why is religion important?

[Mohamed]

why religion matters?

people in the west says that religion doesn't matter.

be a muslim, christian jewish ... it doesn't matter. they are the same

is this a correct idea?

let's first redefine the word (religion). in islam, the word "deen" is what translated to religion in english. hmmmm i don't know if they are exactly the same, so i will discuss what is meant by "deen" which is translated to religion.

deen is what you think about the universe, about yourself and others. and the definition of what to (do) in response to that understanding.

in this meaning, secularism is a deen/religion since it tells you what to (do).
Communism is also a deen/religion since it tells you what to think and what to do.

why religion is important?

simply because the fact that: all of your actions is based on your view of the world around you and of your self.

for example, you go to school and study because you (think) this will helps you get a good job and be good man.

you don't throw yourself from a height of 200m because you realize you will fall down and die (at least be harmed much).

(correct) religion is a must for two reasons:

1- to take care of what will happen after death
if god will throw those non-believers into the hell, it is important to think of this possibility to protect yourself otherwise if you get assured this will not happen you will be free to do whatever you like.
2- bad or wrong religion cause bad and wrong actions.

for example, nazis had the religion that they are more developped than others, so they have the right to control and maybe kill those others. in the same manner you kill a hen or a sheep because you are more developed than him.

the previous argument is very true, provided that the religion it was based on was true!!!

the right and false depends on the religion, you may do horrible crimes while thinking you do the good from the view-point of your religion.

so, it is much important to search for the true religion.

secularism doesn't solve the problem, because it doesn't answer what will happen after death, it is only suitable to these theortical religions that have no practical consequences.

but it fails with religions such as islam which has very practical consequences. if you are a muslim you should pray, judge with god's law and go to jihad. secularism is not compatible here. and you will collide with secularism, which is simply other religion with another practical consequences.

 

[gallantwarrior]

why religion matters?

people in the west says that religion doesn't matter.

be a muslim, christian jewish ... it doesn't matter. they are the same

is this a correct idea?

let's first redefine the word (religion). in islam, the word "deen" is what translated to religion in english. hmmmm i don't know if they are exactly the same, so i will discuss what is meant by "deen" which is translated to religion.

deen is what you think about the universe, about yourself and others. and the definition of what to (do) in response to that understanding.

in this meaning, secularism is a deen/religion since it tells you what to (do).
Communism is also a deen/religion since it tells you what to think and what to do.

why religion is important?

simply because the fact that: all of your actions is based on your view of the world around you and of your self.

for example, you go to school and study because you (think) this will helps you get a good job and be good man.

you don't throw yourself from a height of 200m because you realize you will fall down and die (at least be harmed much).

(correct) religion is a must for two reasons:

1- to take care of what will happen after death
if god will throw those non-believers into the hell, it is important to think of this possibility to protect yourself otherwise if you get assured this will not happen you will be free to do whatever you like.
2- bad or wrong religion cause bad and wrong actions.

for example, nazis had the religion that they are more developped than others, so they have the right to control and maybe kill those others. in the same manner you kill a hen or a sheep because you are more developed than him.

the previous argument is very true, provided that the religion it was based on was true!!!

the right and false depends on the religion, you may do horrible crimes while thinking you do the good from the view-point of your religion.

so, it is much important to search for the true religion.

secularism doesn't solve the problem, because it doesn't answer what will happen after death, it is only suitable to these theortical religions that have no practical consequences.

but it fails with religions such as islam which has very practical consequences. if you are a muslim you should pray, judge with god's law and go to jihad. secularism is not compatible here. and you will collide with secularism, which is simply other religion with another practical consequences.

Perhaps you might try some comparative examinations of other religions. You might find some remarkable similarities.

 

[Avatar4321]

To know the truth God and to take care of the widow and the fatherless.

 

[Chuckt]

Religion in the Latin means to relink.

Your sins have seperated you from God so no amount of good works can get you into heaven.

