How does one "choose" a Belief System?

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It's a process, I believe, because it requires work - work of the Holy Ghost in us, and our participation in said work.

"Know ye not, that they that run in a furlong, all run, but one taketh the prize? So run ye, that ye catch." - 1 Corinthians 9:24 (WYC).

That hole arriving as sequence of innate gnawing? Necrosis of passionate states ...
 
I wonder ...

Is there one principle that we could as individuals agree to practice regardless of which 'group belief system' owns it?

How about the Golden Rule?

The Seventh Generation Principle?

Groups are made of individuals and individual decisions.

As an individual - outside of the group - what are your own principles?
 
Do we need a belief system?

I'm not sure it is a matter of "need." Whether we keep one we learned or develop (not necessarily consciously) our own over time, we all seem to have one so it just may not be an option. It is simply how humans are wired, perhaps.
 
Can you tease this out a bit more. I find it too vague to understand the point you are trying to make through it.
All religions are the same.
revjohn said:
I am presuming that you are attempting to be clever rather than admitting defeat.
Lol was this a battle then, the fights all yours. Anyhow why would I admit defeat, for what reason.
revjohn said:
I am unfamiliar with any denomination having any doctrine which demands or allows that slavery is necessary to identify as Christian in general and by the denomination specifically.
Are you throwing out the bible as the word? It is the inspired word of god, isn't it.
The whole bible is doctrine. doctrine means to instructed to teach. to gain understanding proverbs 4:1 and god says he give good doctrine. Proverbs 4:2. Jesus even says all that he says are the words of the one who sent him. John 7:16. The entire bible has scripture that are abhorrent. And scriptures are god breathed, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Paul say you must teach only the bible. 1 Tim 1:3 he also stated the homosexuality is immoral. 1 Tim 1:10.
While there are Christian denominations that will engage in that kind of discrimination there are also other Christian denominations that will not. Which of those are the "real true Christians" and which are the "not true Christians?"
Whether they are true or not true is something for you christians to sort out, all I'm concerned with is that they are christian. The fact they all label themselves christian is all that matters and they all follow the same book.
That being the case my request for one specific doctrine calling for the Church to engage in abhorrent behaviour should not have been that difficult a request for you to answer.
And it wasn't, hence why I gave you several. The bible contains so many.
 
@Pavlos Maros If you've ever lost a friend, or had a marriage break up, you can lose confidence in the "knowledge" that your friends will be friends for life, that your family loves you unconditionally, or that you will always be married to your spouse. Stuff happens that can shake our naive expectations about the security of the people in our lives, to the core. If that's never happened to you, be grateful. I keep the faith that the love that brings people together in the first place, remains even though the physical reality is that we are no longer together at present. If love was ever there, it's always there.
 
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How do you know they exist Pavlos? What evidence have you accepted for the existence of them?
The action demostrated by an individual whos says they love you or the way a friend reacts to you. shows that they care. it always make me laugh when religious people make out the things like love are so intangable that they believe it resides in the same realm as the soul. You seemed to have expand the meaning of faith so broadly that it appears by your definition that you must have faith in absolutely everything. which is stumbling into the solipsistic realm.
 
The action demostrated by an individual whos says they love you or the way a friend reacts to you. shows that they care. it always make me laugh when religious people make out the things like love are so intangable that they believe it resides in the same realm as the soul. You seemed to have expand the meaning of faith so broadly that it appears by your definition that you must have faith in absolutely everything. which is stumbling into the solipsistic realm.

Rather, I am just aiming to demonstrate that you do have faith in some things.

Now, you said that you believe in love and friendship because of the things people do, the way that they act. I perceive a loving God doing things in my life and the lives of others every day.
 
@Pavlos Maros If you've ever lost a friend, or had a marriage break up, you can lose confidence in the "kmowlege" that your friends will be friends for life, that your family loves you unconditionally, or that you will always be married to your spouse. Stuff happens that can shake our naive expectations about the security of the people in our lives, to the core. If that's never happened to you, be grateful. I keep the faith that the love that brings people together in the first place, remains even though the physical reality is that we are no longer together at present. If love was ever there, it's always there.
If a family doesn't love you uncondictionally then they are bad family and you are better off without them, as for they come and go, but it doesn't mean they wasn't evidence that they were your friend when they were your friend.

Somebody very close to me recently died, it hurts that they are gone. and I miss them we had great times together I have great memories. until I die my love for them will still be with me. But sadly once I'm gone then it desolves in the ether and all that is left is what I've told other about us or what they experineced whilst we were both alive. till eventually. all that is left is your name.

There is nobody alive today that know anybody who was alive a hundred years ago, and in a hundred years time the world will be populated by completely different people.
 
Rather, I am just aiming to demonstrate that you do have faith in some things.

Now, you said that you believe in love and friendship because of the things people do, the way that they act. I perceive a loving God doing things in my life and the lives of others every day.
Exacty you perceive, I have actual evidence. Hence no need for faith. Faith is just the excuse given to continue believing a thing. Regardless of how unreasonable it may be.
 
Exacty you perceive, I have actual evidence. Hence no need for faith. Faith is just the excuse given to continue believing a thing. Regardless of how unreasonable it may be.

We have the same kind of evidence Pavlos - others doing things in love and/or friendship.
 
There is nobody alive today that know anybody who was alive a hundred years ago, and in a hundred years time the world will be populated by completely different people.

Seriously? I know you're exaggerating to make a point, but ...

Current estimates are that there are at least 72000 people in the United States who are over 100 years old, with estimates that there will be close to a million by 2050. In the UK it's estimated that there are 9000 centenarians, with estimates of 40000 by 2031. The 2016 Canadians census counted 8230 centenarians. Japan has 30000, China's most recent census reported 7000. Based on demographic trends, both are projected to have numbers rivalling the of the US by 2050. All those people who are over a hundred years old obviously knew people who were alive a hundred years ago.

There are all sorts of people alive today who knew people who were alive a hundred years ago, and in a hundred years time there will still be people alive who are alive today.
 
I believe that love is the most important element of life. You can't "see" it, but it exists- and like air and water we need it to survive and thrive. If it didn't exist, that would be 'hell'. If we stopped caring about it, that would be hell. And maybe some lonely souls have tasted hell - maybe most of us have our moment - maybe through no fault of their own, or maybe it was our ignorance that helped cause their misery. That's a step towards discovering what love is again. That foundational spiritual element of love - that essence - is the most important thing that we forget we need. And it's what God is.
 
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I believe that love is the most important element of life. You can't "see" it, but it exists- and like air and water we need it to survive and thrive. If it didn't exist, that would be 'hell'. If we stopped caring about it, that would be hell. And maybe some lonely souls have tasted hell - maybe most of us have our moment - maybe through no fault of their own, or maybe it was our ignorance that helped cause their misery. That's a step towards discovering what love is again. That foundational spiritual element of love - that essence - is the most important thing that we forget we need. And it's what God is.

Is "love" a noun or a verb though? And if both, as it tends to be used, which is the better one to focus on? I think verb. We don't need to discover what love is, but to discover what it is to love. They may be the same thing in the end, but one puts more emphasis on us actually doing something and that's the verb. The noun lets us get away with intellectualizing about love as an idea or ideal. The verb calls us to action.
 
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