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Date Posted: 19:38:47 07/26/07 Thu
Author: Jennn
Subject: Re: Religion
In reply to: Tint 's message, "Religion" on 16:04:51 07/26/07 Thu

Judaism and Buddhism for me, for now.

I do have a lot of problem with the Bible (mostly New Testament stuff) because it's written by man. Supposedly it's divinly inspired, but how the hell do we know it is? I don't have a problem with stuff if it makes sense.

The things that make sense to me are mostly in the Old Testament. Most notably the 10 commandments and Proverbs. The commandments (I'll leave out the ones that have to do with God and parents) are excellent advice for life: don't covet, don't kill, don't steal, don't lie (bear false witness), and don't commit adultery.

Most important of all of them is coveting. If you don't "desire" you probably won't have to worry so much about the rest. If you desire material things you may become greedy which can lead to lying, stealing, or possibly killing. The same things with drugs and alcohol, if you desire them and obtain them it can lead to breaking the other commandments as well.

You can summarize the commandments into a category of treating other people how you want to be treated which you can tie to the whole karma thing and Buddhism. I believe that if your intentions are pure, and you give your all to treat others how you want to be treated (including drunk driving - imagine how you would feel if someone you loved was killed by a drunk driver? Don't think you'd like it? Don't do it. Simple.), you can rise above bad karma and live a more peaceful life - even though bad things happen around you, they don't happen directly to you (not often). Perhaps when you find a peaceful life you might discover God or a higher power.

Another thing that may help is educating yourself extensively about the effects of the things you have a problem with. Alcohol damages your liver. When your liver gets damaged the next stop is the brain. If you drink so much in one night that your liver can no longer filter the alcohol, again, the next stop is your brain and genitals I guess. Alcohol tends to make some people violent. Violence and ignorance are a bad mix. Keep drinking for several years and one day you'll probably land in the ICU with pancreatitis and ascites (your belly gets so huge you look pregnant - and your extremities are skinny... it's really gross), and the smell of cirrhosis is just awful. Not that you'd mind the smell, but if you have visitors they can smell it. Then you'll probably end up bleeding out of every orafice of your body, and there's nothing anyone can do to save you. While you're out, filled with morphine from all the pain you'll be in, your loved ones surround you crying. It's not a very pleasant way to die - I've seen it on more than one occasion, and I'll probably never drink again.

Meth, that's another one to get educated on. Last I read up on it they found it causes brain damage. I'm sure you can look it up on google. Whether it's reversible or not I'm not sure. I do know people who've died from it. I know if you do it long enough you will end up with cardiac problems, dental problems, other internal damage. There was a story of a man who was 35 years old, but his organs were that of an 80 year old. He died of course.

I don't know if education counts as a higher power, but I know it's made me rethink many things including alcohol and diet. As for organized religion, it won't work for you if you don't believe. If you can find a social network that does something other than drinking/drugs (and I don't recommend making friends with AA people since you never know when they'll fall off the wagon and bring you with them) that you can enjoy that may help a lot.

You have to be really careful who you hang around with because you tend to become like the people you're around. If you hang out with druggies, you'll probably become one. If you hang out with morons, you'll probably become one of those, too.

Anyway, sorry to ramble... I don't know if any of this will help, but I wish you the best in overcoming this obstacle. When you do overcome it you will be a much stronger person in the end :)

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