666!

[Kenneth R.]

I as an educted aethistic Westerner am for too cynical to have faith.

When really it shouldn't matter waht faith you are, but simply that you have faith. Instead these religions attempt to oppress and subjugate people, with threats and blackmail, into supporting them.

1. education doesn't mean you become "too smart" for believing in things. in fact, scientists do the same with natural evidence. they can't prove, only disprove, and so with enough evidence they conclude on trust/belief/faith whatever you want to call it, that they have found something true.

2. agreed. people should believe whatever they truly honestly believe. you can't really convert people by force, they may submit, but their hearts still harbor resentment. The only real conversion is when someone comes to whatever conclusion on their own. Note that I am not saying these things in respect to Christianity, which I do believe in, but in respect to any belief, even nonreligious ones.

there are such absurd stereotypes on all sides these days, and it really is a shame.

 

[Ten SiSi]

what about 333333?

There is an ancient jewish religion, and this religion had a set of numerical codes for everything, because they were being persecuted by the assyrians for not worshipping the assyrian dieties. the main diety of this ancient jewish religion was Baal. Baal was the god of agriculture and weather. He was represented as three sixes in proto-yiddish texts. And if you dont recall, Baal was the main rival to Judaism. Now why would they want to call the anti-christ 666, just like Baal? hmmmmm....

 

[soundave]

This reminds me of a thread from a few months ago...it began being about Extol and ended up being a religion discussion. Interesting discourse interrupted ocassionally by ignorance and assholism.

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212103

 

[stole_my_bike]

education doesn't mean you become "too smart" for believing in things. in fact, scientists do the same with natural evidence. they can't prove, only disprove, and so with enough evidence they conclude on trust/belief/faith whatever you want to call it, that they have found something true.

well, a smart, cynical person may very well find it difficult to believe in a supreme being or a god. scientists, with evidence, come to a logical conclusion. but there is really no evidence that a god exists, so you are seriously blindly following religion if you beleive in such a god.

 

[Opethian666]

Any Young Earth Creationists here? I love debating evolution and the age of the earth.

 

[Ten SiSi]

Belgian chocolate is overrated imo

 

[stole_my_bike]

it is, yes.

 

[Powers]

There is an ancient jewish religion, and this religion had a set of numerical codes for everything, because they were being persecuted by the assyrians for not worshipping the assyrian dieties. the main diety of this ancient jewish religion was Baal. Baal was the god of agriculture and weather. He was represented as three sixes in proto-yiddish texts. And if you dont recall, Baal was the main rival to Judaism. Now why would they want to call the anti-christ 666, just like Baal? hmmmmm....

Baal who in later Christian texts was referred to as Ba'al Zebub, "Lord of the Flies", anyone notice any similarties between Ba'al Zebub and a certain baddy from that oh so lovely fairy story the Bible?

 

[opethXisXlove916]

whats your myspace address? bang wants proof youre not rachel, this might be the ticket.

dude, i'm not rachel, i dont know who rachel is

and stop being sucha creep.. YOUR 23!! i'm 15!!!



i have a feeling i'm too young for this message board

 

[Ten SiSi]

Abraham was from Ur. Which was an Assyrian city. (Well, actually Chaldean, but no difference really) and he suddenly has a "new message" of a God that will just so happens to directly defy the early jewish religion. This new religion teaches order and personal discipline. It's always easier to rule over a nation that believes in benevolent behavior. This is just a theory, but it is plausible, nonetheless

 

[NFU]

Actually it's 06.06.06. 06 equals 6. As in "I have 06 €". If it had been 16, it would have been different. Besides, it's just for fun. Not everyday you get to say it's the day of the beast.

no, theres actually a 2 and another 0 in front of the last 06 if you REALLY want to get specific about it. besides, sayings its the day of the beast is the 14 year old teen angst equivilent to saying you like newer immortal albums.

 

[illidurit]

there's no god, idiots, shut up

 

[NFU]

there's no god, idiots, shut up

prove it.

 

[stole_my_bike]

prove it.

we can't prove that there isnt one, which religion counted on. i beleive things when they're logical or scientifically proven.

 

[illidurit]

prove it.

I can't, welp I'm jewish now

 

[westknife]

yeah but the burden of proof is on the believers

 

[soundave]

we can't prove that there isnt one, which religion counted on. i beleive things when they're logical or scientifically proven.

What about things that are real and illogical that science can't explain? Do you refuse to believe in it or could science be flawed?

 

[Powers]

well, a smart, cynical person may very well find it difficult to believe in a supreme being or a god. scientists, with evidence, come to a logical conclusion. but there is really no evidence that a god exists, so you are seriously blindly following religion if you beleive in such a god.

This is what faith is all about though, accepting something without testing it or being given the chance to test it, the exact opposite of science. The major problem is that a faith (an idea) can become confused with a dogma (a belief), and the two are not the same thing. Strangley enough dogma backwards reads Am God...coincidence?

If you want to gte on to talking about Ba'al Zebub or rather "Belzebub", it seems that the Anchinet religions of the Hebrews were opposed to one another, similar to Sunni and Shia Islam.

In this case on one side was the deity Ba'al Zebul (Lord and Prince) and on the other Yahweh (YHWH, an abbreviation of a 3 phrases all containing the same route) which ultimatly meant "He that was, is and shall be" or rather, "He who is eternal". Lending itself to the phrase "..and his name is I am."

The religion deifying Yhaweh ultimatly won out and derogated the Ba'alic God, as Ba'al Zebub (with Zebub meaning flies), this meant that the name now meant "Lord of the Flies" - dung - and would later be realised as Belzebub, one of the main antogonists of the Bible stories.

Several thousand years later, the Abrahamic religions have been so completley perpetuated by uneducated societies for thousands of years that they become units of accepted cultural information, religions are just another variety of meme. They've become so powerful that there influence is felt through politics and culture. And this is frankly a rediculous state of affairs in a modern world.

 

[jossie]

fuck 6-6-6-

 

[Powers]

prove it.

NineFeet makes a fair point.

Like I say, religions have become so heavily tied into every part of life that it would actaully be impossible to catergorically negate them.