I am lost, please help!

I am from Indian subcontinent, and i was a moderate non practicing Muslim till i encountered your website faithfreedom.org, and reading some of your articles i have disheartened from Islam, and started to read about other religions. Every religion on this earth has some illogical things so no religion satisfies me. Please give me some advice which religion i should follow, i did not disclose my apostasy even to my family, they are very staunch follower of Islam, i know very well that i cannot convince them about what is the real facts of Islam and i cant derail them from their belief, please advise, hope an early reply.
Thanks and regards,
from Dil
Dear Dil,
I am glad that you saw the ugly truth about Islam and left this cult of hate and terror.
The choice of religion is personal. I cannot and will not advise anyone as to what they should believe. As Buddha said, each person must find their own light. I can share my personal thoughts. They are personal and should not be taken as recommendation. Find your own light. The important thing is that one must be always open to learn new things as there is no end to learning.
I don’t believe in any religion. Just like you I see they all have elements of untruth. I don’t expect religions to conform to science. Science is constantly evolving and with every discovery we are forced to change our paradigm. What yesterday appeared as unscientific is today accepted as scientific. Likewise many things that seem to us unscientific today may very well be proven to be scientific tomorrow.
However, when something is plainly contradicting established facts, we should not accept it. There are many things in all religions that contradict established facts. The story of Adam and Eve, for example, taken literally, is plainly absurd and unscientific. The evolution of species is not a theory. It is an established and observable fact. So if you find anyone still clinging to this fairytale, it is because they believe in a false doctrine or they misunderstand their religion.
However, materialism is also a fallacy. There is a hidden reality behind the material world. To make an analogy, let us compare the physical universe to a giant computer, and the spiritual world to the software that is running it. If you break down the hardware in pieces you can never find the software, because it is of a different substance. Software is information. It cannot be seen. The same can be said of the spiritual world. The spiritual world is very real, much more real than the physical world, but it is of a different substance. It has different dimensions.
Let us assume that the world is made of two dimensions; all trees, houses, humans, everything has only two dimensions, like drawing on a sheet of paper. If you are a two dimensional person, all you can see is what is on the same sheet that you are. You cannot see drawing on other pages nor can you see tridimensional objects. So the argument that if we can’t see something or detect it with any measuring tool it does not exist is absurd.
So, if it can’t be seen or measured, how can we know that the spiritual world exists? Because it is observable! Observation is overrides science. Science advances, primarily thanks to observation. We discover things that defy our notion of reality. Since it would be absurd to deny our observation, we change the notion of our reality. We write a new chapter in science to explain them.
Millions of people have had near death experiences and they come back with stories that defy science. There is ample evidence that these experiences are not tricks of mind or hallucinations. There is undeniable proof that they are real. Materialists cannot stomach this truth because it shatters everything they believe. Materialism is a religion just like any other and the believers in this religion are just as dogmatic and close minded as the followers of any faith. All they need to see they are on the wrong side of the truth is to read countless stories of the near death experiences. This site contains a comprehensive compilation.
These people come back with information that they could not have gained in any other way than traveling out of their bodies. For example they travel through the wall, and meet their relatives in their other rooms of the hospital and report accurately what they said and did. There are thousands of stories in that site. I invite everyone to read several of them. Eventually you can no longer deny the survival of consciousness after the death of the body. All those who insist these stories are hallucination are willfully ignorant. They refuse to read because they have made their minds and think that reading those stories is waste of time. Belief is the opium of the masses indeed. Materialism is one of the most dogmatic of them all.
So, if materialism is another religion and all religions are false what is the truth? That is a good question. The answer is that you have to find it on your own. I found my own. I read hundreds of stories of people who died and came back to tell us about it. They have been to the other side. So I tried to learn the truth from them. But you have to be careful. Just like the story of blind men who each touching a part of the elephant describes it differently, the stories of the near death experiencers also are fragmented. To get the full picture, you have to read hundreds of them. Eventually you will be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together and get a comprehensive picture of the truth.
