Simtropolis Religion Thread

[IL. 1,043]

On 07/05/2023 at 10:06 AM, Max4k said:

I forgot about this thread and learned a ton of new things since.  There is actually a hidden secret code regarding Allah, it's the same God as YHVH.   Allah stands for Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm Head, and if you take the Hebrew Letters Y-H-V-H it forms the same human form and body parts

https://www.reclaimingjudaism.org/sites/default/files/imce_uploads/yhvh%20human.jpg

Haha, me too, I forgot about it

I just saw this by chance

 

In Islam we don't associate any form to God because to us God is a being beyond everything we know and we can't even imagine how/what/... God is, think of infinity, it doesn't have a form or a number, so no arms or legs or such things that we know, jews also share the same idea I think, and christianity too until they started to make God=Jesus (but this is just my opinion, of course christians would disagree, to each their belief) 

I was intrigued at first when you said there is a secret code, because in some Surahs (like..chapters) in the Quran, there are some seperate random letters at the start, that no one know their meaning and what they're supposed to be, not these exact letters but this is an example - a k x b, ألف لم ميم

ألف = A

 لم = L

 = M ميم 

 

[TheMurderousCricket 5,055]

This is the first time I take part in the religion-themed topic, so please bear with me while I make my point. 

I am quite angry recently at an overwhelming prevalence of Facebook posts which navigate around the catchphrase "99 problems - 1 solution". Prayer being the solution... I'm not even sure if these posts are made by real people or if it is work of some AI sh**posting which is especially rampant on that platform, hard to tell.

One way or another, I find posts like these utterly distasteful and misleading. They send a dangerous message that whatever you would like to achieve will be granted if you just kneel down, pray to your God (whomever or whatever they are) and you will magically obtain it despite your own inactions. You can simply sit on your hands and everything will sort itself out by the power of prayer alone?

There is a marked difference between praying for something and praying for help in achieving something. Let me give you an example.

Suppose you badly need a home decorator's license. Perhaps you love it and consider this a career choice. Or you just need it because this is the only activity you are good at but you simply need a "paper" to certify your qualifications and be trusted by your potential clients.

I have never seen any Deity dropping any diploma at one's door after someone just prays for it... Have you?

However, I deeply respect the following approach to a prayer...

"Hey God, I would like to get a home decorator's license. I need it badly. Please, give me strength, persistence and a little luck to learn this trade and pass the required exams. I'll do whatever is in my human power to get it, while you will keep an eye on my progress. Deal?".

So to sum up, from semi-practical and semi-philosophical approach, I really don't think that praying alone solves all human problems by the snap of fingers. It only gives a short-term consolation but in most cases one still remains in the problem zone. A better approach is to use prayer as a sort of a covenant (agreement if you will) with powers that be to help you achieve something or keep their eyes on a person which embarks upon a certain project.

[IL. 1,043]

On 15/05/2024 at 2:51 PM, TheMurderousCricket said:

This is the first time I take part in the religion-themed topic, so please bear with me while I make my point. 

I am quite angry recently at an overwhelming prevalence of Facebook posts which navigate around the catchphrase "99 problems - 1 solution". Prayer being the solution... I'm not even sure if these posts are made by real people or if it is work of some AI sh**posting which is especially rampant on that platform, hard to tell.

One way or another, I find posts like these utterly distasteful and misleading. They send a dangerous message that whatever you would like to achieve will be granted if you just kneel down, pray to your God (whomever or whatever they are) and you will magically obtain it despite your own inactions. You can simply sit on your hands and everything will sort itself out by the power of prayer alone?

There is a marked difference between praying for something and praying for help in achieving something. Let me give you an example.

Suppose you badly need a home decorator's license. Perhaps you love it and consider this a career choice. Or you just need it because this is the only activity you are good at but you simply need a "paper" to certify your qualifications and be trusted by your potential clients.

I have never seen any Deity dropping any diploma at one's door after someone just prays for it... Have you?

However, I deeply respect the following approach to a prayer...

