a GENTLE religious DISCUSSION

[madmike]

I agree about the "keep religion to yourself" but almost nobody does that. I'm an atheist. Small "a" atheist. I don't make Atheism my religion, by going on anti-christian crusades. I don't care if the 10 commandments is up in a public place, I like nativity scenes on Christmas, and I celebrate Christmas. I just don't believe in god. So others' belief in god has no impact on me. If they don't try and cram religion down my throat, I won't try to cram my atheism down theirs.

 

[Deputyfarva252]

wow , This is one touchy subject. For everyone involved . I belive the ten comandments are something that should be a guideline for everyone to live buy . If you really read them , its a basic guideline if everyone followed the world would be a better place. I belive there is more to this life then what there is right now. We are meant for a bigger and better purpose. That being said I dont buy into the mainstream religion. I dont belive pastors should be going to church in limos. I have a church in my area that requires your w-2 and if you dont give 10% of your earnings they give you the boot.
I have lost alot of faith in humanity . Based on Christian beliefs your supposed to forgive everyone , Im sorry i cant forgive someone that rapes a child beats woman and the list goes on and on. There is so many issues with all religions its not even funny . I dont care what religion you practice.

I am not perfect and will never repersent myself to be that way , I treat others the way i want to be treated , I try to do good deeds for others and at the end of the day "I" can lay in bed and know ive done the best i could.

and in my words of wisdom .....IT IS WHAT IT IS......aurguing one way or the other is not going to solve anything , just have a bunch of people with hurt feelings , we are all people , we all put our pants on the same way , we all bleed red blood , we all breath the same oxygen , is it really that hard for everyone to get along.....

 

[CrazyCawi]

Does it mean I'm Agnostic? I'll do some research too... I tough I had no religion

Peace!

Here you go marthy

Agnosticism may simply be the state of not knowing whether any gods exist or not, but people can take this position for different reasons and apply it in different ways. These differences then create variations in the ways in which one can be an agnostic. It is thus possible to separate agnostics in two groups, labeled strong agnosticism and weak agnosticism as analogs to strong atheism and weak atheism.

If someone is a weak agnostic, they state only that they do not know if any gods exist or not. The possibility of some theoretical god or some specific god existing is not excluded. The possibility of someone else knowing for sure if some god exists or not is also not excluded. This is a very simple and general position and it is what people often think of when they think of agnosticism.

Strong agnosticism goes just a bit further. If someone is a strong agnostic, they don’t merely claim that they don’t know if any gods exist; instead, they also claim that no one can or does know if any gods exist. Whereas weak agnosticism is a position that only describes the state of knowledge of one person, strong agnosticism makes a statement about knowledge and reality themselves.

 

[Spunky99]

Do you know what an atheist is? :iconbeer:

According to my Atheist Uncle who is a Nuclear Physicist, and Atheist does not believe in God or an afterlife whereas an Agnostic sits on a fence neither denying the existence of God nor accepting it.

 

[DakinechicK]

Comments about the corruption of churchs, the greed of Pastors, Popes and Kings, and the millions of lives lost over religion, are all correct. The problem over looked by the non-believers is that GOD did not do this!!
GOD gave us the right to make decisions, but we have to live with those decisions and the consequences thereof. GOD only insists that we follow HIS ways and all others paths are our own doing! The greed of mankind has perverted the Christian belief to an almost unrecognizable form, and I do not blame people for believing that religion causes more grief than good.
However, believing is like choosing a motorcycle. You have to research, learn and understand what you are buying before you lay down your money. Belief is no different. Without the research, the explanations and the ability to discern between right or wrong, between educated or ancient, you will make a poor purchace (maybe a Hardley Driveable for instance), and you will have to live with that choice for sometime to come.
I do not have all the answers, but my experience with GOD has come thru a desire to understand rather that ridicule. I have many, many questions and I do not agree with many parts of GOD's Plan, but I do not claim to be the smartest cookie in the jar. I will continue to learn, discern and educate myself without the arrogance of mankind's invincibility complex.
Remember that GOD's words were written to ancient, under-developed and simple people and to take the Bible's words as literal is a first and common mistake. If you pick up a text of advanced mathematics, the majority will never understand it without assistance.
Finally, to all the science is right about everything types, there are two things I have noted....
1) Most advanced scientific theories are just that ...theories
2) Too many advanced scientific practices..ie: carbon dating... are proving to be bunk. A recent body found in the Alps was 'dated' to be a cazillion years old was actually a lost person from a few years ago. This is one of many recent discoveries of the errors our decisions are creating.
My Pastor insists that visitors do not add to the collections as they are welcome guests. He does not live in a fancy house or own a fancy car. Our church is large, active and trying to follow GOD's teachings without destroying anything in our path. We continue to learn without ridicule.

Cheers!

Very well said!! I wholeheartedly agree and couldn't have said it as well as you. :thumbup:

 

[CrazyCawi]

I promise im not arguing? I had only awnsered davids request of wherre my stance is with religion. I have no issues with anyone believing what they want! I had a jehovas witness come to my house 2 years ago....4 hours later they left and we shook hands and said thanks for one anothers time. Im always open to others beliefs and ALWAYS willing to listen, just as I hope your willing to listen to me and m beliefs. If this sis going to split our community which I hope we are all better than that to let it happen, we can close this thread.

 

[DragonBlu]

I'm a recovering Catholic and now I feel guilty for saying that. To each his own and to each keep it his own.

 

[CrazyCawi]

According to my Atheist Uncle who is a Nuclear Physicist, and Atheist does not believe in God or an afterlife whereas an Agnostic sits on a fence neither denying the existence of God nor accepting it.