The only way to relink to God is to have a personal relationship with Him.

Islam and Christianity are not compatible or the same.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

Religion isn't important, Mohamed. A relationship with God is important. Religion keeps man separated from God because religion always puts its focus on a man and a man made doctrine where as the Doctrine of Christ is pure and undefiled religion which is birthed out of relationship to Jesus Christ and breaking all ties with man made institutions. The body of Christ, the church is a body of believers - there is no title - it isn't baptist, or episcopal, or lutheran or any other "title" man would put on the man made institutions he has built - ( in order to glory in himself and not Christ ) No, it is not what is built of man but rather it is based on the redemption Christ offered once for all mankind through His shed blood and death on the cross, his descending down to hell taking the keys, his resurrection and ascension into heaven. Jesus is God! He has risen! It is finished!

The end of dead religion, dead works, mans teachings, rituals, rules, sabbath keeping, and all the rest. That burden is so heavy that those who put it on you won't even keep it themselves! Take the LORDs yoke upon you and learn of him! His yoke is light! Not heavy!

Jesus died and rose again and has fulfilled the law. Those who have accepted HIS work at the cross by faith - not by works - have entered into his rest!

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No man can come to God except through Jesus Christ. There is not many Gods but one. Jesus is God. He came in the flesh to earth as a man to redeem what Adam had lost in the garden. That is why Jesus is called the second Adam. If there were any other way for you to be able to enter heaven God would not have planned it this way - even from the garden! No, there is only one way. You must admit you are a sinner. That you need redemption and that you by faith believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins - which he did do, Mohammad, then receive by faith that he has pardoned you of your sins and that he has accepted you because His word says, Whosoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. You can go to sleep tonight knowing that you are a redeemed man who would go to heaven if you were to die. There is no greater peace for any man than to know that the matter of where he shall spend eternity is settled. I pray you do settle this matter tonight because the LORD loves you and desires you to have eternal life. How do I know this? He said so in His Word. He said he wishes that none would perish and that all would turn from their wicked ways. Apart from Christ we are all wicked, Mohamed. Sin is sin and it must be atoned for somehow. God has done it by sending His Only Begotten Son to die on a cross for our sins. As Jesus said, It is finished. Be free from the bondages of man made religion and receive Christ who has paid for your liberty in full.

 

[amrchaos]

If we knew what happened after we die, we could determine which is the correct religion


Too bad we don't actual know what will happen after we die---So we don't know what is the correct religion.

I guess that is why religion is so dependant on faith--its not about knowing, it is about believing and having faith.

By the way, what is the antonym for secularism?

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

Read the Holy Bible and you shall know the truth, Amrchaos. Start in the New Testament and keep reading until you're saved.

 

[Indeependent]

Read the Holy Bible and you shall know the truth, Amrchaos. Start in the New Testament and keep reading until you're saved.

I would suggest, IF I chose to suggest...
Start in the Jewish Scripture and then see all the errors purposely placed in the New Testament.

The fact is that the Quaran's concept of God is exactly the same as the Torah's.
You are NOT going to Hell.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

I read the Old Testament first and studied it out for many years and then reading the New Testament I found it fit perfectly. There are no contradictions between old and new testament. The truth is the New Testament repeatedly quotes the Hebrew prophets to affirm every single word is true which is what led to the Hebrew conversions in great numbers. See the book of Romans, Acts, Hebrews for example. Read both books and see for yourself.

 

[Indeependent]

I read the Old Testament first and studied it out for many years and then reading the New Testament I found it fit perfectly. There are no contradictions between old and new testament. The truth is the New Testament repeatedly quotes the Hebrew prophets to affirm every single word is true which is what led to the Hebrew conversions in great numbers. See the book of Romans, Acts, Hebrews for example. Read both books and see for yourself.

Can you read Hebrew?

