Are religion and violence two sides of the same coin?

[Irene de Villiers]

Knowing it works that way, does not make it doable for all those needing it.
Most but not all will respond positively.
It still leaves those who innately enjoy the hurt that occurs from their actions in others. Some individuals (often Ars ICT) get that way without necessarily wanting to be that way or having a background to encourage that way.
Namaste,
Irene
--
Irene de Villiers, B.Sc AASCA MCSSA D.I.Hom/D.Vet.Hom.
P.O. Box 4703 Spokane WA 99220.
www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboots/clickhere.html (Veterinary Homeopath.)
"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt one doing it."

[Roger B]

Sugar and metabolic syndrome are two sides of the same coin.
Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin.
Anger and violence are tsotsc.
Individualism and community are tsotsc.
Objective and subjective are tsotsc.
Atheism and casting aspersions on religion are tsotsc.
Roger Bird

[Roger B]

Violence is a behavior, and as such cannot be anyone's basic nature, even a Tasmanian Devil. Anger would be the basis of violence, and yet I sit here and I am not angry.

Roger

[Angela McGuire]

Religion was invented because of violence. They figured they could instill some morals into people, at the same time scare the hell out of them-- that they'd go to hell or something so thst maybe that would make people think twice about the violence that they were about to commit.

In some cases however, religion somehow justifies violence because people live in a culture of violence.
Religion and violence are opposite extremes.

It might move you to read a book by Betty Jean Eadie, a woman who died went to heaven, and came back to life and lived to tell the tale. A fascinating book called Embraced by the Light.
Angie

Sent from my iPad

[Tanya Marquette]

I have heard of that book but haven’t read it.

However, I have met several people who had that experience of dying and returning to life.
It was typically transformative. Most of them became healers or spiritual workers on some level.

I had a cat that died and came back and lived another 2 years. She allowed me to sit in her aura
and I experienced the most incredible light and peace. What a gift.

I don’t believe people in violent by definition; we do have that capacity and it needs to be taught
and encouraged for it to flourish. Our culture, certainly in the US, promotes violence and often
uses the extremities of fundamentalist religions to do that. First, people have to be divided and
that is often done by creating extreme belief systems where one group sees itself as better than
another. And that ‘other’ has to be seen as defective, not quite human, and dangerous. This
justifies violence. In war young people are trained to think like this in order to get them to kill
with impunity. Look at any racist culture and you will see the same thing. Israel’s attitude
toward Palestinians, American whites against African-Americans, etc. I just read a horrible
article on the Viet Nam War and the scorched earth policy operating there with the non-stop
Mai Lai massacres occurring. People being shot at for fun by American soldiers. Kills were
counted like a sport. Is it any wonder PTSD is so rampant. How does a person live with themselves
after behaving with such brutality against another human being!

t

[Roger B]

I am one of those people. My experience was not as glorious as those that you read about in the Near Death Experience website. It was more of an Out of Body Experience, which generally have separate websites. But given that I was already heavily into spiritual studies and devotion, it was enough to convince me absolutely and positively to the core of my being that I am NOT my body, and by extension, we are NOT our bodies. We are not human beings occasionally having spiritual experiences; we are spiritual beings having a human experience. It is an enlightening experience, an epiphany, something that no amount of argument or reason can alter.

It is our desires that anchor us to our bodies: lust, greed, anger, etc. Violence is mostly just a result of us not getting what we want and being frustrated about it.

This is why it is very easy for me to believe that homeopathy uses transcendental or spiritual energy, like prana or chi. I am quite sure that if I had met a embodied soul in my short journey that they would not have seen me.

Roger Bird
________________________________

To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
From: minutus@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2014 05:06:54 -0500
Subject: Re: [Minutus] Are religion and violence two sides of the same coin?

I have heard of that book but haven’t read it.
However, I have met several people who had that experience of dying and returning to life.
It was typically transformative. Most of them became healers or spiritual workers on some level.

I had a cat that died and came back and lived another 2 years. She allowed me to sit in her aura
and I experienced the most incredible light and peace. What a gift.

I don’t believe people in violent by definition; we do have that capacity and it needs to be taught
and encouraged for it to flourish. Our culture, certainly in the US, promotes violence and often
uses the extremities of fundamentalist religions to do that. First, people have to be divided and
that is often done by creating extreme belief systems where one group sees itself as better than
another. And that ‘other’ has to be seen as defective, not quite human, and dangerous. This
justifies violence. In war young people are trained to think like this in order to get them to kill
with impunity. Look at any racist culture and you will see the same thing. Israel’s attitude
toward Palestinians, American whites against African-Americans, etc. I just read a horrible
article on the Viet Nam War and the scorched earth policy operating there with the non-stop
Mai Lai massacres occurring. People being shot at for fun by American soldiers. Kills were
counted like a sport. Is it any wonder PTSD is so rampant. How does a person live with themselves
after behaving with such brutality against another human being!

t