What separates?

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   jomineposted 13 years ago

   What separates religion from superstition?

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      mischeviousmeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Whatever differences one should percieve, are a manifestation of the illusions one creates for one's self.

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      ecoethicalveganposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Religion and structured superstition, makes an attempt to rationalise itself, shallow superstition doesn't.

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      A Troubled Manposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      The word, "from"?

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         Disappearingheadposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Very witty answer ATM
         
         According to the Oxford dictionary:
         Superstition:
         [count noun] a widely held but irrational belief in supernatural influences, especially as leading to good or bad luck, or a practice based on such a belief:
         she touched her locket for luck, a superstition she’d had since childhood
         Religion:
         the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods:
         ideas about the relationship between science and religion
         [count noun] a particular system of faith and worship:
         the world’s great religions
         [count noun] a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion:
         consumerism is the new religion.
         
         Typically superstition has been ingrained in religions for several centuries and it can be difficult for people to differentiate the two. However I appreciate that many see no difference at all from their perspective.

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            jomineposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            So essentially both are the same?!

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      Brenda Durhamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      evidence

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         jomineposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         What evidence!!
         You are joking?

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            Brenda Durhamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Nope.

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            kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Her only evidence is a book written by some very untrustworthy characters about 2,000 years ago that wasn't actually all written or compiled for a few hundred years and then was compiled by a totally corrupt and greed ridden church that changes bits to suit them. Oh and that funny feeling she gets and claims is a holy spirit that cannot be verified independently.

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               Brenda Durhamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Um, no that's not all my proof.
               If you look WITHOUT eyes of superstition, you can see the hand of God in all of Creation.  In nature (from the sky to the moon to the sun to grass to the ocean to trees to mountains to...).   And especially in animal life, living breathing things.  And especially in human life.    How can you not see?

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                  kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I am not a superstitious person so I hardly think one could say I look WITH eyes of superstition. I simply do not see the God of any of the current active or past inactive religions at work in this world. I can not see because there is nothing to see. I grew up wanting to see/feel this thing you claim to feel. I was the only one in my family who went to church, I remember crying one week because I was sick and not allowed to go. I found nice enough people at the churches I attended but never a whisper of a real God, just nice folk. As I got older the nice folk were replaced by bullies and hypocrites until I could not imagine a God cruel enough to create religion. All it ever was was people, sometimes good but more often bad. Nothing more nothing less.

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                     Brenda Durhamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Well, I dunno.
                     Maybe they were "just nice folk"....
                     What I do know is that I grew up in a church where the folks were nice too, but also "nice" enough to actually pray for my soul and preach hellfire and brimstone to me, where they weren't ashamed to get on their knees themselves and ask God for help too.
                     
                     And the Gospel songs.  Music and lyrics are powerful. I believe God uses them to draw our hearts to Him.

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                        kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Well thats lovely for you but it's not substantiating the claim you made to having proof. Your proof is no more valid or able to be verified by anyone then the girl in the mental hospital who claims to be pregnant with the Christ child and has done for the past 6 years (long pregnancy). How do I tell the difference between her claim and yours? Heck, I can take LSD and see God, it doesn't change the fact that the reality would be that I was high as a kite and experiencing nothing more then a hallucination. Believe what you want but don't mistake a 'feeling' with proof. The one thing I remember strongly was being taught that God specifically made sure there would be no solid proof to find to prove his existence because he wanted people to choose to believe and if there is proof there is no choice. I find that rather convenient but seen that way, faith is very very rare, most have no faith and opt to feel certainty instead. That just isn't faith.

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         kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         what evidence?

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   knolyourselfposted 13 years ago

   If both superstition and religion are means and methods to influence the future to good ends, they would be the same.

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   kirstenblogposted 13 years ago

   the only difference is the number of people who believe in them

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   KellyPittmanposted 13 years ago

   That's a really good thought prevoking question.  I wish you would have asked this under the "Question" post so I could write a hub about it!    But, Here is my answer. 
   
   First, I am a Christian.  A believer in God and Jesus.  I was brought up to believe in their existence, but did not attend church or read a Bible.  As a young adult I was 'saved' and began a journey into your 'holy roller' catergory.    I FEAR my God, but for a long time that fear was not the healthy kind.  My practice of religion became very much like superstistion.  Maybe some would relate to the term "karma'. 
   
   I volunteered in church nursery, I did good deeds, I tithed (gave my money to the church every week) and I went to church like 5 times a week.  In the beginning, I did this because I wanted to.  Because it felt 'right'.  One day, though, I realized I started to expect the good to come back to me.  It became totally superstitious.  If I walked under a ladder - If I forgot to tithe....  Same feeling - that doom was near.  I felt I would be punished if I didn't do it.  Though, this stupid thought came from within me and was not taught or preached to me.
   
   For the past year of so I've redefined what I am and how I walk with Christ.  I rid myself of RELIGION (and by that I mean the list of sins and traditions of a certain faith)  and started to become a lot more spiritual.  I realized that  everything I need to know to be okay with God will come through ME.  I won't ever be perfect.  EVER.  I'm going to mess up and probably do things God doesn't like, but since developing a relationship with Him and not dwelling on the rights and wrongs of OTHER PEOPLES doctrine, I will be okay. 
   
   I think there a lot of 'self rightous' christians out there they may not represent believers well.  I can see how the unhealthy kind of fear can blind us to what is really and truly good.  It's a real unhealthy fear that drives us in the wrong directions.  Oh and the fear they have for non-believers or people of other faiths causes some to shun, to hate, to belittle and to condemn them when that's not what God wanted us to do.   People fear what they don't know or understand.  It consumes them.
   
   My way to overcome this crazy superstitious bout of religion in me is to allow the holy spirit to consume me.

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   sassydeeposted 13 years ago

   superstition to me is something that is a maybe or maybe not question in my mind, religion is something that i believe in and carry within my heart and soul (christian)!

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      jomineposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      In simple words, What I believe is religion and what my neighbor does, superstition.

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