 

[Mohamed]

Read the Holy Bible and you shall know the truth, Amrchaos. Start in the New Testament and keep reading until you're saved.

i read quran already, and believe in all prophets that god sends to people. Muhammed , christ , moses (peace be upon them).

quran is the last successor of books god sends to people. i believe in them all as god ordered us.

 

[Mohamed]

I guess that is why religion is so dependant on faith--its not about knowing, it is about believing and having faith.

islamic religion is based on proof.

 

[Cenotaph]

Religion is an effective outlet to relieve people of their fears. The fear of dying, the fear of not knowing, and the fear of living a meaningless existence being a few off the top of my head.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

why religion matters?

people in the west says that religion doesn't matter.

be a muslim, christian jewish ... it doesn't matter. they are the same

is this a correct idea?

let's first redefine the word (religion). in islam, the word "deen" is what translated to religion in english. hmmmm i don't know if they are exactly the same, so i will discuss what is meant by "deen" which is translated to religion.

deen is what you think about the universe, about yourself and others. and the definition of what to (do) in response to that understanding.

in this meaning, secularism is a deen/religion since it tells you what to (do).
Communism is also a deen/religion since it tells you what to think and what to do.

why religion is important?

simply because the fact that: all of your actions is based on your view of the world around you and of your self.

for example, you go to school and study because you (think) this will helps you get a good job and be good man.

you don't throw yourself from a height of 200m because you realize you will fall down and die (at least be harmed much).

(correct) religion is a must for two reasons:

1- to take care of what will happen after death
if god will throw those non-believers into the hell, it is important to think of this possibility to protect yourself otherwise if you get assured this will not happen you will be free to do whatever you like.
2- bad or wrong religion cause bad and wrong actions.

for example, nazis had the religion that they are more developped than others, so they have the right to control and maybe kill those others. in the same manner you kill a hen or a sheep because you are more developed than him.

the previous argument is very true, provided that the religion it was based on was true!!!

the right and false depends on the religion, you may do horrible crimes while thinking you do the good from the view-point of your religion.

so, it is much important to search for the true religion.

secularism doesn't solve the problem, because it doesn't answer what will happen after death, it is only suitable to these theortical religions that have no practical consequences.

but it fails with religions such as islam which has very practical consequences. if you are a muslim you should pray, judge with god's law and go to jihad. secularism is not compatible here. and you will collide with secularism, which is simply other religion with another practical consequences.

Dunno how far west you're thinking of before getting to the people who say religion isn't important. That certainly doesn't describe Americans. Alas.

How do we know which religion is 'true?' Every religion ever invented claims it's the only true religion. If Islam makes this claim too, what's it think about the nature of Christianity and Judaism? Without those prior two religions, Islam couldn't exist because it bases itself directly off of them (moreso Judaism than Christianity.)

Are we okay accepting the word of members of a given religion when they tell us their's is the one and only true religion? Do we really expect them to say anything else, like maybe, "This is all just supposition and conjecture. We like to think it's true, but of course we have no real way of knowing for sure." Would a religion starting with only a few followers endure and come to encompass over a billion if it said, "We might be wrong about all of this."

Only way to know for sure if a religion or religious claim is true is if it can be substantiated with proofs from outside of itself. Like science. But then being true may actually be unimportant.

The Jews fleeing Egypt during the Exodus KNEW God existed. He was giving them mana (food) every day as well as everything else they needed to survive in open desert. Consequently, what formal religion they had then was as true as "The Sun is making it really hot out here." Yet despite knowing beyond all doubt God existed, they still complained and sought more and more from God through their intermediary Moses. While they knew God existed, they didn't have much faith in Him.

If God exists he's a lot wiser than I or any other human being. So if even I can see how there's a huge difference between knowing something's real, and having faith in something, then surely God conceals itself from direct observational (scientific) evidence because He knows that if we knew He existed we'd only ask for more. Knowing isn't faith.

Consequently, truth about a religion is irrelevant. Without faith in God, nothing else matters.

 

[CorvusRexus]

Religion is a millstone around the necks of humanity. It drags us down and makes us less than what we are.


