Does religion influence personality?
- gulnazahmadposted 13 years ago
0Do you think that religion effects the way we deal in our day-to-day life and the way our personality has been molded? Is drinking, rape, murder, assault and other such things have to do with religion or is it just because of the heredity or the environment in which the person lives?
Religion if accepted and believed "TRUTH" as being the teachings of Almighty God has the power to effect in a good way our day to day life. We will then adjust our personality to conform to all of the goodness taught through religion.
If we believe in God, and if we believe and accept that God gave to mankind His laws covering such things as drinking,rape,murder,stealing,adultery, and others, then we "MUST" extend those laws to ourselves, as well as the penalty for breaking them,as set by society and live by them, otherwise think of it this way.
Let say you have a gorgeous young daughter or sister, OK? I see your sister and I desire her, so I take her and have sex with her, raping her. Is it OK for me to do this, Yes or No?
You have two daughters or sisters. I rape one of them, then a few days later I return to rape the second one, only this time you are there. Are you going to just let me have her?
Food for thought?
Brother Dave.Brother Dave I believe that no religion justifies rape, murder or any other crime and sin. Every religion in the world teaches humanity, peace and love but still people say that oh he did this because he is a Muslim or he is a Christian or Jew. I don't believe in this thinking.
Is it right to rape the daughte or sister, no and common sense and decency dictates this response. Now with that thought in mind how do you respond to the ignoramous in Arizona claiming the child should be forced to give birth to any fetus resulting from said rape based on the belief that it was in god's plan? The flip side of her rediculous statement is that the rapist can now justify it in his mind based on this belief that he is not comminting a crime but rather doing god's work. Any criminal could then use the defense that god actually wanted the crime to happen and planned for it. Since god is all powerful and knowing, how could any father actually demand that the animal that raped his little girl be presecuted. The father should actually stand up and thank the animal for being such a devout follower of god's words and plans.
prosecuted, it was in god's plan that I mispelled that word.
I think some aspects are influenced by religion, such as how charitable we are or how we treat certain people.
You are right it does influence how we treat other people. Look at how most christian view and treat homosexuals.
Look at the charitable attitudes from christian like Pat Robertson who stated it was the people in Haiti who brought on this devistation based on their personal beliefs. Look at the organization that when asked for help in feeding, clothing and sheltering these people sent 1000's of solar powered bibles. They could have sent printed bibles and at least the people would have had something to burn for warmth.
Considering the prisons are full of Christians, it would make sense that religion does in fact mold their personalities. Religion removes the ability to think and reason, hence the believer will swallow anything. Religions do not teach morals or ethics, hence the believer follows what is written in scriptures, which is for the most part filled with immoral acts of violence, behavior that was common place hundreds of years ago, but is no longer acceptable in modern society.
Where in the world have you came to the conclusion from; that prisons are full of Christians?
What is your source for that information!
It you really believe that I would dare you to go spent just one night in prison. And see how many Christians you would be bunking with?Unbelievable Jerami, is the bible the only thing you read? Have you never once read anything else? Do you know how to do research?
They are called "Prison Statistics" Jerami. Anyone can have access to them. Sheesh.And do you believe every statistic that you read?
There are many statistics.
It has been proven that 100% of prison inmates breath air.
Therefore we can logically conclude that breathing air causes crime. NOT !!
We can use any kind of numbers and make any claim that serves our purpose. Doesn't make it true.LOL! Hilarious, Jerami.
That's called a strawman argument.
The fact the prisons are full of Christians and the fact that Christians have an absolute moral and ethical behavioral model based on their scriptures most certainly does make this true.
Sorry that you disagree with reality, Jerami.And maybe that is a good thing.
Gotta go do another estimate. latter.Prisons are a good place to meet God or at least pretend to meet God. Most people are born into a religion, like catholics for example.
Some just think they are religious.
Statistics like these are charlatans. Many people in any given room with say they are christian, the whole of america does it. Why should not prison have more christians in it since it is a place that only the good come out of.
Personally i think the document looks fake... theres no formal logo or stamp its all just copied from whatever.
