Religion

[Israk]

I myself am no one religion, I'm known to dabble in whatever religion seems interesting at any given time, experimentation is something I do well (though not always with good results, ask me about it sometime if you care) My father (and step-mom's) families are christian (or something to that effect, actually, possibly roman catholic, I care not to ask) I have had first communion (forced when I was in grade 6) and been babtized(misspelled I think) I've experimented with wicca, but it was impractical for me, lacking the time to do rituals and whatnot, s**t, this is one sentence, it needs a period. Anyways, Aeithism is not me, I will not defend science to prove a religion wrong, or believe fully in science (I like to disprove science, and if anyone cares, I'll tell them my time travel theory, or theories about what life really is, and no, I don't have my own religion based on any of them). I also flucuate between combining beliefs of multiple religions.

I'll end it there, unless you all want me to tell you why I think the christian religions are corrupt (not as a whole, but on certian believes, and you can't deny that the church has ever been corrupt, it's been proven)  

[Israk]

Sorry, but another topic brought up a point that is about religion, keep in mind that it's my PERSONAL OPINION, and that I don't actually believe in this religions beliefs. God, they say man was made in his image, if this is true, god can't really be as good as they say he is, man has done more attrocities than any other animal, we created weapons of all kinds, destroy nature, are slowly killing the planet, and e even kill eachother without reason. Is this really what god is, or has man somehow altered the image of god into something different.  

[Ruminating Skeptic]

What religion are you? Explicit Athiest... is Atheism really a religion though?

How long have you been in this religion? one and a half years... about.

Why do you believe in this faith?

-my parents shoved it down my throat as a kid, so my inner rebel kicked in.
-I am very logical and rational minded. I refuse to believe something without proof (so I often have problems in Science sweatdrop )

What do you hate about other religions? I rather disrespect religion as a whole, but I do have a few exceptions.

The reasons I hate religion:

-the wars, hatred, persecution, bigotry, hypocrisy, ignorance, and a whole host of other things.
-people believing in the bible after all the times it's been translated.
-brainwashing young children before they have the chance to decide for themselves.
-the religions against homosexuality, abortion, incest, and people who believe something different.
-the refusal to question, or do research.

The things I respect about religion:

-persistance; no matter how many times doors get slammed in their faces, or people call them stupid or blind, they keep going.
-that Christian philosophy "I'm praying for you" nice sentiment, although at times it can get annoying.
-the people who actually take the time to back up their arguements, study the religion they claim to be a part of (you think this would be obvious O.o wink
-Christian camp I go to every year; the motto is "a place to belong". You can believe whatever religion, come from whatever backround, have whatever likes or dislikes, and they'll accept you, and not judge you. I have problems not judging people sometimes ^.^; but they seem to do it with ease.
-if religion didn't have all those zealots, just the nice people, hell I'd be all for it.

If you are agnostic/atheist please tell us why? Hey, how come we got singled out? xd

I love the freedom personally. Atheism is only one belief on a huge spectrum, so you may while you may not define yourself as one, you could still be one (ex. Buddism). Or you could define yourself as an Atheist and believe whatever else. I love that!

On another note, I'm still kind looking at other religions. I am currently reading the bible, and I want to get my hands on the Koran and the Book of Morman. I wouldn't call myself tolerant, I'm only reading them as ammo for debates. Some religions do interest me, but I will probably never join them because I hate rules.

---------------------------------

BTW, someone brought up an interesting point. Matter has to come from somewhere, so why is our point of view any worse then yours? Probably misquoted, but here is how I see it.

Lets say you go to the store to buy a sweater. You're not really sure what colour sweater you want, you are going to look at all the sweaters and see which one you like best. So you look through all the sweaters, and finally narrow it down to an orange sweater and a blue sweater. Now between them, you aren't really sure which one is better, but you try both of them on, and turns out the orange one looks way better one you. Now your friend might come to the store, see the blue sweater and say "wow, that sweater would look totally awesome on me" because they really like the colour.

So what I'm trying to say is, everyone chooses a religion (or abstenince of) because it makes the most sense to them, or it feels right. I don't really think it has anything to do with right or wrong, because the concept of "right and wrong" differs from person to person, and we can all have our opinions, right?

So lets all try to respect each other's sweaters, alright?

