Religion.

[VZX]

I believe in god...but I certainly don't believe in the Bible or organized religion.

Me too

...
maybe

So far I've learned two religions throughout my life
I liked the first one I chose, but also have limited knowledge about it
I kinda don't like the second one, probably due to the people I live with everyday.

to put it simple, I don't care anymore ¯\(º_o)/¯
I'll continue to believe that doing what (most) society think that is a good thing is right. Afterall, I believe all religions serve that kind of purpose

[Ace-o-fire]

It's all the same shit anyway you look at it

Big guy who rules all.

small guy says big guy is here and does a magic trick.

book comes out for people to read.

stupidity.


sadly though watching this stuff it's like the kids are drowned in the stuff there parents force feed them. They say the want to be batter then the jihad's giving there kids guns, well they are no better teaching there kids hate.

The kids should be given a right to choose if they want to follow a religion and not forced in to one. Thats what makes us different from them, but the seconded you take that away we are in fact no better.

[Jimmayus]

I like religion, especially when people who have never read a single textbook on the subject debate it. If you're lucky, it's a 'my invisible man can beat up your invisible man' debate, and life is good.

The funny thing about, say, the Bible, is that its' composition and formation were perhaps the most political debates of the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D., and the original Greek text was more or less completely untranslatable.

For example, it used a Greek word 'ousia (sp? I don't have the textbook near me and I'd rather not have to cite lolwikipedia)', which could be confused with
another Greek word of slightly different pronounciation. 'Ousia' in the Bible would imply that Jesus was in fact born after God, and that he and perhaps the Holy Spirit were of a lesser power and seperate from God. On the other hand, the other pronounciation gave the implication that the three were of the same substance, and thus were in fact one entity, making the notion of the trinity unworkable.

So, because they chose one particular pronounciation (i.e. argued for months), we now have the Trinity doctrine.

There are a lot more interesting historical amusements surrounding its' creation, but the more you read its' history the more you realize it was created by men in an attempt to give a framework.

It's funny though; Jesus never meant to have his own seperate religion, and the reason the Apostles never had anything of their own published was because they were under the impression that the Rapture was coming any second.

In fact, the epistles of Paul are the earliest dated parts of the New Testament, several decades after the Crucifixtion.

But that's a lot of digression; the point is, learning about its' formation really shows you how many holes you can punch in it if you try to take it too literally.

[Jimmayus]

I totally didn't answer the posed question in the post above, so here goes:


I've taken to what is called Deiism, which is essentially what several of the founding fathers (including Benjamin Franklin) believed in; basically you believe in a higher power, but his relative attatchment to the physical world is subject to your interperetation.

I look at it from a scientific perspective; there are 6 universal constants (Planck's, the gravitational consistent, etc.) that, if they varied by a fraction, would destroy the universe as we know it. There are three ramifications of this: A) they can't move, B) everytime they move, another parallel universe is created to simulate the effects of the shift, and we're really lucky, or C) something or someone is keeping them in place.

Since the concept of a multiverse is even more far-out in my opinion than a deity, I tend to feel that option C makes sense.

[Vinen]

I don't belive in a higher power nor do I belive in any sort of an afterlife. All I see is our body decomposing and returning to the earth whch gave it birth upon death.

[Stilgar]

I grew up pretty much without any religion in my house. I had babysitters and friends who were very religious Christians, but that's about it. I always thought they were gullible and stupid for believing. I've never felt a need for God.

That said, I've been baptised like 3 times, and attended Churches of probably 10 different denominations of Christianity. lol, growing up in the South.

[SpecialDude]

I grew up pretty much without any religion in my house. I had babysitters and friends who were very religious Christians, but that's about it. I always thought they were gullible and stupid for believing. I've never felt a need for God.

That said, I've been baptised like 3 times, and attended Churches of probably 10 different denominations of Christianity. lol, growing up in the South.

Same here, except I grew up with religion in my family (one side jewish by heritage and faith(yea loljews) and the other christianity). About by age 9 after having been to church, bible studies, very religious events, I just decided "wtf this is retarded," without any outside influences.

And since then I've always wondered, why, if a 9 yr old can see through it, can't soooo many others?

Oh and what really pisses me off, is how GWB uses Christianity as a shield for every fucking thing he does.

Yes, and lolgrowing up in the South.

[Cletis]

my bible says when you die you get to live in the fav. mmo of your choice :D

[Ryko]

Grew up 18 years in the church, my latest pastor (from the time I was 7 till 18) was a generally intelligent man, knowing full well that his practice was one of faith and made a point to mention that some things back then do not apply to times like these. In spite of that he does his very best to inspire and guide people in a way he believes/knows to be just and righteous. He covered his bases well, which is why I can't hold my current view of religion against him.

That said I believe there's a god but I believe him to be just as prone to negligence, ignorance, and maliciousness as the people he created in his own likeness. Growing up in a christian church and reading the bible of my own volition lead me to this conclusion, knowing that I shouldnt take it all literally I couldn't help but read things like the story of job as god ruining a perfectly good person's life to win a bar bet. It just didnt sit right with me that people could believe something capable of that was an entirely benevolent being, and I washed my hands of it about 3 and a half years ago. Since then I've been approached by people who try to push the religion thing on me but I generally ignore them unless theyre capable of having a reasonable discussion. In the end neither of our views are going to entirely change but religion as a function of blind faith is a wash and I make no attempt to alter it.