Gee only 18000 with no answer.. those are atheists lol must put the total to 50%-60% now for atheists killin lol
Of course some people want to hang onto this, its like the 30,000 denominations scam. Oh the sliding scale of atheistic truth there is nothing else like it.
i found this article which mentions some interesting observations about what the supposed Denise Golumbaski has submitted.
http://atheistblogger.com/2009/03/13/at … the-facts/
http://www.holysmoke.org/icr-pri.htm
Provides the statistics and the source of them below is a copy of the letter from the the prison official who supplied them.
Dear Mr. Swift:
The Federal Bureau of Prisons does have statistics on religious
affiliations of inmates. The following are total number of
inmates per religion category:
Response Number %
---------------------------- --------
Catholic 29267 39.164%
Protestant 26162 35.008%
Muslim 5435 7.273%
American Indian 2408 3.222%
Nation 1734 2.320%
Rasta 1485 1.987%
Jewish 1325 1.773%
Church of Christ 1303 1.744%
Pentecostal 1093 1.463%
Moorish 1066 1.426%
Buddhist 882 1.180%
Jehovah Witness 665 0.890%
Adventist 621 0.831%
Orthodox 375 0.502%
Mormon 298 0.399%
Scientology 190 0.254%
Atheist 156 0.209%
Hindu 119 0.159%
Santeria 117 0.157%
Sikh 14 0.019%
Bahai 9 0.012%
Krishna 7 0.009%
---------------------------- --------
Total Known Responses 74731 100.001% (rounding to 3 digits does this)
Unknown/No Answer 18381
----------------------------
Total Convicted 93112 80.259% (74731) prisoners' religion is known.
Held in Custody 3856 (not surveyed due to temporary custody)
----------------------------
Total In Prisons 96968
I hope that this information is helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Denise Golumbaski
Research Analyst
Federal Bureau of Prisons
As you can see this is a letter from a prison system employee.You can't be saying that they were religious before they went in. If 100% of inmates converted after going ?
That can't be true, would be good it that were true!
I guess by having religious affiliations means that ...
The Mexican Mafia and other Mexican gang members are Catholic
The Aryan Nations members are Protestants.
I "reckon" the term "With Religious affilliations"
are used VERY loosely.
100% of prison inmates has religious affiliations ???
Which denomination does Charles Manson belong to.It would not surprise me if all those inmates had religious training in their lives, but if you do not apply the training in your life it does nothing, training in anything does no good if it is not applied.
a grand daughter has training in law enforcement, but she is not a law officer, we can go on and on with this, but if you do not apply any training in your life and not apply it, it was a waste of your timeYea ! the term ....religious affiliations ... is a little non-descriptive.
I painted a Church one time, does that give my helpers a religious affiliation?
I think that according to the statistics mentioned above, it would.
One thing that I like about statistics is that we can make just about anything we want to out of them.
Yes you do have to apply the teachings.
Just because I was "taught" how to bake a cake don't mean that anyone else is gonna wanna eat it.One thing that I like about statistics is that we can make just about anything we want to out of them.
Are you refering to how the bible is used to provide an excuse for bigotry?
You are correct in the fact that statistics and any source of information can be doctored to suit the situation. Of course this doesn't apply to the bible in anyway does it?
This was a letter that from a prison official that answered a spefic question and since you don't like the answer it must be a lie, right?
Why don't you tell me what the bible says about the religous affiliation of prisons as it is the only infallible source of factual information.those prison inmates was asked if they had any religious training, again I say no mater how much training you have if you do not apply that training in your life, that training does not mean any thing
I know people who spent time in prison. They weren't religious till those doors slammed shut. Strange how people turn to God when they are in need of his help, isn't it?
These prisoners stated they were christians and I see no reason not to give them the benefit of the doubt. I dont care wether you have a sub categpryf true christian or not.e people will swear on a stack of bibles they are christian. They believe they are christian and unless I am mistaken there is a clause that states you must believe you are a christian to be one. If you are right in that there are very few true christians in this country please explain why we should base our country and laws on the beliefs of a minority of Americans. How much did the special pass that allows you to decide who is and who isn't a christian, cost you and where can I get one? These christians claim to be your brother and sister and you ask for a divorce. I was under the impression that true christians didn't believe in divorce and here you are promoting it. It is obvious you dont care about the family unit. Please let me know what part of your truth you dont understand and I will explain it again.
80% of them would agrue that they are christian. Your believing they are not christians doesn't make it so except in your mind.
