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Religion is good for your health

Discussion in 'Religion and Spirituality' started by Miamian, Apr 12, 2009.

  1. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    Any practical application of math, science or language is conveyed through story telling. I know when I teach my son concepts in those areas I use stories.

    And no, I think every story needs an antagonist. Assuming you define an antagonist as anything working at cross purpose to a protagonist.

    In my faith, I believe that the reason we are here is to become a better person. You can use whatever parameters you want for that. For me, that means I work on being more compassionate and continually learning. My antagonists could be being self-centered and laziness or complacency.

    These same antagonists (or others) apply to most anything I may want to do whether they are related to religion or not. So, strife is part of all life. For some religion is also part of their life and therefore also subject to strife.
     
  2. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    You're forgetting something very fundamental. There are cases where certain concepts mean different things to different people, but we conceive of them in our own personal ways.

    Someone could say that Dolphin fans are wusses acknowledging the impossibility of having met every one. We all still would take exception because the label applies to each of us.
     
  3. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    Sorry Keith, I really don't recall. Anyway, to me there is a logical sequence here. If someone says "I'm right" and that assertion contradicts another, then it's really the same thing as saying that the contradictory opinion is wrong. If you qualify it somehow like saying "I believe that I'm right," then that makes a difference.

    In another place, I often debated someone who said that "I'm right" or so and so is right and saying otherwise constituted slander. That's the danger that manifests when you make those kinds of statements.
     
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  4. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    Just to recenter, the thread started out as religion being good for your health, i.e., practicing the religion. There was no relation to the concepts of others being wrong being damned or whatever.
     
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  5. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    conversations are organic, that happens when humans speak.

    It is like when you are hanging out with your friends and you are talking about 30 rock and 20 minutes later you are all of a sudden talking about why Taco bell is better than Taco Time.
     
  6. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    I know that. A few posts back there was a side-debate over aspects of particular religions like helping people vis a vis saying that they are damned helped one's health.
     
  7. Alex44

    Alex44 Boshosaurus Rex

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    Even if the idea of religion makes you happier, that doesn't mean that religion itself is correct. It just means that by believing that a superior power is there to guide you and that after death something greater awaits you, helps you to carry less weight upon your own shoulders and eases your burdon.

    Personally I will always be happiest doing what I believe is right, not based upon a book or ancient word, but what actually makes the lives of those around me better.
     
  8. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    Except in this case I said the "bible". You changed it to the "Torah". If you're claiming that you see those as equivalent concepts then you're also at fault of forgetting the same fundamental thing. And BTW I looked up several definitions and synonyms for bible and not a single one I found listed "Torah" so I don't see how I should be expected to anticipate that you may have a definition for a concept that nobody (or at least so few) seem to share.
     
  9. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    Torah is the Hebrew word for what anglophone gentiles call "The Old Testament." Even when anglophone Jews speak amongst themselves they use it. I've also used it many, many times in this forum and you're the first who's reacted this way. If you hadn't known what I was referring to, you could have looked it up yourself or even asked me.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but when Christians refer to the Bible they include the Old Testament so a reference to "Bible" without being more specific is a reference to the whole Bible, including the Old Testament or Torah.
     
  10. Ohiophinphan

    Ohiophinphan Chaplain Staff Member Luxury Box

    The most common reference among Christian scholars today, in my reading, is "The Hebrew Bible" when speaking to a broad audience. We only use "Old Testament" when speaking to "ourselves"..
     
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  11. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    Yes, therefore if any part of that was voted on or edited then I was factually accurate.

    You simply incorrectly jumped to the conclusion that I was speaking of that particular section. That is not the common usage of the term. If I had meant Torah then I would have said Torah.
     
  12. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    This is silly. Had you ever even heard the word before we started this debate? You probably would not have needed to look it up afterwards as you stated.
     
  13. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I grew up in Miami and have even been to a few Seder dinners. You really can't grow up in the area without having some Jewish friends and having at least a cursory knowledge of the religion.

    And I agree this is silly. I looked it up to verify that I wasn't mistaken in my belief that most of the world did not consider the words "bible" and "Torah" as synonyms. If I had found the opposite to be true I would have just apologized and said "my mistake". But that's not what I found. I found no evidence that anybody thinks they are synonyms. So I don't feel I have to apologize for failing to consider what must be at best a very minority opinion.
     
  14. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    No one every said that they are synonyms. I stated that the word "Bible" includes "Torah" and if you make a sweeping statement about the former, then you include the latter.
     
  15. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    My statement was and still is perfectly accurate. The bible was edited. Nobody has contradicted that. I would not have to prove that every word in the bible was edited for it to be accurate. The only way that the statement would be inaccurate is if somebody assumes that "bible" is synonymous with "Torah".
     
  16. Miamian

    Miamian Senior Member

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    Many of us complain about PC because we feel as if we have to walk on eggshells, but I can understand where they're coming from sometimes when you see examples of comments written and/or said with complete disregard for others' feelings.

    I'm done.
     

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