I've read it quite a few times and never has the world and religion seemed so clear to me.
127520
i LOVE thomas paine. if he was alive id......well i whouldnt marry him im already married but damn that guy had some brainpower. robert green ingersoll is another great philospher and so is fred nietszche Oh and i left christianity because God said it was time to grow up and be a Pagan
343612
I am as astounded (as you seem to be) that people believe something just because it is in print. That doesn't mean that I don't read. It means that I think for myself.
561443
I understand that the thing that people have called "God" doesn't exist and it is really a small portion of something so great that it is all encompassing. Knowing that it is all encompassing I know that I cannot comprehend it and no word can describe it.  Therefore, any text about it is incorrect and makes it less than what it actually is.  What it is is just meant to be observed and appreciated but never spoken about.
189526
I believe religion is fiction.  Emotion shouldn't play a part in it.  There has never been any real evidence that there is a god, the whole point of faith makes that clear.
622876
I think you just answered your own question.  I think there is nothing, but you're right, religion is easier to conceptualize than nothing.
523684
Well I've always believed that every religion out there has truth to it to one degree or another. I think I've felt the urge to find out more of the true principles that are in other belief systems, and so far I've been pleasantly surprised to see how much different religions have in common, they just call these principles by different names. \n\nThanks
334604
Read the book with an open mind but also with caution.  I am sure that the book is not entirely worthless, although I have not read it.  I just read the synoposis and reviews on amazon.  However, I am familiar with books like this: Benedictine monks going on a spiritual journey, often making use of Buddhist and other Oriental thought.  \n\nIn my honest opinion, I believe that books like this reflect a great thirst in the West, even in long-standing churches, for genuine spirituality.  I think the amenities of popular culture as well as over-rationalization, among numerous other factors, have eliminated to a great extent a sense in Western culture of the sacred.  My advice: look into Orthodox Christianity, or perhaps at traditional Catholic spirituality.  Of course, if you're Protestant, this might be an issue with you, and if so I can't help you!
460595
I don't think they ever specify that in the book (I only read the first one).
248558
It is difficult for me to believe in anything I can't see, for one.  I just don't buy into all of the stories the Bible says.  Stories written by regular men.  Men, who are subject to lie and manipulate.  And the bible itself is a translation and we all know what happens when you try to translate text.  Some things don't even have an equivalent in our language and so, the person who translates does their best, in their opinion, to find the closest meaning which could mean, not the same at all.  And it is more than the bible.  It is history that I doubt and religion is a sort of history.  It has been proven countless times that man in his greedy attempts for power will do anything, including omitting the truth or changing it, to get what they want.  Then, I also look at life and death.  I wonder why if there is a God, why do good people die.  And it simply doesn't make sense that it is just God's plan.  Especially, when nothing but pain comes from it.  Take a newborn's death upon delivery.  Why?  What could be God's plan?  Some might say that God took the child becuase it would have suffered later.  But then why not make it his plan to just not give it an illness?  If the lesson is for the mother...isn't that just cruel?  And why kill a baby to teach a mother a lesson?  God created intricate human bodies and watches as these humans destroy all that God created?  I could go on forever.  It is why I am atheist.  I just feel that people need hope and faith.  They need something to justify certain things.  Some people need guidelines and discipline they cannot find within themselves.  Death is the reason, in my opinion, we have religion.  It is hard to accept the why and what happens next.  But easy to say, well they are in a better place...Just me.
573931
No way! Those books are works of geniuses! They're made out of a writer's imagination and I just dont see how religion can be related. Besides, if you are really strong in your faith you would not be swayed in your belief no matter what you read
291925
God magically popped out of phucking nowhere..yeah none of it makes sense if you think about it logically but the religious people aren't open minded enough to accept the fact that MAYBE just MAYBE what they believe in isn't ENTIRELY true
578644
Well, I haven't met the God personally and none of my acquaintances and known have seen him to describe!\n\nHowever, I have been meeting and seeing his creations - living and non-living every day and getting an amazing, highly creative and friendly image of my God.\n\nI salute him for no match of his!!!
391906
I've checked it out before at the monastery. \n\nWhich, by that statement alone, probably gives my opinion. :D
552616
Hello there. Funny you mention this because, as a boy, the first truly inspiring text I read was the Tao Te Ching. I still find myself reading it, at least in part, once a week. This text is so simple yet profound it put me on a path to seek out even more esoteric knowledge. I have also studied the writings of Confucius, the Vedic texts  of India, Buddhism,  Zen, Shinto, Suffic Islam, etc. All in all, the Tao really opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of things. I can read about Quantum Mechanics and sub-atomic physics and find the spiritual parallels within the science. I wish more westerners could be exposed to this. My email is viewable in profile.
90945
You know, I would not worry so much about how to interpret it...\n\nBe centered in your heart, be very attached to your common sens and inner experience and be curious ... \n\nGnosticism has a formal slant to it...: as a dual path, such as what you may have read.\n\nOr there is a generalized understanding of it... That is: you believe in a higher power but not through any form of religions...\n\nUsually, true seeker can be gnostics as they are curious about life, respecting ALL ways and being honest with themselves in respecting their own experiences. Your true religion lies in understanding your own heart.
40139
You are a very smart person, just like I was when I was young.  I also saw that the bible was the words of men about God.  And much was true, even wonderful and enlightening, especially the words of Christ.\n\nBut I found similar discrepancies.\n\nIf something happens and several different people tell about it, you will never get the exact same story.  Focus on the agreement, there is truth...\n\nAs for the full details..  How would you like to hear from the angels and other eye-witnesses?\n\nHave you found or looked at this source yet?\n\nhttp://www.urantia.org/papers/toc.html\n\nTake a close look at the authors of the various papers.\n\nGod works in the world today just as in olden times and is generous about sharing the truth.\n\nI also have a blog, written by such a person as yourself, though I am now much older.\n\nIt is a final thing that I am giving to the world.  My last words have to be the best ones I can share, wouldn't you think so?\n\nhttp://www.360.yahoo.com/ki_te_moana\ngo to first blog entry\n\nhttp://www.spaces.msn.com/up-escalator\ngo to the first blog entry\n\nThere are pointers starting there that will NEVER run out for the remainder of your life, even for all eternity.\n\nIf the seeing lead the seeing shall they not all make continual progress into greater light and life?\n\n(we all know about the blind and the ditch)
606488
I often feel as you do. Confused and hurt, by a God who was supposed to be there for me. I also agree with you that the bible is no more relevant than greek mythology, or even the eastern relgions. I still conteplate the existence of a God period, yet the fact that all these religions exist, might lead us to a God.