Correct :thumbup: its just the statements you made seemed like it lumped atheists with agnostics together, which isn't truly fair, I feel Im not the one who should decide who is right and wrong....theres no harm in that is there?

 

[AngryAnt]

I will say the only thing that agitates me about religion is when someone implies that one can only be moral or a good person by believing in god or following commandments, etc.

While it isn't what the bible will tell you, I believe people are inherently born with the ability to logically reason what is morally acceptable and not acceptable. Those who can't...well, religion would have never helped them anyway, they were long gone to begin with...

 

[Marthy]

We all have different believe and it's all good! Motorcycle riding bring us all together...

Let's have a group hug!!! :hug:

Special thanks to CC... I just convert... :bow:

 

[CrazyCawi]

:Sport::Sport::Sport::Sport::Sport:
:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:


No matter what our beliefs are in this sector I still love you all as a family and community here!

as marthy said...GROUP HUG!

 

[Spunky99]

I will say the only thing that agitates me about religion is when someone implies that one can only be moral or a good person by believing in god or following commandments, etc.

While it isn't what the bible will tell you, I believe people are inherently born with the ability to logically reason what is morally acceptable and not acceptable. Those who can't...well, religion would have never helped them anyway, they were long gone to begin with...

I'm not so sure I can agree with this.

Those who can't...well, religion would have never helped them anyway, they were long gone to begin with...

I think that if we put religion aside for a moment and imagine that the concepts of the golden rule and 10 commandments (except the God parts) were to be taught in school and at home, we would have less crime and less greedy people sucking the socialist teet of entitlement dry.

People tend to emulate each other starting from the top of the command chain. So if the top or the leaders are corrupt it tends to flown downhill into the rest of the people.

 

[the_cr]

I choose not to be religious. By no means do I hold religion against anyone else and in many cases I will whole-heartedly agree that it can be a supportive and beneficial aspect to one's life. It isn't for me, personally, but I try to remain unbiased and open.

That being said...

God forbid (no pun intended?) anyone try and stop me from running up and down the streets in the winter shouting Merry Christmas to everyone I can

 

[AngryAnt]

I choose not to be religious. By no means do I hold religion against anyone else and in many cases I will whole-heartedly agree that it can be a supportive and beneficial aspect to one's life. It isn't for me, personally, but I try to remain unbiased and open.

That being said...

God forbid (no pun intended?) anyone try and stop me from running up and down the streets in the winter shouting Merry Christmas to everyone I can

^This. I still am the first one to break out the Christmas trees and stockings after Thanksgiving We just aren't human beings without tradition, whether those comes from pagan or Christian roots or whatever, its good to have things to celebrate throughout the year.

 

[Chucker]

I believe in proof. Prove it and I'll believe it. I haven't seen any proof yet.

Anyone??? Anyone???

 

[jjb]

Doesn't really have anything to do with here or there, but I had a guy at a lunch table in high school say he was part-atheist. Being the logical bastard I am, I told him thats not possible. Then I told him he was an idiot. This thread just reminded me of that incident.

 

[Blueraven]

Just a couple of thoughts.

Obama stated this in Egypt, and I quote. "The United States is NOT a Christian Nation". I wonder where he got that idea when over 85% of the people in the USA affiliate with some Christian faith how can that be true? Is the USA a homosexual nation because 3% of us are gay? Are we an Islamic nation because 3% of us are Muslim? Are we a Atheist nation because 4% of us claim to be one?
It appears that the minorities are way over represented and appear to speak for a much larger segment of society than they actually represent. In Hollywood the percentage of gay spokespeople is at 30%...
We have certain churches preaching white genocide (Obama's old church)
We have certain churches burning the Koran.
We have Christian churches all over the world being burned down by Muslims and there is not a single church in Saudi Arabia nor a non-Muslim allowed in Mecca.
We have churches across all denominations changing from Christian to Chrislam...WTF.....

I am no expert on this but from what i have been able to find not all of the founders of this country were Christian. The may have believed in a god but not necessarily followed Christianity. When they wrote the Constitution they did say that this country would not sponsor a specific religion. So regardless of what the majority of the people of this country believe in, the country itself in not a Christian nation. So the nation is not supposed to make decisions based on the Christian religion but rather on the beliefs of the society as a whole. The only reason that "In GOD we trust" is on our money and "one nation under GOD" is in the pledge of allegiance is becuse they were added later in order to promote Christianity in the country. They were not part of the founding principles. So Obama's statement that "We are not a Christian nation" is not incorrect.
Also the principles of morality were not created by Christianlty, there are other older religions that had similar moral values. Morals are usually created by society and reflected in religions. When people talk about the bad sides of Islam those are usually the extemists. Christianity, Wicca, Hindu, all have similar sides to them and are usually carried out by the extemists. Don't forget that Chrisitans committed many imoral practices throughout history that were sanctioned by the church. There are many Islamic people in this country that don't harm anyone. Plus many people follow Christianity only because that's what they are told to do and may not actually believe in the religion. So those percentages are not going to be wholly accurate.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Crocop43]

Well if u did research u would find alot of truth in what Jesus talked about ....it's unfolding here today in modern society...it's been proven Jesus was real. And it's hard to say that the worlds largest religion is just a fake...that we were all fooled ...not buying it

Just because u can't see the wind when it touches your face....doesn't mean it's not there. That's my opinion but to each there own. I know my soul is saved.
Ohhhh and btw my bikes name is "Angel"

 

[raybob]

I think this about covers it:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6w2M50_Xdk]‪Science Saved My Soul.‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

(15 minutes long, GREAT video)

 

[Roaddawg]

Why doesn't the bible talk about dinosaurs?