(July 23, 2014 at 11:39 am)Rabb Allah Wrote:(July 23, 2014 at 8:34 am)Blackout Wrote: I enjoy studying religions and comprehending their historical and cultural influences, it's a task I find interesting, when I was in highschool I can recall doing a paper about the 3 biggest religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and had a very good mark in the end. How much can the theistic god be separated from religion?
That has been my issue of study. Atheistic religion, because I do not want religion to go away I just want this clinging to god to "pass over"(). I for example and pretty much an Atheist Pagan, I love Arabic paganism and everything about it. It is an overly materialistic brand of paganism that is one metaphysical entity away removed from atheism.
I still study Islamic philosophy and culture to this very day and am heavily inspired by Dharmic principles as well. I just think that religion should be based on the practical application of ethical philosophy instead of pointless worship.
We could argue about buddhism being a religion without the theistic god. That is not my question. My question is, how many people believe in the theist god without following a religion? And how many would believe if they were not educated to do so? Most people who believe in a higher spiritual force without following a particular religion are some kind of deists, or pantheists, or sometimes people who simply believe in a spiritual mystical force. Very few people who don't follow a religion worship a theistic god type with the 4 classical characteristics and powers. And why do people believe in a god with the theist characteristics without following a religion?
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
