Religion - an incomplete timeline image - Christians of Moddb

Presumably, this entity is a constant that somehow created everything in terms of energy/matter and then let it all take shape via evolution. It's merely my humble theory.

Honestly, religion, in a pure form, may be trying to understand some things, but other than that it's a mere speculation and an appealing marketing tool.

Hence why Christianity in it's pure form is not a religion, but instead a relationship with Jesus Christ.

No marketing gimmicks, no scams, no using people.
Just faith in Christ. Everything else after that is just guidelines on how to make that relationship work and live for God.

There are some beneficial aspects of spirituality like meditation/contemplation. It may ease your mind. I often visualize myself as a form of energy that travels across the cosmos. It's not an astral projection, but an attempt to picture myself as an energetic part of the universe.

If pure Christianity(spirituality) makes you feel more connected to the Universe/God, so be it. I applaud it. Perhaps behavioral neuroscience will clarify certain things in time. Metaphysics is a relevant part of our perception. Scientists claim that even animals have spiritual experience. It's all connected somehow - Sprott.physics.wisc.edu

Religion's side effects have a detrimental impact on humanity: destruction, genocide and so on. Religion and spirituality are 2 different things in my mind.

There are indeed benefits to it.

Not all things can be explained scientifically.
Sometimes you just gotta take it by faith.

Your words on religion ring deeper and truer than you know. After reading about the Satanists and their human sacrifices, the Catholics and their Inquisition, and now groups like ISIS burning people alive, beheading, as well as enslaving religion couldn't be deemed a more damnable thing.

Even our old Testament has it's Bloody areas. Most of it was Israel fighting for it's creation and survival. The rest usually people doing great evil and being punished by the Lord for it.

But the New Testament teaches nothing but peace. Were to preach the Gospel and spread the good news. This era is the Dispensation of Grace. Whatever Judgement awaits this world, it will be after the Lord deems our work complete. Which could be at any time. But that doesn't mean the signs of the times won't hint either. And judging from the signs of the times now, I'd say the stage is being set for our work's completion and His return. We don't have too much time left.

I don't really have an opinion on what beliefs are detrimental (anti-theism), or what aspects are beneficial (meditation), but rather still holding a belief in things that are simply not true every time they are studied, for instance:

Matthew 21:22 "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Its a shame that isn't the case, otherwise amputee's, Down's Syndrome and Parkison's disease suffers could cure themselves if they truly believe they can. I think that believing in good or bad things happen can bring them your way, but you can't defy reality. God "in theory" can defy reality, but its never proven scientifically. Everytime science investigates supernatural occurrences they are shown to have rather simple naturalistic explanations, no instances of people walking in water, levitating, walk through walls, telekinesis, and in some very few instances where theres no explanation that doesn't automatically mean that god did it, ie 'god of the gaps' fallacy. Or where gods existence is supposed to be revealed regularly like the 'power of prayer', is shown in case-control studies to have no effect (in studies where sick people know they are being prayed for, actually worsens their condition due to stress of believing they "should" be getting better.) Also non-believers don't have any scripture or common ground except for not believing in god so we can't all be seen as strange. Whereas religious people typically believe in supernatural phenomena, like something as simple as the power or prayer and gods ability to defy reality regardless of how many times its shown to be not true. Stories are exaggerated, facts are distorted, hearsay/opinions, miracles are just highly unlikely events with natural explanations, or atleast that is the current view.

We may uncover something truly god-like at some point but whether or not it is god we may never know & that is I think perhaps a bigger disadvantage to religion than it is to science. Without any real world grounding I don't think there is any reason to believe in fanciful stories except because you like the sound of it which isn't a logical reason. I to like the idea of living after death, partly why I believe in Spirituality but also because I find it interesting that the heart emits a EMF and what it could mean & I find that peace of mind through meditation can be beneficial to me, and a old interesting experiment as to whether the human body loses weight at the moment of death (not really interested in ghost stories though). And the power of visualisation and emotion, through the law of attraction.

Miracles do happen, ranging from people being completely cured of the incurable to entire armies being stopped dead in their tracks.

Of course, one has to learn to "Believe" God.

My family have had miracles, we've even had instances where there were situations we shouldn't have gotten out of in one piece, but God would do something to bring us through. Sometimes we have our own little miracles in our regular daily lives and we don't even realize it.

Becoming a Christian, bringing someone to Christ, is a miracle within itself.