why all the fundamentalism

[august spies]

Where did all this religion come from? religion does nothing more than surpress people mentally and sexually, no good can come of it.

[milagros317]

They are just as free to post their religious creeds as you are to post your anarchist creed, August. (And nobody is obliged to read either if they're not interested.)

[KoocheeKoo]

Originally posted by milagros317
They are just as free to post their religious creeds as you are to post your anarchist creed, August. (And nobody is obliged to read either if they're not interested.)

I couldn't have said it any better :)

[august spies]

yes i know more than anyone that they are free to do whatever they want, i just think its odd to find this kind of stuff here and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts

[venray]

No more odd than much of your stuff....;)

[TKpervert]

Originally posted by august spies
Where did all this religion come from? religion does nothing more than surpress people mentally and sexually, no good can come of it.

Mother Teresa was a woman of God who provided physical and emotional assistance to the lowest of the low and the neediest of the needy in twentieth century India.

That alone puts the lie to your claim that nothing good can come of it (religion).

[august spies]

"No more odd than much of your stuff...."

such as??

"Mother Teresa was a woman of God who provided physical and emotional assistance to the lowest of the low and the neediest of the needy in twentieth century India."

That alone puts the lie to your claim that nothing good can come of it (religion).
Thats like saying the nazis had a good healthcare system so that liberates national socialism.

Liberation theology in latin america did the same thing, and some good came of it. What i am saying is the idea of religion as a whole is bad. Mother teresa, in my opinion, could have done a lot more without religion, and there are many who provide physical and emotional assistance to the poorest of the poor that do so (many get killed for this).

[TklDuo-Ann]

Originally posted by august spies
religion does nothing more than surpress people mentally and sexually, no good can come of it.

Hmmm. Gotta disagree with you there, AS. I have a very deep faith life, belong to a specific religion and am not at all supressed by it....in ANY way. The fact is that my faith amplifies these things to a more fulfilling level than what was there without. So, while it may be true that some people FEEL supressed, I'd bet money that most of them would feel that way no matter what.

I happen to know people who are very scrupulous...so much so that it negatively effects everything they do. While they may relate it to "religion", it doesn't really come from there in most cases. It comes from their own woundedness and need for attention. One gal I know is so scrupulous that she's constantly asking everyone around her to judge every move she makes and tell her if she's doing the right thing. If she IS (which is most often the case) and you tell her so, she actually argues with you. It's not what she wants to hear. She wants people to confirm her belief that she's a bad person. That is NOT a healthy person. And, no matter how many times we can show her that neither the Scriptures nor the teaching of the Church would act to condemn her for things, she insists on condemning herself.

Likewise, I can practice a certain religion without it ever being in my heart. That's what I often refer to as cultural faith (simply going through the motions because it's the thing to do) as opposed to spiritual faith (truly believing and having it effect all that you are). There's a Scripture that says (in part) "The truth shall set you free." I believe that to be true. Truth is truth. Opinion is opinion. I guess we'll never know for sure (at least enough to be able to prove it to those who don't believe as we do) which category our beliefs fall into until the day we die. But, if we are not feeling the interior freedom that the real truth supports, we need to look at what we believe and ask ourselves how good that is. The answer will be at least a little different for everyone since we're all unique. And each will follow their own heart...hopefully. In the end, that's what counts.

Ann

[areenactor]

i don't care for the religious threads either. when ever "christians" get together and start patting eachother on the back, i as a jew want to find some place to hid.

i am against most if not all organized religion. superstition, and hypocracy are the tools they use to support their own greed, and preserve their power.

in the religion threads now up decenting opinions were removed and put into a thread designed for such. why not combine the pro-religious threads? that seems fair, and just.

steve

[The Sean Man]

Unstoppable force meets immovable object.

The Sean Man

[jk666uk]

augusrt spies and areenactor i am with u two on this one
NO religion or relligioning there world be peace on earth

[maverick83]

Originally posted by august spies
Where did all this religion come from? religion does nothing more than surpress people mentally and sexually, no good can come of it.

I do not follow religion at all. I consider it illogical nonsense. Yet I strongly disagree with this statement. "Bad" things can come from religion, but lack of religion carries the same potential.

[TklDuo-Ann]

Originally posted by areenactor
in the religion threads now up decenting opinions were removed and put into a thread designed for such. why not combine the pro-religious threads? that seems fair, and just.

steve

Steve, as the one who did the editting in that thread (it was only ONE thread), allow me to repeat the reasoning. The thread asked for a specific thing...to share praise of God. Instead, it became a debate of whether people thought religion was any good. Simply put, the rest was off topic. As such, I could have simply deleted the posts that we OT. But, because there was an intelligent and pretty much civil conversation taking place, I chose to let it remain, though seperated from the original thread. The original thread remains. So does the one with the debate portions. People are free to continue the debates. But, they've chosen not to. That's their choice.

