(October 15, 2018 at 1:09 pm)Astreja Wrote:

(October 15, 2018 at 11:20 am)MysticKnight Wrote: It's not excuses, I can't tell difference between an Angel or Jinn that is deceiving me, I can't even discern the holy spirit from false claimants of that,  this is part of why I am so ill.  The holy book however has brought me back to reality and realizing I have to practice rituals like five daily prayers, recite Quran, and also other Du'as taught by Islam, and inshallah, I be able to move forward in the journey.

At this point,  I can't tell the difference between demon, devils, Angels, or spirits of Prophets or deceivers, I can't discern the truth. My 6th sense is corrupt.

It doesn't sound like your religion is serving you very well at all, MK.  If you're in such a state of confusion, rituals are just going to make it worse.

You conjecture and I understand, why, you would conjecture this. But the truth is without these rituals and fighting weapons of prayers taught by the family of Taha and Yaseen as well as Suratal Falaq in particular, I would have been lost in despair and I would not be doing school, and I would be without any will or drive, and without belief in myself.

A holy book that doesn't address how to repair out of mental illness and how to combat it, is no holy book as much of humanity has mental illness.

(October 15, 2018 at 1:09 pm)Astreja Wrote:

(October 15, 2018 at 11:20 am)MysticKnight Wrote: It's not excuses, I can't tell difference between an Angel or Jinn that is deceiving me, I can't even discern the holy spirit from false claimants of that,  this is part of why I am so ill.  The holy book however has brought me back to reality and realizing I have to practice rituals like five daily prayers, recite Quran, and also other Du'as taught by Islam, and inshallah, I be able to move forward in the journey.

At this point,  I can't tell the difference between demon, devils, Angels, or spirits of Prophets or deceivers, I can't discern the truth. My 6th sense is corrupt.

It doesn't sound like your religion is serving you very well at all, MK.  If you're in such a state of confusion, rituals are just going to make it worse.

The best way to make a religion obsolete, and remove its idea and its core is to turn into a set of rituals and "routines", just like the concept of confession in Christianity: do whatever, but confess every Sunday.

Muslims -with their Sunni and Shiite flavors- also had their share of this destructive concept, ironically there is a ritual for every action. God is treated as an ATM that would forgive immediately according to the ritual or card insertion, followed by dialing the correct "Da'awa".

The same mentality that serves every dictator ruling by a theoretical grip of iron.

(October 15, 2018 at 2:07 pm)AtlasS33 Wrote: The best way to make a religion obsolete, and remove its idea and its core is to turn into a set of rituals and "routines", just like the concept of confession in Christianity: do whatever, but confess every Sunday.

I find it disheartening that people think they need to be told how to practise a specific philosophy. I actually spent ten years in a Buddhist sect that had a very specific (and time-intensive) daily ritual. All the ritual did for me was make me feel anxious when I did not perform the prescribed activities, and frustrated by the time expenditure when I did do it.

(October 14, 2018 at 1:49 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: Why can't your god communicate with us in a manner to make himself/herself demonstrable in a way that we are just as sure as we know that our Parents, family and friends exist?

You mean, by texting?

(October 15, 2018 at 3:17 pm)Astreja Wrote:

(October 15, 2018 at 2:07 pm)AtlasS33 Wrote: The best way to make a religion obsolete, and remove its idea and its core is to turn into a set of rituals and "routines", just like the concept of confession in Christianity: do whatever, but confess every Sunday.

I find it disheartening that people think they need to be told how to practise a specific philosophy.  I actually spent ten years in a Buddhist sect that had a very specific (and time-intensive) daily ritual.  All the ritual did for me was make me feel anxious when I did not perform the prescribed activities, and frustrated by the time expenditure when I did do it.

I don't believe that the ritual itself helps; but rather the "entity" targeted with it.
God is an intelligent entity, according to my belief. With that in mind, the rituals are mere personal acts to fix the faith in the believer's mind.

In other words; the person uses it to strengthen their belief; if the belief itself is weak, the ritual turns into a set of moves like any sport.
Rituals are boring. Probably that's the cause of your negative feelings: you didn't believe in Buddhism strongly; didn't you?

How could your belief be weak after previously experiencing god literally altering your belief levels on request? It seems to me you’d only ever need to do this once.

In Skyrim, when I go pray at an altar to one of the gods, I get a tangible effect. I can demonstrate to those in the world around me that it’s made some actually difference to my abilities or attributes.

I guess it could be said that I was faking being weaker before praying at the altar, but within the game mythos, that isn’t the case.

(October 15, 2018 at 1:14 pm)MysticKnight Wrote:

(October 15, 2018 at 1:09 pm)Astreja Wrote: It doesn't sound like your religion is serving you very well at all, MK.  If you're in such a state of confusion, rituals are just going to make it worse.

You conjecture and I understand, why, you would conjecture this. But the truth is without these rituals and fighting weapons of prayers taught by the family of Taha and Yaseen as well as Suratal Falaq in particular, I would have been lost in despair and I would not be doing school, and I would be without any will or drive, and without belief in myself.

A holy book that doesn't address how to repair out of mental illness and how to combat it, is no holy book as much of humanity has mental illness.

“The human race has suffered for centuries and is still suffering from the mental disorder known as religion, and atheism is the only physician that will be able to effect a permanent cure.” (Joseph Lewis)

(October 16, 2018 at 5:39 am)robvalue Wrote: How could your belief be weak after previously experiencing god literally altering your belief levels on request? It seems to me you’d only ever need to do this once.

In Skyrim, when I go pray at an altar to one of the gods, I get a tangible effect. I can demonstrate to those in the world around me that it’s made some actually difference to my abilities or attributes.

I guess it could be said that I was faking being weaker before praying at the altar, but within the game mythos, that isn’t the case.

Attending the ritual is not experiencing God; it's a mere "attempt" to experience God; thus fix the belief more and more the believer's mind.

The belief can be weak, if the person is doing the rituals without experiencing God first. That is one of the cancers the Islamic nation -just like the Christian and Jewish nations before it- is suffering from.

Attending a ritual doesn't mean you believe in the religion. Just like Skyrim: entering a shrine and activating the gift of a certain God is so similar.
And so so so insulting to the concept of God -in my belief-. God is not a mechanical machine.

I’m sorry if I offended you.

(October 16, 2018 at 8:23 am)robvalue Wrote: I’m sorry if I offended you.

None taken. My character in Skyrim was a heretic dark-elf who hated religion but believed in the secrets of "destruction magic".

Though, once a person treats their religion and faith with anthropomorphism, assigning human attributes to God, is the moment I know that this is the wrong religion.