"Hey God, I would like to get a home decorator's license. I need it badly. Please, give me strength, persistence and a little luck to learn this trade and pass the required exams. I'll do whatever is in my human power to get it, while you will keep an eye on my progress. Deal?".

So to sum up, from semi-practical and semi-philosophical approach, I really don't think that praying alone solves all human problems by the snap of fingers. It only gives a short-term consolation but in most cases one still remains in the problem zone. A better approach is to use prayer as a sort of a covenant (agreement if you will) with powers that be to help you achieve something or keep their eyes on a person which embarks upon a certain project.

It's simple, no praying alone doesn't solve problems.

That's how I was raised and what Islam says. 
Of course praying is important and one should always ask God for whatever they want, but that doesn't mean to cross their legs and wait, on the contrary, in Islam God says that God doesn't change anything in a people until they change themselves, you have to work on what you want and God will help, not just give it to you while you do nothing (although some people do get things without doing anything, and either they take the chance or let it spoil them, it's still also a test from God when God gives you things like an unexpected lucky wealth).

God did once give a certain people all they wanted and all they asked for, and we all know how that turned out... 

Same thing to diseases, we believe in cause and effect, God says to every disease there is a cure, when you get sick you pray to God to heal you AND you go to the doctor and do all you can to treat yourself, you don't just pray. So we do say God is the one who heals, but you must consider the worldly causes and work on those. Seeking knowledge is sacred. 
When you get sick it's not necessarily God that made you sick, it's how the world works, there is a cause and effect, even if we don't see or if the cause is so far away (like the butterfly effect). But you still say that it's a test from God and you have to keep fighting and not give up.

I also do see some people that say you just have to pray and you will be healed and that going to the doctor and taking medicine is useless, that is very dangerous and ignorant and it's THEIR thinking not what religion says (I'm sure Christianity is the same).

So I totally agree with what you said about praying.

But I do think that sometimes prayers do work, some people get healed magically despite all odds and what doctors say, sometimes things happen against all odds when a person prayed for them, maybe it's fate, maybe it's an answered prayer, who knows, but sometimes it does happen, so one must never lose hope and do everything they can to pass the challenge they're in by all means (non-criminal means) and shouldn't lose faith. 

You can do it, and if you couldn't, that's also alright, maybe it was better that you couldn't do that certain something that you always wanted or didn't get that certain thing, maybe by not having that you'll be getting something even better or maybe that thing you wanted was going to hurt you in the short term or in the long run. You were almost able to buy a ferrari but lost it at the final moment, maybe that's a good thing, maybe you were going to crash when driving it and pass away... you don't always get what you want, just like a child doesn't and shouldnt always get what they want.
It did happen to me that something I badly wanted didn't work out and instead, becuase that didn't work, I got to get something even better. And sometimes, something I want really bad eventually come to me. Sometimes it doesn't. That's life.

[Barbagris 21]

There is no God. Not in any sense of organized religion, at least. Step back and back and back... maybe a Prime Force. A mindless, purposeless force. But there is nothing out there to answer prayers you get a job, pass a kidney stone, have kids, find happiness. Sorry. that is LIFE, dictated by Cause and Effect.

Barbarossa/Barbagris

[IL. 1,043]

On 23/08/2024 at 2:51 PM, Barbagris said:

There is no God. Not in any sense of organized religion, at least. Step back and back and back... maybe a Prime Force. A mindless, purposeless force. But there is nothing out there to answer prayers you get a job, pass a kidney stone, have kids, find happiness. Sorry. that is LIFE, dictated by Cause and Effect.

Barbarossa/Barbagris

Sorry but I find it hard to believe that everything is pure chance, I know that in an infinite universe even the smallest of probabilities is bound to happen, but there should be much more things going on if that was case, like cars or buildings suddenly popping in and out of existence, and that argument itself destroys itself, because with that in mind, God can also exist since everything even with the lowest of chances is bound to happen or exist eventually, so... 
I don't claim that I know the truth or anything, I could be wrong, but that is my opinion and conviction, in the end we're all going to die anyway.
Believing in God doesn't need to be bound by a religion, if you are a person that refuse to follow any religion you can just believe in God in your own logical way and try to live your life the best you can and without hurting others (doesn't apply to criminals, psycopaths, serial killers, rapers and pedophiles, please don't live your life in your own way lol, their own "instict" is broken, so we can't really always follow that, do you see where that is going? complete chaos).

