The great and all powerful religion thread!

FenriR said:
Wow, an 89-page religion thread and I've missed it for this long?!?

Alright... I'm an Atheist. There are three reasons for this:

1) Religion is really just a way to explain the inexplicable. The gods used to be blamed for natural disasters, lightning, anything that mankind didn't understand and wanted to feel safe about. Nowadays that only really applies to the origins of the universe, though I have faith that'll be explained before too long, because I want to laugh in the faces of the millions of christians worldwide before I die.

2) It's a system of control and an excuse to conquer. Again, not really applicable today, but I quote to ye Deathspell Omega:
'God of terror, very low dost thou bring us,
very low hast thou brought us...
...The idea of God is pale next to that of perdition,
but of this I could have no inkling in advance.'
Most people worship out of fear of eternal burnination in hell, rather than any sort of love, although they may convince themselves that isn't the case. This seems fundamentally flawed to me.

3) I'd like to be able to continue listening to black metal and not feel guilty about it.
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I really like it when people come to bold, sweeping conclusions about the nature of religion based on some observations of a few Abrahamic faiths. Well played, sir.
 
seedofvengeance said:
This sounds really weird, and probably off topic, but I've been seriously thinking about trying to go to church and trying to become a Christian again. Everyone who is around me seems so happy. It seems like it gives them something to be happy about no matter what. I want something like this. I've been wading through a never ending stream of shit lately, and I just think that something to lean on such as an undying belief in a greater benevolent force acting on me would be a great help.
I'm the kind of person who usually thinks Christians are idiot for their beliefs, but the thing is that some of the smartest people I know are actually Christian.
It's hard to convince myself of something that I've argued against for so long, but it's also hard for me to convince myself that there is no deity whatsoever.
I don't know.. anything beyond "what am I going to have for breakfast tomorrow?" confuses me... which doubles as the reason of my obesity and my incredible apathy for anything involving religion or the lack there of.
I'm sure the events which have drowned me of late will eventually will pass, as these things tend to do.. and at that time I will return to my general apathy towards all of this, but for the time being, this is something I'm seriously considering trying.
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If you're going to be religious, why follow Christianity? Wouldn't you rather follow a religion that isn't centered around having a guilt complex and living in fear of eternal torture?

AchrisK said:
For those of us who have come to believe in God as portrayed in the Bible, and who believe the Bible is a divinely inspired book, are Christians because we feel we have recognized the truth and have decided to accept it and embrace it as such. Contrary to what so many people will say, it is not out of fear or comfort or weakness or feelings of superiority or anything other than recognizing and accepting the truth.
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I find this impossible to believe. Anyone who is actually concerned with finding truth must have a reasonable standard of evidence, and the Bible is full of claims that not only lack evidence but also are often contradictory.

In order to believe what the Bible claims, you are required to jump to conclusions without backing them with logic, and that is not an honest way to seek truth. So if you accept the Bible as truth, you're probably just looking for some answer to the fundamental questions it addresses, regardless of whether that answer is actually truthful.
 
FenriR said:
And I think more christians worship out of fear than love... a lot worship because they think it's the right thing to do, others as a method of ignoring science, yet more simply to fit in or because their family has brought them up to.
Mind you, the ones doing it out of a misguided sense of love are the dangerous ones, the sort that would become suicide bombers in other religions...
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hmmm you are wrong. I am a Christian and I do not worship God because "I'm scared". If you proclaim Jesus as your savior BECAUSE your scared...then you really don't love Him with your heart...Jesus calls that you truly love Him and accept Him with all your heart...which means YOU WANT TO. not because you feel you're gonna go to hell if you don't. I do it because I want to. when I think about Hell I'm not scared at all...I feel thankful because it's supposedly a horrid place to be...and then I think to myself "and Jesus is saving me from it because He loves me, that's amazing." I'm not scared....I feel grateful.
I didn't accept Jesus as my savior cause I was scared either, I did it because I REALLY do believe he's the Son Of God and that I am a sinner and need to bow before Him, I really do believe I NEED Him as I am nothing without Him. I didn't do it because God scares the crap outta me with Hell.

Now, I'm 14. My father is a Christian, and so is my mother (though I haven't lived with her for 2 years nor have I seen or talked to her). When I was little, my mother and father taught me about God...they taught me that Jesus died for me that He saves me from satan. they took me to church, a little kiddie church...and yeah. But as I got older...my father doesn't force me to go to church, some times when I don't want to go I tell him and he says "fine." and he goes by himself. He doesn't force anything on me...he let's me choose. I have chosen God on my own, my parents make me do NOTHING. they don't live my life...my father doesn't make my choices, I do. as a Christian, God says to teach your children of Him to bring Jesus into their heart before satan enters it. He doesn't say it EXACTLY like that, but that's the general idea. That's the job of a Christian...but I have the final say in whether I believe in God or not. not my parents. yeah they influence me when I was younger...but just because they're christian I'm supposed to be christian? It doesn't work that way, it's MY choice.

and I choose God. I have had my own personal experiences that lead me to believe God is real...and so is Jesus...so I choose God. so don't generalize all Christians okay?

cheers :)
 
vihris-gari said:
I find this impossible to believe. Anyone who is actually concerned with finding truth must have a reasonable standard of evidence, and the Bible is full of claims that not only lack evidence but also are often contradictory.

