Religious Questions

[Papi Chulo]

Which religion is "right" & why?



2 people die at the same time. One was baptized as a baby and was non-practicing for most of his life, the other was never baptized, however was practicing (attending Mass regularly).

Does one, both, or neither receive the gift of everlasting life in the Kingdom of God?

 

[LurkerDave]

I wonder if this individual was born in Canada considering his omission of the second largest religion for over a century (until the 1990's) among Canadians next to Christians.

 

[Papi Chulo]

Attending Mass does not mean they believe. One can attend church and be an atheist. You don't have to be going to church to have an active belief in god.

If someone did not believe, why would they regularly attend Mass?

You forgot Buddist and many other religions

There was only room for 10 options!

 

[Guy7]

In Canada you have immigrants from more than 122 countries of the world with different religions, & beliefs. In your poll you should have also added a column as "OTHERS" with a space for the peopleof other religions to fill in the space & write the exact religion or belief they are practising over here in Canada. As you have simply forgotten to mention the Sikhs, Bhuddists, Zorastrians- & Bahai's (Both Religion From Iran Older persian region) U have also forgotten the Jews............

 

[Papi Chulo]

In Canada you have immigrants from more than 122 countries of the world with different religions, & beliefs. In your poll you should have also added a column as "OTHERS" with a space for the peopleof other religions to fill in the space & write the exact religion or belief they are practising over here in Canada. As you have simply forgotten to mention the Sikhs, Bhuddists, Zorastrians- & Bahai's (Both Religion From Iran Older persian region)

I did not forget to mention any religion.

They software used by Terb restricts polls to a maximum of 10 options.

Maybe the moderators could edit the poll, eliminate 7th Day Adventist and replace it with "Other"

 

[CapitalGuy]

Being Catholic is a complicated affair!

According to The Church, based on my memories of 19 years of
Catholic Education, the unbaptised person, assuming they led a good life (whatever that means) will not get into Heaven, but will not burn, either. They go to limbo - kind of a non-existence between Heaven and Hell, that is not quite the eternal bliss of being in God's presence, but doesn't suck either, and is in no way a punishment the way Hell is.

The baptised person can, however, get into Heaven, if they've also led that Good Life. He'd have some 'splaining to do at the Pearly Gates, as to why he skipped Church so many times, but in theory, he has a crack at eternal bliss. I personally have no insight into how strict St. Peter is, in terms of letting people through the gates.

I'm a huge fan of the idea that if you're generally good, but maybe not quite Mother Theresa good, but certainly not a rapist/murderer/thief type, either, you can work it off by doing time in Purgatory. Sit around the big P for a few thousand years, then get into Heaven. Whew.

Or, the one where there are many rooms in my Father's house, meaning that I may not be good enough to get into the inner circle of Heaven and play golf with God every week, but I'm in a pretty nice outer-ring type suburb of Heaven. The Priests who taught me high school religion spelled it out like this: the better a person you are, the closer to God you get to spend eternity.

I personally would hope that each of the guys in your example make it into Heaven, if they were good, but who knows? The more I think about it, my belief (hope?) is that we all worship the same God, but that He speaks to us in different ways. By that, I mean that he sets similar but slightly different ground rules for all people, depending on what religion they were born into. So, if you play by the rules of your particular religion, you'll make it into Heaven. But, if you were told the rules and choose to ignore them, you're pooched.

Holes in my theory - people who convert, and people who are in the less-established religions that may have tenuous connections to God (I won't mention them to avoid insulting anyone, but I'm not dissing any of the Major Religions).

I can drone on about this forever. I'm such a guilt-ridden Catholic, that I'm almost Jewish.

 

[basketcase]

Mennonite. Really.

 

[papasmerf]

We try to live a good life and we hope we go to heaven. To your question the answer will be yours when you die.

 

[pool]

poll edited to include some other major religions

I was baptized Protestant, then later decided I was Agno, but more recently realized I'm more realistically Atheist [who also picks and chooses aspects of some Eastern religious philosophies] ... until someone suggested I took this "enlightening" quiz : S

According to this I'm a Secular Humanist which basically fits fairly well ....

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (94%)
3. Theravada Buddhism (85%)
4. Liberal Quakers (84%)
5. Nontheist (71%)
6. Neo-Pagan (70%)
7. Taoism (64%)

 

[CUPID]

Where's the Mormon option?

 

[LurkerDave]

Thanks for expanding the choices.

 

[elmufdvr]

to each his own... being a good honest person will get you far in life...where we go after is a spiritual beleaf.. that is as simply as i know how to say it... "be good to eachother" ... J. S.

 

[Cinema Face]

There is the same number of religions in the world as there are people. Everyone has a their own individual concept of religion.

Religion is a personal belief in the nature of the world, universe and a value system.

Even if you choose not to believe in a religion, that is still a religion.


That being said, I take exception when certain “religions” meet any combination of these criteria:

1)They were founded by a single individual purely for monetary and/or political gains.

2)They are incompatible with other religions and seek to silence or isolate contradictory viewpoints.

3)The religion becomes a lifestyle instead of a belief system and permeates every aspect of the member’s life. Religions should always be about choice rather than coercion.


In my opinion, a “religion” that meets any of those criteria is a cult and not a religion.