As for combining all threads that have to do with religion/spirituality. That wouldn't be practical...just as combining all threads that have to do with feet or movies or music or any of the other varied topics that come up in general discussion. My advice (as always)... If you are disturbed by a threads topic, simply stay out of the thread.

Ann

[BigJim]

Originally posted by TKpervert
That alone puts the lie to your claim that nothing good can come of it (religion).

I like to think that there is nothing that no good can come from. Take something truly horrendous, such as the Second World War. That taught us a lot of hard lessons that we'll ultimately benefit from.

Certainly religion has been used for evil many times, but a great many people express true loving spirituality through their religious beliefs. Even if their particular religion isn't "the right one", good has come of it. Without it they might not be emotionally equipped to be like they are.

[General Zod]

Originally posted by august spies
Where did all this religion come from? religion does nothing more than surpress people mentally and sexually, no good can come of it.
If I remember correctly,didn't communism try and supress religion? I have news for you August Spies,no matter what kind of people are in charge,and no matter what politcal party is in power,there will be people who feel "opressed" There never was and never will be a Utopia As long as people are around there will be greed and opression of some sorts
People like you want the freedom to say and do what you want But then you try to take freedoms from others What is the difference?

[BigJim]

Problem with Utopia is that people consider it to be a place or state of existence where everything is how they want it to be.
Utopia will exist if three principles are followed...

1/ You are never afraid to express yourself howsoever you choose to.

2/ You never try and force people to your point of view or expression.

3/ You give everyone else the same freedom you had under Rule 1.

Sounds simple doesn't it? But it's remarkable how many people break at least two if not all three of these rules frequently. Believe it or not the most frequently broken rule is the first. People very often censor their spoken opinions because they're worried how their family or friends would react.

[General Zod]

I'll drink to that son of Jor-El How ya doin Big Jim?:D

[Mephistopheles]

Well, I agree, and with the mother theresa stuff: can you prove to me that she would not have done the same if she were not christian?

[Knox The Hatter]

I believe that Faith is a prominent component of the human psyche...it helps a human being function much easier in a world of uncertainty and tribulation. If there were no bible or deities in all of our cultural traditions, it would've manifested itself in another way. We all need something to believe in. Badly. So, we'll all do the intellectual gymnastics to comfort ourselves.
Some with a nefarious agenda use such human needs to empower themselves, to use such deities as weapons to bring order to the chaos of human life, and further corrupt themselves at the expense of those weaker than they.
That's pretty much organized religion.
There are those who are buttressed by their faith, and it is a wonderful thing. That kind of faith comprises much of the extra ten yards you accomplish on this possession...and that faith gets them through the toughest of times. I list a number of friends in this category, and I'm thankful for that faith that carries them to distances they never would've reached themselves. My problem is with those who use their faith as a weapon. I don't feel that I have to go into a long dialogue as to why...

[BigJim]

Originally posted by Mephistopheles
Well, I agree, and with the mother theresa stuff: can you prove to me that she would not have done the same if she were not christian?

Can you prove that if Christianity had never existed she'd have been less good?

[BigJim]

Originally posted by gen.zod
I'll drink to that son of Jor-El How ya doin Big Jim?:D

I'm doing fine your General-ness. :D Back after a lengthy absence and already annoying Republicans in the house. ;)

[General Zod]

Originally posted by BigJim
I'm doing fine your General-ness. :D Back after a lengthy absence and already annoying Republicans in the house. ;)
Good for you If you could please anoy the Democrats as well I dislike both parties :mad:

[BigJim]

Originally posted by gen.zod
Good for you If you could please anoy the Democrats as well I dislike both parties :mad:

Every chance I get. Someone mention polygraphs and Bill CLinton comes automatically to mind. ;)

[august spies]

disliking both parties is the way to go.

even if i give to you, mother teresa was giving because of her christiany and nothing else. just look at the all the destruction done because of religion, wars, torture, genocide.

and that still doesnt erase the fact that because of religion she did nothing to go after the root cause of the poverty she was trying to ease, and that many others who also have given themselves up to lives of chartiy and did go after root causes were killed in the thousands and we will never hear of their great deeds just because they may not have been religious.

again, not all religious people are bad, im just saying religion as a whole has done nothing good, in fact its been on the side of a lot of evil.

ps. just saw a good flick, its called "amen". i recommeding checking it out. its about the vaticans silence regarding the nazi holocoust. and there is a character who is a jesuit preist, he gets so disgusted with the church he goes off with the victims of the nazis to be killed, and many priests did.

[BigJim]

As far as religion goes August, I'll say that they were designed for bad reasons such as control, supression and power-mongering. But I'll also say that many people have done extraordinarily good things because of their interpretation of it.

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

"With soap, baptism is a good thing." - Robert G. Ingersoll