Bible or no other scripture in the world says to do rape or murder or any other crime. I f a person is raping a girl it is because he has not used the teahings of his religion in his life. No one can say that prisons are full of Christians or Muslims because their religion taught them to do crimes.
This is horse dun. Most of these thugs converted in prison. The survey is flawed. If you ask a man what is his religion... if his parents were catholic 9 out of 10 times he will say he is as well even if he's never actually practiced the religion!
It's a fact that most prisoners convert to religion once they are doing hard time. And for good reason. They may get out early on good behavior and it gives them something to pass time. If he is a lifer he will turn to God becasue he has nothing else left.
I think it's more family tradition than actually practicing! It is to their advantage to say they are associated with religion in some way. Most people believe in some sort of God. With that in mind, when facing life or serious time in prison, it would weigh on them heavily to all of the sudden admit their traditional religion in the hopes of gaining favor with God.
I am more interested in knowing how many of these were actually practicing in their faith at the time of the crime. I don't believe numbers crunched from a survey involving known criminals being the one's giving the information. Criminals are not truthful.
Are you actually stating that no one who claims to be a christian is capable of a crime? If I use the word god in a sentence does that make me a christian? If it does in your opnion keep your god damned ignorant statements in church where the non-thinking population meets to celebrate stupidity. There, I used god in a sentence. Do you now believe I am a christian. Sorry to disappoint you but my brain still functions on it's own. I don't need to attend a meeting once a week to discover what my thoughts for the week will be.
you are not a christian if you murder, steal, commit fornication.
A Christian tries as hard as possible to live according to the Word of God, If that is so hard to understand, I will pray for you.So the fact that someone claims to be a christian is a dead give way that they aren't. I claim to be a steelers fan, does this mean I am actually a cowboys fan? You actually made my point about christianity. Most who claim to be one have very little to do with being one. I am supposed to allow you to attempt to base the laws of this country on christianity when as you have so kindly pointed out the fact that there are very few self proclaimed christians in this country who are in fact a christian. Why don't you save us the trouble of deciding who is and who isn't a christian and wear a smiley sticker so we can tell you apart? Until you come up with a way to verify that a person who claims to be a christian is really a christian, I will assume that all who claim to be one are in fact one.
No, it's not a dead giveaway. There are true christians, and there are people who pretend to be a christian. Everyone is not a hypocrite. No need for a smiley face. Most people can tell the difference. God bless you!
The problem is that both the fake christian vote and the true christian vote count the same in elections. Are you willing to give up the fake christian vote based on the fraud it is? No you will use the fake christian every chance you get and then throw them up in a non-believers face when the lack of fact based reality for religion exsists.
Beelzedad, You would be quite miserable if you couldn't spread lies against christians. Have a happy day.
What lies did he spread with his statement?
The christians who are in prison turned to God while serving their time. The scriptures are not filled with immoral acts of violence.
Do you consider the old testament to be part of the scriptures? Or, do you join 47% of christians that feel the old testament might have been a boo boo and now renounce it? If so what class did you have to take to give you a free pass on the parts of the bible that don't really apply to you?
Did Deanna Laney Bash Her Childrens Brains Because The Bible Told Her To Do It ?
By John on February 24th, 2010
“Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.” (Psalms 137:9, KJV)
“How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the rock.” (Psalms 137:9, New American Bible)
“Happy the man who shall seize and smash your little ones against the rock!” (Psalms 137:9, New American Bible)
“a blessing on anyone who seizes your babies and shatters them against a rock!” (Psalms 137:9, Jerusalem Bible)
Deanna Laney a christian, bashed in her childrens brains with a rock as ordered by GOD. Now that is a very moral set of repeated instructions.They were Christians when they went in. You may be under the delusion that Christianity teaches morals. It doesn't.
Yes, they are.
He would probably be happier if he could spread some good news about religion if, this reality was capable of entering the realm of possibility.
What lies? Are you saying prisons do not have Christians filling them? Or, are you just blurting out emotionally charged words?
Religious people are more calm and patient.
Tell that to the persecuted homosexuals. Tell that to the abortion doctors who have been murdered by christians. Tell that to every group of people that religious people hate to make themselves feel better about who they are or claim to be.
I believe religion does not have much effect on our day to day life as i feel it is just to 'show off' or to get a good impression from people. Drinking, rape, murder and assault are just physiological disorders one suffers from.One must have strong determination to change oneself from within.Proper guidance or rehabilitation centers help people with these disorders to change completely.Hereditary and environment contributes very less to such behaviors.