[SneakyDeaky 1,128]

Any God that would give my mother stage 4 lung cancer, a month after this God gave me testicle cancer, 3 months after my poor mother spent 3 and a half months in a mental institute, because she had a nervous breakdown, after watching her mother, her father, and her ex, and only, husband, all drop dead within 12 months, well... that kind of God can go Sod itself!!!

But it's not as simple as that; we guide our own destiny: God never told my Mum to smoke. She made that decision. But, when it comes down to it, I don't believe in a God, based on any of our religious constructs, I tend to believe it may be some great intelligence or power, that has a whole universe to run, apparently? So why would this Supreme entity have any awareness or empathy for something so simple and irrelevant as me and my Mum? And, whatever it is, I frankly have no time for it either. 

[TheMurderousCricket 5,055]

At this given point in time my only belief is that the Universe is the only force that counts. We are at the mercy of nature, life and death. All of them are equal. I don't even care if I'm alive or dead - to me, it doesn't make any difference. Much less from this Hyperstructure's point of view.

[Max4k 721]

I keep coming across some interesting tid bits over time.

- The story of Jesus cursing a Fig tree and later going to the temple overthrowing tables and chairs was a stolen story from Homer's Odyssey.

- The story of Abraham and Sarah was stolen from the Hindu Vedas text about Brahma and Sarawati

[IL. 1,043]

On 28/08/2024 at 3:23 AM, SneakyDeaky said:

Any God that would give my mother stage 4 lung cancer, a month after this God gave me testicle cancer, 3 months after my poor mother spent 3 and a half months in a mental institute, because she had a nervous breakdown, after watching her mother, her father, and her ex, and only, husband, all drop dead within 12 months, well... that kind of God can go Sod itself!!!

But it's not as simple as that; we guide our own destiny: God never told my Mum to smoke. She made that decision. But, when it comes down to it, I don't believe in a God, based on any of our religious constructs, I tend to believe it may be some great intelligence or power, that has a whole universe to run, apparently? So why would this Supreme entity have any awareness or empathy for something so simple and irrelevant as me and my Mum? And, whatever it is, I frankly have no time for it either. 

I'm sorry to hear that, there is absolutely nothing I can say to make this sound better in any way.

Things just happen and there's nothing we can do about it but try to survive. 

[IL. 1,043]

On 21/10/2024 at 7:45 AM, Max4k said:

I keep coming across some interesting tid bits over time.

- The story of Jesus cursing a Fig tree and later going to the temple overthrowing tables and chairs was a stolen story from Homer's Odyssey.

- The story of Abraham and Sarah was stolen from the Hindu Vedas text about Brahma and Sarawati

I don't know about these stories but we muslims believe that God sent hundreds of thousands of messengers and prophets all through history, the stories of most have been lost to history and we only know of the few that we know. Since the beginning (since Adam, who we call a prophet btw) God sent prophets and messengers to different nations in the world to call them to worship one God (not idols, not many gods, not nature and not animals), and we say that they all call to Islam, because we consider Islam as the call of the worshipping only one God (so we say that moses' message was Islam, Jesus' message was Islam, etc... the message keeps getting resent again and again after which each time it gets changed and manipulated by man, for example in Islam (as in today's Islam) we don't worship the prophet Mohamed, that's why any pictures or statues of him or others are forbidden, to avoid falling in the trap of worshipping people).

So The hindu texts, myths from multiple tribes and ancient civilizations, could be all be remnants of once messages and prophets who were sent to them.

Budha for example never claimed to be God and never told anyone to worship him, he was just a very pious and good man who inspired others, and over time he became a religion and people started worshipping him, same thing can happen over and over, stories change over time.
In my country, in the past, people would go to famous good peoples' (ancestors) graves and pray to them asking for forgiveness and luck, making offerings and lighting candles and incense, etc..., there are still some people who do this today.