Jya ne,
Furiidamu.  

[Israk]

To GCA above me, athiesm and agnostic (or at least athiest, agnostic is new to me) got singled out because athiesm, as I know it, is not so much a religion as a lack of religion.  

[daemonchylde]

i am christian, alternative , other. lol i dont know what i am really, but i know i believe. i like my religion because there is no pressure for me. i dont go to church, but i dont feel i have to. i pray on my own. my family is devout christians, i believe we are non-denominational (spelling?) i dont hate other religions, but i can say this, that any belief that is not based on tolerance and love will not stand when everything else falls apart. everyone has a right to their beliefs, it is our right of free will. i am just not the kind of person who can believe everything has no purpose, but i will respect those who do believe this way.  

[Calixti]

I am an agnostic athiest. I do not know whether or not a god or gods exist, and I do not believe they do.

That's not to say I dislike religion. I'm something of an eternal student. I'm currently studying the Bible, and I've studied Satanism, and have some knowledge of Wicca, and I've been studying the Greek gods since middle school; lately, I've also begun studying the Norse gods. It's fascinationg stuff.

It's entirely possible that a god or gods, if they do exist, will call to me later in life. But as they have not yet, I see no reason to believe in them. *shrug*  

[Timo Supremo]

TsumetaiHinote

Atheist
long time, officially only 8 months though
i will not explain the unexplainable with a belief in a being that cannot prove he exists
I don't hate other religions i hate people that blindly follow them and are not open to other ways of thinking.

Cannot or will not prove His existence? I am LDS, or as most people know us, a Mormon. No, we don't have horns, or ten wives, lol. Anyway, about what Tsumetai said; I believe that the purpose of living is for people to grow in mental strength. Part of that growth is learning to control ourselves. If everybody knew absolutely that God existed, how would we ever learn control. We would be compelled by our certain knowledge to always obey God. As it is, we have a choice in our actions. This is one of the things I like about my religion, that I learned in the absolute power of the human mind in making choices. As for hating other religions, no. If you believe in the Creation story, which i do, then that would lead to the belief that all religions have their basis in the religios practices of Adam and Eve. So, all religions have some amount of truth to them.  

[Timo Supremo]

Israk

Sorry, but another topic brought up a point that is about religion, keep in mind that it's my PERSONAL OPINION, and that I don't actually believe in this religions beliefs. God, they say man was made in his image, if this is true, god can't really be as good as they say he is, man has done more attrocities than any other animal, we created weapons of all kinds, destroy nature, are slowly killing the planet, and e even kill eachother without reason. Is this really what god is, or has man somehow altered the image of god into something different.

In my opinion: Image, not nature. We look like God, but do not behave like God. After all, we are only human.  

[Shadow__Dweller]

What religion are you?
Agnostic

How long have you been in this religion? f
rom about the age of 13 maybe?

Why do you believe in this faith?
I need more evidence to believe in God. I don't believe in following "someone elses" rules in order to "be good" or "go to heaven". I don't believe in having to "bow down" to a God, to be in his/her favour. Many religions are sexist.

What do you hate about other religions? all of the above  

[Israk]

Shadow__Dweller

Many religions are sexist.

See, but that (like religion itself) is based on what you believe. A follower of that religion would not see it as sexist but as how things are supposed to be. I myself don't care if women want more rights, they should be treated equally, but if you look at the world, and not just humans, but a lot of animals, the males are dominate. This is because the males are generally bigger and stronger, so they lead the pack, or whatever group they are in. And it isn't all the males that lead, it's the biggest one. In animals were the female is bigger, the male is below the female.  

[Shadow__Dweller]

Israk

Shadow__Dweller

Many religions are sexist.

See, but that (like religion itself) is based on what you believe. A follower of that religion would not see it as sexist but as how things are supposed to be. I myself don't care if women want more rights, they should be treated equally, but if you look at the world, and not just humans, but a lot of animals, the males are dominate. This is because the males are generally bigger and stronger, so they lead the pack, or whatever group they are in. And it isn't all the males that lead, it's the biggest one. In animals were the female is bigger, the male is below the female.

