What must be understood to achieve a level of clarity in this matter is that it is not what we believe in that makes us righteous humans, but it is our actions and intentions that define us.
To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men -- that is genius.... Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.... What I must do, is all that concerns me; not what the people think.... Nothing can bring you peace but yourself; nothing, but the triumph of principles.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson It is by this standard that I place my own personal beliefs, and in that nature my own moral convictions, unconventional or unregenerate as they may sound to certain individuals. The propensity …show more content…
The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man, until he has been elevated by long-continued culture.
-- Charles Darwin, Descent of Man page 612
Religion is an invention of man, originally created to explain phenomenon that the current level of science could not explain. When ancient man looked at the stars, they had no other explanation than a God or higher power. As people shared these ideas, churches began to arise. People would congregate to share their own ideas, which began the first organized religion based on a general consensus of belief. Later, these churches took traction and began having political power within a community, resulting in a defacing of the entire concept of religion. They began to use their power to instill moral and ethical standards in their societies, and put shame on those who did not follow their …show more content…
The fact is, God never answers any prayers. The entire idea that "God answers prayers" is an illusion created by human imagination. “Let's imagine that you have cancer and that you are a believer. You pray to God for a cure, you undergo surgery and chemotherapy, and the cancer does in fact go into remission. What cured you? Was it the chemotherapy, or was it God? In other words, is there any way to know whether God is playing a role or not when we pray? The problem is that, in this imagined case, there is ambiguity. The Christian believes that God answered the prayer, but it could also be a simple
To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men -- that is genius.... Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.... What I must do, is all that concerns me; not what the people think.... Nothing can bring you peace but yourself; nothing, but the triumph of principles.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson It is by this standard that I place my own personal beliefs, and in that nature my own moral convictions, unconventional or unregenerate as they may sound to certain individuals. The propensity …show more content…
The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man, until he has been elevated by long-continued culture.
-- Charles Darwin, Descent of Man page 612
Religion is an invention of man, originally created to explain phenomenon that the current level of science could not explain. When ancient man looked at the stars, they had no other explanation than a God or higher power. As people shared these ideas, churches began to arise. People would congregate to share their own ideas, which began the first organized religion based on a general consensus of belief. Later, these churches took traction and began having political power within a community, resulting in a defacing of the entire concept of religion. They began to use their power to instill moral and ethical standards in their societies, and put shame on those who did not follow their …show more content…
The fact is, God never answers any prayers. The entire idea that "God answers prayers" is an illusion created by human imagination. “Let's imagine that you have cancer and that you are a believer. You pray to God for a cure, you undergo surgery and chemotherapy, and the cancer does in fact go into remission. What cured you? Was it the chemotherapy, or was it God? In other words, is there any way to know whether God is playing a role or not when we pray? The problem is that, in this imagined case, there is ambiguity. The Christian believes that God answered the prayer, but it could also be a simple