I find myths and ancient stories and religious texts fascinating, they might sound mystical and fictional but maybe they were once real stories that changed over time to become fictional and supernatural. There are some ancient Indian manuscripts describing a war between Gods, and describing what we can call today, airplanes and Nuclear bombs, the area where the story happened have high radiations level today still. Maybe what they used to call Gods were a small elite of people who had technology and controlled the masses? 

[SneakyDeaky 1,128]

5 hours ago, IL. said:

I'm sorry to hear that, there is absolutely nothing I can say to make this sound better in any way.

Things just happen and there's nothing we can do about it but try to survive. 

Many thanks. I probably shouldn't have posted that post though, it's not the thread for that kind of post. But you could say right now there is an internal battle between my atheism and cynicism vs my desire for spirituality and hope. One side is always losing. But the battle ain't over...

[Max4k 721]

20 hours ago, IL. said:

I don't know about these stories but we muslims believe that God sent hundreds of thousands of messengers and prophets all through history, the stories of most have been lost to history and we only know of the few that we know. Since the beginning (since Adam, who we call a prophet btw) God sent prophets and messengers to different nations in the world to call them to worship one God (not idols, not many gods, not nature and not animals), and we say that they all call to Islam, because we consider Islam as the call of the worshipping only one God (so we say that moses' message was Islam, Jesus' message was Islam, etc... the message keeps getting resent again and again after which each time it gets changed and manipulated by man, for example in Islam (as in today's Islam) we don't worship the prophet Mohamed, that's why any pictures or statues of him or others are forbidden, to avoid falling in the trap of worshipping people).

So The hindu texts, myths from multiple tribes and ancient civilizations, could be all be remnants of once messages and prophets who were sent to them.

Budha for example never claimed to be God and never told anyone to worship him, he was just a very pious and good man who inspired others, and over time he became a religion and people started worshipping him, same thing can happen over and over, stories change over time.
In my country, in the past, people would go to famous good peoples' (ancestors) graves and pray to them asking for forgiveness and luck, making offerings and lighting candles and incense, etc..., there are still some people who do this today.

I find myths and ancient stories and religious texts fascinating, they might sound mystical and fictional but maybe they were once real stories that changed over time to become fictional and supernatural. There are some ancient Indian manuscripts describing a war between Gods, and describing what we can call today, airplanes and Nuclear bombs, the area where the story happened have high radiations level today still. Maybe what they used to call Gods were a small elite of people who had technology and controlled the masses? 

 

There is conflicting information on internet regarding Adam's Bridge - It connects Sri Lanka with India.  Muslims have a belief that this is connected with Garden of Eden, while Hindus believe Monkey Men helped build the bridge.

Recently some scientists took a bunch of core samples and drilled deep into the earth to test the layer samples found, and they are saying this is definitely man made, and not natural.

 

[IL. 1,043]

16 hours ago, SneakyDeaky said:

Many thanks. I probably shouldn't have posted that post though, it's not the thread for that kind of post. But you could say right now there is an internal battle between my atheism and cynicism vs my desire for spirituality and hope. One side is always losing. But the battle ain't over...

I didn't want to say anything because it seemed inappropriate to "preach" in such a situation, but in my beliefs there is cause and effect, things don't always just happen because God is always constantly intervening and making things happen, when good things happen we thank God, and when bad things happen, we all thank God and just accept our fait (accepting your fait doesnt mean to surrender, but to simply not hate yourself or others because of it while still struggling to survive/pass the hurdle) if it makes you feel any better, we believe when such bad things happen (even things that can't be justified at all!) one just have to fight through, it's considered struggle and it's one way to worship God (working, struggling, surving, are all ways of worshipping God) and they are a test of faith from God that would be hugely rewarded in life or the after life. (In the past many medicines and treatements were invented because of people who probably have had loved one get sick or hurt, etc.. their struggle helped us today.) At least you were there for each other in the end. Maybe if there's an afterlife (I believe there is, but who knows, I don't want to impose on your thoughts or beliefs) we'll meet our loved ones again.