[SpecialDude]

I believe there's a god but I believe him to be just as prone to negligence, ignorance, and maliciousness as the people he created in his own likeness.

That used to be my belief, but it's much easier to say you're an Athiest than explain that to people.

[Nchabazam]

Why worry about an afterlife, you'll be dead and won't be able to give a shit. Enjoy the time you have in this life.

Science has been able to explain the origins of our universe quite well, and our understanding of many phenomena in science is expanding. Given time I'm quite positive that where we came from will be fully explained, and it won't have a damn thing to do with some sort of all powerful god.

I mean... in the visible universe... over 120 billion galaxies, most of which contain billions and billions of stars. Life really does appear to be the result of a natural planetary evolution, and given the number of stars there are (many of which have earth life planets, and I'd wager money at some point we find life on Europa or Mars or Titan in our solar system as well), there is life all over the place. Then start throwing in the strong possibility of truth in multiverse theories... Earth is hardly special or unique.

Everything evolves naturally, don't need a God to explain anything. And if someone asks, where did everything come from... which is a question that is not yet understood (the big bang is well understood in terms of what happened, but where the matter for the big bang came from is not understood)... is somehow throwing in the concept of some sort of all knowing being just placing the matter there in the first place a good explanation? Where the fuck did God come from? Some God, just appearing... makes a whole lot of fucking sense.

(I hate religion)

[Avvesione]

Listen to this, if there is a God and you don't believe in him, you go to hell. If there isn't a God and you don't believe in him, who knows what happens.

If there is a God and you do believe in him, you go to heaven. If there isn't a God and you believe in him, who knows what happens.

So, do what you want

[Nchabazam]

Listen to this, if there is a God and you don't believe in him, you go to hell. If there isn't a God and you don't believe in him, who knows what happens.

If there is a God and you do believe in him, you go to heaven. If there isn't a God and you believe in him, who knows what happens.

So, do what you want

I want rational thought. Why would a God give a flying fuck if someone believed in him? And if God wanted people to believe in him, he'd provide some sort of evidence that he actually existed besides "believe this shitty old ass book that was written by random people." If there were a God, and he were responsible for what happened in the afterlife, I'd hope he wasn't so retarded with his logic.

You didn't mention the option where you don't live your life in fear, and enjoy the time you have on this earth because you realize that that is the time that matters, and don't spend your time fearing what could happen in eternity. It cheapens your life, which is the only thing that matters anyways. People who believe in the afterlife and live their lives for such are the reason terrorists fucking suicide bomb... yay

[Kuya]

Listen to this, if there is a God and you don't believe in him, you go to hell. If there isn't a God and you don't believe in him, who knows what happens.

If there is a God and you do believe in him, you go to heaven. If there isn't a God and you believe in him, who knows what happens.

So, do what you want

Worst
Reason
Ever

[Pamelita]

Who cares?

I think it's stupid to push your views (religious or non) onto other people. As long as people are generally nice to themselves and the world, whatever it is they're doing (religion or not) is really their own business.

I think this kind of debate gets so fiery because it's really not about religion at all. To a lot of people, it's about "Only my way is the right one, there is no other possible way, and I must force other people to open their eyes to see that they're wrong." When in reality (seeing how it hasn't been proven whether God exists or not), there is no right or wrong. Everyone interprets things differently, and aside from jackasses who take things too far like Bush, Charles Manson people, extreme muslims, PETA, etc., the most imprtant message the bible/quran/torah/constitution/nature/etc., give is: be happy and be nice to others. And if this guides people to happiness, then everything falls into place...happy people usually don't harm others.

So yeah...live for today. Who cares about religion? gtfo. \^^/

[BRP]

Is it bad my wet dream is to have a debate with a religious freak, like the ones I saw in the link I posted? God, that would be awesome.

[SpecialDude]

Is it bad my wet dream is to have a debate with a religious freak, like the ones I saw in the link I posted? God, that would be awesome.

No, because they pummel you with bullshit, and even if you know wtf you're talking about they ignore you and without even having a knowledgable reason continue to tell you "God exists because the Bible says so."

Or maybe that was just people from where I was from, who think God sent down the Bible already written.

[finale23]

religion is personal and should be just between you and god. with that said, organized religion is retard and unnecessary. if jesus were around, i doubt he would go to church every sunday.

[½pint]

I don't like religious debates. To me, if somebody believes in God or believes the word of the bible, then that is a personality trait of theirs. I consider it to be a negative personality trait, akin to being being racist or sexist; it is not something desirable in another human being. And as such I have a very low tolerance for religious zealots and do not like associating with them.

[Suikoden]

Is it bad my wet dream is to have a debate with a religious freak, like the ones I saw in the link I posted? God, that would be awesome.

No, because they pummel you with bullshit, and even if you know wtf you're talking about they ignore you and without even having a knowledgable reason continue to tell you "God exists because the Bible says so."

Or maybe that was just people from where I was from, who think God sent down the Bible already written.

I have to disagree here

I was once stopped on my way home by 2 men in suits and bible in hand who tried to tell me about god and convert me (I am Athiest btw). You know how people usualy just make an excuse like I am in a hurry and just go. Well, I decided to amuse myself and had like 20 min conversation with them about god vs. science. By the end of 20 minutes, they were the ones who said they had to go