Do you believe in a religion?

[Jeremiah]

Jesus was a Jew

 

[TheBinarySurfer]

Religion is a form of control.

Its not often you and i agree Gamah, but we're bang on the same page with this one (yes i still read the off-topic section when bored).

 

[DocWolfe]

You dont belive fine but dont insult those who do by calin jesus a retard

I can say whatever the hell I want, and thats the best thing about free speech. Something that certain muslim's cried about when they decided that non-muslims couldn't depict an image of mohammed.

So if you say I can't call Jesus a retard you no better than those flag burning idiots in the middle east.

 

[Jeremiah]

I can say whatever the hell I want, and thats the best thing about free speech. Something that certain muslim's cried about when they decided that non-muslims couldn't depict an image of mohammed.

So if you say I can't call Jesus a retard you no better than those flag burning idiots in the middle east.

I'd say theres a difference between saying "Jesus is a retard" and "In my opinion, Jesus is a retard". One is how you would express it within the region of free speech, the other one starts wars.

 

[tris-]

actually, he is right either way. there is no proof at all jesus even existed and the whole thing he was born without conception is highly amusing. fact is you CHOOSE to follow the religion, so you should willingly accept any shit people throw at you.

 

[Ingafgrinn Macabre]

the majority of the world is cristian, as a result many countrys celebrate x-mas

if your not cristian you shouldn't celebrate it, end of! by taking part you ARE cristian...

its just a greeting card company scam tbh

Christmas has as much to do with christianity as the easterbunny with christ's ressurection.

It's just a pagan holiday renamed. (midwinterday)

And no, I'm not christian orso. If you'd have to place me somewhere I guess it's somewhere between atheism, paganism, agnosticism and jainism.

[EDIT]
bloody posting without reading the rest of the thread. Raven said it already in post 9. Great minds think alike I guess

 

[Jeremiah]

actually, he is right either way. there is no proof at all jesus even existed and the whole thing he was born without conception is highly amusing. fact is you CHOOSE to follow the religion, so you should willingly accept any shit people throw at you.

Actually there is more proof that Jesus existed than some historical figures like Julius Ceasar or Gengis Khan. But that isnt the point. People are free to have their own opinions and speak them as they see fit. Having free speech does not mean we should be allowed to say what ever we like, when ever we like - but more, we are allowed to voice our opinion when ever, where ever. Even the law makes this distinction.

If a newspaper printed "X is a retard", they would be open to all kinds of sueable cases. But if they said "In the opinion of this paper, X is a retard" then thats the opinion of the paper, which no one has the right to silence. This is my opinion of course, but I've always thought that to speak you mind without saying "In my view" or similar, you speak ignorant of free speech.

 

[Mojo]

I'd say theres a difference between saying "Jesus is a retard" and "In my opinion, Jesus is a retard". One is how you would express it within the region of free speech, the other one starts wars.

Who eles's opinion would it have been?

Calling Jesus a retard doesn't start wars, an over sensitive religious fuckwit with a bomb might though.

 

[tris-]

Actually there is more proof that Jesus existed than some historical figures like Julius Ceasar or Gengis Khan. But that isnt the point. People are free to have their own opinions and speak them as they see fit. Having free speech does not mean we should be allowed to say what ever we like, when ever we like - but more, we are allowed to voice our opinion when ever, where ever. Even the law makes this distinction.

If a newspaper printed "X is a retard", they would be open to all kinds of sueable cases. But if they said "In the opinion of this paper, X is a retard" then thats the opinion of the paper, which no one has the right to silence. This is my opinion of course, but I've always thought that to speak you mind without saying "In my view" or similar, you speak ignorant of free speech.

well okay then. in my view religion is a way to harness money off gulible fools.

is that ok?

 

[Jeremiah]

well okay then. in my view religion is a way to harness money off gulible fools.

is that ok?

Yup

 

[snushanen]

dont know if this has been posted because i wont use my 1 day off, from the navy to read .

Christmass has nothing to do with christianity. Christmass was an old tradition to celebrate that the sun is turning (its getting brighter by the day from december the 22) . In Norway we call Christmass Jul (pronounced Yule) and we have celebrated it for ages, even when we had Odin and Thor as our Gods. I think the Yule was a Eat and drink and meet friends festival, like our christmass. All the angels and crap are just crap people have added to the tradition after the christianity. I dont combine christmass with anything religius at all.

 

[Thadius]

Jesus was a Jew

Not to mention a bastard!

Dirty Mary was nobbing God on the side....

But saying that, would you say no if a god said "Hi meighter, I want to sex0r you!"?


Thats maybe why Jupitus has so many womens, he just uses his godly modly powers!

 

[Jeremiah]

dont know if this has been posted because i wont use my 1 day off, from the navy to read .

