Is there a religion an intelligent person can follow?

[SlowwHand]

Ben, why are you arguing with atheists and Muslims over Christianity?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Because apparently we know more about his religion than he does

[DinoDoc]

I'm looking for the Muslim in this thread.

[SlowwHand]

No, Imran. Like many things, you think that what you think makes it true.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well it does .

That and I happen to know people who know far more about Christianity (and have had formal training) who have told me far opposite of what Ben is trying to spew.

[Murg]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Classical Buddhism is what you want. No God, no crazy belief system, no attempt to explain the physical world at all. Just very, very sound instructions on how and why to live a righteous life.

Maybe Blake will show up and say more...

I have to agree with Rufus. If you want a religion that focuses on the known then Buddhism is the religion for you.

But I will say, if you have a question that you want religion to answer be prepared for the fact that you just may be asking the wrong question. This is no different than any other field. Kinda like asking a computer guy "What kind of computer do I want?" without giving him any details about what you are going to do with it, expecting that answer to apply equally to every person, and for that answer to be correct for all time. Its just not the right question.

I'm Christian. Im Christian because for me religion is a way to understand my internal morale/spiritual needs. And for me a focus on forgiveness, tolerance and charity is really good.

But I dont fault any other religions, they may have slightly different focuses but as long as its a religion based on compassion (and all the major ones are regardless of fanatics in every camp that seem to forget that) then its no more right or wrong than the one I follow.

that said I have a deep reverence for Buddhism and I find its teachings very applicable to my daily life, probably more so than Christianity.

[DaShi]

Bah, Buddhism is just Hinduism for non-Indians.

[Dr Strangelove]

Does the fact that Christians chose to place their holy days in proximity to former pagan festival days make the Christians holy days pagan in origin?

[Imran Siddiqui]

No, but the fact they stole some of the pagan symbolism in addition to stealing pagan festivals days means those holidays are partially pagan in origin. At best, they are a blend of pagan and early Christian.

Hell, they were gift giving on the Solstice (because of Odin's hunt across the sky) prior to the Christians coming along and declaring it as Christmas.

[Lancer]

Quit following Christians, and follow Christ.

[Riesstiu IV]

Become a Jew! You get a free bag of Jew gold, Israeli citizenship, and a Christian infant you can sacrifice.

[Lancer]

I'd take the gold and spit out the baby. Christians are fish remember.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Easter has Jewish, not pagan roots

Jewish as well as pagan roots. Hence the name of the holiday and the eggs and the bunnies.

In English.

Check out the name in, say, French or Spanish.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Dauphin
In English.

Check out the name in, say, French or Spanish.

Dat's the point. Christian holidays expropriated pagan themes from the local regions. Hence, Christmas was put during the Roman winter festivals (especially Solstice, but used some of the Saturnalia fun), Eoster was an English Goddess, etc.

After all, Christmas and Easter are not always the same in different societies. You won't see many Christmas trees put up by Coptic Christians in Egypt. They expropriated local pagan traditions into their celebrations.

[Dauphin]

If it is the various local cultures that are influencing the various local celebrations then would you also need to state that the defining theme of Easter, that which makes it what it is, is not pagan? The only common thread to all celebrations of the Easter festival, wherever they may be, will be Christian because different local regions can not (by your prior definition) have incorporated the same local pagan rituals?