I go to a Church just about every Sunday. I say this so you wont't think that what I am about to say has anything to do with anti Christian or smething like that.

Whats happening in the Churches in Maine is that many of them are losing "customers" and they are just getting by financially. Yet, if you look at Joel Osteen and a number of other similar operations they are flourishing. The reason for that, in my opinion, is the message. Joel delivers an uplifting message and inspires people to "be a better you."

The churches that are floundering do just the opposite. They call everyone Sinners and other names too and they tell the people that nobody's perfect.

Why ought we to forget religion? Because it’s not good for you. In order for organized religion to succeed, it has to make people believe they need it. In order for people to put faith in something else, they must first lose faith in themselves. So the first task of organized religion is to make you lose faith in yourself. The second task is to make you see that it has the answers you do not. And the third and most important task is to make you accept its answers without question.

Praise, praise, praise...

My mind must be still asleep Haley, as I am not understanding exactly what you are getting at here.
I can say though... The world is upside now. It has been for quite some time now. Good is bad, bad is great, up is down and down is up. Oh, and by "the world", I am including also the United States of America.
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"What goes around, comes around" When it does, watch out!!!

Thanks for your reply, Paula. What I am suggesting is this: Churches in Maine have remained on a steady decline now for months and months. By decline I mean people have chosen to do something else rather than go to and support the church and the religion that the church expouses.

I'm also saying that operations like Joel Osteen actually Lift Up and empower people while the Maine operations stay in the pattern that they have used for decades that keep people dependent on the religion.

This is why I say, "Religion itself, not religious rule is all that is anti Man." Man to mean all of humanity. And, I think if people did dump religion and insist that the preachers model their messages smiliar tot he uplifting and inspiriting messages such as guys like Joel Osteen does they'd get more people to support the churches.

I find most churches consist of practicing hypocracy. Not the ministers so much as the individuals that should be welcoming people to the church instead of talking about them behind their backs and judging them.
Then again. those that judge will thus be judged.
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"What goes around, comes around" When it does, watch out!!!

Paula, It is sometimes difficult to focus on Only the Good because the bad sticks out so far. By this I mean that rather than fill my mind with the bad of religion it would be more mentally, physically, and emotionally productive to think of what is happening to cause the demise of the religions --- all of them.

What is replacing the religions now is the art of teaching the young people the art of Self-realization which is neither an ideology nor a religion, but benefits people of all religions and those who have none. The Teacher of such self-realization ought to seek to express the actual Christ through the student.

The Self alone matters. You are that Self, an immortal being. Suffering is caused by identification with anything and everything which is not the Self. Ask yourself, 'Who am I?' You will see that you are identified either with matter (the body), or with thought (the mind) or with power (spirit). But you are none of these. Mind, spirit and body are the temples of the Lord. The Self experiences, in these temples, the supreme Being and Becoming of the Lord.

I'll probably know who I am at my funeral when people get up and tell everyone what I meant to them. That's the way it was at my Dad's funeral on Saturday.
As they were reflecting on who and what they thought of my Dad, I was thinking evil thoughts like, "Hmm, I wonder what they would say about me if I were in the position that my Dad was"
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"What goes around, comes around" When it does, watch out!!!

Paula, you don't have to wait until you die to find out who you are. Besides, there is no such thing as death. Your father didn't die. He simply moved on because his reason for being here concluded. It was like getting up our of a chair and walking into another part of the house.

If you wait until your funeral to hear what others have to say and define you then you will be sadly disappointed. Every funeral I have attended they have wonderful things to say about the so-called "dead" person. And, if that person was listening he or she would think that they are talking about someone else. Is that what you want to wait for?

Hmm, perhaps I worded that wrong? haha Anyway, it would be nice if my friends and family actually complimented me, or maybe showed a bit of appreciation for who I am to and for them? I dunno.. but there sure are times when I feel so used and abused...
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"What goes around, comes around" When it does, watch out!!!

Hey, Paula, you know how to get people in your family to start noticing you and complimenting you? Just CHANGE your thinking about who you are.

If family and friends abuse one member of the family it is because that person literally attracted such treatment. Maybe you attracted this kind of treatment in your life?

Most people refuse to believe that they are where they are in life because they think their way into the situation. So, if a situation is not good we can rethink ourselves out of it and into something that we like and that includes having people like us.

And by the way===when you say that you feel sad and abused sometimes what is actually happening is that those feelings actually bring more of the same into your life. The key word here is CHANGE.

Benn there done that, Haley

As far as 'who I am', I am exactly the person that I want to be. I am 'different' than others, I don't 'follow' the crowd, I am the 'leader' of the crowd, I am 'ecentric' and extremely proud of it. I love it when someone tells me that. haha Oh, and in the past few months, I have become paranoid big time, but have since come up with a plan for my future, if all that is being said does happen.
If you don't keep up with the news, then you won't know all that is coming down, and this I feel bad for you, but then again I also feel good that you do not have to experience the turmoil that I amexperiencing within my brain.
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"What goes around, comes around" When it does, watch out!!!

Hey, Paula, glad you came out of your shell. And if you want to fill your pretty little head with all the "news" then if it is your thing, let you do it is my thought on it.

Paranoid, isn't that when you think someone is after you and actually no one really is and that it is all in your mind? I would think that if that is true that you could stop that any time you choose simply by saying, STOP-IT. STOP-IT.

See Bob Newhart on YouTube. Just type in Bob Newhart, STOP IT and have some fun. It is funny---at least I think it is.

By the way, Paula, the reason news is bad for people is because they train the minds of the masses to focus on the bad. Why? Because the more a person focuses on the bad the more bad they attract. That is why this country is going through so many changes. The News is LOSING People by the tens of thousands. Look at the ratings of late.

D@mn Haley, I think it's just you and me on this thread eh? Cool.. must be we are stealing the whole thing eh? hee hee
I have a neighbor that is the same age as me (by 1 month). She's lived next door for 3 years, and this evening, I met her for the first time. I finally got her phone number a couple days ago and called her. She invited me to come over some time for a coffee.. So, my youngest suggested we go over there "now". After hemming and hawing, making up as many excuses I could come up with.. I finally said, 'okay, let's go'.
Well, I'm glad I did. She is an awesome person!!! She likes cats, dogs, flowers, and we both have a super lot of 'stuff in common'.
Maybe tomorrow I'll invite her over here... awesome eh?
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"What goes around, comes around" When it does, watch out!!!

Yeah it's a nice thing to visit with your neighbor. But, be cautious that you two don't think up some way to take over the world like we have on this forum.