Christmass has nothing to do with christianity. Christmass was an old tradition to celebrate that the sun is turning (its getting brighter by the day from december the 22) . In Norway we call Christmass Jul (pronounced Yule) and we have celebrated it for ages, even when we had Odin and Thor as our Gods. I think the Yule was a Eat and drink and meet friends festival, like our christmass. All the angels and crap are just crap people have added to the tradition after the christianity. I dont combine christmass with anything religius at all.

People really seem to be getting this part mixed up. The 25th of December on most calenders will read "Christmas Day". Now "Christmas" translates as the celebration of Christ. So Christmas has everything to do with Christianity. Now, what I suspect you (and others mean) is that Christianity chose to celebrate it on a date (or close to a date) already used by other people to celebrate the new year (or other festival). These have a right to exist the same as Christmas day, and they'll have their own name (such as the Solstice or Yule). What I cant understand why people have such an issue with Christmas being on the 25th. Yes, lots of people are ignorant of the fact that Jesus wasnt born then, but its just became a tradition that we celebrate it then.

If you are celebrating on the 25th for other reasons than Christmas day (Such as Yule), or if you are enjoying the "Christmas" season (or festive season!) then surely you can celebrate it without having to have a go at the Christian faith having a celebration (for their reasons) at the same time. I know that parts of the faith get bitchy when people talk about celebrating something else at the Christmas time (or even just enjoy the tradition of Christmas), but they arent worth bothering about

 

[Overdriven]

Everyone should of picked the 3rd option, as there is no proof anything exists.


=)

 

[Litmus]

I was christened not long after birth before i was old enough to make the choice(which is wrong imo), given the choice i would of never been.

As someone already said religion was just used in the past to keep control over people. I am against religion so much that i think ive decided never to get married, i mean whats the point in going through with a religious service if you have no belief in what your doing? just seems daft to me.
Also ill have no religious service at my funeral, just straight down to the cremation place and thats me done.

 

[kivik]

Religion was indeed 'made-up' to help the church keep control of the masses. Just need the rest of the world to realise that.

 

[noblok]

Religion was indeed 'made-up' to help the church keep control of the masses. Just need the rest of the world to realise that.

May I ask what your source is for this 'fact'?

 

[Reformed]

Me, personally I dont think there is anything, was just a way to explain phenominom in the past and was a way for the Church to control the masses.

Well I must admit that I have given this a lot of thought and also read a lotta books to find an answer. For me there is zilch. Why come to this conclusion? Well look at it like this. Big world with lots of different tribes onnit and no-way they ever comunicated with each other yet all of them believed in some greater being. Phew! Ok then there gotta be a ubiquitous god who visited them all surely. Eh - nope. Worked like this in my opinion. Big hairy guy about to beat up his missus or molest his sheep or summit nasty whilst in the middle of a thunderstorm gets a bolt of lightening right up the cyber pass with the associated clap of almighty thunder. 'Fooking hell' he thinks, or something similar, and shrugs it off and goes back to his nastiness only to recieve another flash in the same place - or different don't matter much. 'Mmmm' he thinks to himself. This guy is a thinker for sure. Sumone trying to tell me summit for sure and since he gotta lot louder voice than my old man he must be someone a lot more eh - bigger and hairier and grumpier too. Hell I gonna call him the Grandaddy of all Dads wot lives in the fluffy stuff - clouds - heavens wotever. So there you have it. 'Grandaddy of all Dads' ends up being shortened to God eventually. Just so another guy in a different tribe associates a volcano with his nasty deeds so calls his God - eh? Well God of the rumblings or summit. So there yu have it. Dah birth of the greater being and god. The first part anyways. Neat eh and I hope you can follow the complicated thought processes wot is in this explanation.

If you have any other questions about anything similar I will be only too pleased to offer an explanation.

You know it makes sense

 

[Sparx]

i was born catholic but i say christian now. One of the toughest times in my recent life was going through a very difficult army training, i never really believed in anything never gave it much thought but through training going to church on a sunday and 'praying' to god during the tough times of training helped me alot, mainly cause it made me shift my thoughts to think of something else whilst it was difficult.

So you may or may not believe in anything but i think you should never belittle someone because they believe, that belief gives them drive and confidence.

Looking at it rationaly i done my training on my own i know that but at the time i felt stronger because i felt like someone was helping me.

 

[Marc]

Im a catholic. Not really practicing though. Go to confession now and again. I would say I believe in it though

 

[Thadius]

Well I must admit that I have given this a lot of thought and also read a lotta books to find an answer. For me there is zilch. Why come to this conclusion? Well look at it like this. Big world with lots of different tribes onnit and no-way they ever comunicated with each other yet all of them believed in some greater being. Phew! Ok then there gotta be a ubiquitous god who visited them all surely. Eh - nope. Worked like this in my opinion. Big hairy guy about to beat up his missus or molest his sheep or summit nasty whilst in the middle of a thunderstorm gets a bolt of lightening right up the cyber pass with the associated clap of almighty thunder. 'Fooking hell' he thinks, or something similar, and shrugs it off and goes back to his nastiness only to recieve another flash in the same place - or different don't matter much. 'Mmmm' he thinks to himself. This guy is a thinker for sure. Sumone trying to tell me summit for sure and since he gotta lot louder voice than my old man he must be someone a lot more eh - bigger and hairier and grumpier too. Hell I gonna call him the Grandaddy of all Dads wot lives in the fluffy stuff - clouds - heavens wotever. So there you have it. 'Grandaddy of all Dads' ends up being shortened to God eventually. Just so another guy in a different tribe associates a volcano with his nasty deeds so calls his God - eh? Well God of the rumblings or summit. So there yu have it. Dah birth of the greater being and god. The first part anyways. Neat eh and I hope you can follow the complicated thought processes wot is in this explanation.

