As you have read on my blog, my topics vary quite a bit. I really enjoy keeping up with the latest political news. This not only allows me to learn what is happening in the world, it allows me to find topics to share with my readers. I spend at least an hour a day reading various blogs to see what others are thinking in terms of today’s political problems.

Another topic of great interest to me is religion. I am not a religious person but I do like to learn and read about the various religions. I spend time searching for great religion related article resources to find out as much as I can about all the worlds religions. I feel that by understanding the religions of others, you can understand why people do what they do.

Because reading involves knowledge, I vary my reading to include many other topics. I enjoy reading pets articles since I am an avid pet owner. As you all know, I raise chickens and I have a beautiful German Shepard. My other interest is mostly finance and investing type articles which help me make the right decisions when it comes to my money.

No matter what your interest are, if you are a blogger, you have to have a love for reading and you have to express that love to your readers. It is also important to instill the love of reading onto your children and the younger generation. It is a great time to just find some cool stuff to read about. As you read, you will find that you are gaining more knowledge and it will expand your whole world.

It was Constantine the Roman Emperor who commissioned the construction of what people now view as the Holy Bible. His committee  went through many books that were belieevd to be the word of God and weeded out the ones they did not think belonged. This was not the first intervention of man but the largest in tern of how the Bible is currently seen.

Reading through both the old and new testaments, you see many stories of glory, romance, Gothic tales, and heroism. There are wonderful stories on how the world started with Adam and Eve, the story of the great King David, and the saving of the animals by Noah during the great flood. The new testament finds the parables of Jesus and how he arose from the dead after dying on the cross for the sins of the world. These are all interesting stories and give an insight into living a morale life.

However, in my opinion, they are just that, stories. Did the men who wrote the books think they were inspired by God?  Most likely a majority of them did but it still does not mean it was. The contradictions in the old and new testaments leads one to wonder of they were the same God.

In the old testament, you see a vengeful God who talks of an eye for eye and tooth for a tooth. He not only allows mass killings but encourages characters like David to carry them out. Then he allows a Job a man in his prime to stricken with heartache and sickness just as a test to see if he will forsaken God. The God of the old testament believes in punishment  of both women being subordinate to men and all humans subordinate to him. Does not sound like a friendly loving God does it? Sounds like control issues.

On the contrary, the new testament shows a loving forgiving God who not all loves people so much, he sends his son to die for all of their sins. Jesus, son and God, shows how loving he is by interfering with a stoning of a whore and speaking of not judging others unless you are without sin. A lesson many so called Christians could learn from. There are many lessons of God’s love. Is it just that he changed his outlook?

Religion is faith and only faith, with no proof of reality. So to answer the fact or fiction questions, the Bible is fact if you want to put blind faith in it. For me, I look at the stories at both interesting and having many morale lessons. Beyond the possibility of the stories are scientifically impossible and more fiction than fact.

From Moses parting the Red Sea to Noah repopulating the world from just his family to the rising from the dead of both Lazarus and Jesus all make interesting stories. However, there are many similar stories from many other religions. They are called folk tales or legends.

In my final opinion, the Bible is no more real or less real than any other religion. It is purely a leap of faith. You can believe in anything if you have faith. For me, I prefer to see real proof not a book that tells me that it is real.

Please feel free to share your own opinion.

 The core belief of Buddhism is the four noble truths:

1. All life is suffering

2. Suffering is caused by desire

3. Remove the desire and remove the suffering

4. Follow the eight fold path

The first means that a human life is full of suffering. We suffer the loss of love ones, we suffer when we experience poor health and sickness. We suffer a loss of love or a loss when we lose our worldly processions. We get depressed when we lose something we feel we can not live without. In the final suffering, we die.

The second one points out that all of the suffering is brought on because of of our own desires for happiness. We desire after both physical and mental happiness. “If I only get that new car, I will be happy.” The car does not provide the happiness you desired so you move on to the next thing or person to make you happy. The car will wear out and rust and it will not last forever. Attaching your happiness to such a thing means you are setting yourself up for more suffering. The same applies to sex, if you just need that sex to make you happy, it will not fulfill your need. The more you desire and get, the more you need.

The third states that if you remove the desire, you will remove the suffering.  If you quite relying on other things to make you happy, you will lose the desire for those things and you will lose the hold they have on you. From releasing this desire you can be enlightened and achieve a state of Nirvana. This is a state of release and freedom. There will be no more fear, worry, troubles and you are in a true state of happiness.  It also means you yourself are released from the world and it releases you from the chains of rebirth or reincarnation.

The fourth noble truth is a way of life that we all should strive for (Buddhist or not). It is the eight fold path:

1. Right view

2. Right Intention  

3. Right Speech

4. Right Action

5. Right Livelihood

6. Right Effort

7. Right Mindfulness

8. Right Concentration

Basically, live your life the right way and watch at all time what you say and do.

Does this mean you can not enjoy pleasures we all know? No it mans that we should let them control us. Your happiness is inside you and not wrapped up in your desires. You can enjoy all of life both the good and bad without letting it effect your happiness.

We can learn a lot from what Buddhism has to say rather it is a religion or a philosophy.

The key is to respect others no matter what their belief is. If other treat you bad, say That Blozzz and move on for your happiness is not wrapped up in their opinion.  

I am an Agnostic, which means in simple language, I believe there is a chance of a higher being but I am not convinced of one and that no one can know the truth either way. This does not mean I am against anyone’s God or Goddess. I do not deny the existence of a God. This is an Atheist.

If you were to study all major religions in the history of the world (I have), you will see that each one has something to offer the world. They also make sure to contradict most other religions. This is to insure their belief that they are the only right path to salvation or the light. It is the I am better than you mentality.

For thousands of years there have been religion and as people evolved or regressed, depending how you look at it, the course of religion has changed. At one point, women were the focus point of worship and the Goddess was a symbol of life itself. As newer religions emerged, men took center stage and the religions took a more paternal look. In this path, women were suppressed and made inferior to men. Now in the modern world, many people are turning to a more dim look at faith and many scandals have caused people to look at other ways to place their faith.

Religion has also played a major role in much of the violence the world has to offer. From the earliest religions, violence in one form or another have played a part on religion. In early times, human sacrifice played a key role. In later times, it was the violence of wars to eliminate the non-believers that took center roles in the religious world.

What many call a religion of love and hope, to others it is a religion of suppression, hate, and despair. From the ashes of ruin, we see those who still cling to the falsehood that they are superior to their fellow man because they have their God or Gods.

I have studied as many world religions that I could find information about. I respect some and have disdain for others. All seem to share the premise that you are to harm none but then they distract from that when they speak of the enemies of their religion. I am not writing off the possibility of a higher being or beings but I am also not saying I believe there is a way to know for sure.  

I do believe that whatever your belief, you have the right to that and to not be attacked for what you believe. I do not believe in the my God is better than you God. Religion is solely based on faith and to say that one is right and the other wrong conflicts with the core base of most religions.

Because one says they are Wiccan, it does not mean they will eat your children or kill a chicken. For this reason, it is wrong to attack such a person for their belief. Just like all Muslims are not terrorist. In fact, against common thought, they share the same God with Christians, there difference comes in the fact that they believe that Jesus was a prophet not the son of God. They also do not, contrary to what a lot of preachers claim, think that Mohammad is a God, he is, in their belief, the most prized prophet of God.

My point of this is to point out that I as well as you and everyone else should be able to believe what we want without others judging us or condemning us for those beliefs.

I am an Agnostic…not an Atheist!