Repple Depple

More on religions…

Before anyone thinks I am anti-Christian, I need to say, I am not… I have also seen Pagans act anti-Christian… like in a guy on stage at a Pagan Festival, acting JUST LIKE a born-again Christian preacher, criticizing and making fun of Christians… I was not amused at him either and my wife told me to “shut up” when I started making comments.

I think people like to have something they can make fun of–I guess it makes them feel better and not alone. It’s kind of a “pack mentality” and is very ugly. I don’t care WHAT you worship, but I don’t really wish to discuss it and certainly do NOT wish to be proselytized at… I am not out to be recruited. Oh, and if you’re feeling all preachy, please don’t sit there and spout things at me that YOU don’t follow. Anyway, let’s look at some of this stuff.  (Oh, why the frak not? I have nothing better to do…)

Christianity: How hard is this, the Ten Commandments…

1. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6. “You shall not murder.
7. “You shall not commit adultery.
8. “You shall not steal.
9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Yes, really, not much there, but a LOT of people who claim to follow the teachings of this religion do not follow even half of these tenants. Oooooh, I’m bad for bringing this up.

Wicca

Unlike most mainstream religions, Witchcraft does not have a long list of laws governing their behavior. Witches generally adhere to what has become known as “THE WICCAN REDE” and THE THREE-FOLD LAW. These two principles contain the basics of what Witches define as ethical and moral behavior within the Craft and the society in which they live.

In Wicca, it comes down to this:

“If it Harms none, Do what Thou Will!”

Do all of them follow this? No, but many do. There is more, but you probably don’t wish to read it all. IF you do, go here.

And as for Islam…

The Five Pillars of Islam (Declaration of the Islamic Faith)

In order to enter into the fold of Islam i.e. to be Muslim, one has to know, believe, accept totally and sincerely apply the five basic principles (Pillars) on which Islam is based: Ibn Umar narrated that the Messenger of Allah – Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said: Islam is based on the following five pillars (principles).

1. Bearing witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
2. Observance of Prayer
3. Paying Zakat (giving of a small percentage of one’s possessions (surplus wealth) to charity, generally to the poor and needy.)
4. Fasting during Ramadhan
5. Pilgrimage to the house of Allah.

Buddhism

There is a LOT to this and I am not going to do more than copy some of it. Bad ME! My eyes are beginning to glaze over and little puffs of smoke are starting to come out my ears.

These basic tenants are found in the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Path. Let us begin with the Four Noble Truths.

• The First Noble Truth is that there is pain and suffering in the world. Gautama realized that pain and suffering are omnipresent in all of nature and human life. To exist means we will all encounter suffering. Birth is painful and so is death. Sickness and old age are painful. Throughout life, all living things encounter suffering.
• The Second Noble Truth relates to the cause of suffering. Gautama believed the root cause of suffering is desire. It is the craving for wealth, happiness, and other forms of selfish enjoyment which cause suffering. These cravings can never be satisfied for they are rooted in ignorance.
• The Third Noble Truth is the end of all suffering. Suffering will cease when a person can rid himself of all desires.
• The Fourth Noble Truth is the extinguishing of all desire by following the eight-fold path. “The eight-fold path is a system of therapy designed to develop habits which will release people from the restrictions caused by ignorance and craving.”

The Eight-fold Path
Here are the eight steps in following the eight-fold path.

1. The first is the Right Views. One must accept the four noble truths.
2. Step two is the Right Resolve. One must renounce all desires and any thoughts like lust, bitterness, and cruelty. He must harm no living creature.
3. Step three is the Right Speech. One must speak only truth. There can be no lying, slander, or vain talk.
4. Step four is the Right Behavior. One must abstain from sexual immorality, stealing, and all killing.
5. Step five is the Right Occupation. One must work in an occupation that benefits others and harms no one.
6. Step six is the Right Effort. One must seek to eliminate any evil qualities within and prevent any new ones from arising. One should seek to attain good and moral qualities and develop those already possessed. Seek to grow in maturity and perfection until universal love is attained.
7. Step seven is the Right Contemplation. One must be observant, contemplative, and free of desire and sorrow.
8. The eighth is the Right Meditation. After freeing oneself of all desires and evil, a person must concentrate his efforts in meditation so that he can overcome any sensation of pleasure or pain and enter a state of transcending consciousness and attain a state of perfection. Buddhists believe that through self effort one can attain the state of peace and eternal bliss called Nirvana.

Judaism

I am sorry, but I couldn’t find something that was a really clear-cut description of Judaism and explained it to me, so this will have to do for right now:

Reform Judaism’s main principle is that Judaism has been changing throughout its long and rich history and Reform Judaism is a reflection of that change. Judaism must adapt to the times and its surroundings in order to survive and thrive.

Reform Judaism focuses on God, Torah, and Israel; the three tenants of Judaism. Rather than focusing on the commandments of the torah (the 613 Mitzvot) Reform Jews focus their attention on the Jewish set of ethics and values that have developed from the Torah and Jewish cultural values.

A conclusion?

Sorry, but I don’t want to read anymore. My head hurts and I am going to stop. All I can say is I don’t like hypocrites. Religion is what you make it. Most religions preach the same kind of stuff. I guess if you are even a Satanic worshiper, you have rules and beliefs… in fact, I guess I should add this to be fair:

Satanism

It is a religion and a philosophy based on man as he really is: a carnal being free from the fiction that is spirituality and one who champions total responsibility, pragmatism, and the here-and-now.

More so:
The Satanic Bible encapsulates this iconography in The Nine Satanic Statements, which are thus:

1. Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence!
2. Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom, instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!
5. Satan represents vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek!
6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!
7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his divine spiritual and intellectual development, has become the most vicious animal of all!
8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!
9. Satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years

Ende!