True. It always comes down to the physical with men rolleyes if you look at religion though..well..modern day religion...God is a man and so is his leading prophet (jesus or mohammed or whoever). Mary Magdalene was called a prostitute to put her out of the picture...in ancient religions women were great gods...because they bring life...the ancient greeks and egyptians has equal female and male gods...but that idea got wiped out as soon as christianity came along..  

[Gimonavid]

I am a wiccan, and have been for 5 years. I chose this faith because I researched every faith, and in the end my beliefs were purely Wiccan. I don't hate anything about other religions, I just hate idiots that do stupid things in their names.  

[NOCTVRNVS]

Shadow__Dweller

Israk

Shadow__Dweller

Many religions are sexist.

See, but that (like religion itself) is based on what you believe. A follower of that religion would not see it as sexist but as how things are supposed to be. I myself don't care if women want more rights, they should be treated equally, but if you look at the world, and not just humans, but a lot of animals, the males are dominate. This is because the males are generally bigger and stronger, so they lead the pack, or whatever group they are in. And it isn't all the males that lead, it's the biggest one. In animals were the female is bigger, the male is below the female.

True. It always comes down to the physical with men rolleyes if you look at religion though..well..modern day religion...God is a man and so is his leading prophet (jesus or mohammed or whoever). Mary Magdalene was called a prostitute to put her out of the picture...in ancient religions women were great gods...because they bring life...the ancient greeks and egyptians has equal female and male gods...but that idea got wiped out as soon as christianity came along..

O please, "wiped out"? You're acting like sexual equality actually existed in other cultures at the time. Greeks and Egyptians, sure, and NO-ONE ELSE. Not just the Christians, and to be perfectly accurate, God DID choose a WOMAN as the vessel for Christ on Earth. Not to mention, God likely doesn't have a p***s as He would have no use for one! Thus, while it's true that God isn't a woman, it's also true that He isn't a man. You're obviously just bashing Christianity because, like everyone else, you're trying to look "rebellious" or something and it fails.

And if you wanna get down to it, the Greek women gods were hardly as powerful as the male gods. I mean look at all the prominent Greek gods; Zeus, Apollo, Atlas, Hades, Herakles... all symbols of infinite power, do you see any woman gods that compare to the likes of they? No, you have Persephone -- do I have to remind you what happened to her? And female gods usually "came out of" male gods, such as when Zeus' head was cracked open and thus birthed a goddess. I mean some believe that the word "female" stems from the Greek "easily tricked". The Greeks held their women in high esteem, yes, but you're illusioned if you think they had total equality in Hellenic society at ANY time.

And Egyptians, well, I wouldn't exactly use them as an example of equality. Does the term "slavery" bring anything to mind? The Egyptians thought they had to hollow out and preserve everyone's carcass so that their soul could return to it and live safely inside it until it rotted, that's not even logical. At least the Greeks were masters of logic...

Long before Christ came along the VVikings were using women as their main currency! Actually to be accurate they were used more like Pokemon cards, all the men would sit around and trade women based on their size, looks and of course sexual ability ("dude I'll trade you my holographic Busty Dark-Haired Wench for that one really cool sword you have in your room"). Of course when they ran out of good ones they had to go all the way to another island and club some new ones. You get the idea though. Not equal, not Christian, thus Christianity was not the one to knock the perfect balance between man and woman off-course -- in fact that never happened because there never WAS a balance between man and woman.  

[Gimonavid]

NOCTVRNVS

You're obviously just bashing Christianity because, like everyone else, you're trying to look "rebellious" or something and it fails.

Don't pretend to know the inner workings of the mind of someone you don't know. It's pathetic.  

[Efstathios]

It happens though. He's making more sense now than he was earlier in the thread.

Although in the lands that Christianity started in they didn't actually change the balance and in the "heathens" they erm *cough* 'civilized' christianity DID lower the position of women.

There were a few instances that it helped women, these were rare and isolated. They did, however, occur.

However, I must protest that the physical body god used, for instance when he visited Abraham in human form, was probably male, complete with a p***s. If he had to sweat, I'll assume he also had to pee. ( I can type up the verse, if you want).

To my knowledge the Egyptians never kept slaves and the Isrealites were never in Egypt.

Woman used to have higher positions in some, not all, pre-christian societies. Like Queen Boudica, for instance(Irish, I think). Queen Hatshepsut(Egyptian), was another.