Ok for me but not for others.

17th Angel said:
Thank you for the reply Paladin,

That sounds simple enough.... Although when I attempt that, it falls at the first hurdle.

I do not practice any religion. So there doesn't seem a right for me to become insulted lol and jump to the defence of a god.. I am working the clogs in the old cranium to try and figure it and wanted to come here to see if I could be inspired to chains of thought, and check others opinions. As I am genuinely intrigued, now I am aware of doing it. You know, like when all of a sudden you notice say a smudge that has been on your TV for years, never noticed... But now you have you can't stop staring at the damn thing.
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It falls at the first hurdle or do you?
Alex, I've watched you interact with others now for how many years? Five?
In all that time I have watched you exibit an entire range of human reactions from snarky, to clever retorts, from sublime love of all things to a distrust of human motivation. I have laughed along with you and sometimes wondered if you hadn't gone over the top.
All in all I respect your outlook and admire your efforts to "...live deep and suck out all the marrow of life" As it were.

But as I told Code, there is nothing in religion that needs defending. If it were so, the reality behind that religion is lacking. It becomes an empty thing shallow and soon forgotten.
Nothing for a young man to defend. So exactly what is being defended here? Something from within ourselves, something that needs protection or at least we think so.
The Buddha once taught that we live and die within our own minds and I find this to have merit.

So now what do we have left?
There is awareness. Awareness of behavior and awareness of thoughts.
There is no resolution, no greater truth, just an unending course from one thought to another, from one question to another with no end in sight.
If one seeks, then that is what they will have... the search in itself which in the end turns out to be nothing, simply a chimera seen only indirectly, disappearing when our attention is on it fully.

Peace to you my friend!
 
shawn said:
Keep it up..they may storm the beaches...they may outbreed us, but we will never surrender.;)
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:D Made me laugh...

@ Alex-

To me, you don't seem defensive of any particular religion so much as liking the role of devil's advocate and defending all religions to a certain degree. This defense of religion seems to be more arising out of your frustration (dismay, disgust?) with people's ignorant blanket statements and judgements than any sort of personal attachment to religion itself.

Further, you seem to love new experiences, become fascinated with them for a time, and then abandon them when you've had enough and are satisfied. I tick like this also. I have a long stream of hobbies, interests, theoretical views, and jobs that I have thrown myself into (sometimes with zeal approaching obsession) for a while, then mastered what I wanted to master, grew bored, and moved on. There are only a few things that have held my attention for years and years, and most are open-ended, mysticism being one of them.

For this reason, I dabbled in and studied many religions in depth before settling into the wide basket of Paganism. And still, my practice and beliefs are quite eclectic.

I don't really see a problem with it, unless it is causing you some sort of angst. Then, I'd ask yourself why you dislike this part of yourself. What are you trying to achieve within? Do you have a vision? If so, does it fit with this role and process you take now? If there is no goal or vision, then just enjoy what you are! :D
 
17th Angel said:
Thank you for the reply Brian.

17: A bit wacky, edgy rebellious manipulative unstable bringer of havoc. Ok for certain! I am going with nuts.

So say this was you, with obviously some strange conflict or something here... How would you look for stability/balance?
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I like to see critical thinking on the forums, but I never like it to go too far one way.

Sometimes I'll add my own critical comments to something, but then if it looks like the argument is unbalanced, will then chime in the other way to try and draw it to a more balanced discussion.

Everything has positives and negatives - I'm happy to see both explored, but not without exclusion of one or the other. It feels unsatisfying. :)
 
Paladin said:
But as I told Code, there is nothing in religion that needs defending. If it were so, the reality behind that religion is lacking.
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Mark, I don't defend my religion because it needs defending.

I defend it because i need to defend it.

& thats just the way it is.
 
c0de said:
Mark, I don't defend my religion because it needs defending.

I defend it because i need to defend it.

& thats just the way it is.
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Yes my friend, I understand that feeling, and your awareness of that shows your growth.
 
u know, just cuz u guys mite see it as a defect, doesn't mean it actually is.
 
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