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Where do I start? Well, I have almost no political beliefs, so we can skip that. My spiritual beliefs can be summed up by the Nicean Creed: We believe in one God, the Father All-sovereign, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, and...

Ah, this is a great point. If I can summarize: Groups are more susceptible to prioritizing social/political interests over spiritual interests than the average individual. I think I'm not mistating you, Brian, but correct me. Can you motivate this a little? Isn't the average individual just...

Ok, I'll try again. What problems, personal or otherwise, do people have with organized religion?

I really don't understand this, Freedom. I for one, disagree with it as I understand it. Are you suggesting I change my mind. If so, you're telling me I'm wrong, which you say you shouldn't do. So, I guess you are advocating that I disagree with you? There are plenty of occasions when I can...

I think you're missing my point. You seemed to suggest that simply following someone else's lead is wrong, but this is inconsistent with the above statement since it is entirely possible, even common, that people _feel_ led to place their trust in other people. Also, I don't understand where...

Earl, I think a problem here is semantic. It may be responsible for our entire disagreement, or maybe not. There is certainly such a thing as multiple perspectives of a certain truth, different imagery used to represent a truth, different artistic expressions of a truth, and there are obviously...

Wow, there's a lot of good stuff here to respond to, but I'll have to pick and choose. I don't know what you mean by 'feel' here, but if you mean it in its normal use, then this is extremely problematic. If people feel differently about a moral issue, one of them is more right and one of them...

So, I see in a number of threads the theme that established religions (organized religions) are inferior to more free-thinking flexible individualized belief systems. I'm not clear on the reasoning behind this. Maybe someone can comment? Is this motivated by historical evidence? Is there a flaw...

Re: Omnipotent God? First off, good argument Paul. I've always liked it, and you articulate it well. This is too simplistic. The concept of freedom is this: a free agent makes a 'free' choice if it is to some degree undetermined by a prior state, i.e. physically uncaused and unpredictable...

That's basically what I mean, but also, what compells you to choose the beliefs you have as opposed to the alternatives? I hear that. I think your position on mainstream religion is a little extreme, unless I'm reading too much into what you're saying. Maybe you're saying that the teachings...

Firstly, let me say that yours is a very good response, path. Here's my rejoinder: 1) Keep in mind, my point was defensive in nature, specifically that instances of genocide in scripture, and more generally God's ostensibly breaking moral laws, are not good evidences of God's fallibility or...

So, I haven't fully perused this thread, but I wanted to say something about the issue of genocide in Scripture, and more generally, the phenomenon of God breaking moral rules. Let's assume the existence of a Christian-ish God in terms of Him being a supreme moral authority, ie. He prescribes...

Hey, Seeker. Fascinating theology. I'd be interested in its motivation. How do you infer a universal spirit supply? It seems like you don't believe in creation or destruction. Is this an extension of physical laws. If so, how do you motivate the idea that physical laws can be extended to the...

Well, I'm not sure what you mean by 'improving your existence', but I'll try to answer. I fear it's going to be a long one, but I promise you substance. I won't waste your time. In general, the common ethic is to believe what is true, disbelieve what is false. One should believe a religion...