I'm praying to God your just trolling us on this.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/11/pope-complicit-child-abuse-say-victims
Bet you wouldn't let him do any child sitting for you on an evening out would yeah? Nah, thought not.

Integrity indeed!! LOL

Of corrupt popes and priests rotten to the core, who hold immense influence and power. Yes.
Of trolls, no.

WRONG AGAIN YOUR ALWAYS WRONG ON THIS TOPIC..
The term theism derives from the Greek theos meaning "god". ...WELL I DON.T BELIEVE IN GOD..

I believe in theory then trying to prove its fact..
had plenty of theory on god whiles growing up and now i know its not fact just like father Christmas..

so as soon as religion goes the better..
The next step is to sort out is socialism capitalism and communism THIS IS ANOTHER PROBLEM..
this will be the next wars..
I am all 3 socialist capitalist and a communist ..
World leaders need to sit down SMOKE SOME SPLIFFS AND CHILL OUT and talk about MUSIC

BEFORE I READ IT ALL ...I HAVE DIED AND COME BACK TO LIFE..I WAS IN THE DENTIST ON GAS
WHEN I WAS 13 YEARS OLD..EVERY WORD I TELL YOU HERE IS TRUE..
I was on gas to put me asleep to get a wisdom tooth out..i was lying there then all of a sudden i lifted up to the celling facing the celling then i spun around to see myself face down in the chair..I then floated out of the door down the shopping mall..just before i floated out the main entrance of the shopping mall..i woke up with loads of people around me ..there was a doctor from over the road ..
my hart stopped beating and they had to run over the road to get the doctor to bring me back to life..
But i still don.t believe in god ..
I believe in human power YOU ARE GOD OR THE DEVIL TAKE YOUR CHOICE IN LIFE...
plus i was on gas
plus could it be the brains way to make you feel comfortable when your dying
like when you have a bad accident you don.t feel a thing till 10 to 15 mins after
plus who knows could be more dimensions out there..

alls i know is there is no god ..THE UNIVERSE IS FULL OF SURPRISES.
ONLY SCIENCE WILL HELP US FIND THESE NEW SURPRISES..

AND THIS IS WHY BUDDHISM MAKES MORE SENSE TO ME..INNER PEACE INNER MIND BODY AND SOUL
AND INNER STRENGTH ...NOT MAD ON IT.. BUT I LIKE A LITTLE CHANT NOW AND THEN IF FEELING STRESSFUL IT RELAXES YOU AND MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD...


 TRY IT OUT
STICK SOME HEAD PHONES ON AND RELAX THEN CHANT FOR 30 MINS ..MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBiwLibZqfw

THE EARTH CREATED US THE UNIVERSE CREATED THE EARTH SO WE ARE ALL ONE..

This sits well with Vedism, where Prajapati was "dismembered" and ultimately "remembered". This dismemberment was more of a dissipation where Prajapati would ultimately become everything and everyone. This is also observed in Christendom and among other religions when you think of communion and flesh, blood, and etc.

 

STILL DON.T BELIEVE IN GOD..
See i struggle to define the word god..when you check the word god its meaning this is what it says..
The word God defined

Ask most Christians to define the word "God" and most will tell you that it is the name of the Almighty Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. Some would also reply to you that this title also refers to Jesus, the one they refer to as the son of God. Some Christians would say that both the Almighty Father Creator, and the Son of the Father (Jesus) are both God. Ask a Muslim or most any other man or woman of a different religion from Christianity, and they will reply in a similar manner, except that most would exclude Jesus from the title of God. Is this entity, the one that most people refer to as their God, the same God regardless of one's Race, color or religion?

All those whose religion is Islam (Arabs and others) make their prayer and petitions to the entity with the title God, the same title as a Christian would use. So who or what do we refer to when we use the term God?

Gad is a Syrian or Canaanite deity of good luck or fortune. In Hebrew, it is written GD, but with Massoretic vowel-pointing, it is "Gad." Other Scriptural references to a similar deity, also written GD, have a vowel-pointing giving us "Gawd" or "God." Gad, or Gawd is identified with Jupiter, the Sky-deity or the Sun-deity.

In the Greek, the word God is a translation of the word "Theos" meaning Mighty One. This can refer to any person, man or in some cases non-man. The context determines the meaning. Assuming the word always refers to a non-man is error, as the Greek referred to many with authority as "Theos" (Mighty One).

The word "God (or god)" is a title, translating the Hebrew Elohim (or elohim), El (or el), and Eloah, meaning strength, powerful one(s). However, it is often incorrectly used as a substitute for the Tetragrammaton (YHVH). YAHWEH, or the more accurate YAHUWEH pronounced YAH-OO-AY. Yahweh is the proper personal name of the Creator. Where Elohim is the Hebrew word with the English meaning of "Mighty One(s)" the Greek word with the English meaning of Mighty One is "Theos." Neither word can be directly related or assumed to be equal to the name Yahweh, the Almighty Creator, because this would be error. See the "word" God

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, GOD is the common Teutonic word for a personal object of religious worship, applied to all the superhuman beings of the heathen mythologies, and various kinds of idols. The word "god" on the conversion of the Teutonic races to Christianity was adopted as the name of the One Supreme Being, but this is error. The correct personal proper name of the One Supreme Being is Yahweh. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics and Webster's Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged agree that the origin of the word God, is Teutonic paganism.

