Here's a start:

I believe, as Thomas Aquinas wrote: "There is within every soul a thirst for happiness and meaning." I believe God placed it there so man would not be lost.

Religion:

Mankind seeking the approbation of God through good deeds, human merit, and various categories of works.

Man seeking to impress God with his “good” works (e.g., save the whales, penance, Save the Children, Green Peace, employers requiring employees to give to the United Way; all organized religions – doesn’t include Christianity in its Purest form).

This doesn't, by any means, mean that contributing to the above organizations is wrong, just depends on your motivation for doing so.

I believe people of all religions are trying to justify to themselves that they have a purpose for being here, are not alone, and, in most cases, that there is life after physical death.

Yes, MOTIVATION IS the key!

whitemanitou, are you saying you and I actually are agreeing on something? lol Be still my heart! :)

Dear Judy, IF there is a God and he placed something in us so we would be constantly searching that means were pretty much constantly lost and he wasn't on top of things enough to put something in us from jump street so we would be content with being just who and or what we are. It's said we're made in his image...I wonder if he's searching for a meaning too? As far as approbations with God the buddhists are gonna find this tough because they don't have one. Kinda makes you wonder why that religion is the least violent of all of them. Now I'd love to hear back from you on the part of the question that asks what qualities, elements or conditions have to be present to qualify as a religion...per se...rituals, laws, retributions for non-followers, dietary laws, submission to authority etc..

warmly,

K

Kenny: I love your "jump start" allegory!

:-) It is the act of seeking that gives us wisdom. It is the act of passively believing that kills the soul.

What a bunch of skubala! Words written by a true atheist, I'm sure. It sounds good until you actually put the words into an intelligent brain. "Seeking" never gave anyone wisdom . . . "finding" pretty much does the trick, though. If you're calling belief without thought "passive believing" then that probably would be right in an esoteric kind of screwball way.

Just because someone believes something or thinks something doesn't make it right or "truth". It may be the person thinking it believes it is truth, but there are a lot of people in mental institutions that had 'thoughts', too.

"I believe, therefore I am" - another idiotic statement. Philosophers are creepy (yes, even Aristotle, Socrates, Anaxadora, Euripedes, etc., & I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they were all smoking weed when they were coming up with all their "deep" thoughts) :)

I am hereby FINISHED responding to this particular post.