True - I feel the same. Simplistic motivators and simplistic thinking can be misused to lead people into doing the unthinkable. Better to seek a better world in that which is tangible through our senses and common sense.

Lasting happiness is one which is not achieve simply on the whims of the moment, but through a deeper understanding and appreciation of the roles we play in life. (but having moments of fun on occasion helps!)

Agreed. I think it's perfectly okay and healthy to practice religion in a group setting (ie, church) but your own beliefs and morals should come from how you interpret life and your religion's role, not what your local minister, priests, etc tells you. Use social religion to strengthen your bond with your beliefs, but find your own path and live for what you believe. No good comes from worshiping 'men of God'.

 

 

Religion sucks.

Way to be ric.

Religions Suck. God doesn't. Except when he lets his wicked sense of

humor run free.

And Dog licks. Of course, God spelled backwards is Dog, so there has to be a cosmic connection! I'm otta' here!:escaping3:

^not funny.

:Pbiteme.

No, thanks.

 

I'm surprised that I posted here.. I try to avoid this kind of conversations..

Maybe it's loneliness.. I'm pathetic.

I'm not the most religious person in the world, but I'm quite a strong believer.

For me, what's the purpose in holding on to a religion if you don't have faith in its God?

I don't have any doubt in God's will, only the people who preach it wrongly.

E=mc^2

Also mass=Energy/speed of light^2. It takes a lot of energy just to make a tiny bit of matter, so use energy wisely - it really does matter!:P (alright, it's a poor pun, but I couldn't resist the pull of gravity..)

I dont think you have to believe in God to do the right thing... "right thing" meaning: not to hurt anybody. If you are raised by parents who have never visited a church... dont believe in God... or any kind of spirit entity... and you havent got that education... does that mean that you're automatically going to hell? Any christian here would think so?

 

In my opinion, it doesnt have to do with religion or anything about that... is just... being human... treat people the way you want to be treated..

 

I feel disgusted by just watching people do things in the name of God, and end up twisting everything to their favor... hypocrisy

 

Yes, following God doesn't mean that you are always doing right things, clearly christians do sins and so on.

 

Now about what you ask.I asked that question one theologian, he said that it doesn't mean that you go to hell, if you are not a christian. He said that the things God gave you, later he expects from you. For example, if you was born in the christians family, but you ignore decalogue, and you are too lazy to go to church and you don't give a shit, then that is wrong, i guess.

 

I don't see Christianity religion that categorical, it teaches you what is wrong and right, but on the whole it lets everyone for himself to decide that.

Nope. :D

Following God does not necessarily make you a better person.

But the majority of people who do follow god are trying to do the "right" thing.

^ so how do you answer the question? you just answered two different ones.

As Karl Marx once said "Religion is the opium of the masses"

Me? :confused:

well to simplify, Nope :P

I do not think following god always means "you are doing the right thing"

Of course it fucking doesn't, how many people have died in the name of a fictional being? It's a fucking disgrace.

kk

Yes, following God doesn't mean that you are always doing right things, clearly christians do sins and so on.

 

Now about what you ask.I asked that question one theologian, he said that it doesn't mean that you go to hell, if you are not a christian. He said that the things God gave you, later he expects from you. For example, if you was born in the christians family, but you ignore decalogue, and you are too lazy to go to church and you don't give a shit, then that is wrong, i guess.

 

I don't see Christianity religion that categorical, it teaches you what is wrong and right, but on the whole it lets everyone for himself to decide that.

 

Have you actually read the bible? Cos this sounds nothing like the Christianity I know.

Of course it fucking doesn't, how many people have died in the name of a fictional being? It's a fucking disgrace.

that's operating on the assumption that God wanted people killed. 'in the name' doesn't necessarily have anything to do with God's will. The debate is, if God exists and exists as a personal being...are his commands arbitrary or does he command that we always do the 'right' thing? I don't think anyone who subscribes to religion believes they're doing a 'wrong' thing in the name of God. But if there is one, actual, personal God overlooking the earth...what actions of man would he condone? And then, how do we determine if they are 'right'?

 

Cutting through all the questions, let me ask you...'as an atheist, do you believe there is a universal code of morality that applies to everyone, and determines what is 'right and wrong'?

Have you actually read the bible? Cos this sounds nothing like the Christianity I know.

 

Yes I have read it, not the whole, also I go to church, there they read it. Bible is a book to interpret.

that's operating on the assumption that God wanted people killed. 'in the name' doesn't necessarily have anything to do with God's will. The debate is, if God exists and exists as a personal being...are his commands arbitrary or does he command that we always do the 'right' thing? I don't think anyone who subscribes to religion believes they're doing a 'wrong' thing in the name of God. But if there is one, actual, personal God overlooking the earth...what actions of man would he condone? And then, how do we determine if they are 'right'?

 

Cutting through all the questions, let me ask you...'as an atheist, do you believe there is a universal code of morality that applies to everyone, and determines what is 'right and wrong'?

 

God doesn't command anything, even if he does exist, he's quite clearly not involved with our world right now. God ordered the murder and rape of people in the bible on many occasions, if God is the be all and end all of morality, how can he possibly do this and then tell us that it's bad? If God is real he's a fucking idiot.

 

I think you can work out morals logically, you don't need a magical being to tell you what is right and wrong, it's not universal though, it's very much situational, my morals will differ greatly from someone living in a different part of the world

Yes I have read it, not the whole, also I go to church, there they read it. Bible is a book to interpret.

 

You can not "interpret" clear commands. Which are the things I have an issue with.

You can not "interpret" clear commands. Which are the things I have an issue with.

 

Can you name the commands that you disagree with?:thinking:

Can you name the commands that you disagree with?:thinking:

 

There is a section which tells you to "slay" non-believers then go to their house, slay their family and burn down their house.

I think you're talking about the most ethically disputable parts of the Bible in Joshua and partly in Samuel. Where it says that God ordered them to destroy everyone and everything within sinful cities that God condemned.

Christians react to this in numerous ways. Some reject the old testament altogether, and emphasize the fact that Jesus clarified and dismissed parts of the old jewish laws and customs, showing a loving, more reasonable God that starkly contrasts the old testament God. Others try to justify these actions based on the way their enemies were equally, if not much more cruel and others believe some of these commands to have been fabricated by the writers in order to justify the actions of the hebrew people.

There is a section which tells you to "slay" non-believers then go to their house, slay their family and burn down their house.

 

I don't know that part. But every act can be differently conceived, in some ways it can be considered as a sin, in others not. Murder can also be justified.

 

A lot of people quote some parts of a bible as stupid and illogical, once even one our teacher was reading the first page of a bible and laughing after every word which seemed to him so irrational. :\ I don't pay much attention to everything what is said there. And the thing with Eve and Adam is a beautiful tale for me. It's an old book and people not God was writing it!

 

But as I go to the church from my deep childhood, Christianity gave me a strong moral education, it affected my personality a lot, I totally think it made me a better person than I could have grown up without it. I know when I was a kid it was easier for me to believe than now, I have doubts, but I still pray and I believe it helps. It's just a magical thing.

 

Have you ever been in a religious feast? Where people go on their knees around the altar and they kiss the stones on which the virgin showed up, i was doing that this summer with my grandmother, i was ironical to all this thing and laughing inside me but when i made myself to do that, I felt magic :wacko: