Holy cow!

Sorry, I couldn’t resist. :)

 Seriously, this is concerning. Things like this sometimes make me wish there were no such things as organized religions. The differences between organized religions are often powder kegs that lead to war. Believing in a supreme being (which I do) shouldn’t necessarily require religions (which are largely shaped by humans, anyway).

 The idea that “only my religion (which is largely determined by parents) is right” and the rest of you are going to heck or that I’m better than you is so silly. Can’t we all just get along? Well actually we can’t ALL due to the inherent nature of human beings.

LOL  GOOD ONE, LARRY!!!!

I SEE YOU CAN EXPLAIN IT ALL, AS WELL AS I CAN.     

Larry,

I agree 100%.

I was indoctrinated in the Catholic faith growing up but as an adult, appreciated the fact that so many others in the world were indoctrinated in different faiths as children(or converted as adults).

Still, I taught Catholic religious education classes at our church, St. Johns in Daylight, IN as recently as 15 years ago.

During that time, I would tell people that my many years of studying religions had led me to discover the 1 true faith and after I tell you, it will also be obvious to you.

Some would be excited to hear my reasoning for why MY and THEIR Catholic faith was the true religion. Non Catholics might roll their eyes and get ready for an answer they disagreed with.

Answer:

The true faith that almost everybody agrees on is the faith that you/they/me were raised to believe in or converted to  as adults.

More people from ALL faiths with a strong affiliation with their beliefs, agree with that than are in any one faith by itself.

If that wasn't true...............then it doesn't make sense for you to belong to your/that faith because, BY DEFINITION you must believe in the tenets of that/your religion/faith and NOT those from other religions that contradict your religion.

I'm afraid that if I explained the comprehensive reasoning behind this completely absurd prophesy on the previous post that it might feel like an attack to some people's belief system.

I have made every effort possible in my life, especially in recent years to respect people's personal religious views. For one thing, it's indoctrination. Faith is the belief in something that can't be proven. Not with science. Not with common sense. Not with anything that we use in other realms to prove things.

It's a fascinating topic to analyze the psychology of religions.  

Exactly like Larry stated, religions have at times caused the biggest problems in the world. Disagreements, divisiveness, intolerance, judgmental-ism, zealots, cults. Inspiration for charlatans  that capture peoples minds. Major wars. Millions dead.

The biggest positive of all with my religion and those of Christianity......and there is no disputing this, is that the parables and teachings of Jesus have changed the world for the better more than any 1 person in history.

Helping the less fortunate. Treating others with kindness and compassion.  Thousands of charities exist today that operate with these principles.

Don't just love your neighbor but love your enemies. Holy COW! That's actually the solution to the biggest problems in the world today, 2,000 years after jesus was crucified. He was a revolutionary and activist that defied the mainstream views of his own religion in that day. His words and teachings are even MORE applicable in 2024, even as people depart from spiritual mindsets.

Regardless of who he was, if we all followed his teachings the world would be a wonderful place to live for everybody.

One of the biggest problems today though, is that people who CLAIM they are Christians and CLAIM they follow their religion..........DON'T. They pick and choose what they find convenient to follow and worst of all, completely violate the main principles that Jesus taught.

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/102892/

This isn't just about Trump. I watched Fox last night raging and judging Biden for telling people about yesterday also being the annual Transgender day(every March 31st-no exceptions) that happened to fall on ON EASTER this year. 

How dare Joe Biden disrespect all Christians on the holiday of the Resurrection of their Savior.

 Are you kidding me??

Who do you think that Jesus spoke up for his entire life???

If the actual Jesus was amongst us today, based on applying the principles that he taught about respecting humanity, especially the meek, downtrodden, lonely, abandoned......HE would have been speaking out even more than Joe Biden was on this topic yesterday.

Regardless of the attempted pious, moral high ground or science that many Christians take on the issue of transgender because of this and that interpretation............these are real human beings.

There are still issues in society that categorize them as such that they qualify as the exact type of people Jesus spoke up for the most during his life.

However, today it's become a divisive political topic. One side often thinks they have the bible and moral high ground to judge. The other side acts more like THEY are following what Jesus actually stated. HIS words

It's retarded  to insist a woman in a mans body be able to compete in sports against women in women's bodies and there is a reasonable case to be made for objecting to the treatment of children that haven't even hit puberty yet that are just confused. 

But even if you disagree with the decisions, these people are caught in the middle as human beings that are not pretending to be a different gender to hurt you or me or to exploit society.

They are very sincere.  In the vast majority of cases of those well beyond puberty.......it's legit and we should respect their choice even if we don't understand it or if we disagree with it because they are human beings that deserve respect.

For those that like to read/follow the bible, this is a great site to look up passages related to whatever you want to contemplate.

Love Your Neighbor and enemy

https://www.openbible.info/topics/love_your_neighbor_and_enemy

Lowly

https://www.openbible.info/topics/lowly

Hypocrisy

https://www.openbible.info/topics/hypocrisy

I'm not implying anything or targeting anybody here, just generously sharing something that I think might have great value for others with an open mind.

MIKE ~ I DON'T HAVE A CLUE AS TO WHAT YOUR POST HAS TO DO WITH THE RED HEIFER, BUT... AS I'VE MENTIONED NUMEROUS TIMES ON HERE : "THERE'S NOT A SOUL ON THIS EARTH I DON'T LOVE", AND, I'M VERY GRATEFUL THE GOOD LORD DIDN'T COMMAND US TO LIKE ON ANOTHER.  LOL  I'D NEVER JUMP THAT HURDLE.   

PERSONALLY, I'M A NON-DENOMINATIONAL... STRAIGHT UP CHRISTIAN, THAT DOES THE BEST I CAN HUMANLY DO.

AS FAR AS JUDGING OTHERS... I ALWAYS GET A KICK OUTTA THOSE THAT SAY WE SHOULDN'T BE JUDGMENTAL. PERSONALLY, I'VE NEVER FOUND ANYONE THAT CAN ANSWER ME THIS ;  "WHY IS IT WRONG TO JUDGE SOMEONE WE DEEM TO BE; OFFENSIVE, IGNORANT, HATEFUL, ETC. ETC. ETC. ~ YET, IT'S A WONDERFUL THING TO JUDGE SOMEONE WE DEEM TO BE ; HONEST, LOVING, CARING, ETC. ETC. ETC.?"     I EXPECT TO BE JUDGED ON EARTH, JUST AS I LOOK FORWARD TO BEING JUDGED WHEN I LEAVE THIS EARTH.  MY FINAL JUDGMENT IS THE ONLY ONE THAT REALLY COUNTS.

HOW'S THAT GO? "DIE FOR TODAY & LIVE FOR TOMORROW?"   

Jean

 A wise gentleman once told me that God will judge you according to how you treated your dog.

   ONE VERY WISE GUY, EH?  DOG SPELLED BACKWARDS, SPELLS?  RIGHT YOU ARE!!

I LOVE DOGS.  IN FACT, I UNDERSTAND THEM A WHOLE LOT BETTER THAN I DO HUMANS.LOL

I HAVE NO DOUBT WHERE I'LL SPEND ETERNITY.  YES!!!!!!!

IT'S GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU, JOHN