Religion and scuba

[cb5150]

The biggest problem I have with religion...is the people.

 

[AdivingBel]

I guess the above would make me a "liberal" the way Americans presently classify the world.

Religious/non-religious is tough enough. You throw in liberal/conservative and you just have label soup...

 

[sheeper]

I was born Jewish and though i like many of our traditions and thoroughly enjoy a "good" corned beef on rye or a nice bagel, lox and cream cheese, i'm a science kind of guy. The whole "my mythical all-powerful guy in the sky is better than your mythical guy" approach does not work for me.

 

[dfx]

I was born Jewish ...

Interesting that you should say that. The thing is that nobody's born as/into any particular religion. Religion is something that you are taught, almost always by your parents. There are no Jewish (or Christian, or Hindu, etc) children because they're too young to understand what they're supposed to believe in. There are only children of Jewish parents. The most you could say is that you were raised Jewish, and that today you're a cultural Jew, same as people who celebrate Christmas but aren't religious can be said to be cultural Christians. (These are actual things, not something I made up.)

The same is true for things like baptisms. Some churches want you to believe that once you're baptized, that's it. Now you're a Catholic (or Protestant, or ...) for life and there's nothing you can do about it. Not so! Nobody's defined by what was done to them as a child. When it comes to religion, it's all about what you actively believe in (or don't believe in). I was baptized in a Catholic church, but I'm not a Catholic by any means because I don't believe any of their tenets. I could even go and attend mass or participate in the communion or go and "confess my sins" (lol) or anything like that and I still wouldn't be Catholic.

 

[sheeper]

Interesting that you should say that. The thing is that nobody's born as/into any particular religion. Religion is something that you are taught, almost always by your parents. There are no Jewish (or Christian, or Hindu, etc) children because they're too young to understand what they're supposed to believe in. There are only children of Jewish parents. The most you could say is that you were raised Jewish, and that today you're a cultural Jew, same as people who celebrate Christmas but aren't religious can be said to be cultural Christians. (These are actual things, not something I made up.)

The same is true for things like baptisms. Some churches want you to believe that once you're baptized, that's it. Now you're a Catholic (or Protestant, or ...) for life and there's nothing you can do about it. Not so! Nobody's defined by what was done to them as a child. When it comes to religion, it's all about what you actively believe in (or don't believe in). I was baptized in a Catholic church, but I'm not a Catholic by any means because I don't believe any of their tenets. I could even go and attend mass or participate in the communion or go and "confess my sins" (lol) or anything like that and I still wouldn't be Catholic.

actually one is born Jewish. You are taught the laws, traditions and customs. A child born of a Jewish mother is Jewish. It is not about belief or practice. In that sense, being Jewish is more like a nationality than a religion. Even if one does not follow the tenets of the Jewish faith, if your mother is Jewish...then you are too. A longer and better written explanation is at Judaism 101: Who Is a Jew?

 

[tridacna]

The thing is that nobody's born as/into any particular religion.

Hilarious. Tell that to the Nazis.

 

[dfx]

actually one is born Jewish. You are taught the laws, traditions and customs. A child born of a Jewish mother is Jewish. It is not about belief or practice. In that sense, being Jewish is more like a nationality than a religion. Even if one does not follow the tenets of the Jewish faith, if your mother is Jewish...then you are too. A longer and better written explanation is at Judaism 101: Who Is a Jew?

You're talking about a cultural identity or perhaps ethnic background, I'm talking about religion and beliefs. Two completely different things, which in this case unfortunately share the same word/name.

---------- Post added July 14th, 2015 at 09:48 AM ----------

Hilarious. Tell that to the Nazis.

What, you mean the Nazis actually had it right?

 

[tkdgodess]

I thought when i was certified, Scuba became my official religion. Perhaps the Church of Posiedon, whom requires i worship by a 2 hour dive every Sunday.

 

[divad]

I'm convinced that religion is the biggest cause of evil in this world today.

I'm convinced that religion is merely the biggest facilitator of evil in the world today; and that is scary.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I suspect your observations may be based on the fact that so many people dive on the week-ends ... and why waste a perfectly good Sunday morning in church when you could be diving?

Seriously, I think the diving population isn't really any different than the overall population when it comes to religious beliefs. I know many devout Christians who dive ... several who are ministers, in fact.

But to answer your question, I'm a Fundamentalist Pizzatarian ... a good pizza is as close as I get to a religious experience ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)