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Macs and Religion

A

agreenster

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 6, 2001
1,896
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As said in another post, Im curious to see what this little Mac cult feels about the afterlife. I know its completely off the main subject of the site, but since Apple users can be pretty clique-ish/cult-ish/fanatics, I wonder what your views are.

Mine? Well, I was raised strongly rooted in the Protestant Christian tradition, but after a strong Catholic secondary-education, I now consider myself a generally spiritual, monotheistic, good-loving, semi-athiest, that certainly doesnt believe in the traditional Christian God (my professors would be so proud).

Does that make any sense? Sum it up: I believe in an all-knowing power, who is somewhat in charge, but allows the 'nature' of nature, the stupidness of man, and the goodness of the heart to mix together and run free. I dont believe in any organized religion, because it is historically wrong, political, and based on power, not love. Think of the Greek gods, and how wrong they were. How any more wrong are organized religions today? History will prove that these beliefs are wrong as well. I mean, c'mon, how can a religious group say that you have to believe ONE thing, or you will go to hell (or whatever) when there have been millions of people throughout the world who have died and never even heard of this particular religious group. Its rediculous, arrogant, and stupid. I believe that there is a higher power that will take care of things the way it knows how to, and we should love and respect each other here on earth so that the time we spend isnt full of unnecessary pain. We dont worry about whether or not the sun is coming up tomorrow, why should we worry what happens when we die? Its all controlled by the same power.

Anyway, I could go on. But I want to hear what you have to say.
(this post if more for the regular MacRumor folks, but newbies can feel free to jump in)
 
Re: Macs and Religion

Originally posted by agreenster
Sum it up: I believe in an all-knowing power, who is somewhat in charge, but allows the 'nature' of nature, the stupidness of man, and the goodness of the heart to mix together and run free. I dont believe in any organized religion, because it is historically wrong, political, and based on power, not love. Think of the Greek gods, and how wrong they were. How any more wrong are organized religions today? History will prove that these beliefs are wrong as well. I mean, c'mon, how can a religious group say that you have to believe ONE thing, or you will go to hell (or whatever) when there have been millions of people throughout the world who have died and never even heard of this particular religious group. Its rediculous, arrogant, and stupid. I believe that there is a higher power that will take care of things the way it knows how to, and we should love and respect each other here on earth so that the time we spend isnt full of unnecessary pain. We dont worry about whether or not the sun is coming up tomorrow, why should we worry what happens when we die? Its all controlled by the same power.
Click to expand...


Hey! Can you believe it? That's EXACTLY how I feel!!!



irmongoose
 
I agree with Agreenster

I was raised jewish, and have tried everything from paganism to satanism and to all who will flame me, satanism does not involve anything evil, all it involves is worshipping yourself and making yourself happy, rather than living a mild timid life of sacrifice and suffering. It also preaches karma or the rule of 3, in other words what confuscius said, do not do unto others as you do not want done to you. But satanism adds a little sub blurb stating, only do it if they deserve it. So now where does that leave me? My jewish teachers cannot answer those tough questions, and the one thing that they do say is that even if you dont believe in judaism, you're not going to hell, because there is no hell in judaism. Now I am a firm believer that there is a G-d up there and that every time some radical facist does something in the name of their G-d he slaps himself going what are these people thinking! Like when hitler did what he did, or when bin laden did what he did. As far as I'm concerned our great nation is as perfect as it can be, we have an eclectic mix of every major faith, and we have a delicate balance of people living in the grey which is where most live. I personally believe that you should let every one do as they please unless they harm another person. So we are all living in a computer generated dreamworld running on the universe's most advanced mac! Free will set to on! and saftey protocol set to off!
 
I think there is possibly a g-d of some kind. Didnt believe so for a while but 4 years ago when I was in Israel I had a very spiritual occurance that can only be explained by there being a g-d. I still am not sure but because of that I have to be open to the possibility. I don't really buy into the afterlife, though itd be nice, I think we just end, and thats that. Just gotta live it up in the now and have fun while you can.
 
I was very catholic until one day I decide to become an exchange student and end up in Arkansas. Since then I believe church is just a matter of bull s***t, specially in the "Bible Belt" area.

I never though that humans can grow up been so inmature and unexperience about live in such big quantities.

A religion is good to develop a society because it has the basic "rules" of comunity, is good as a reference. Some religons are very practical and some others not.
Until now the jewish is the closest to reality and bautism is the farest (I do not like to think too much about religions).

I prefeer to listen to all of them and practice what makes common sense, at the end, all of them are made by humans.
 
