Question for all religious people...

[IAteYourMother]

Originally posted by: iamaelephant

Originally posted by: irishScott

Originally posted by: tcG

Originally posted by: irishScott
In any case, I don't have to rationalize my faith to believe in it.

:disgust:

Be as disgusted as you like.

I believe what I believe because it feels right to believe. It provides a subconscious meaning to the unknown. Like giving a name to a variable as opposed to leaving it as a void concept.
I'd rather feel right and be wrong in this scenario, as religion has only a partial effect on my life.

I do not go to church hardly at all, I do not pray every night, and you won't catch me singing hymns at all.

My religion is kept alive in me through my core values. My opinions that reach the real world are a mixture of these values and logic, which I hold in EXTREMELY high esteem.

I do not live my life to "earn a spot in heaven". I will be the best man I can be as can be judged by my own human sense. If that isn't enough for god, then god can bite me.

I think my views on religion are best summed up in this quote from Kingdom of Heaven:

I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What god desires is here [points to head] and here [points to heart] and by what you decide to do everyday, will make you a good man? or not.
-Hospitaler, Kingdom of Heaven.

Religious extremism is borne of people who say things like "In any case, I don't have to rationalize my faith to believe in it." Extremist groups love to find people who are so weak minded that they will believe things with next to no rationalisation.

irishscott is a terrorist

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Garth

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: tcG
Are you saying that in order for us to be tested as mortals on Earth, the granting of free will was necessary?

We're not "tested" on Earth.

Free will is necessary for love to mean anything. If we are not allowed the option of doing bad things, then good deeds are ultimately meaningless.

ZV

Non-sequitur. There's nothing stopping someone from finding meaning within the limited scope of actions they are able to achieve. I can't fly but that doesn't make walking meaningless. I can't become invisible, but that doesn't make being seen meaningless. And so on...

Irrelevant conclusion.

Flying is not a necessary componany of walking. Being invisible is not a necessary componant of being seen.

Having free will is a necessary componant of love. Without the freedom to choose, love does not exist.

ZV

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Siddhartha

Originally posted by: tcG
Why did God put us on Earth in the first place; if heaven is such a great place and God is such a great entity, than why are we existing in a place anything less than heaven?

Suggestion, change the thread's title to "A question for Judeo-Christians and Muslims". Because not all religious people believe in a god or heaven.

The Hindus and Buddhists with whom I have spoken have universally classified both Hinduism and Buddhism as more philosophies than religions.

ZV

 

[WHAMPOM]

Originally posted by: tcG
Why did God put us on Earth in the first place; if heaven is such a great place and God is such a great entity, than why are we existing in a place anything less than heaven?

Why do little boys pee on ant hills? Same reason, sadism.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother

Originally posted by: iamaelephant

Originally posted by: irishScott

Originally posted by: tcG

Originally posted by: irishScott
In any case, I don't have to rationalize my faith to believe in it.

:disgust:

Be as disgusted as you like.

I believe what I believe because it feels right to believe. It provides a subconscious meaning to the unknown. Like giving a name to a variable as opposed to leaving it as a void concept.
I'd rather feel right and be wrong in this scenario, as religion has only a partial effect on my life.

I do not go to church hardly at all, I do not pray every night, and you won't catch me singing hymns at all.

My religion is kept alive in me through my core values. My opinions that reach the real world are a mixture of these values and logic, which I hold in EXTREMELY high esteem.

I do not live my life to "earn a spot in heaven". I will be the best man I can be as can be judged by my own human sense. If that isn't enough for god, then god can bite me.

I think my views on religion are best summed up in this quote from Kingdom of Heaven:

I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What god desires is here [points to head] and here [points to heart] and by what you decide to do everyday, will make you a good man? or not.
-Hospitaler, Kingdom of Heaven.

Religious extremism is borne of people who say things like "In any case, I don't have to rationalize my faith to believe in it." Extremist groups love to find people who are so weak minded that they will believe things with next to no rationalisation.

irishscott is a terrorist

Yes. And you thought the IRA made peace with the British Pigs... *puts on kelly green beret and draws longsword, dons ski mask*

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Garth

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: tcG
Are you saying that in order for us to be tested as mortals on Earth, the granting of free will was necessary?

We're not "tested" on Earth.

Free will is necessary for love to mean anything. If we are not allowed the option of doing bad things, then good deeds are ultimately meaningless.

ZV

Non-sequitur. There's nothing stopping someone from finding meaning within the limited scope of actions they are able to achieve. I can't fly but that doesn't make walking meaningless. I can't become invisible, but that doesn't make being seen meaningless. And so on...

Irrelevant conclusion.

Flying is not a necessary componany of walking. Being invisible is not a necessary componant of being seen.

Having free will is a necessary componant of love. Without the freedom to choose, love does not exist.

ZV

Sorry, but that is a bald assertion, and I see no reason to accept it. Moreover, it doesn't refute my primary contention: that there is nothing stopping someone from finding meaning within the limited scope of their do-able actions.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: ironwing
Read your favorite holy text.

The Joy of Sex? Ok.



Holy.
Sex.
Yeah, that'll do for a pun.

 

[MikeSci457DC]

Well you see kids, in the beginning God made Jack Bauer, and for a time it was good. However, Jack soon grew tired of not killing and so God had to invent the concept of evil so that his son could kill without sin, and for a time it was good. However, Jack also grew tired of shooting people from far away, and began torturing people up close and personal before killing them. God did not want his son brutally murdering without just cause, so he invented terrorists, and for a time it was good. However, god realized that he could not allow the eternal battle between good and evil in his sacred place. Therefore he created earth.

 

[LtPage1]

Originally posted by: hjo3
Well folks, that does it. He's disproved all religions. Atheism should be the new world-wide belief system by tomorrow morning.

I've already notified Fox News- I give them until 3AM this morning, though Islam is expected to hold out until 4:30.

edit:
reasonable answer: How arrogant would someone have to be to assume that they knew and could analyze the goals and actions of an omniscient/omnipotent being? Pretty damn arrogant.

 

[Luthien]

If god was lonely he wasn't perfect so that must mean uhoh the bible is wrong uhoh that must mean that non of it is true since all of it isn't. Oh boy I just became an atheist. ugg lol

 

[JM Aggie08]

shut up.

 

[FoBoT]

we are here to learn stuff, do some stuff and progress in our eternal plan

 

[foghorn67]

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother
your mom

lol, this never gets old.

 

[jjzelinski]

Originally posted by: JM Aggie08
shut up.

haha

Don't worry about rationalizing your faith as that is just a trap of the devil. All the areas of Christianity and other religions that are inherently contradictory and/or illogical are just traps to sucker in the foolhardy who actually use their devil brains.