Religion
From Bwtm
Religion is a personal or institutionalized organized system grounded in the belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
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There is no God
Sorry to have to break this to you.
Spirituality
Spirituality is a personal belief system which comes from the individuals own experiences. Religion teaches a belief system created by others; not always with altruistic motives.
Spirituality comes from within, religion comes from without.
Humanism
There are no valid supernatural explanations for why the world exists. Nor are any needed. See the Affirmations of Humanism.
Existentialism
Existentialism: A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.
Ethical Egoism
Ethical Egoism: The ethical doctrine that morality has its foundations in self-interest; that personal behavior which benefits the individual is ethical if it does not harm others. There is a far reaching aspect to this which requires restraint so as to avoid disappointment and pain.
Flying Spaghetti Monster
The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the subject of a satirical website created by Bobby Henderson in 2005 to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. In the site, Henderson facetiously professes belief in a supernatural Creator entity that resembles spaghetti and meatballs and suggests that Flying Spaghetti Monsterism should be taught in science classrooms.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster has become the center of an Internet phenomenon, with followers who call themselves Pastafarians, a play on "Rastafarians."
Buddhism
Dalai Lama
He told the broadsheet that Westerners had become self-absorbed, burdened with too much choice.
"It is fascinating. In the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller families; you have endless conveniences - yet you never seem to have any time. You can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don't bother to cross the road to meet your neighbours," he said.
"I don't think people have become more selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoilt them. They have less resilience, they expect more, they constantly compare themselves to others and they have too much choice - which brings no real freedom."
The Ten Commandments
Poem: "The Ten Commandments" by Anonymous. Public domain.
I. Have thou no other gods but me,
II. And to no image bow thy knee.
III. Take not the name of God in vain:
IV. The sabbath day do not profane.
V. Honour thy father and mother too;
VI. And see that thou no murder do.
VII. Abstain from words and deeds unclean;
VIII. Nor steal, though thou art poor and mean.
IX. Bear not false witness, shun that blot;
X. What is thy neighbor's covet not.
- These laws, O Lord, write in my heart, that I,
- May in thy faithful service live and die.
I often wonder if radical right-wing religious people like President Bush have every really read, and thought about, the Ten Commandments.