My 2 cents

I was baptized and raised Catholic, went through some catechism, but never was confirmed or any of that. My family just stopped going after a while because we weren't getting anything out of it.
Sunday should be spent enjoying this amazing world around us. If you believe in a "higher power" that created everything, don't you think they would want us to appreciate and enjoy what they created?
If you are an atheist, you should then appreciate the "miraculous" series of events that had to take place to get us here and to create this beautiful planet/solar system/galaxy/universe.
Our free time (which we have so little of these days) should be spent relaxing and enjoying the beauties of nature.
I think all people have a right to believe as they see fit, I just don't appreciate the judgmental attitude most religions propagate.
 
interesting thread

I was born Catholic....raised Catholic....went to Catholic high school....blah blah blah...

After I was more able to think for myself, I started to realize I didn't really get much from going to church & didn't agree with a lot of the traditions....so I guess I separated myself from the whole thing all together. I don't believe that one can go about and do anything they want, confess their actions to a higher order and go about forgiven (only to end up doing it all over again as most Catholics do!). I also still don't understand how sitting in a church for an hour repeating the same things over and over each week is going to earn me a good spot with the Almighty either.

As of right now, I can't say that I've claimed a particular faith....but I do have it. I believe there is a God & I believe there is an afterlife. I believe in the goodness & badness in others, which makes us all human afterall. I believe in spirits and that there are ghosts & angels about us all over.

I have found that even though the world is composed of different beliefs & traditions concerning religion, it all eventually comes down to a basic belief in a God or higher being.

However....I don't go for this "Holy War" bullsh*t and what's been going on with the Mid-East & especially what we're being subjected to as a country since September 11....
 
i was raised catholic...i was never devout...i didnt buy all that ritualistic..praying to marry ....nonsense.
I found Mere Christianity to be pure and simple about 12 years after that. I really was impressed by what was said in "Mere Christianity" (a book by C.S. Lewis ). I believe that Jesus is mankinds only saviour and that without him were lost. I guess that makes me a Christian. Thats fine because all christian means is "christ in me".
Im definitly not the beat you over the head christian. I acccept everyones views and respect them but I know there are absolutes and they cant be denied. Im not the typical christian thats for sure. I just claim to be a Christ follower...pure and simple...nothing more ...nothing less. If I be hated or ridiculed for that then so be It I dont care. I care for everyone regardless of what they believe or not....and I never would ridicule them for what they stand for..be it atehism...paganism...wiccan...judiasm...hinduism...islam or whatever.
 
I'm a Gnostic with a twist.

I believe there is a sentience to the universe and that sentience loves us as it loves everything. I believe the whole universe is both the holucination and manifestation of that force. I believe the right thing is always happening, it's just our concept of momentary context that pollutes our perceptions. I believe that our actions and beliefs directly effect how reality treats us. I have been haunted. I have experienced "energies" and percieved local "awarenesses" (never done hollucinogens either BTW). I believe that organized religion is a dogmatic scam but I acknowledge that some people have genuine faith in those traditions. I believe Faith is paramount but do not feel the format of that faith need be constrained by tradition. I am very close to my spirituality and hold Faith in all forms as sacred.

I was raised by equally agnostic parents who have studied the history of "western" religion extensively.

I have my own bias: No one has the right to claim Religion as cause for inflicting suffering. I believe that the archaic Catholic church (300AD-1850AD) was the M$ of human history. I believe that spirituality is essential to good mental health.
 
I'm really surprised at all the responses so far... I have to admit, although I am a Mac user myself, I generally tended to think of other Mac users as far-out, wacko, astrology-loving hippie types before now. You all seem very down to earth, though. Or maybe the Lord Zerlok of Planet Klazokknuk worshippers just haven't found the thread yet.

Alex
 
Geek humor and religion.

So if G5 Towers come out with a 333Mhz bus running DDR wouldn't that mean they're running at 666? They most certainly WOULD be beasts and many of us do most of our money-related actions with our machines.................

It'd be damn funny if a Mobo was the antichrist.:rolleyes:
 
This is turning into an interesting sociological study.

Many people raised Catholic. None admitting to still be practising Catholics.

Two people of Jewish background or current practice. davidc2182 says he firmly believes in a God and teabgs admits to the possibility of one. However, both follow the tradition of not writing out the name of God out of respect for who God is. The rest of us appear to be on a less humble basis.

Generally there is a belief in a vague, benign entity that wouldn't send anybody to hell (if that is part of your belief system) for not believing any certain thing.