No one have the real answers, but death comes for all, for some sooner than others, nothing lasts forever, everything dies in the end, I think there is some kind of peace to it, that it's the same for everything and everyone and not just you, it's a fact that no one can change.
I wish time stops and nothing changes, especially when seeing your parents getting older, your friends and family growing up, changing and each going their own paths... it's difficult, but there's nothing we can do, we just have to continue living, because one day we will also die. This can't make you or anyone feel better, it's just is. 
Here's something to consider, some time ago I saw a devastating earthquake, and I thought of what some people say, they say how can God exist if such things happen, or if God exist then God is evil because such things happen, so I googled what if no earthquakes happens, then guess what? Life wouldn't exist on Earth. That's just a small example of the many horrible things that happen to us. 

[IL. 1,043]

46 minutes ago, Max4k said:

There is conflicting information on internet regarding Adam's Bridge - It connects Sri Lanka with India.  Muslims have a belief that this is connected with Garden of Eden, while Hindus believe Monkey Men helped build the bridge.

Recently some scientists took a bunch of core samples and drilled deep into the earth to test the layer samples found, and they are saying this is definitely man made, and not natural.

No we have no such beliefs, maybe some do but there is zero mention of that in Quran or Hadith. So as far as Islam is concerned it's not real.

We don't know when was Adam created/sent down to Earth/born (which ever is correct, according to different interpretations), and we don't know where the garden of Eden is (we don't know if it's even on Earth), but what we know that it's been long long long ago, not thousands or tens of thousands of years, maybe hundreds of thousands or more, there have been hundreds of thousands of prophets and messenger, God says that he send one each generation, so if that's the case then lets say every 40 or 50 years God sends one, or every 100 years (some sources say it's every 100 years or so), then that's a VERY long time ago, the garden of Eden of Adam probably don't exist now.

The land bridge being man made isn't something to consider supernatural I think, with the very long history of mankind it's not surprising at all that some long forgotten ancient civilization was able to build alot of amazing things.

The hindus belief of Monkey men is very interresting, evolution maybe? 

[TheMurderousCricket 5,055]

On 27.10.2024 at 2:01 AM, SneakyDeaky said:

Many thanks. I probably shouldn't have posted that post though, it's not the thread for that kind of post. But you could say right now there is an internal battle between my atheism and cynicism vs my desire for spirituality and hope. One side is always losing. But the battle ain't over...

Being a skeptic in this field is actually an important approach with regards to spirituality. Did you ever watch this interview excerpt? I think it is quite in line with your own thoughts. It makes perfect sense to me.

 

[SneakyDeaky 1,128]

I appreciate the last couple of replies. Really. I'm sorry for not replying, but I never know where I "will go" with conversations about religion, so I tend to shy away. I am one of those who says "I don't do politics," which is ridiculous, as we all "do" politics all the time, that's the price of admission to this mad world. 

My mother died unexpectedly Sunday night from sepsis from her 2nd bout of chemo. She had covid last month, for the first time, and should never have had chemotherapy with her immune system so vulnerable. But she wasn't advised about that. And quite frankly, I never advised her either, though that should have been my job. We never planned for any of this. We were out shopping for Xmas just three weeks ago. She has broken my heart into a million pieces and my world makes no sense. In the last few years it has just been me and her, in our own bubble. We grew so close. We lost a lot of family but we always leaned on each other.  

She fought like a warrior for a week without water, food, nutrition, anti-biotics. They left her there ON FIRE for a week until her heart gave up. They gave up. She didn't. That... that I will never be able to reconcile. God or no god, life can feel so unfair. It doesn't matter what you believe in, life can be unfair. But from my perspective, deep within my own shock and pain, I know that my suffering may seem like nothing compared to what so many people are going through throughout the world. And every day, too. And that, at least, makes me feel... strangely, not as lonely as I should feel.  IDK? I haven't talked about this yet... outside of my doctor. 

Delete if too morbid. 

And thank you for the Stephen Fry, I am a big fan. I will watch it!