According to Sharon Angle these are all part of god's plan. Christians should be celebrating the rape of their children and the rapist for putting god's plan into action.
why don't you try reading the Bible if you are going to make comments on what it say's
I was simply repeating what a super duper christian says about the bible. Why would I want to read any more of the bible than I already have? Even the christians out there can't agree on what it says. Every one I speak to that has read the bible has a different take on it. I listen to people who have spent their life studying the bible and the original languages it was written in. You would think that someone who has a masters degree in religous studies and teaches other christians about the bible would be accepted as an expert. Not so as this person is gay and every christian out there with an 8th grade education feels they know more about what god supposedly said than he does. I live in the bible belt and I see on a daily basis how much the christians actually know about that which they claim to base their lives on. Obviously you dont understand the phrase according to... I was not claiming to have a superior knowledge of the bible but based on your comments I assume that you agree that a child's rape is part of god's plan.
any one knows that christians would not rape any one, God does not want that to happen. If some one calls themself a christian and rapes some one, then they are not what they say they are
Christians do not condone rape at any time.
people can turn away from God at any time, once they turn away, then they have decided to not be christian any more.
even people that are not christian, but are moral, they do not rape, if they decide to rape then they have turned away from being a moral personOne of you most out spoken supporters just recently stated that a child raped by her father should carry any resulting baby to term based on the fact that the rape was part of god's plan. Now you might not agree with this statement but given the chance you would vote for her based on the fact that she claims to be a conservative right wing repub. I can only assume you would vote for the biggest idiot ever born if they claimed to be anti-choice rather than pro-choice.
Why don't you read some science books if you are going to base your life on fantasy that disagrees with proven fact? Instead of being born again it would do a lot of people some good to just grow up.
Yes off course if we understand religion properly then i am damn sure there will be change in your life and you will live more happy then ever. You will never do wrong in life.
I can't argue with that statement, once I understood what religion is and or has become, I walked away from it and have never been happier. I have become a better person because of this. I have become more accepting of people who have different beliefs and lifestyles as long as they don't seek to take control of my life or my children's education.
Christians broke from England due to the control religion had over their lives and yet they are attempting to impose the same total control over this the citizens of this country. Christianity is attempting to take total control over the educational system in America. They figure if students never hear the truth they will be that much easier to control with lies and distortions. You can find numerous examples of how well this is working by paying attention to what passes for knowledge here in the bible belt of America. If they don't like history they band together and re-write it to suit their beliefs. They left England to escape persecution and spend every day looking for people to persecute. They seem to have an uncontrollable desire to become everything they stand against. Religion belongs in the church and the schools should be for pasing on knowledge. You can see by how rapidly America has dropped out of the top 2 or 3 best educated countries in the world with this approach. They won't be happy until no one in this country retains the ability to think for themselves.
Self - discipline is most important thing. Religious thoughts and holy books will guide one and all throughout. How you interpret the right living thought, according to your convenience is the most important thing.
Second thing perception. How you perceive the world accordingly it looks like. Most of our concentration on bad things which happening all around the world. We rarely talk about the good things and appreciate.
So, don't blame any religion for the bad things happening around. It is left to one and all how best we understood the valuable thoughts and adopted in our life.I agree with you on this. The problem is not the religion, it is all the damned religous people it attracts. You will not find a guide to self disipline in the bible. Common decency can't be learned in the bible. You can find a multitude of reasons why the rules you seek to apply to the world around you dont in fact apply to you. You will find reassurance that you can break god's law as long as you do it in god's name, and for a reaason that you believe to be valid.
I'm not going to answer question according to the word religion. I do not know of this religious experience people talk about. I am a christian, following christianity in a thing called christendom.
Christendom the collective body of Christians throughout the world, that represent the bible and those that claim to represent the bible.
Christianity is a subcategory of christendom and christianity represents jesus exclusively and the bible.
To be a christian is to invoke the spirit of God in you, in such a strong way that your first year may be a living hell as God pulls and tugs at all the things He doesn't like in you. To varying degrees that can mean from LOTS and lots to bits and pieces, depending on how fleshly and carnal and selfish, etc, a person you were before you invited Jesus into you life and gave permission for God to take over the show.