In order to believe what the Bible claims, you are required to jump to conclusions without backing them with logic, and that is not an honest way to seek truth. So if you accept the Bible as truth, you're probably just looking for some answer to the fundamental questions it addresses, regardless of whether that answer is actually truthful.
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Contradictions are always brought up, but for every contradiction brought forth, there is a Christian apologist who will tell you why it is not a contradiction. Go ahead, identify a contradiction and then do a search on it and see if you don't find websites telling why it is not a contradiction. I am not saying I have researched all of them, or that I necessarily agree with every explanation, but what I do see is that there is no "smoking gun" contradiction that has crippled Christianity thus far, and I doubt there ever will be.

If we believe in the Christian God, we obviously do it with a requisite amount of faith to overcome the unseen and unprovable. We believe we have been compelled by God, and by things he placed in us at creation, and that our belief is not merely the result of a scientific experiment, but a supernatural awakening.
 
AchrisK said:
I am not saying I have researched all of them, or that I necessarily agree with every explanation, but what I do see is that there is no "smoking gun" contradiction that has crippled Christianity thus far, and I doubt there ever will be.
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How about, 'Thou shalt not kill'?
 
AchrisK said:
If we believe in the Christian God, we obviously do it with a requisite amount of faith to overcome the unseen and unprovable. We believe we have been compelled by God, and by things he placed in us at creation, and that our belief is not merely the result of a scientific experiment, but a supernatural awakening.
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Why?
 
Zephyrus said:
That's the whole idea of faith, as I already explained. If we got evidence NOW, that would invalidate everyone's faith because it wouldn't be faith anymore, just belief in a fact. The idea of Christianity is that God rewards faith, both in his existence and in the precepts of his laws and the example of Christ.
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that's exactly what the muslims who blow themselves up and innocent bystanders think as well... only they substitue allah for jesus.
i had a mormon friend and i asked him "how do you know that your religion is right?" his answer "i prayed and felt in my heart it was true". and every time i confronted him with evidence as to the erroneous nature of his beliefs his answer was "well i just have faith, i know my god is real". now anyone with half a brain can tell that mormonism is bullshit. yet they are using the EXACT same justification for their BS that other types of christianity use for their's. now honestly... if your religion is really the one true religion and makes all kinds of claims about reality why can't christians present one concrete and convincing proof of their faith? there should be SOMETHING to differentiate them from all of the other groups that say "oh i just have faith and i know its true... blah blah blah". the reason christians keep saying shit like that is because their religion is just as made up as all of the other religions that they believe are false.
 
I don't think he means that. Usually, terms of substitution place the thing TO be substituted before the thing BEING substituted and displaced.

:p
 
I thought I replied to this but I cant seem to find the post so I'll post it again.

V.V.V.V.V. said:
I haven't studied religion at all but I already knew everything you said, and it's wrong in the modern definition of atheism.
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Why the sarcastic comment then?

It's not wrong because atheism isnt a philosophy with alot of different beliefs/thoughts attached to it. It is just one thing, the denial of any kind of god. Now there are branches of atheism that does indeed attach other values to its label but if we only use atheism we only mean the denial of god.

See there are atheistic political ideologies, there are atheistic religions, there are atheistic magical organisations as well as different branches in most philosophies of life. What connects them all is only the denial of god. Thats the core and only value of an atheist. There are no values attached to the label atheist other than the denial of god(s). Its a fact and you cant really prove me wrong.



I myself am not religious but have a huge interest in the subject and I often find myself describing the world, as I view it in a non-religious way, with religious terminology, mythology and symbols. This may seem strange to alot of people but its something Im comfortable with. The book "tao of physics" by Fritjof Capra is highly recomended. He connects the ancient eastern religions with todays modern sub-atimic physics. The result is quite amazing.

I have a special place in my heart for Taoism, buddhistic and hindu metaphysics, Satanism, Chaos magic, Heraclitus (my favorite philosopher) and Friedrich Nietzsche. Im eclectic in that way in how I try to connect all aspects that I like and find similarieties between them. Buddhism (sunyata) - Hinduism (Kali) - Taoism (Tao) - Satanism (Satan in the interpretation of the dark doctrines) - Chaos magic (chaos) - Heraclitus (fire) - Norse mythology (ginnungagap)- science (modern sub-atomic physics) etc.

Maybe its weird but I have always wanted to fit right into a label or movement but always knew that I didnt. I came to accept the fact and started to emphasize certain parts that I found appealing in different systems of though.
 
Thoth-Amon said:
that's exactly what the muslims who blow themselves up and innocent bystanders think as well... only they substitue allah for jesus.
i had a mormon friend and i asked him "how do you know that your religion is right?" his answer "i prayed and felt in my heart it was true". and every time i confronted him with evidence as to the erroneous nature of his beliefs his answer was "well i just have faith, i know my god is real". now anyone with half a brain can tell that mormonism is bullshit. yet they are using the EXACT same justification for their BS that other types of christianity use for their's. now honestly... if your religion is really the one true religion and makes all kinds of claims about reality why can't christians present one concrete and convincing proof of their faith? there should be SOMETHING to differentiate them from all of the other groups that say "oh i just have faith and i know its true... blah blah blah". the reason christians keep saying shit like that is because their religion is just as made up as all of the other religions that they believe are false.
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Because the point is not having proof but believing anyways.

And no, no it's not rational, did anyone ever say it was? Religion is a completely emotional deal.

V.V.V.V.V. said:
I don't think he means that. Usually, terms of substitution place the thing TO be substituted before the thing BEING substituted and displaced.

:p
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.

TheInsane said:
I thought I replied to this but I cant seem to find the post so I'll post it again.
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Probably accidentally deleted as a result of last night's faggotry.
 
Well...actually.
There was a troll.
And LadyVal and myself were responding to him with quotes from e-thuggery.
So it wasn't related to religion, just general retardation.
 
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