All You Catholic's Out There

[Florrie van Zyl (Muir)]

I was brought up as a catholic but have since decided that religion does more harm than good. My youngest son is an atheist like me and has been called the devil's child because he chooses not to believe in God, yet he is probably the most sensitive, caring child you would find. I am proud of the fact that I don't need to put the fear of God in him to make him live as christians should be living. Firstly, the bible was written by man, there are so many contradictions and people choose what to believe and what to discard. The story of Jesus was copied from the Pagan religion. Read the Jesus Myteries and The God Delusion and you will understand why so many of the most intelligent people in this world are atheists.

[georg ruf jr.]

I feel with you Florrie.
For a long time I believed there was no god because of the bible being written by man. At least it was one of the reasons.
Now I know there's a god. Bu god doesn't need a bible nor religion.

[Florrie van Zyl (Muir)]

If he is so almighty, why does he let bad things happen to good people?

[georg ruf jr.]

You're hinking of god the way they wanted you to hink as a child. God is not good or bad. God is just everything. Like ying and yang.

Somehow everything is good and bad at the same time. Things are just the way they are. Faith is the trust in this fact. Faith has nothing to do with you believeing you're going to heaven. I's knowing that you're part of the whole no matter what "state" you're in. Dead or alive. Man or women. Healthy or sick ect.

[Florrie van Zyl (Muir)]

Georg, I get where you are coming from but that isn't the God they talk about in the bible.

[georg ruf jr.]

Yep.
As you said, the bible was writen  by man. I have my own head on top. So I have my own idea of god.

[Florrie van Zyl (Muir)]

What are your thoughts on Jesus, Christianity, the devil, heaven and hell, etc?

[georg ruf jr.]

I think most of the ancient scripts go back to the way people tried to learn to understand the way things are. The better we "understand", the better we feel. The nicer the explaination the better... If I believe I'm going to heaven, it's easier for me to die... ect.
Jesus might have lived. But how were all the stories made up. No-one knows for sure.
The name Jesus has so often been used for war ect. If you think of the 2nd and 3rd world. The way Europians tried to force people to believe in their god.
huh??

[Paula Gottsch (Willson)]

I wonder, if god says one has to just ask for forgivenes one can get into heaven, does that mean all the rapist and murderers can get in if they say "oh, I'm sorry" I would not like to be in a place that is filled up with that lot.

mind you, I might not be going there anyway!

[georg ruf jr.]

lol You wouldn't deserve that anyway Paula... hihihi

I think it's all a matter of being on your way. Something very private. Finding peace with yourself and this crazy world.

Going to heaven? I think heaven is everywhere, just like hell.

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

I wonder, if god says one has to just ask for forgivenes one can get into heaven, does that mean all the rapist and murderers can get in if they say "oh, I'm sorry" I would not like to be in a place that is filled up with that lot.

That would be a MORTAL SIN.....he would have to say 3,500 Hail Mary's and 4,653 Our Fathers first, ending off with 5,2133 Glory Be's.

[Paula Gottsch (Willson)]

well I take it they won't be going to heaven then, they won't have enough time to say all that before they go on their merry way.

[georg ruf jr.]

I wonder, if god says one has to just ask for forgivenes one can get into heaven, does that mean all the rapist and murderers can get in if they say "oh, I'm sorry" I would not like to be in a place that is filled up with that lot.

That would be a MORTAL SIN.....he would have to say 3,500 Hail Mary's and 4,653 Our Fathers first, ending off with 5,2133 Glory Be's.

You must decide what you think is right. God gave you a brain to use. Don't let ohers do that for you...

[Delia]

@ Florrie - i used to ask myself that same question "why does God allow bad things to happen to good people".  I believe humans have misunderstood the meaning of us being created in God's image.  Humans have projected their human qualities onto God and believe that He's like us whereas to me, it's the other way around - we were made in His image ie. his spiritual image, referring to our souls being a spark of Him.  As George says - he's not good or bad (those are human qualities), He just is..Just like a wave is a tiny part of the ocean, it remains part of the ocean. That is how i equate my soul to being a part of Him.  The singular wave is not as mighty as the ocean as a whole but it still has all the same qualities that make up the ocean, just on a smaller scale. I see all mankind as His spirit children......souls on a journey through "time". The body is just a vehicle for the soul which we drop at the time of death......the soul is who we really are, the part that lives on eternally.

In 2004, a tragic family event catapulted me into exploring my spirituality and along that path i have come across so many wonderful books & people, they appeared at precisely the right time.  There's an ancient saying among the mystics "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear".   

Read "Conversations with God" by Neale Donald Walsch, book 1, 2 and 3.  He speaks about karma, reincarnation, good and evil, and answers questions that humans have been asking about God since the dawn of time.  I don't practice religion, i practice spirituality which to me is a "universal religion" focusing on the journey of the soul from the time of its creation along its  evolutionary path back to Source. The "Conversations" series of books will give you food for thought re your questions.  As with everything, take it or leave it, whatever serves you.  We all have to find our own truth.  Let each soul walk its path. Reading your postings, i think your mind is open enough to read these books and decide for yourself. 

@ Georg - like the way you think, we could have some interesting conversations

[georg ruf jr.]

I like your attitude and statement Delia.
Yes, we'd have a lot to talk about.