So yes... Jesus was sinless, accepting jesus makes a person sin less often.
It is a personality changer, a life shaper, a creative and wonderful experience with never a dull moment.
Religion is not like this. Religion is man working toward God and the life in the Spirit of God is what jesus offers, God working with man.But hanging out if you believe in Jesus you believe in a religion that is christianity than why are you saying that you do not want to talk 'according to the word religion."
And secondly you said that "by inviting Jesus into your life you give permission to the God to take the show", actually God only show you the good and the evill He never take the show. He give you options to choose between. It is up to you whether you want to become a good or a bad person.Your statement contains some truth and yet doesn't adress submission. We can choose to submitt to the will of another.
We choose to submitt to our employers will, and are rewarded with a paycheck.
There are different degrees of submission.
There are also different degrees of rewards.
We submitt to our spouses to a degree.
And are rewarded accordingly.
As an old song goes, " I'll do anything for your LOVE ... But I won't do that!"I will admit that this is the first time I have ever heard of Meat Loaf being quoted to support scripture. I guess the song about the boy who killed his parents with a guitar is straight from the old testament, right. I have never submitted to an employer. I did a job and received a pay check. Submission is what the slaves were forced to do. I have free wil which taken from the slaves and thrown away by most followers of any faith.
You submit to your employer just a little bit when you go out of your way to show up to work on time.
You submit just a little when you go to lunch when he says that you can.
But freedom allows you to say "But I won't do that"
And if he feels that you are not submitting ENOUGH to perform those duties that he hired you to do...
he quits giving you a pay check.
Everyone has free will that sometimes do not live in harmony.
Hi gulnazahma,
We don't do anything. This is the beauty of a truly spiritual walk, it is not like religion at all. God wants to do all the work. Its His Spirit in us that changes, empowers, teaches us and thereby causes growth in the Spirit to do all things. Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me".
Religion is man working toward God. Trying to please or appease Him. Trying to earn favor. Trying to make themselves worthy through good works. This is why jehovahs witness sit on street corners, but this is not the kind of work God wants to do. God has already done the work, through Christ, the risen savior! Why is he called a savior is he doesn't save anyone?
Here's a prophecy: Zechariah 4:6 "This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by (people<--i added this) might, nor by (people<--) power, but by my (Gods<--) spirit". We can do nothing to earn our way into heaven.
Ephesians 2:9 "Not of (peoples<--) works, lest anyone should boast". God wants to do all the work to change us. He doesn't want us putting ourselves in boxes, listening to the rules of holiness of any church system or group of people. God wants to change us so no person will get to heaven and say "oh look what i did to get here, i fed the poor, i dropped all my addictions..." God wants to change us. He wants our life to be molded according to what he wants us to do. People can say, "oh you should quit smoking" and yes they would be right, so you go home and pray about it. Ask God to help you quit and when he does you will be able to say, "God did that for me". He wants to do it all. Put our burdens upon him and he will bring us through victorious!
that is what i meant about giving 'God the show', He wants the whole show.
Acts 2:18 "And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy". This is what is talked about here, His spirit doing the work. This is a personal relationship with God through Christ.
The veil was torn from top to bottom.. God pouring out his spirit upon the sinners prayer for forgiveness of sins. Its a spiritual walk, a spiritual work, a spiritual God.
I have a spiritual walk with God not a religious walk of fleshly motivation.I give God all the glory. It's not about me.
from my observation, pentecostal churches attract more people with two types of temperaments more than the other christian churches - the judgemental hellfire one and the emotionally unstable ones
In SOME people a big YES! In my case...I see a lots of humor in being Jewish...many a great comedian has show us that. Thank goodness! For my people have had their share of suffering along the way. So does Religion influence me....Only to be a good person, to try not to screw my fellow man (figure of speech, of course). I'm not greatly religious...but I certainly won't stand for Anti comments, on anyones religion. I married in my faith...simply because that's one less thing to disagree upon. To sum it up God loves all of us....no matter how we believe or what we believe in.
My relationship with Jesus influence my personality, not religion.
fortunately and unfortunately it does...fortunately because it does help people have faith , try to be good , etc etc..unfortunately because it divides people into 'my daddy strongest theme' which is childish and fails to take holistic view of world and universe...
Does religion influence personality?
