hey archi

[Sera]

That Moose guy in the "Second class citizen" thread *has* to be trolling. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting to see you engage him, but he's gotta be a troll.

[Sera]

Moosey; you can't claim the bible is evidence of Jesus Christ's life. If you do; you could also claim that the events of Ezio Auditore happened. There is historical proof that the things in the game did happen, after all.

My point is; Yes. There is evidence to support that Jesus did live. There is not, however, evidence to support that he did some of the things the bible claims he did. The bible could be like any other science fiction book, only based on a true person. According to the synoptic gospels; Jesus refuses to give a miraculous sign to prove his authority - possibly because he can't. I could go out on the street and claim I'm the son of God, and when people ask me to prove it, I'll just say "No, I don't want to. You'll see in the afterlife that you were wrong!". Does that make me right?

As for the miracles in the Gospel of John, historians have found no evidence to support that what Jesus did ever actually happened. Additionally; it's likely that a lot of the things are the ramblings of a high person. When you're high, you can get all of these ideas, etc. No; I'm not saying Jesus was a drug addict, but you DO know that baptisms during this time involved covering the entire body in cannabis oil and then washing it off in the river, right? Messiah - which is what the Christians call Jesus - means just that. The anointed.

Drugs are used in many cultures/tribes as a way for shamans/priests etc. to communicate with the dead, or to have visions. It's not hard to believe it was used for similar reasons during the period Jesus was alive - especially since they used cannabis oil to baptize.

Is it really so hard to imagine that they smoked pot around the dinner table? I can see the event play out myself - Jesus and his buddies sit there smoking a joint and joke around and laugh, and he get the brilliant idea to pretend that the wine his his blood and that the bread is his flesh.

Though I did find this post interesting so I guess the fact that you all engaged this troll wasn't a total loss.

[Arvin]

ARCHIBALD BADGERSON

[Sera]

There is, and she defined it quite clearly. In fact, I would hope no one else responds to your comments, as there is nothing more to say about them. If you choose to disagree, that is your opinion. It is not truth nor fact, simply what you choose. If you cannot accept this, there is no point in discussing any aspect of this with you any further, as you believe what you feel is true, even though it is not.

By declaring your own definition of marriage and stating that it is God's word, you are a liar, or bearing false witness, if you will; you are a sinner, someone who is deliberately misinterpreting what you claim to be God's word, and merely claiming to use the Bible to reinforce your statements without actually being able to do so. Marriage being discussed does not mean marriage is being defined, and by trying to state otherwise, you are putting words in God's mouth; you are claiming to be an absolute authority, which is the sin of pride.

You, therefore, have no right to speak as a moral authority when you yourself are amoral. You call others wrong, and put yourself above them; you state you are correct and that anyone dissenting is incorrect; you put yourself upon a pedestal and declare that you cannot be challenged; you sin, and you do not deserve respect.

Before these posts were made, I already went about preparing some of the links I often refer to people who behave as you do:

http://www.fallwell.com/ (Don't guess at what this is before you click it, as if you've never seen it before, your guess will be incorrect.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-je..._b_886102.html

http://atheism.about.com/od/gaymarri...cal_Issues.htm

http://upload.slightlymore.co.uk/wor..._Slow-Clap.gif

Now I have to ask this, Kohan, are you religious at all? Because if so you are probably my favorite religious person ever.

[Sera]

I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, was put through private bible studies, read a few different versions of the Bible, and was often taken to visit an oppressively religious grandmother who disowned one of my cousins for having a child out of wedlock. I spent many of my young years considering myself to be a sinful person, as I never could believe any of it, and it was some of the most painful soul-searching I ever endured. I am still haunted today by the aftereffects of those childhood teachings.

You should definitely talk to ryko imo, his narrative sounds similar

[Sera]

I think we did talk about that when we chatted on Ventrilo ages ago, coincidentally. If not, then we talked about it elsewhere.

I am happy that my experience wasn't quite like that growing up. My family went to church and certainly seemed to really like Jesus a lot, and tended to express their expectation that I did too, but no one really asked (thankfully, because I'm not sure if I'd have lied or not.) Any church going I did was mostly just to draw as little attention to myself with regard to it as possible. I loved my family and I did not want to disappoint them with the fact that I couldn't care less about church, jesus, god, none of it. I supposed it was nice and all but I wasn't excited about it and definitely wouldn't have gone by myself. When I was a teenager I expressed as much to my stepmother, who attended one of those crazy "Church of God" deals that spoke in tongues and whatnot. That entire place just made me extremely uncomfortable. When I confided as much in my stepmother because she asked specifically about my feelings regarding church, she told me it was because I was full of satan, and ultimately used that as a tool to get me thrown out of the house and have my father disown me.

