Well, I'm not I religious person (as you migh have allready guesd from my previous posts). I did read the bible and I must admit that it had some very interesting and smart things written down inside there.

Most things are metafors and are too often taken too literal (official dumbasses topic). But there are hidden mesaages behind every story (most of the things didn't really happen or are exagerated.)

I respect this very much. It can and has helped many individuals to find the right path in life. That's all ok and cool about religion.

Now what I don't understand is why must it be worshped so much? Why do you need a priest? Why do you need a church where you can prey? These things make religion bad (Not always). Priests have too much power. They tend to abuse the power of religion too often. Why can't we practice religion just ourselfes whitout some priest telling you what to do. I think people should discover religion for themselfs.

>>>>Now what I don't understand is why must it be worshped so much?<<<<

Because in the Bible, "it" is either a vengeful god, so people fear him and want to appease him, or a loving god that people are supposed to worship because hes so nice to you.
As Ive said already, if I could watch ants line up around me once a week and do something cool, like some awesome chants, in my honor, I would take care never to step on one. If I were a god, Im sure one of the only things that would amuse me would be watching people clamor for my favor.

>>>> Why do you need a priest? <<<<<

We addressed this in the "Why" thread. It has to be assumed that the majority of people who are too busy making a living wont have time to study the intricacies of faith and the finer points of theology. Do you think a Buddhist monk who can stop his heart is more qualified to tell you about Budhism than Richard Gere? I do too.

>>>>Why do you need a church where you can prey?<<<<

Cute. As I said again the "why" thread, because having a building or place set aside for the sole purpose of communion with the Divine makes it more special than kneeling anywhere. Also, if you believe in any kind of magick, energy kinda stuff, the focusing of a collective energy on positive, or negative, religious things in one place all the time would charge that place with a lot of potential.

>>>>Priests have too much power.<<<

...if you added, "...in Afghanistan." that might be accurate. Otherwise, its just a typical teenager cheap shot at religion in general.
>>>>Why can't we practice religion just ourselfes whitout some priest telling you what to do. I think people should discover religion for themselfs.<<<<

If there were no priests, thered be no religions to discover. See the above post conerning the need for priests.

That last part has always interested me

without someone telling you to, what would you believe?

Im going to go out on a limb here and predict it.

Theres a tribe of very ignorant people, too ignorant even to venture a guess as to how they are there and what made everything around them. You will note that even children of the youngest age will do this, so thats incredible, arguably, not even human, ignorance. But they are just wandering around, not even asking questions about religion. Along comes you, who has a cool dream about an elk in the sky being sent down by a Creator, who appears to you only as a light with a male voice. From this elk comes all the world, and the people who eat his flesh.
Dont you think youd use this revealation to rationalize your superiority, and justify your dominance in the tribe's affairs? I have to conclude then, that in the absence of an established religion, man would just establish another one.

Some religions belive that we were created with the primary purpose of woshiping the creator.

>>...if you added, "...in Afghanistan." that might be accurate<<

So in no other place around the world priests/monks/etc don't abuse their power? Only in Afganistan huh?

Around the world people in power abuse their power. Not all people mind you, its only a few most of the time. Like politians, the clergy is not immune to being human and wanting/abusing power.

xenobite, those are my sentiments exactly.

i was raised christian, from a devout christian family,

the only thing i had deep interest to know everything i could know about everything we do know about existance.

i soon found most of the things i was taught to be "history" can't be true, but they do as you put it, and i think make good parables.

why am i not atheist, i just cannot believe in chaos, there is so much order to everything and in everything, or it may be instilled in me from my youth that i can't get past it.

i started rationalizing what a "perfect" god would be like, and realized he would be one that left us to fail or succeed as we saw fit to do, we would control our destinies, it's not that he couldn't, but that he wouldn't interfere in our lives.

there are three kinds of people in the world, those that refuse help, "i can do it myself" and those that demand help "hey could you keep my mom from dying", and those that accept both help and reality.

if god wouldn't do something for you, you would probably reject him, as most of the atheists i've encountered feel.

"why did he let my mom die"
"why do wars occur"
"why do children starve"
"why did my parents get divorced"
"why am i paralyzed"

all followed by if there's a god.

if i was god i don't think i'd want the pressure of telling them, things must pass away for new things to arise, wars occurr because of the battle for what one wants or what one needs to preserve what one believes, children starve because they have no food, your parents are divorced for their reasons, you are paralyzed because you broke your back.

followed by well why do you let it happen, you can change all of these things.

so a rational god in my view would also be one who accepted that he wasn't believed in,

i think that god would prefer some of us to be atheists than the god we've interpreted him to be.

unlike most atheists as well, i can accept the fact that i may be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time, and not the last to be sure.

let me just say i cannot believe there isn't something more to this, no matter how hard i try, and believe me i have tried to accept that this is it out of pure chance, random luck, when everything always has and always will work so perfectly.

the problems of man, are just that, problems of men, not god's problem, not the universes problem, not another races problem, man could fade from existance and the universe wouldn't miss us.

i think that also is a lesson instilled by god inherent in the universe, that despite being the center of your own little world, are meaningless to most everybody else, and everybody else is meaningless to everything else.

to me, if god would speak to us he would say why of all the people should i satisfy YOU.

there's a song by the the that sums it up really good.

if the real jesus christ were to stand up today
he'd be gunned down cold by the cia
and the lights that now burn brightest behind stained glass
will cast the darkest shadows upon the human heart
but god didn't build himself that throne
god doesn't live in israel or rome
god doesn't belong to the yankee dollar
god doesn't plant the bombs for hezbollah
god doesn't even go to church
and god won't send us down to allah to burn
no, god will remind us what we already know
that the human race is about to reap what it's sewn

this is from the book illusions by richard bach

"and it came to pass when he saw that the multitude thronged him the more day on day, tighter and closer and fiercer then ever they had, when he saw that they pressed him to heal them without rest, and feed them always with his miracles, to learn for them and to live their lives, he went alone that day unto a hilltop, and there he prayed.

and he said in his heart, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me, le me lay aside this impossible task. i cannot live the life of one other soul, yet ten thousand cry to me for life. i'm sorry i allowed it all to happen. if it be thy will, let me go back to my engines and my tools and let me live as other men.

and a voice spoke to him on the hilltop, a voice neither male nor female, loud nor soft, a voice infinitely kind, and the voice said unto him, "not my will, but thine be done. for what is thy will is mine for thee. go thy way as other men, and be thou happy on the earth."

and when the throng pressed him with it's woes, beseeching him to heal for it and learn for it and feed it nonstop from his understanding and to entertain it with his wonders he smiled upon the multitude and said pleasantly unto them, "I quit"

and he said unto them, "if a man told god that he wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and god answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he is tole?"

"of course master!" cried the many. "it should be pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself should god ask it!"

"no matter what these tortures nor how difficult the task?"

"honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned, if so be that god has asked," said they

"and what would you do," the master said unto the multitude, "if god spoke directly to your face and said, 'i command that you be happy in the world as long as you live'" what would you do then?"

and the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound was heard upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood.

and the master said unto the silence, "in the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. so it is that i have learned this day, and choose to leave you now to walk your own path as you please."

and he went his way through the crowds and left them, and he returned to the everyday world of men and machines."

that's something we can all take to heart.