Some gravitate toward the worship of nature, some toward the worship of Steve Jobs.

Only two people took clear sides. krossfyter admitted to being a Christian, and believing in salvation through Jesus only. ptrauber says "Atheist...pure and simple." However, even HE believes in a god, and that god is named ptrauber. (A macrumors Demi-God, no less!)

By and large nobody got too worked up and nobody tried to convince anybody else that they were right or wrong. In today's politically correct society, that would be overstepping our boundaries as a human being. But just let someone disagree over YOUR visions of the G5, or what asinine thing Apple did to you, then the gloves come off and the cursing begins and we find just what makes us passionate! And if somebody doesn't see that what we are saying is right, it can get pretty nasty.

Personally, I'm in the same crowd as krossfyter. That would mean that I DON'T believe in a vague, benign entity. And that I do believe in hell, and salvation from it through Jesus.

When the rumors fly about a new Apple product (like the iPod or the iMac) everybody has an opinion and there are lots of intense and often unfriendly exchanges about the new product. Then one day the announcement is made, and everybody sits back and says "Oh, I was wrong" or "I was pretty much right" or somewhere in between. The personal opinions get compared to the truth.

The same thing's going to happen about our religious opinions, whether we say we believe anything or not. I think it's funny that we are polite about the future of our souls, but we'll bash people's heads in about a machine that is too slow for us to use in two years. :)
 
WAAYYYYYY mor than a benign entity.

Not just a benign entity but an extension of all things into one another through mutual and intimate awareness.We are eddies in God's dreams.......The universe itself is God's exploration of Awareness...

Here's a pet theory (If you're a gamer this will be easier):

I believe that both Creationists and Physicists are correct. They both are wrong about the dates ans sequence.

I think it was a base 2 progression of expansive awareness. Laugh away, it makes sense from both sides. If a dimensional plane "woke up" it'd split down exponentially.

Wow.......Zonk......

Must have coffee........................

Did u know: Hashish was the invention of the Hashishin Tribe/Clan of Afghanistan? Did you know that very old translations of Jewish holy texts put Cannabis as God's preferred Incense:D :D :D

Just thought I'd start a bar braul.;) :rolleyes: :eek: :confused: :cool: :p
 
I am a strong believer in the christian faith.

mail me at with questions (if you have any:)

Adrian
 
When you die you'll find out if all the religion stuff was worth anything. Until then, don't worry about it. I just live life by the social ethics that we've imposed upon ourselves in this society. It's not perfect but it's not terrible either. I was raised a Christian and that's all I have to say about it. I'm not religious at all. Most Christians creep me out anyway. I guess I'm an existentialist. Plan to stay that way. Peace.
 
I, for one, practice Theravada Buddhism. I say "practice" because, for those of who who have studied Buddhism, it's not really a matter of belief; there is understanding, and there is practice. If you have a lot of chatter in your brain, like I do, it's a *lot* of practice :) As for an afterlife... when someone dies, if their energy is reincarnated, then you surely will meet them again; we are all each other's mother in one life or another. If they have extinguished all craving and attained perfect understanding, then they will cease to exist. The Buddha said that is as impossible to explain to a person what nirvana is like as it is for a frog to explain to a tadpole what dry land is like.

Coincidently, my major in school was philosophy of religion. I always found it funny how many people would start out introducing themselves on the first day of class as, "I was raised Catholic, but..." What's with you Catholics, anyway? Maybe the Pope needs to take a lesson from Steve Jobs in how to maintain customer loyalty :D
 
none

Me and religion

Never went to church as a kid

was made to feel as an outcast because I didn't know anything about religion

When I got older, some of my friends parents wouldn't let them hang out with me because I didn't go to church.... which meant I was a bad influence (little did they know ... their kids were drug dealers and I was a good kid)

2 year relationship ended after she saw a mother a church with out daddy...

Girlfriend - "Why isn't your husband here today"
Mother - "He says home on Sundays"
Girlfriend - "How sad"
(later)
Girlfriend - "Your never going to change... its over"
evildead - "but ... but ... oh well"

Good friend of mine lost her virginity to her youth minister at age of 12. When she cried and said it hurt... he said "it wont hurt anymore when you become a woman"

My first Bible was given to me by a female baby sitter that like to play games with me that would have put her in jail. (I still have the bible)

Assaulted by a band of ex-gang bangers on a crusade to save souls... I guess they meant well... but it broke in to fist fights... many of them.

and many many more.....

I still don't go to church
 
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