Here is what I have found so far:
I found that death is not the end. In fact when we die we don’t even know that we are dead. While in this world it is like we are wearing a goggle that allows us to see only the material world. When we die, it is like removing the goggle. We just wake up feeling a lot better, and if we were sick we think we have been totally cured. Blind people, suddenly can see and wheelchair bond patients can walk. You get up from your bed and tell to your loved one who is sitting by your bed, the nurse or the other patient that you feel great. But they ignore you. Then you may look back at your bed and see someone is lying there. Who the hell is he and how he got there into your bed, you ask yourself. Upon closer inspection you see it is you. Oops! If I am still in my bed, then who am I? I am here, but my body is there. Does it mean I am dead? But I don’t feel like it.
Each experience is different. At this point most people suddenly feel they are swooped in a vortex travelling at a speed faster than light inside a dark tunnel. Some of these people end up in a very bad place, where they see nasty entities and tormented people shouting at them, calling them by name telling them not to come. Others see a speck of light in the absolute darkness. They keep drown towards that light until the light becomes bigger and engulfs them. They realize this light is a being full of love. Some people say they conversed with this light, other say it embraced them. They also see their deceased loved ones. Sometimes people see dead relatives whom they did not know of. One neurologist doctor who had been adopted met a woman who acted as his spirit guide. When he came back to this world, he searched his original parents and found out that he had a younger sister who had died a few years earlier. When he saw the picture of his sister, he realized this was the same spirit guide in heaven. These two sibling had never knew of each others existence in this life. But when she died, she found her brother and became his spirit guide.
We all have spirit guides. Maybe he or she is a loved one who has passed away or maybe a friend or a neighbor. A child who passed to the other world said his spirit guide was his elderly neighbor who had just died and of whose death he was not aware.
Thanks to these stories, I know that we survive and that God is real. God is not a force or energy as some believe. He is a person, just like us, only infinitely bigger. He is also our father. This is not an allegory or a figurative way of speech. God is really our heavenly father. Our body in this world is begotten from a father and a mother. But our spirit is begotten from God alone.
This is also not the first time we have come to this world and most likely it won’t be the last. We keep returning until we can evolve spiritually on our own. And each time we come, we choose different parents. So really everyone in this world has been once a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter of the people who are now strangers to you. This means that those whom you hate could be your own loved one from another life. How foolish is it then to hate other humans? Isn’t this revelation enough to know that Muhammad was an impostor? He told his followers to hate the unbelievers and not take them as friends because they are worse than animals.
I also learned that we choose our parents. Some kids think that their parents owe them everything because they are responsible for bringing them to world. It happens to be that we choose our parents. So really we owe them everything. Imagine crashing on someone’s house and demanding them to feed you and treat you well for ever. The only thing that our parent get in this deal is that through their love and sacrifice they evolve spiritually.
Another thing that I learned is that although we are all children of God, Jesus is a much bigger spirit than us. He is God’s first born. I still don’t understand this but it appears that Jesus was the first spirit that God created. Anyway, he is our big brother. And he is in charge of us humans. Howard Storm is one famous near death experiencer who died an atheist. Some human spirits came and took him. He did not know that he is dead and thought these guys in white clothes are doctors. He followed them but they began abusing him and tormenting him. They just enjoyed inflicting pain. Eventually, he started praying and as he prayed these nasty spirits left him. Then Jesus came and took him out of that horrible place. He thought to himself Jesus is making a mistake and that he really does not deserve to go to paradise as he had lived a selfish life. As soon as this thought past his mind, Jesus stopped. Looked straight into his eyes and said, “We don’t make mistake.” Storm’s story is long. It is a good read. Search his name. He says I felt Jesus really liked me. Jesus loves all of us. Christians say “Jesus loves you” so much that it has lost its potency. But it is true. He really loves us. Storm asked Jesus, what religion is true. He replied, the one that brings you closer to God.
I suppose he left that for us to discover. Let us see. Muhammad said we should hate all unbelievers. Isn’t it true that the spirit of God is in all living beings and in all humans? So how can we get closer to God by hating other humans?
