The mixing of religious and non-religious beliefs in an individual.

All Blog Posts Tagged 'religion' (33)

Essay : Takers Economy : An Inquiry into Illegal File Sharing

I've been nearly completely inactive in my social networks since mid-July or so. Not that I wouldn't have liked to participate, but I have been engrossed in the redaction of the above essay.

When I tackled the project, I thought it would take a few weeks at most, and that I would be able…

Added by Christopher Stewart on September 1, 2012 at 1:10pm — No Comments

The Threshold Bookcast : Chapter 18 : Lightning Strikes

Chapter 18 : Lightning Strikes

Richard Ramsay is the star of the eighteenth episode of The Threshold Series, the concluding chapter of « 2206 : Window Onto A New World. »

We find the veteran politician staring outwards from a window of the sky lounge of his private yacht, musing about the weather, while on a visit…

Added by Christopher Stewart on June 22, 2012 at 5:02pm — No Comments

Jesus & Pythagoras: The Parallel Birth’s Stories

This is the story as it has been given to us.

The Birth of Jesus – According to Matthew (1: 18 – 25)

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord…

Added by Claudia M. Mazzucco on June 22, 2012 at 6:54am — 5 Comments

The Threshold Bookcast : Chapter 17 : Where Will You Be

Chapter 17 : Where Will You Be

The central character of this week's instalment of The Threshold Series is Rahu Lüli, the young cenobite from Kõrgus.

At the beginning of the chapter, the teenager is getting ready to leave the monastery, and he ponders the events that have led him to believe that he has found the…

Added by Christopher Stewart on June 15, 2012 at 7:34pm — No Comments

The Threshold Bookcast : Chapter 16 : The Solid Time Of Change

Chapter 16 : The Solid Time Of Change

The sixteenth chapter of « 2206 : Window Onto A New World » features the scientific facilities of Veshtar, and revolves around Bernard Sturn.

At the end of an all-nighter, weary of responding to video emails, the famous space engineer takes a break to rest his eyes, and…

Added by Christopher Stewart on June 8, 2012 at 2:52pm — No Comments

Introduction to Swedenborg.

(I) EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688 - 1772)

Emanuel Swedenborg, the great Swedish scientist and theologian, was born in Stockholm in 1688 and died in London in 1772. His father was first of all Chaplain to the Horse Guards of Charles XI, then later professor of Theology at Upsala University, Dean of the Cathedral at Upsala, Bishop of Skara, and a member of the Swedish Diet or House of Nobles. Coming…

Added by Adriaan Braam on January 31, 2012 at 10:13am — 6 Comments

Avatar: Some Personal Comments

AVATAR

The film Avatar has finally been released this month after being in development since 1994. I have not seen it yet, but I have read about it and discussed it with several people who have. This prose-poem tries to encapsulate some of my initial thoughts on this blockbuster, its initial reception and some of its meaning. James Cameron, who wrote, produced and directed the film, stated in an interview that an avatar is: “an incarnation of one of the Hindu gods taking a flesh…

Added by RonPrice on February 13, 2010 at 5:30pm — 15 Comments

Designing a Worthy Religion

I said “worthy religion” because if it isn’t worth doing, why bother? But what makes something worth doing? Many will argue the good and bad of just about anything and demand “proof” to the contrary of their opinion. Thus establishing any group effort becomes a serious issue and especially if it is called a “religion”.

But regardless of the impetus to disagree with anything and everything, we can still take a look at what is necessary and worthy concerning a “new… Read More

Added by James S Saint on December 3, 2009 at 1:30am — 20 Comments

For Those Students Investigating Religion

There are many ways to try to find the truth concerning any religion, but realize that people have been doing that for thousands of years.

EVERY religion was actually started by people attempting to logically derive real truth, some with more success than others. But what came, in every case is what still occurs today. People begin to corrupt the original intention with misunderstandings and political incentives. They use language to persuade compliance.

The Abrahamic… Read More

Added by James S Saint on September 27, 2009 at 12:28pm — 11 Comments

Your Brain on God

NPR series on neuroscience studies of brain dealing w/ spiritual virtuosos, near-death experience,the god chemical, the god spot, etc. "More than half of adult Americans report they have had a spiritual experience that changed their lives. Now, scientists from universities like Harvard, Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins are using new technologies to analyze the brains of people who claim they have touched the spiritual — from Christians who speak in… Read More

Added by Denita on July 29, 2009 at 7:44pm — 2 Comments

Esoteric Christianity - integrating occultism into mainstream religion...