However, a belief in God (or Gods/Deity of some sort) is important. Religion prevents us from finding our own way to God. Every person is different, and God appears to each person differently.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Religion is a millstone around the necks of humanity. It drags us down and makes us less than what we are.


However, a belief in God (or Gods/Deity of some sort) is important. Religion prevents us from finding our own way to God. Every person is different, and God appears to each person differently.

As I told some of the kids out in the pool yesterday as they were complaining about going to church, "Church is good for ya. It gives you things to think about you wouldn't be thinking of otherwise...Our day-to-day lives are concerned more with sciences than philosophies. We don't ask ourselves if we lie out in the hot sun without sunblock will we get burned if we close our eyes pretending the Sun isn't there. We just put on the sunblock...But when we learn about religious ideas and concepts our minds are making leaps beyond logic and science and asaking if there's more possible, and that's a good thing."

While not much good doing smalltalk socially, if people wanna talk religion I can do that.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

Read the Holy Bible and you shall know the truth, Amrchaos. Start in the New Testament and keep reading until you're saved.

i read quran already, and believe in all prophets that god sends to people. Muhammed , christ , moses (peace be upon them).

quran is the last successor of books god sends to people. i believe in them all as god ordered us.

I am delighted to hear you say this, Mohamed. Because if you believe all the books then you will be open to reading the bible for yourself to find out what it says rather than depending on the word of someone else. It is wisdom to examine "all of the evidence" before condemning it as corrupted or invalid. I was thinking perhaps you do not own a holy bible. With that said, I believe if you will read my threads here, the Book of Romans, Hebrews, Corinthians, Proverbs, Psalms, the great Tribulation according to Matthew 24 and other threads such as Pentacostal fire, George Mueller, Andrew Murray, Watchman Nee videos you will learn much about a relationship with Jesus Christ you did not know of earlier. Also at the right time I am going to type out the Book of John and post it here chapter for chapter and also Luke, Matthew & Mark - God willing. It is good to have the books of the bible available to people here on USMB because many people do not own a bible and this gives them opportunity to read it while doing other things here!

I believe when you read and listen to the sermons and videos you will find some contradictions with what you've perhaps been told about the bible and what is actually in there. It is a wise man that first examines something before condemning it as untrue. I appreciate that you are such a respectful person in your dialogue, Mohamed. I certainly look forward to many discussions with you on the religion thread! I believe you are a man who is seeking truth and that you have a sincere heart.


* I have not yet finished typing out the book of Psalms and Proverbs because Psalms is the longest book in the bible ( Isaiah is second longest ) and it is alot of proof reading too ( for typos ) so it has taken some time. Also Proverbs is almost complete now I think. I will try to finish that up this week, God willing.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Read the Holy Bible and you shall know the truth, Amrchaos. Start in the New Testament and keep reading until you're saved.

i read quran already, and believe in all prophets that god sends to people. Muhammed , christ , moses (peace be upon them).

quran is the last successor of books god sends to people. i believe in them all as god ordered us.

How do you know it's the last? Didn't Judaism say it was the last as well as Christianity? Then Islam comes along hundred of years after Christianity and says it's now the last. Isn't it more likely it's just the latest?

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

I do not see that this matters one whit, Delta. Christianity is the fulfillment of the prophecies of those following Judaism in the Old Testament. By your reasoning we should dismiss the sacrifice of Christ shed blood on the cross for remission of sins and return to the sacrifice of animals for a covering up of sin instead because the Old Covenant preceded the New. No thank you!

 

[amrchaos]

Read the Holy Bible and you shall know the truth, Amrchaos. Start in the New Testament and keep reading until you're saved.

You believe the Bible is literal truth?

I don't think so.

In fact, I am of the opinion that the bible contains allegories, deliberate elaborations, and flat out fiction. Yes, it contains some truth, but it is all not truth.

The bible is Truth only to those that believe in the Bible.