I was thinking about starting a new religion....

[AreYourLightsOn]

but I don't know much about the old ones except that each of them seems to me to start out with the same basic premise, ie. that it's the true path to some enlightened state and that if you follow it's precepts you will get there. Then someone comes along and sees the religion as a way to make a buck and/or control peoples activities and the basic precepts go out the window.

So, I thought that if we could put our heads together we could come up with something that's a little better than what's currently out there. I need some help here, people.

 

[Maiden-hunter]

read stranger in a stranger land

it's fiction but scaryly (sp) factual

 

[Rubyfruit]

Your nick reminded me of one of my favorite songs

Put Your Lights On
(E. Schrody)

Hey now, all you sinners
Put your lights on,
Put your lights on
Hey now, all you lovers
Put your lights on,
Put your lights on

Hey now, all you killers
Put your lights on
Put your lights on
Hey now, all you children
Leave your lights on, you better
leave your lights on

Because there's a monster
Living under my bed
Whispering in my ear
There's an angel
With a hand on my head
She says I've got nothing to fear

There's a darkness
Deep in my soul
I still got a purpose to serve
So let your light shine
into my home
God don't let me lose my nerve
Lose my nerve

Hey now, hey now
hey now, hey now
Wo-oh hey now, hey now
hey now, hey now

Hey now all you sinners
Put your lights on,
put your lights on
Hey now, all you children
Leave your lights on
Better leave your lights on

Because there's a monster
Living under my bed
Whispering in my ear
There's an angel
With a hand on my head
She says I've got nothing to fear
She says, Whooo-ahha hey
Lala, you shine like stars
And fade away

 

[medjay]

Let's just hope your new religion doesn't involve living in a sqalid compound, wearing black Reeboks and waiting for the mothership to arrive.

B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

read stranger in a stranger land

Ditto. A great "How-To" on sect-starting.

 

[AreYourLightsOn]

I was thinking that y'all might have some fundamental concepts that we might all be able to agree upon. It's the details that seem to screw us up.

For instance, most everyone believes that murder is not a good thing, except....It's the exceptions!!!

(Thanks for the reference to Stranger in a Strange Land. I read it years ago and can't recall the details well. I'll see if I still have it and reread it. And, Ruby, thanks for the tune.)

 

[medjay]

I recommend a short story by Joe R. Lansdale called "On the Far Side of the Cadilac Desert With Dead Folks". It's about a group of people who live in the post-apocalyptic ruins of Disneyland and have invented an entire religion around sex and orgies. A the front gates of Disneyland they have erected a huge statue of Jesus with a great big dick hanging between his knees.

Kind of pulpy but still hilarious. Has anyone heard of Joe R. Lansdale? He's my favorite author.

 

[medjay]

I was thinking that y'all might have some fundamental concepts that we might all be able to agree upon. It's the details that seem to screw us up.

For instance, most everyone believes that murder is not a good thing, except....It's the exceptions!!!

(Thanks for the reference to Stranger in a Strange Land. I read it years ago and can't recall the details well. I'll see if I still have it and reread it. And, Ruby, thanks for the tune.)

To get started on the real gist of your thread, the fundamental basis of a religion ought to be the golden rule: Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.

 

[cybergirly]

read stranger in a stranger land

it's fiction but scaryly (sp) factual

I don't gork you...

 

[AreYourLightsOn]

Yeh, but....

To get started on the real gist of your thread, the fundamental basis of a religion ought to be the golden rule: Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.

What if the others are into intolerance, hate and fear??

 

[medjay]

Re: Yeh, but....

What if the others are into intolerance, hate and fear??

If you haven't, you might want to take a look at the book series, Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch.

It offers a very clear and unbiased look at the origins and effects of world religion as related to a person's own views on spirituality and explains why religion, by its very existence dooms its followers to ignorance.

No one can find God by following any religious docterine because religion forces you to look for God in all the wrong places.

Most faiths paint God as angry, always looking over your shoulder like some sort of Big Brother type spook. They train you believe that God is a sentient being that exists outside of yourself and you need some sort of spiritual go-between (church, preacher, etc.) to even have an audience with him.

