Furthermore, I speculate that the Bible, Old Testament, Kuran, etc. are all allegories of very ancient and mysterious religion(s), but I obviously have no proof.
Agreed, especially about self-improvement. "There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path." I have taken gradual steps toward improving my health and state of mind, and 'see the light', which is that we are headed toward impending doom at this rate. I'm not trying to be the benevolent dictator here or pretending to be some wacko cult leader or messiah, I just want to start some interesting discourse, even if it means being disagreed with constantly. I get hot-headed sometimes, but that is part of the passion of searching for truth. Having been pushed in this direction by others, I can say that life has been much different once I started pondering the mysteries of life and our purpose here. Besides, I think it's okay to be viewed as 'out there', because if no one ever deviated from the majority norm, then we'd better be damn sure that the majority has it right.
I never thought of things this way, I think you're on to something Red Chocolate re: Money I think I agree with you somewhat here on the problem. I'm not an economist, but it seems to me high standards of living can only be generated through the exploitation of other peoples that have to live with lower standards of living. But I think the money system is more of a product of human nature than the problem itself. In lieu of money, humans would just find other ways to accumulate power and wealth (barter, threats, terror, etc.); and the strong will exploit the weak. Is it fair to say that you think humans have a higher purpose? I do not think there is any test, and have no reason to our the meaning of our existence is anymore than what we make of it (as opposed to pleasing some deity). If you are going to pick and choose the parts of the bible that you want to follow based on your personal preferences (what you like, think is just, moral, etc.), I'd question the need to base anything on the bible. If morality is not absolute anyway, just do whatever you think is right. More than someone who tells us to do this or that because "God spoke to me". With science, at least someone who puts in enough time can read up on scientific findings, and verify/challenge/debate based on facts. I have friends who studied science (only lab assistants atm, but in that field), so I know while there are barriers, it is not totally inaccessible to the average man, unlike spiritual leaders who say God speaks to them. I didn't reply to every point in your post, either because I don't have a strong opinion on that particular point or see zero common ground, but I appreciate your thoughtful reply.
Agree with most of the above, especially the emphasis on independence and reliance upon free will. Part of reading and learning is coming to the conclusion that your '6th sense' can give you some sense of confirmation upon. I am a strong believer that many front groups exist to disguise a higher group or entity, and hypothesize that science (as it pertains to medicine especially) can be easily manipulated in a system that relies on money. Not all of it is bad, not all of it is good, but it's simply not a cure-all and should not be trusted blindly. If you look around you'll see that there is a small minority that disagrees with the nature of health care in the Western societies, and I'm more inclined to be a paleo-nutritionist (?) based on what I've read and seen from my own life changes. I see a lot of danger in relying on 'experts' to give us advice on 'climate change' and 'health care', etc., especially when those so-called experts are making millions of dollars from their research, while we're living in a world where people are getting all kinds of diseases which are massive profit makers. Lies are everywhere, it comes down to using your mind to do the best you can with the information at hand, while drawing your own conclusions without relying solely upon others to tell you how to think.
As far as a better alternative to a money system, it's difficult at this point as extortion can be used with the superior technology that hidden groups possess. Going back to a self-sustaining, minimalistic lifestyle is not only heavily opposed by the majority, but it will also be exploited by those who have the power and weaponry to prevent us from living that way, since it goes against 'their' system. The Middle East culture works a lot like this, and they are getting bombarded with attacks right now, and I don't believe 'terrorism' has much to do with it. All part of a grand plan that has been mostly hidden and is difficult to solve. No solutions, unfortunately. Things are quite complicated at the present moment.
That's Islam btw lol. Basically, Adam started it, Muhammad finished it, and Jesus PBUH will come back to restore it one more time. David, Abraham, Adam, Joseph, Jonas, Solomon, Muhammad, Moses, Jesus, Noah, Lot, Elias, Zachariah, etc. all of these are prophets according to Islam with the same goal and the same inspiration. There are tons of Prophets/messengers, a lot of whom we don't know. We call them Ahl Ul Kitab or "People of the Book". The "book" here is not referring to the Quran, it's referring to a figurative book which contains the perfect ethics and way of life. Snippet from Quran, Sura number 6: Many argue that Buddhism and Hinduism and all other ancient religions are somehow connected as well. Who knows. I hope that's not disrespectful to say. If it is, please let me know. Thanks for the discussion, you make some points that are definitely worth thinking about for me.
