Jan 18 2015
Our Beliefs Were Stongly Influenced By Our Culture
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There has always been the great debate between Christians and Atheists but I think often times a very important point is left out.
To Christians – Proving that our universe was created does not prove the Bible is correct.
To Atheists – Proving the Bible wrong does not prove there is not a god or creative source.
We have invited a lot of differing beliefs to comment on this post.
This is not a place to bash and belittle others beliefs.
This is a post to learn from the experiences of others.
Our goal is to discover why we believe what we believe.
Please read the post and let us know why you agree or disagree or both.
This is a plea, a call to become one.
We need to get a grasp on God and religion. For the most part if you were born in a European, North American culture your brain has been wired with Christianity concepts. If you live in the east, China, India you are more wired for the concepts of Buddhism, Hinduism and other eastern religions. If you live in the middle east then your brain has a lot of synapses firing with Muslim beliefs.
You may not want to admit it emotionally but you have to admit there is a lot of truth to it.
Even if you do not follow any specific type of religion you still have patterns wired in your brain, cultural influences stemming from the religion in the area in which you were born. Your media, architecture, currency are all influenced by the religion of your region.
For the most part your brain was wired when you were a child. You may think that you have come to conclusions on your own, but your brain has been conditioned to see the world in such a way that supports conclusions you have been given. Your brain is bombarded with millions of bits of data every day. To keep you from going insane you take in the data that coincides with your beliefs and discard most of the data that does not. You do this subconsciously. Most of the time you are unaware. And this is why the world seems to conform to what you believe. This is why everyone thinks their way of seeing is correct.
The problem is the majority of the world sees God as an external being, “out there”, looking down on us, judging us. God is not out there. God is “in here.” God is inside each and everyone of us.
This is why everyone thinks their religion is correct. They feel God inside of them and that feeling is strong and very real but they assume it is coming from an external source. Of course if it was coming from an external source then only one religion could be correct.
But the feeling is not coming from an external source. It is coming from within each and everyone of us. There can be no debate over whose God is correct. We are all correct.
Being in us, God is whatever we want him/her/it to be.
Where do your beliefs come from?
For the majority (yes there are exceptions) a person’s religious belief is determined by where they live. You have to see that you believe what the majority of those around you believe. You are very similar to those around you or else visiting your neighbor would be like visiting a different country.
Does it make you pause for a moment to know that those who have different beliefs from you have just as strong a faith that their belief is correct and yours is not? They believe just as strongly that you are incorrect as you do they are incorrect. They are seeing a world which shows them their beliefs are correct just as you are seeing a world which shows you your beliefs are correct.
You say “The Truth” but it is impossible for you to know for sure. Deep down you understand that.
The best you can say is I have faith and that is a feeling. So respect others feelings just as much as your own. Their feelings are just as strong as yours.
Do not criticize others who do not believe as you.
They feel as passionate about what they believe as you do.
Everyone has an infinite amount of experiences available. It would therefore be impossible for everybody to come to one incontrovertible truth. An omnipotent creator would know this and see the futility in demanding everyone follow one belief. And to punish someone just because their life experiences didn’t lead them to a certain belief would be sadistic and cruel.
Never try and force a person to live your point of view.
No matter what authority you claim, it is still your point of view that accepted the authority.
And that is fine, because that is one of the reasons you are in this life. The world needs your point of view.
Again the purpose of this post is to learn.
Please do not post negative, rude, intolerant comments.
Ok, let us know what you think. Click on the comment balloon to the right of the post title at the top of this post to leave a comment.