It definitely does; the best human beings, their personality were carved by and with religion. I mean Buddha, Krishna,Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus and the last of all on the vertical axis in status Muhammad- the Seal of Prophets; they were all influenced with religion and made perfect models for humanity by the Creator-God Allah YHWH.they were all influenced with religion and made perfect models for humanity by the Creator-God Allah YHWH.
And humanity has managed to ignore most of the teaching of them. They are now used as weapons to control the weak minded fools who blindly follow that which cant be proven.
Religion definitely does influences one's personality; the best human beings, their personalities were carved by and with religion. I mean Buddha, Krishna,Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus and the last of all on the vertical axis in status Muhammad- the Seal of Prophets; they were all influenced with religion and made perfect models for humanity by the Creator-God Allah YHWH.
I would agree with part of your post. I disagree with the Muhammad mumbo jumbo. He was not influenced by anything but greed. A delusional basket case who got his rocks off on another man's wife. And dabbled in murder and slaughtering those who knew his logic was evil. If Muhammad was a perfect model for humanity then Hitler was a saint.
exorter wrote:
why don't you try reading the Bible if you are going to make comments on what it say's
WStump Parrish wrote
Why don't you read some science books if you are going to base your life on fantasy that disagrees with proven fact? Instead of being born again it would do a lot of people some good to just grow up.
- - - - - -
I wish that you could understand that that stuff that science is studying and teaching is GOD's attributes.
Science is studying the way God does things.
Science is studying GOD.Jerami, why then do so many christians spend so much time disagreeing with scientific fact? I know a few christians that realize the bible is not to be taken literally. They understand how incomprehensible it is to assume that anyone living 2000 years ago could have more knowledge than present day scientists have discovered. I have a good friend who I was discussing the age of the earth with the other day. After I finished pointing out all of the evidence that the planet is older than 6000years, he repeated his claim that I was wrong. When I asked him what he was using to prove his point he replied that he believed in god and that was all the proof he needed. We had another conversation about snakes as we had both had to kill one and mentioned how much we both despised them. He then preceeded to ask me if I knew that snakes had originally walked on 4 legs and I mentioned I hadn't come across anything that supported his statement. He then proceeded to inform me that the snake in the garden of eden origially walked about on legs. He actually believes this crap based upon nothing but the bible. He is not alone in these beliefs as the majority of people here in the biblebelt buy into this malarky. Now everyone of them considers themselves to be good christians and several people on here have stated that simply claiming to be a christian doesn't make them one which I agree with. If there are so few true christians in this country why would we want to be considered a christain nation? Here's another statistic that some can dispute. 8 of the most religious states in this country are in the 10 least educated states in America. The more educated an area is the less likely said area is to be religious. I have to ask, why would we want to base the laws of our country on the beliefs of the least educated people in it? Religion in this country is nothing more than a third political party with extremely close ties to the Republican party. This results in most christians swallowing every lie the repub party spews based upon the fact that they claim to be religious. The less educated people have no desire to, nor the ability to do the simplest form of fact checking. They are told what to think and who to vote for. If there are so few true christians in America, Christianity is not a valid reason to do anything. If christians can't measure up to the ideals their religion teaches, why should I be expected to become one?
When we stand in front of God on that fated day, God is NOT going to ask us, "how did you interpret the serpent in Genesis chapter 3"? God is not even going to ask us, how old we thought the world is. God is going to ask us, "What have you done with my Son".
Jesus. The answer to everything, the only way, truth and door we need to have to access the Father. The only person we need to emulate.
Everything is in Jesus.
So believing in God is the answer. Reacting to the cross is tantamount.
For some people a snake with legs is a good answer and they are happy with that, it makes no difference to them, their eyes are on the cross of christ and they believe in God. That's excellent. For others, they will need answers to these big mysteries of God and that will be up to God as to whether they get them or not. We do not tell our kids of the tooth fairy until they are older or santa; we do not tell our children of quantum physics when they are 8. Same with God, He wants to make sure the death and resurrection of his Son does not go to waste.
Obviously where they took the statistics there were no prisons lol. i jest. The more a person knows the harder it is to believe simplicity. For those who like a table others can only relate to it as atoms and molecules. For those who find God delightful, others need to ignore their scientific background and rational thinking.