Jesus on the other hand said that God is in all His creatures and when we feed or clothe someone, or when we mistreat them, it is as we do that to God.
The answer is clear. The only way we can love God is by loving others, as the Spirit of God is in everyone. Once you grasp this truth that is explained in Matthew 25:31-46 you can no longer hate anyone or call them najis, or kill them because they don’t believe in what you believe. It is clear to me that Jesus is the way to God and Muhammad is the way to Hell.
What about other religions? God does not care about what we believe. You can believe in a stone and if you love mankind you love God and God loves you. Fighting over religion is the stupidest thing we humans can do. Hinduism and Buddhism have a lot to teach us. It would be foolish to dismiss all that wisdom. Buddha was an enlightened spiritual teacher. Yet, despite all his understanding, he did not see God and died an agnostic. But God is real. People have seen Him. Zoroaster was also a great teacher. Yet he never made any outlandish claims about himself. Baha’u’llah’s teachings are good, at least on the surface. Yet he was unable to see Muhammad is a false prophet. I have proven beyond any shadow of doubt that Muhammad was an imposter and his Quran is not the word of God and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. Also Sikh scripture Bhagat Kabir, Parbhati, pg. 1350 says “Say not that the Vedas and Muslim books are false. False is he, who reflects not on them.” Anyone who thinks Muhammad was a prophet of God cannot be inspired by God. Muslims have failed to do so. I invite Baha’is and Sikhs to do it. The founders of these faiths have made the truth of their claim dependent on the truth of Islam. If Islam is shown to be false so are all faiths that accept it as true. I am not going to even mention pretenders such as Ahmad Qadiani and other minor impostors.
I urge the followers of these faiths to put aside their religious fervor and ponder. If indeed Muhammad was a true prophet as their respective prophets/gurus said, then they should not complain about their own persecution in the hands of Muslims. Muslims do what their prophet has urged them to do.
Anyway, all the discussion about which religion is true is irrelevant. Those who come back from the other world say Jesus is the king there. It is always Jesus who rescues people from hell. I am not a Christian. No Christian will accept my version of Christianity anyway. I am a follower of Jesus. I don’t go to any church but I pray at home and converse with Jesus. Jesus is alive. He is listening and he has the key to hell and heaven. So, although you can go to heaven even if you worship a stone, I choose to have a relationship with Jesus. I know he loves me. If he loves even the sinners, why should he not love me? I am not really a great sinner, just a faulty person, and he can overlook my faults.
I hope I have answered your question. Let me reiterate: I am not asking anyone to change their religion. All religions are fine, except Islam which is the path to hell. I just shared my own thoughts and why I believe what I believe. I strongly discourage anyone to put their trust on someone else. Do your homework and find your own light. Salvation is a gift. I chose to accept this gift from Jesus. If you have found something better, that is wonderful.
I found my truth by reading the stories of the people who have been to the other side. I think that is a good place to start. Listen to them and make your own mind. Never follow someone else. God gave all of us a brain so we can find the truth on our own.
It seems this site has chosen a username for me.I will stick with Phoenix instead
anonymous said:it is best to only talk about what a group of people can verify with physical senses//
Can you prove the veracity of this assertion using your physical senses? Or at least give us a deductive argument to discuss.Claiming there are lots of fanciful ideas has no evidentiary value.
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@Jim J Fox
I’ve seen numerous skeptic sites claiming to have debunked NDEs,when in fact they present caricatures of the phenomenon,which are stawmen then refute those.
The ketamine/drug/hallucination objection,has been dismantled many times.If you believe there is anything in that link which is irrefutable then share it.
I know this was about advising on what to believe in, however, when it comes to debunking religion, it is best to only talk about what a group of people can verify with physical senses. Talking about things that are anecdotal or could be imaginary allows the possibility of many fanciful ideas that can’t ever be verified.
http://www.skepdic.com/nde.html
Please, some balance here.
Great article from Ali Sina, as always. And my cat wants to play. I am going to play with her or God will tell me I wanted to play and you didn’t play with me.