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| Topic: Is there anything any person in this world could say | |
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in the concept of BALANCE, which I was raised with at home and taught about in church,,,,how can religion be so clearly not responsible for the good things in people but yet blamed so often for the bad,,,,it either causes people to have traits or it doesnt,,, I feel that from a very pragmatic point of view, religion would naturally be used to support bad things far more often than it would be used to support good things, and I believe that we've seen this throughout history. Especially in terms of magnitude of the events. In other words, people who lust to do bad things seek ways to excuse their behavior. One of the very best ways to excuse bad behavior is to convince yourself that you're doing it in the name of God. Look at how religion was used to support entire armies during the crusades. Look at how religion was used to support the prosecution torture and burning to death of innocent people as 'witches'. Where have we ever seen such well-organized efforts where religion was used as an 'excuse' to do good on such grand scales as it was used to do bad? We haven't. One reason is probably because people who want to do good things don't feel a need to excuse them by demanding that they are doing the will of God. Even today, where do we see religion being used to rally the masses to do good things? We don't. Instead we see religion being used to rally the masses to be prejudiced against same-gender love, or science education in schools, or against the science of doing stem cell research in the name of medicine. I really don't see religion being used (on a large scale) to encourge people to live together peacefully and accept each other's differnces and beliefs. After all, face it, Christianity is entirely predjudiced against any belief that doesn't INCLUDE the Belief that Jesus is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Savior of all mankind. Moreover, this includes the demand that the entire Bible is indeed the WORD OF GOD, both New and OLD testaments, which takes us right back to being predjudiced against same-gender love, scientific findings that contradic scriptures, and doing any medical research that even remotely has anything to do with human DNA. So, in short, I really don't see where the religion can even truly be used to rally people behind a GOOD cause without also dragging with it all of these negative predjudices. Maybe some individuals may use their own 'personal walk with God' in ways that might be good. But that's a far cry from being able to use the religion as an institution to rally the masses to do good works without also dragging in all the negative predjudices and judgements. So, no, not only do I not see a BALANCE with this religion, but I see now possible way where it could ever be used in a well-balanced way on a large scale. It's just not designed for that. It's founded on three main principles. 1. There is only one God - the God of Abraham! 2. Only one BOOK contains HIS WORD - The Holy Bible! 3. Jesus is LORD and SAVIOR of all mankind and MUST BE accepted as such! As long as it continues to demand these three things, it's never going to amount to anything good, and it can never become an institution of good on a large scale. Even if everyone on planet Earth were to convert to Chistianity today, that would only be the beginning of the real religious wars, because Christianity itself is a protesting religion. Christians protest against each other's interpretations. And we've already seen what would happen if Catholicism tried to convert the Protestants to Catholicism. That would become the battle to end all battles for sure! As a large-scale institution Christianity is a highly confrontational and divisive religion. Let's face it. I suppose we just see things very differently. I am more of the belief that because we 'hear' of something more often than something else speaks to the sensationalism of the culture at large and not because of religion itself. We dont HEAR about minorities getting together in large groups to do good very often,, but trust me it does happen often. What gets reported, documented, can often and is often slanted to the mood of those who do the reporting and documenting. Organized religious groups do things that are just as significant as the atrocities people repeatedly mention. From aiding those who have suffered in natural disasters, to finding homes for orphan children around the world. I guess its all perspective, but I believe these type of things to be EVERY bit as grand as the salem witch hunts or those 'historical' events attributed to religion. |
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The watermelon cat looks a wee bit like a photoshopped raccoon, to me.
yourargumentisinvalid.com is cool...the best is 'jesus rode a dinosaur' |
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Good call on the raccoon tail! Never noticed before. It's still one of my favorites.
I was thinking about posting the Jesus Riding A Dinosaur one but I already used it in a another religious thread. |
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that would actually make you become religious (if you don't follow a religion) or drop your religion (if you have one) in favor of another or none? Just wondering if anyone actually thinks they could be changed in that sense, or if it's really just about the fun of the debate. You mean all this convo, here? For me, neither. I like knowing why people believe what they believe. Here and there we occasionally educate each other on some topic. Perhaps no one changes which religion they subscribe to, but there are a lot of details on which a person might change their mind - like whether eating shellfish is more or less evil than love between men. I think there is a great deal of potential value in these convos that has nothing to do with changing someones religion, nor the fun of the debate. |
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that would actually make you become religious (if you don't follow a religion) or drop your religion (if you have one) in favor of another or none? Just wondering if anyone actually thinks they could be changed in that sense, or if it's really just about the fun of the debate. Yes. I have changed my core belief system at least twice. It is a very traumatic experience, I would not recommend it, I was physically sick for three months and broke out in a rash. I don't think it was anything anyone one person said to me. I just read a lot of stuff from different sources. I abandoned any path that tried to restrict me from reading or learning about other things. Currently I have a loosely held belief system that looks at the world systems, the galaxy, religions, governments, etc. It includes accepting the possibility that non-human sentient life forms that are not "human" are living on this earth with us, and that "God" is simply a collective consciousness. |
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that would actually make you become religious (if you don't follow a religion) or drop your religion (if you have one) in favor of another or none? Just wondering if anyone actually thinks they could be changed in that sense, or if it's really just about the fun of the debate. I know i couldn't be changed and it's not about the debate there is no fun in that. Fun is in the uplifting God and trying to open people's eyes to the truth. If you know you can't be changed, then you should open your own eyes and realize the truth that you are not going to open any else's eyes to believe "your truth." |
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Edited by
Jeanniebean
on
Mon 06/07/10 08:51 PM
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There is one exception.
If I was in the position to convert or die... I would convert. (I'm not stupid enough to die for my belief in aliens etc.) It doesn't matter what God they were wanting me to convert to. I like living.   |
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There is one exception. If I was in the position to convert or die... I would convert. (I'm not stupid enough to die for my belief in aliens etc.) It doesn't matter what God they were wanting me to convert to. I like living. Does this mean that you would be willing to lie to your executor? If you had not already accepted a religion, what does it really mean to 'convert' on the spot? I would be willing to lie to my executor to spare my life, provided that lie didn't have other consequences to humanity or to my loved ones. Since I don't believe in God, I would be lying to my executor and not betraying any God by saying that I do believe in a God. If I did believe in God, then by saying that I don't, I wouldn't just be lying, I would be betraying my God by saying that I didn't. Its quit likely that I would not be willing to lie about my beliefs to save my life if I believed in a God. |
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