If you have any other questions about anything similar I will be only too pleased to offer an explanation.

You know it makes sense

You could apply that thoery to the exsitence of dragons(I watched a channel 4 thing about them finding a "real" dragon)

How could civilisations from Aztecs(they believed in a large feathery lizard), Middle Ages(George and the Dragon toname just one), China, Japan and some parts of Africa and i think Australia as well, all have thought about dragons...

 

[Reformed]

You could apply that theory to the exsitence of dragons

Not really cos religion and the 'greater being' can't be substantiated with any living or dead example. This helps greatly in keeping the 'faith' alive in many. As for Dragons well there were flying monsters at one time, though I think in China a Dragon symbolizes something or other and probably so do the others you mentioned. Dragon could stand for a marauding army that is snaking through the land in the shape of a dragon etc. Hence the Dragon swooping down and burning villages etc.

As for believing in Religion or not well the ones that do really have the edge of those that don't. When you think that plenty have laid down their lives willingly for their belief it sure shows the power the idea has. Also the peace of mind it can give someone that is in dire need. It can literally change someone's life for the better in many cases. What does an atheist have instead of this? Just self belief which isn't really in the same ball park. Personally I prefer my own reasoning powers to cope with situations but even so there have been plenty of times when I needed help. Worse thing you can do is argue someone out of believing in some religion or other I should think. Unless they are so misguided as to cause themselves or others harm that is.

 

[Case]

I believe that people believe in a religion but personally think it's just humans creating a huge fantasy of concepts to try and justify their own existance in what is otherwise a very big and scary universe.

Religion helps them justify persecution and murder in the name of god and to justify the murder of creatures and raping of the worlds resources based on the belief that humans are special and therefore deserve the right to any resource on the face of the earth and beyond. Incidently I'm not a vegetarian I beleive that humans are just animals with greater intelligence than all others on earth who have risen to the top of the food chain and therefore eat the rest because they taste nice.

Religion is extreme arrogance by the human race trying to justify their place in the universe raised above all other lifeforms. According to the catholic church only humans have souls, so why don`t cats or dogs or sheep? Catholic answer because they just don`t. Well sorry thats not enough evidence for me based on the teachings of a guy from 2000 years ago, apparently the world was flat and the earth reolved around the sun 2000 years ago so are those "facts" true too? no they`re not.

 

[Jeremiah]

Incidently I'm not a vegetarian I beleive that humans are just animals with greater intelligence than all others on earth who have risen to the top of the food chain and therefore eat the rest because they taste nice.

Religion is extreme arrogance by the human race trying to justify their place in the universe raised above all other lifeforms.

Just a few questions about these points. Do you believe that we arent of more worth than an animal? That one human life is equal to one life of an animal?

 

[Case]

Just a few questions about these points. Do you believe that we arent of more worth than an animal? That one human life is equal to one life of an animal?

I believe it's all a case of perspective, to a human the welfare of other humans may be paramount so the perspective is that humans are worth more or more important. To another animal, to the extent that their intelligence allows them to understand, their own race would be more important than all others.

 

[Marc]

I do believe in a "supreme being". What shape this thing takes I have no idea. I dont buy into the "big bang" theory or anything like that. But thats for another discussion altogether

 

[Sharaft]

i dont believe in anything else then me. Religion is the most powerfull weapon of mass destruction in our world and i dont want to participate in that.

 

[Jeremiah]

I believe it's all a case of perspective, to a human the welfare of other humans may be paramount so the perspective is that humans are worth more or more important. To another animal, to the extent that their intelligence allows them to understand, their own race would be more important than all others.

So as you are a human, you are saying you believe humans are worth more than any other animal? I'm only asking because I'm trying to understand how its possible on the one hand to believe all species are equal (in terms of worth to nature, lets say) and on the other, believe that humans are of greater worth - if that makes sense

 

[Sharaft]

Just a few questions about these points. Do you believe that we arent of more worth than an animal? That one human life is equal to one life of an animal?

thats what i mean. We are animals that have developed ourself alot faster and alot more then any other animals. Who gave us the right to eat everything? Humans did. We are just as much animal as a worm is, and we are of the same worth.

 

[Marc]

i dont believe in anything else then me. Religion is the most powerfull weapon of mass destruction in our world and i dont want to participate in that.

No its not. Its oil according to the conspiracy theorists.