Lets look at jericho. What did God tell them to do.. walk around the city 7 days in a row then yell at the walls. A scientific mind would scream in outrage! yet a gardener might just comply. To those whom much is given (intellect, riches, good looks) much with be required (to ignore). God does things differently. I am always amazed at his punctuality though. Sometimes i think i have it figured out how he is gonna do a thing and he comes up some other way. lol. The first time israel stood on the jericho border as god was saying "cross over and unwrap my gift of a land of milk and honey". 10 of the spies sent to see what it was like said.. "nope we can't do it. There are giant people there and we are as grasshoppers in their sight". 40yrs later they are at the same place again, God says, " enter into the land of milk and honey". So they do and ironically they don't even fight half the battles, God even does some of the killing with 'smart bomb technology hailstones'. With precision he smotes the bad guys while missing the good ones.
God does the work. If only we just give Him opportunity to.your last sentence - can you give some brief examples of where god did the work in your life?(ie practical examples, not the "I know I'm saved" stuff
my first church was legalistic. I endured for 5 yrs then walked out of there. I felt shipwrecked on an island. I actually moved to vancouver island shortly afterward. My prayer life diminished and my hot pursuit of God had taken a backseat to traveling adventure, but, I never went around badmouthing God or dissing christianity, it sat on the back burner, simmering. I felt a loss and turned to internet dating, pornography, smoking pot and cigarettes, i obtained a quick hot temper, drank in bars, played pool for money. If anyone asked them i was a nice guy but watch my left hook. Survival skills. All things according to the flesh were going well. within 10 yrs i lost all, my job. I was living on a smaller island and had to move off. I was 35yrs old. I.E ran out eventually and i was still not working, the dating diminished and i couldn't find work for some reason. God. I was eating at a food bank, bowls of soup in a small town, quickly becoming a homeless person. I went from bad shack to worse. I moved to another town, and went to the food bank there and this woman about 30yrs old was proclaiming to love jesus and smokin a cigarette. The more i talked to her the more i decided she was a bad example of a christian. Then one day i heard how she did a bad thing at the bar on saturday night and i decided in my head, 'Lord i can do better than her'. I went home and prayed the sinners prayer. I woke up an unknown amount of time later, in soaked clothes and feeling lighter than a bird, like i could soar! I ran outside to cool off in the night air, for it was winter and everything seemed surreal. The next day I was recalling bible scripture and baffling this christian woman with words that convicted her of her actions. She had a place for listening but not much will for doing, me being 'new' at this was a bit of a legalistic bugger... and didn't understand Gods ways but i knew she was sinning.. anyway, cheque day came and i bought a nice bible and started studying. With the rules i was adhering too and failing over i said to God, "this is not the God i want to serve, where is your love." and somewhere, somehow through my sincere prayer God showed me his love, he broke my bonds to the law and impressed me within his spirit in me that He was gonna teach me and not to worry about what anyone else thought. I am under grace and just keep my eyes and ears open. Well, my cigarette smoking just vanished, i haven't smoked pot since that day. In fact pot was gone completely, i did rebel twice and buy a pack of smokes but did not become addicted again and today i am not a smoker at all. The bar scene i do not miss and so much other stuff i gladly do, yet not i but the spirit of God in me. This is getting long lol.
Have you enough?
Does religion influence our belief system? It most defifinely does. All true religion is scientific. All true science (mathematics is pure science/religion put together as "ONE")
leads to a transcendental religious experience of "THE ONE" without a second "GOD" ... from this infinite "divine emptiness"
comes "the ALL" ... the "Allmighty" ... the "Father"... that imparts to his eternal "Son" the manifestation(s) of the eternal "Holy Spirit" ... the "Most High" and infinite "Transcendental Living God" ... (think John 3:16 as well as the true, pure divine gurus as well as the transcendental Light) and you have the "open door" through the divine virtues of Love, Forgiveness, and Mercy ... which is how we leave our corrupted, fallen self and put on the heavenly divine Self ... it is a gift of God, salvation is, that no one should boast (Buddha arrived at salvation-cosmic enlightmnent when he "gave up" entirely, the ego).Religion definitely does influence the persoanlity of a person; the best human beings, their personality were carved by and with religion. I mean Buddha, Krishna,Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus and the last of all on the vertical axis in status Muhammad- the Seal of Prophets; they were all influenced with religion and made perfect models for humanity by the Creator-God Allah YHWH.
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