Esoteric Christianity is becoming more popular. It is a combination of belief in Jesus as a VERY special messenger and New Age beliefs like karma and reincarnation. People usually also believe in healing, aura reading and things like that. Examples of teachers of Esoteric Christianity are Rudolf Steiner and Edgar… Read More

Added by Katinka Hesselink on May 20, 2009 at 7:26am — 17 Comments

Questioning our sources - Wikpedia is a prime example of a very corruptable source of information

Wikipedia hoax points to limits of journalists' research

A sociology student placed a fake quote on Wikipedia, only to see it show up in prominent newspapers, revealing that a lot of the press doesn't go much further than most 'Net users when it comes to researching a story.

By John Timmer | Last updated May 7, 2009 8:03 PM CT

Taken from:… Read More

Added by Dane on May 7, 2009 at 9:12pm — 3 Comments

The Mind, Hope Centre and Giving of Thanks

Is there a region of the mind that kindles hope - a Hope Centre of sorts? If so, it is like no other facility we possess for it is here that we first recognized the existence of time. When we hope, we hope for the future. Is this what separates us from the beasts -our ability to hope for a better tomorrow?

When we hope, we project thought to a time which has yet to occur. Without our ability to recognize time, hope could not exist.

Should, for some reason, this thought… Read More

Added by Kernel John on May 4, 2009 at 8:51pm — 1 Comment

Just for fun - I love the onion

God's Plan For Area Man Involves Kidnapping Ford CEOMay 18, 2005 | Issue 41•20

MINOT, ND—Unemployed factory worker James Harold Gurshner told reporters Monday that God's plan for him, revealed during a moment of divine inspiration, requires kidnapping Ford Motor Company CEO William Ford Jr.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways," said Gurshner, talking to reporters through a metal grate screwed over the window of his dilapidated, hubcap-covered house. "And right now,… Read More

Added by Dane on May 1, 2009 at 6:33pm — 2 Comments

Sorrow, stress, intelligence, wisdom, poverty, ambition & the Big Bang - Lucifer7, May 2009

This is a summary of my monthly spiritual newsletter.

New online

On All Considering

Sorrow, stress and spirituality…

Added by Katinka Hesselink on May 1, 2009 at 8:39am — 4 Comments

Tricks of the mind - our realities, thoughts, feelings, 'spirits' and beliefs, all contained in a nice meaty package inside the skull.

Something that I don't think occurs to most religious people, and in fact most people in general, is how much control our unconscious minds have over us. How automatically it does things for and to us that we either take for granted or are simply unaware of. Good personal introspection and study of the way the mind works is something I think is critically important if one wishes to understand not necessarily who they are, but what they are, and also why themselves and those around them behave… Read More

Added by Dane on April 26, 2009 at 1:32am — 14 Comments

Belief, Hope and Working Premises

There are some things we cannot know or understand unless we believe in them first.

Our capacity to believe separates us from organisms that only respond to the world around them. Birds know when to fly south through adaption. Humans modify their environment have the faculties of belief and hope. We believe things to be true and if we perceive this belief to produce superior results we keep it. If we keep beliefs that, in reality don't help get us to where we need to be we… Read More

Added by Kernel John on April 25, 2009 at 12:30pm — 13 Comments

The End of Christian America

The percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 points in the past two decades. How that statistic explains who we are now—and what, as a nation, we are about to become.

By Jon Meacham | NEWSWEEK

Published Apr 4, 2009

From the magazine issue dated Apr 13, 2009

It was a small detail, a point of comparison buried in the fifth paragraph on the 17th page of a 24-page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey. But as R. Albert Mohler Jr.—president of… Read More

Added by Denita on April 5, 2009 at 6:30pm — No Comments

The Ten Ecstatic Commandments

א Know that everything is one and that nothing is truly separate.

ב Answer only to the infinite and you will not become oppressed by the finite.

ג Use caution when using the limitations of language to invoke the limitless.

ד Rotate between toil and ecstasy to supplement Earth with Heaven.

ה Seek the wisdom of duality in order to transcend it.

ו Respect life.

ז Respect one another.

ח Do not become attached to the… Read More

Added by Gene Johnson on March 1, 2009 at 7:00pm — 7 Comments

God's Identity Crisis

Religion describes God as infinite and everything, yet unitary. This is a logical paradox, of course, since a self-contained individual cannot simultaneously contain everything. But does that mean that God does not exist at all? Perhaps, but I venture to say that paradoxes are a different kind of smoking gun.

Joseph Campbell once wrote, "Where we had thought to travel outward, we shall arrive at the center of our own existence," which not coincidentally reminds me of Helen Keller… Read More

Added by Gene Johnson on February 23, 2009 at 1:00pm — 2 Comments