To date, I see less good come out of religion and more evil surface as a result of it, so I stay away. I just don't have a need for it.

[Sera]

damn! pastebin that shit

[Sera]

As we do not need the comfort and substitute explanations that religion provides in today's day and age, there is no need for it anymore, in my opinion. I tolerate it as a means for the weak to make it through the day without relying upon themselves for answers and liability, but I do not condone its continued existence.

Indeed. I guess part of me feels slightly jealous that some people can be satisfied with just that; believing in a deity and having that to "depend" on for security and comfort, like a teddy bear of sorts. I think that's a nice thing to have, but I can't justify it to myself. I sometimes wish I could make my brain buy it to give my heart some solace in times that I struggle. However, I don't need a teddy bear, and while sometimes I get jealous that a thing so simple can make them feel better and want that for myself, I realize that isn't going to make me any stronger.

[Kuya]

My family was never very religious. Ain't give a damn

[Qalbert]

my parents were hella strict religious people, wouldn't let me play final fantasy because of "black magic". then FFX came out and I was like DONT YOU WANT ME TO FIGHT SIN?

[Charismatic]

'but mom, you've gotta fight fire with fire 2'

[Callisto]

I was a Jehovah's Witness in high school too, Vol 2 was the greatest album of all time

[quannum]

my mommy sez god is my daddy

[archibaldcrane]

lol, i don't come into spam enough for me to reliably see a "hey archi" thread.

but no, I don't think he's trolling. hardcore true-believer christians are exactly like that.

and I did get him to acknowledge that he's not anti-legal-marriage-for-gays, so I feel pretty accomplished. The rest of the thread is just semantics.

[Howie Roary]

my parents were hella strict religious people, wouldn't let me play final fantasy because of "black magic". then FFX came out and I was like DONT YOU WANT ME TO FIGHT SIN?

I had to turn down an original copy of Final Fantasy for Nintendo back in the day (I'm talking '87 ish when the game actually came out), and I knew I wanted it so bad cause Dragon Warrior was pretty crazy too and I thought they might be similar

my Mom is and was really religious, we couldn't watch Beetlejuice, Carebears ('cause of No-Heart and Shrieky's magic) and quite a few other things. Anyway my Aunt gave it to me one year at Christmas and I had to tell hr I couldn't accept it because my Mom would eventually see all the magic etc

[Sera]

lol, i don't come into spam enough for me to reliably see a "hey archi" thread.

but no, I don't think he's trolling. hardcore true-believer christians are exactly like that.

and I did get him to acknowledge that he's not anti-legal-marriage-for-gays, so I feel pretty accomplished. The rest of the thread is just semantics.

what i don't get is why he even talks about god in a thread about legal matters. oy

[Sera]

Because gay people are against the law in the Bible.

Which has little to do with (or perhaps, should have little to do with) government today. I'm just sick of religious people using the legal gay marriage debate as a soapbox for their religious beliefs. They're not related topics. Period.

[Ksandra]

people's experience with retarded religious parents just show me how fucking awesome my parents were raising me. (They are religious, so am I, but they were never fucking stupid about not doing things out of fear or witchcraft or some shit). We are laid back Catholics that don't fucking judge anyone based on religious shit.

[Caiyuo]

my parents were hella strict religious people, wouldn't let me play final fantasy because of "black magic". then FFX came out and I was like DONT YOU WANT ME TO FIGHT SIN?

fuck lol

[richardd]

I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, was put through private bible studies, read a few different versions of the Bible, and was often taken to visit an oppressively religious grandmother who disowned one of my cousins for having a child out of wedlock. I spent many of my young years considering myself to be a sinful person, as I never could believe any of it, and it was some of the most painful soul-searching I ever endured. I am still haunted today by the aftereffects of those childhood teachings.

I am not religious.

its so funny how similar our lives are lol

a lot of my friends think im an atheist, but that couldnt be further from the truth. i just hate religion in general. i still have my beliefs that keep to myself lol.