The fact of the matter is when you're thinking and talking to yourself, you're already talking to God.

 

[AreYourLightsOn]

Re: Re: Yeh, but....

If you haven't, you might want to take a look at the book series, Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch.

Love or fear. That's what I believe that Walsch is talking about. (I've read his books and heard him speak). So, how do we all focus on love as oppossed to fear?? So many of our religions are fear based.

 

[medjay]

Re: Re: Re: Yeh, but....

Love or fear. That's what I believe that Walsch is talking about. (I've read his books and heard him speak). So, how do we all focus on love as oppossed to fear?? So many of our religions are fear based.

It is easy to capitolize on fear. No matter how much we as a people claim we want freedom it's not true. To be completely free means we would have to take total responsibility for our actions and decisions and also trust others to do the same.
As far as focusing on love is concered; it's impossible to love others until you learn to love yourself. How do you learn to love yourself if you're brought up believing in a religious text that claims you are born into sin and must spend you entire live trying to prove yourself worthy? What an unfair burden.

 

[AreYourLightsOn]

So, how about this....

Love yourself as you would want others to love you. How's that for a beginning??

 

[medjay]

Re: So, how about this....

Love yourself as you would want others to love you. How's that for a beginning??

Sounds good to me. I'm waiting for someone else to chime in here.

 

[Susano]

Other instructional reading might include L. Ron Hubbard's Dekalogy and other works, since he managed to start one.
Taoism looks like one where the sacred text was written by the founder instead of his followers.
Shinto has no sacred text at all. You've got a lot of choices...

 

[AreYourLightsOn]

I'm not interested in readings---

I would like to hear your ideas, if you have any to offer.

 

[sufisaint]

There is a wonderful Zen sying...If you meet the Buddha on the side of the road...kill him. Basically religion is a social phenomenon....has nothing to do with your own enlightment....infact since you are not Jesus, Buddha, ect....their path will not take you all tyhe way....you are unique...your enlightment will also be....dive into your own being and consciousness....teachers are just sign on the road...only you walk it!!!!

 

[427cobra]

after giving this thread careful thought , i've decided to create a new religion too. it's all based on cheese and however you decide to idolize it is just fine. ALL HAIL THE MIGHT CHEESE!

 

[Guru]

 

[rider]

What religion do you get this from?

How do you learn to love yourself if you're brought up believing in a religious text that claims you are born into sin and must spend you entire live trying to prove yourself worthy?

I am a Christian, and this sounds like a reference to Christianity, but not as I know it. We were not born into sin, but sin does occur, no matter how hard we try to curb it. The important thing, as a Christian, is to admit you have sinned, and accept Jesus Christ as your savior. I am NOT trying to convert anyone here, as there are things I could know better and do better at. I don't know every sect of Christianity, but the ones I do know follow this basic principle. I don't understand the whole Catholic part, with purgatory and such. But, from my readings of the Bible and being in other churches, that is all you have to do. I just found your statement curious. You do need to learn to love yourself first, and part of that is to move away from feelings of guilt for so many things. Accept all people, let them practice the sexuality they prefer without prejudice. That would be a good start. And something Christians don't always do.

 

[Black_Bird]

There is a wonderful Zen sying...If you meet the Buddha on the side of the road...kill him. Basically religion is a social phenomenon....has nothing to do with your own enlightment....infact since you are not Jesus, Buddha, ect....their path will not take you all tyhe way....you are unique...your enlightment will also be....dive into your own being and consciousness....teachers are just sign on the road...only you walk it!!!!

There is another way of interpreting that saying.

If you meet the Buddha on the side of the road, he's not the true Buddha, as it resides inside of you. So does the Christ; the word of God was spoken through Jesus, but if you are to walk in his footsteps, you have to let God say what he must through you.

Holy Books can be handy how-to guides or they can be paper idols. My suggestion? Purchase two copies; burn one, read the other.

 

[AreYourLightsOn]

In my religion, there would be no god-

except yourself and the other people who populate this planet. There would be no reference to anyone dying for your sins nor would there be any notion of original sin. To me, all that stuff just leads to more fear.