SEE MY TROUBLE IS I DON.T BELIEVE IN A SUPREME BEING TO WORSHIP ..
BUDDHISM IS NOT A RELIGION ..
WE ARE SUPREME BEINGS AND SCIENCE WILL MAKE US MORE SUPREME
A PLANT IS A BEING ITS ALIVE BUT WE RULE OVER PLANTS MAKING US SUPREME BEINGS
IF ALIENS EXIST WHICH THEY DO..IF THEY CAN REACH HERE THEN THERE SUPREME BEINGS OVER US..
BECAUSE SCIENCE AS MADE THEM MORE SUPREME THAN WE ARE ON EARTH..

See many many years ago GODS were our ancestors.. we worship our ancestors .
did they believe that there mum created the universe ANSWER NO..
PLUS WHO CREATED THE SUPREME BEING IF ONLY THE ONE SUPREME BEING..

IF ANYTHING THE EARTH IS GOD IT CREATED US ..
SO RECYCLE YOUR SHIT..
PLUS HERE IS A POINT ..
Say we found a new earth and planted it with trees and life are we gods or scientists ..
not saying its so but have had a thought that aliens created us could this be why where here..
THIS IS WHY SCIENCE IS THE KEY TO LIFE..
BECAUSE ONE DAY WE WILL CREATE A NEW WORLD..FACT..NOT IN MY OR YOUR LIFE TIME BUT ONE DAY WE WILL..
WE ARE ALREADY TRYING TO CREATE A NEW WORLD THE THEORY IS IN PRACTICE

Thats fine, you don't have to really believe in god to have morals and live a fulfilling life.

I don't really have a belief structure myself and can be considered a pluralist, I suppose.

You focus so heavily on the word "God" but don't forget about the word religion, which does go hand and hand with god but can act upon itself and be independent.

"Re" = Again
"Lig" or "Ligio" = Join or Connect

The word religion suggests the joining of our natural, human world to the sacred world.

So with this ideal we can conclude that buddhism is surly connected to religion at least to the true definition of the word and not the politically correct version we are so accustom to in our daily life. (I know most would disagree with this)

I have not been through this entire thread but I do hope no one is forcing ideas on you because this is for you to really find.

Some people you may be interested to look into.

Rudolf Otto - He wrote a book called "The Idea of the Holy" and in it argues that religions emerge when people experience that aspect of reality which is essentially mysterious. He called this the "mystery that causes trembling and fascination" or "mysterium tremendum et fascinans." Basically he explains that we take our existence for granted and live with little wonder, but occasionally something disrupts our ordinary view of reality. An example of this, a strong manifestation of nature, such as a violent thunderstorm, may startle us. It is an aspect of reality that is frightening, forcing us to tremble (tremendum) but also feel fascination (fascinans). The emotional result is what Otto called numinous awe. He pointed out how often religions art depicts that which is terrifying, such as the bloodthirsty Hindu goddess Durg.

Or you can take the opposite to this and look into Karl Marx

Marx calls religion an opiate for the masses. But even he felt that religion has a good and a bad side. Marx ultimately though religion was for social control and called it a symptom of the sickness of society.

This of course is more a Philosophical construct of religion and all religions.

THE WORD RELIGIOUSLY MEANS ..if you do something religiously, you do it regularly and are very serious about it
If you do something religiously you do it a lot off times..this is the true meaning ..

you see its a mix of both words regular and serious ...
plus you can go back centuries and the meaning will change..Christian writer Lactantius, writing in the early fourth century, opted for religare, a verb meaning “to fasten or bind.

like the word sick the word sick now means good.. 20 years ago you only said your sick if your feeling poorly but now it can mean both..

so your right buddhism can be religious if you chant every day you do it religiously ..
AS BADECKER SAID ON THIS POST EVEN ATHEIST ARE RELIGIOUS BECAUSE ALL HUMANS DO SOMETHING RELIGIOUSLY ..I.E TO DO SOMETHING A LOT...EXAMPLE.. She watches that programme religiously..
SO IF YOUR SAYING I AM RELIGIOUS WELL I AM ..
I RELIGIOUSLY LOVE MY CHILDREN
BUT I DO NOT WORSHIP A SUPREME BEING

SCIENCE WILL FIND THE LAWS OF CREATION ..THEN ARE WE GODS

Cosmogony is the study of the cosmos

"Cosmo" = Cosmo (go figure)
"Gony" = Birth

So cosmogony is the birth of the cosmos.

Within this study it is concluded that, either something came from nothing or something always existed.

There are three "miracles" that offer credence to this. Understand that there is no more and no less. These laws if you will are nothing new and cannot be added to and none can be taken away.

First it states that the cosmos appeared from nothing or ex nihilo, “coming from zero” or in other words “coming from nothing.”
Second to this is ad infinitum or “to infinity” and to that effect the cosmos always existed and exhibits infinite regression of causes in the past. (This would be the big bang theory)
The last principle is best explained by Aristotle and his addition to the list focuses on cause sui or “cause unto itself.” It explains that the cosmos was set into motion by an unmoved mover. (Religion where as a deity would be the unmoved mover)

Take anything you want from that list but do know that none of the items among that list can be proven to be false, whether that be science or religion based.

Nietzsche argued that the fact that a belief is false gives no absolute reason for its abandonment but rather, abandoned based on whether they preserve and enhance life. It’s silly to apply just one truth to all people and people are faulted for loving “their” truths, but not truth; they in essence have created a god and this god is that truth. Know that by me saying this that god is a fill in the blank and that science can be your god, your truth