Quote:
Originally Posted by jimjamuser
"Faith/belief in an afterlife" has produced a lot of SIDE EFFECTS. Take for instance the infamous PTL club with James Bakker and Tammy Faye. There are many other infamous MODERN examples of people using religion for a corrupt intent. All throughout ancient and modern history people (usually men) have put on robes or other distinguishing clothing to identify themselves as SPECIAL and get SPECIAL FAVORS and POWER from a tribe, or community or a government. It's like an ultimate CON GAME......I tell you that you will do VERY well in the afterlife (be important and SPECIAL) and in EXCHANGE for that and maybe some special holy water spashed on you - you give me a nice house to live in and MONEY.
Then, ultimately, these faith/belief ideas infiltrate the government and OFTEN lead to WARS against some offending OTHERS or OTHER religion. This has been proven time and time again throughout History. Today in the US, it is still the same/same thing. Look around you ......there are fancy houses and gathering places called "churches" where the cash registers are RINGING and the "faithful" feel VERY confident that they are better than "OTHERS" and will get the best seats at the table called the "AFTERLIFE".
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There is a huge difference between faith and religion. In my opinion "faith" is a personal relationship, one on one, with God. Religion, on the other hand, is a construct of man. No matter how nobly a religion starts out, it inevitably becomes corrupted. Human nature is what it is.
Interesting that the Bakkers were mentioned. Quite some time back I had a woman employee, early 30s, with four children. Her husband was killed in a logging accident. I did what I could, giving her extra hours when available, but her job didn't pay much. Certainly not enough to maintain her and her kids. Not long after her husband's death she started watching "The PTL club", Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's TV program, the basis of their "message" being that God will bless someone twentyfold if they contribute to someone doing the Lord's work (of course, the PTL club). She was desperate and contributed. No twentyfold return. I guess the expectation was that she needed to show her dedication by giving even MORE money. Still, no return. She left her job after a few weeks and we lost contact. Some time down the road I heard there had been a suicide attempt, thankfully unsuccessful. I also heard that her kids were taken from her.
Such is the power of "religion".