.
Actually religion is about how you live your life. Have you not read the stories out of the bible? They are all based to teach a life lesson. If the lesson be to follow god / jesus blindly, respect your elders, or help the needy so be it. They try to mold you into a person that they want you to be. If you look closely at many religions they all tend to be basically structured the same.
I think that I am a pretty logical person, and I have to say that I can’t believe in any one religion. I have read most parts of the following; Analects (of Confucius), the Qur`an, The Bible, Ovid:Fasti.
I have come to the conclusion from feelings inside me that one must be content with themselves and live a positive life to reach eternal bliss. I also believe that there must be a God. I do not think everything could have fallen into place like it has.
What I do not believe in is the need to follow and support a cult. Catholics require that you go to church weekly, etc. If you only go to mass on x-mass they look down at you. Why? To pressure you to come every week and join their club, thats why. The only value I place in any religion is purely entertainment. My g/f believes in the church and I will go with her. Hell I even throw my $5 into the basket. Why do I do this? I do it because she enjoys it, and it entertains me. It tells me a story, and last time I checked a 1.5 hour movie at the regal is about $10 bones, so I guess the going rate for 45-60 min would be $5 bucks. They need to pay for heat or they will go out of business and I don’t want my honey losing something she enjoys.
I will however most likely raise a family in the catholic church due to the fact that it teaches you to have good morals.
How about this for you:
I’m driving down the 219 and notice a S-10 with a flat tire on the side of the road. Ok, no big deal, I keep on driving. I then notice a man walking down the street in the freezing cold, while it is snow out, maybe a good 2 miles from the truck. I pull over and pick the guy up. He is an older guy a little dirty and thanks me repeatedly. He tells me how he doesn’t have a phone and what not. I drive him into Springville and drop him off at the gas station and leave.
How many people drove by the man on the highway? How many of those people go to church every Sunday? Religion doesn’t make you a good person, you make yourself a good person.
-ok last side note: I don’t mean to anger anyone, and I was just trying to show you my point of view.
Please feel free to contradict me and tell everyone how you feel. I’d like to know other’s views too.
Money, Money, Money, Monnn nay, got to have it feeling needy 