[IL. 1,043]

23 hours ago, SneakyDeaky said:

I appreciate the last couple of replies. Really. I'm sorry for not replying, but I never know where I "will go" with conversations about religion, so I tend to shy away. I am one of those who says "I don't do politics," which is ridiculous, as we all "do" politics all the time, that's the price of admission to this mad world. 

My mother died unexpectedly Sunday night from sepsis from her 2nd bout of chemo. She had covid last month, for the first time, and should never have had chemotherapy with her immune system so vulnerable. But she wasn't advised about that. And quite frankly, I never advised her either, though that should have been my job. We never planned for any of this. We were out shopping for Xmas just three weeks ago. She has broken my heart into a million pieces and my world makes no sense. In the last few years it has just been me and her, in our own bubble. We grew so close. We lost a lot of family but we always leaned on each other.  

She fought like a warrior for a week without water, food, nutrition, anti-biotics. They left her there ON FIRE for a week until her heart gave up. They gave up. She didn't. That... that I will never be able to reconcile. God or no god, life can feel so unfair. It doesn't matter what you believe in, life can be unfair. But from my perspective, deep within my own shock and pain, I know that my suffering may seem like nothing compared to what so many people are going through throughout the world. And every day, too. And that, at least, makes me feel... strangely, not as lonely as I should feel.  IDK? I haven't talked about this yet... outside of my doctor. 

Delete if too morbid. 

And thank you for the Stephen Fry, I am a big fan. I will watch it!

That's true, the world is unfair, my deepest condolences -virtual hug- I hope she finds rest now, and I hope that one day we will all be able to meet our loved ones. 

[Max4k 721]

The deeper I dig, the more shocking evidence I seem to uncover.  Truth is not supposed to be buried, only to be found later.

The whole story of Abraham & Sarah, the father of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, was a completely stolen story about Brahma and Sarasvati which is several thousand years older from the Hindu Veda text.  

 

Brahma is father of All (RV7.97b), while Abraham is father of many nations (Gen 17:5)

Brahma’s wife is his sister Sarasvati (SV7.96.2), and she was a great beauty (AV19.17; KenU3), while Abraham’s wife, Sarah, is also his sister (Gen 20:12) and is beautiful (Gen 12:14).

Saraswati is known for being a goddess of water, the name means something like retains water. The River Saraswati (PraU1.6) has a tributary named Ghaggar, reflective of the name of Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar. Sarah from Hebrew (שרר sharar) means ruler and / or retains water.

Brahma and Sarasvati lived together for 100 years, then had their first son, while Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 when they had Isaac (Gen 21.5).

Brahma’s son (or grandson), Daksha, is killed as the offering sacrifice before all the gods, while Abraham almost offers his son Isaac. At the pleading of his father, Brihaspati (born from Brahma’s body, RV3.23.1) Daksha is resurrected with the head of a ram, while Abraham finds a ram caught in a bush to sacrifice in place of his son Isaac (Gen 22:1-13). Brahma’s hidden offering (AV19.42.1-2), relates to Abraham’s offering of a ram caught in a bush.

 

The other week I had a crazy battle of wits with Chat A.I. and after an hour of fighting with it, it called me a profound genius !!! lolol

All Religious Books Start with the Letter "B":

    Bible (Christianity)

    Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism) - Bhagavad Gita

    Book of Mormon (often referred to as part of Latter-day Saint scripture)

    Qur’an (Islam) - Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem

    Torah (Judaism) - Bereshit

    Tripitaka (Buddhism) - Started in Bihar under the Bodhi Tree

    Avesta (Zoroastrianism) - Beh-dīn

    Guru Granth Sahib (Sikhism) - Bir

[TheMurderousCricket 5,055]

3 hours ago, Max4k said:

The deeper I dig, the more shocking evidence I seem to uncover.  Truth is not supposed to be buried, only to be found later.

The whole story of Abraham & Sarah, the father of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, was a completely stolen story about Brahma and Sarasvati which is several thousand years older from the Hindu Veda text.  

History is a set of lies agreed upon and so is religion.