Religion

[Kannon]

I am a Christian. What about you?

 

[KyleLawes]

Atheist.

 

[PuLse_ORiGiN]

Athiest

 

[CommandoBeta]

Atheist, and I have a very interesting video about that:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQLypwgqefc[/youtube]

 

[Dogfighter]

I'm Christian as well.

 

[Kannon]

I have atheist friends, and I have noticed that they are usually much more hostile towards me than any other group. Nothing against you guys, just something I've noticed. I'll be in a discussion and they will attack my intelligence (despite the fact that I am quite easily at their level). Anyway, I also have friends on the other side of the spectrum, who believe that the universe is roughly six thousand years old. don't lump me in with them.

 

[PuLse_ORiGiN]

Don't lump me in with the "Religion is stupid" atheists. I think that religion is a good thing, because the things people do, which they take from the bible i.e. "Love thy neighbor" are wonderful

 

[CommandoBeta]

The main problem that some people might have with religion is not that it tries to explain certain things in ways that are in their opinion superseded and unscientific. The problem is that many religions provide a set of morals that it's followers are supposed to stick by. This encourages people to instead of thinking things through rationally, following a set of rules that were often made thousands of years ago. If you take for instance Christianity, its morals are literally from the iron age. If you ever read the bible, you will be shocked at the things people apparently have to do to please their God. Things like sacrificing children and keeping slaves are actively propagated in the Old Testament. And what is more, the God that is described in that book, is nothing less than a devine equivalent of a dictator. If you don't believe in his mandate to rule, you will be punished. If you don't live by his rules, you will be punished. And the worst of it all is, he's not at all afraid to cause extensive collatoral damage to hit people that are doing something wrong in his opinion. If any leader of a country in the world would be like that today, even China and Russia wouldn't dare to use their veto to prevent a military intervention.

And all these ideas about morality and history were written by people who lived over 2000 years ago. And I find it disturbing that leaders of modern Western countries, like American presidents, claim to speak to this God before making any important decisions. To any atheist, what that sounds like is making a decision based on a conversation with an imaginary friend.

 

[Dogfighter]

If you ever read the bible, you will be shocked at the things people apparently have to do to please their God. Things like sacrificing children and keeping slaves are actively propagated in the Old Testament.

I think you mean Jewish. The Christians don't believe in sacrificing anymore because Jesus was the final sacrifice. The old testiment doesn't talk about sacrificing children. What you are referring to is God testing Abraham. He was trying to remind him to love God before all others, including his son. Abraham was putting his son before God. Slavery is not what God approves of either, I don't know where you got that. "He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death." (Exodus 21:16). However, I respect your opinion.

 

[CommandoBeta]

The Old Testament is part of the Bible. In the old testament, Jephthah sacrificed his daughter to God.

As to slavery and Jesus, he said this:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.

And about slaves who refuse to do their work:

The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. "But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given." (Luke 12:47-48)

And if you judge that by the time it was written in, this is not at all so strange. Mind you that this was all written in the Iron Age, and when the New Testament was written, the Romans still kept slaves. But the point is that many people still read these books, and see them as a paramount tool for their moral compass.

 

[FBC]

I'm christian too but please please PLEASE no religion on the internet.

 

[Kannon]

you know I think a basic moral code like thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not steal is pretty important. And you still have to understand that this type of thing evolves over time. The book was written a millennium ago, but the ideas have changed to suit the present time. It's that simple. But that's just me...

 

[kowalski]

dtk, lovin' the profile picture!

 

[Dogfighter]

Please, this is a peaceful, clean debate. Lets not degrade each others beliefs.

 

[Kannon]

Please just take a look at my other posts before pictorally flipping me off. I think people who pray to God to save their kid instead of going five miles and getting them treated should be convicted of murder. In some cases they should be sentenced to death. (we had an interesting discussion about that topic as well). Anyway, there is really only one thing that I believe science has too flimsy an answer to: the origin of life in the universe. I forget what the best explanation we have come up with, something like organic material being carried by a meteor.

 

[Dogfighter]

Please just take a look at my other posts before pictorally flipping me off. I think people who pray to God to save their kid instead of going five miles and getting them treated should be convicted of murder. In some cases they should be sentenced to death. (we had an interesting discussion about that topic as well). Anyway, there is really only one thing that I believe science has too flimsy an answer to: the origin of life in the universe. I forget what the best explanation we have come up with, something like organic material being carried by a meteor.

Also, God doesn't say "Pray, don't do anything, just pray". When he met a homeless person who couldn't walk, he did not tell him "I will pray for you". He told him "get up and walk". The parents of those poor children should have taken them to a hospital, and pray with them while they are treated.

 

[Kannon]

I know.

 

[Dogfighter]

I misinterpreted you dtk, lol.

 

[Dogfighter]

I misinterpreted you dtk, lol.

I'm so misunderstood lol.

What?

 

[CommandoBeta]

Please just take a look at my other posts before pictorally flipping me off. I think people who pray to God to save their kid instead of going five miles and getting them treated should be convicted of murder. In some cases they should be sentenced to death. (we had an interesting discussion about that topic as well). Anyway, there is really only one thing that I believe science has too flimsy an answer to: the origin of life in the universe. I forget what the best explanation we have come up with, something like organic material being carried by a meteor.

But the lack of consensus among scientist about the start of life is no reason to believe something a person wrote 2000 years ago. The current theories on how life started are too complicated for most people to understand. To say that they do not seem probable is not justified unless you understand the actual theory. Also, the bible gives no explanation on the origin of life or the origin of the Universe. They just 'move' the probem. If God created life and created the Universe, who created God? It's still an unanswered question.

And there are some major differences between the 'religious' and the 'scientific' theories. The religic theory was made by people 2000 years ago who wondered where life came from. They had very little knowledge of the world, and because they didn't know the answer, they invented a 'God' who made all of that. The 'scientific theory' takes into consideration everything we know about the earth, about life, about biology, about chemistry, and about physics and is based on evidence, rather than on fantasy.