This whole thread assumes that all religions are man-made attempts to explain the unknown.
Christianity, as a revealed religion--meaning truth revealed by God that is otherwise unknowable--- is a very different matter.
I hope some of you can appreciate the difference, although I know some will ( willful choice) not.
Lack of belief is not often due to a lack of knowledge, or an imperfection of knowledge, but rather a willful choice not to believe. You do not believe because you choose not to believe.

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Just how can I force myself to again believe things that I now am firmly convinced are nonsense?

If only it were really that easy.

You where saying ?
http://www.geocities.com/worldview_3/science.html

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[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

Quote:

The best way I know to illustrate this is insomnia. If I can't sleep because my mind is racing, thinking about a million things, I can speak in tongues and the thoughts disappear resulting in almost immediate sleep. So I think that speaking in tongues is a kind of shortcut to the kind of experience that mystics seek in meditation. It's a Pentecostal Nirvana. Part of the reason why I think both traditional Nirvana and Pentecostal Nirvana is appealing is that it frees the individual from the influence of others, producing a religious liberation of sorts. This liberation can only occur in two possible ways. Either it involves no words or sounds at all (the Zen experience) or it involves words and sounds that mean nothing to anyone(the Pentecostal experience). In either instance the 'individual' is freed from society.

Very interesting observations. Thanks for sharing. What you are describing sounds a lot like studies of how music works (effect affect), or at least it is very similar. Music circumvents much of the parts of the brain that works with critical thinking and language, and the nature of music can be evocative of every emotion there is. Sound used as language is often used to dissect, while sound used as music is used as a ride of sorts.

What is even more interesting is that you’ve found an internal way to alter your state of mind. Humans and I guess all life have reactions which are highly dependent on outside stimuli to work. As example, if we are frightened by something, our mind and body will react in far more powerful ways than we would otherwise. The adrenalin rush we experience is largely dependent on outside stimuli. It would be difficult to create this adrenalin rush just by concentrating. As another example, if one is obsessing about something, it is difficult to let go of it. Obsessing becomes a nearly perpetual act. You have found a way to not only turn that off, but to calm yourself enough to fall asleep without outside stimuli, other than perhaps the sound of your voice.

Anyway, I agree that sound as an abstract can have a powerful effect on the mind.

Your last sentence brings up the question of what freedom is? Is freedom merely the escape from being “I?” If so, is this a goal of religion? And bringing it back to the topic of the thread, does resurrection of JC serve the purpose of freedom?

Isn't one of the main goals of religion to control behavior? If there is no God or an afterlife, think about this. Man is going to be imperfect. As such, all I have to do is commit a crime and stay out of man's reach long enough and I am home free. Say I kill somebody but nobody saw. As long as I die before somebody finds out, I am free. With religion, there is a God and an afterlife. What does this mean? Well, if I get caught, I get punished and punished again. I don't think any religion has the "Double Jeopardy" clause. So, this means that the crime will be punished at least once, if not twice. There is now NO ESCAPE from punishment. Something for you to consider when doing naughty things.

I think it serves as an extreme example of power. Look, this guy is dead but he has overcome death. If he can do that, he can keep you from dying. Most of our hardened criminals are even afraid of the death penalty. But now, you have a way of living forever. You won't die. See this guy? He was dead. Now he is not.

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I don’t know that behavior control is a primary goal of religion. To suggest so amounts to unfair reducitonism. Religion seeks to explain and fulfill a need experienced broadly by mankind.

So you are saying that immortality is the height of freedom?

May not be primary but like I said, one of the main goals.

But is the explaination true or just something inserted so that we can say "Here is the answer" which sounds better than "I don't know"?

Probably. If something you fear most is death, wouldn't immortality be freedom?

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I think part of the purpose of some aspects of religion is to provide a release from social pressures.

I have no idea how Jesus' resurrection might produce freedom except insofar as some Christian theologians see it as some kind of juridical settlement, relieving humans from the threat of eternal damnation as a result of being born sinful by inflicting the punishment on Jesus instead of humans, relieving God of his responsibility for having screwed up creation by making humans sinful.

Edit in response to Aklim's view: One of the reasons religion has to relieve people of social pressures is because it does so much to create them.

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You are thinking it becomes a zero sum equation? Could it be that it creates additional pressure but doesn't relive much?

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So you are saying that religion serves only as mechanism of transference?

No. I think 'religion' is a very complex phenomena. In fact, 'religion' is a synonym for a variety of cultural practices, some of which still exist in secular non-religious societies.
I agree with Aklim that religion is a mechanism for social control. I also think it tries to answers metaphysical questions about the source of the universe and whether or not we exist beyond this physical existence. It is a means of escaping social pressures, perhaps best typified by monks who shirk most socially productive activity and escape to meditiation and prayer in isolation. It also serves as a source of moral values in addition to providing social authority.
In this instance of Jesus as Messiah, it appears to provide a hope for relief from political oppression.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Absolutely his death and resurrection is the door into the kingdom of God which is with in you, its a state of being that Chist offers you as you learn of him and walk in his ways..Here is what you cannot understand and the reason is because the knowledge only comes from God.. while you read the bible and try to understand it you cannot unless you have the spirit that wrote the bible living on the inside of you.. this only comes by your exceptence of Christ resurection and you believe who he said he is.. when you commit your heart to that purpose then you will have an experience that will take all your doubts and unbeleives away I garantee it. Now the bible comes alive and It is the greatest book ever writen. how vast is the bible as vast as God is there is no end to it.. you can spend the rest of your life searching the scriptures and never find an end to the depth of knowledge it goes on and on and on...wise men seek him..

Some of us just can't make that leap of faith. Even if we are to see the truth, and many miracles are shown to us we still would not believe. We will always try to split the atom, and not take stock of the concept of irreducible complexity. It sux to accept that our intelligence may be limited. We can only stretch our minds so far. The rest is up to faith.

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That is speculation. Show us the miracle and then we can talk. If there is proof, there is no need for faith, is there? We won't need to believe.

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The indians use Peyote.

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