Watched a few religious channels and now I think I understand

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: Nik
If you think that religious television is anywhere close to mainstream, you're off your rocker.

That being said, if you believe religion at all anyway you're also off your rocker.

Lot of empty rockers around here....

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

Originally posted by: Duddy
No religion for me thanks. Was raised in a strong Catholic family.

It only took me a semester in High School science class and studying astronomy to realize it was bunk.

I believe in being a good person and to treat others as you would treat yourself, that's all that matters

Out of curiosity, was there a conflict that you saw between science/astronomy and faith?

And, more importantly Duddy, do you have faith in science?

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I understand why people are turning away from religion. I haven't been to church in probably 7 years, but I remain somewhat religious. So last night I was really bored with what was on tv and flipped through some channels till I came to the block of channels on directv that are religion based.

The first one was some guy talking about a special healing oil he had that the lord told him 1000 people would send him $1000 for , but this was not a payment to purchase the oil, but a love offering. Come on, lets call it for what it is, snake oil salesman.

The next channel was a woman talking about Christ and so I listened thinking ok, this one is legit, until the conversation turned into why people should tithe and how 10% was not enough anymore and how she was told by God that there was 100 people in the audience that felt the need to give at least 50% of their income tonight.

Next channel was a guy named Grant Jeffrey. He was talking about the economy and how bad things were getting. I listened as he talked about a one world government and some of what he was talking about I considered and thought, well I guess its possible. Then he went totally off the deep end. He started to talk about how rfid was going to be used to tag everyone and everything so that they could be easily tracked. He told the audience that these chips were now the size of periods on a paper and were already in their clothing and food. How the government had satellites that could track them everywhere. Then he got on the whole government wire tapping issue.

He claimed the government had records of every phone call everyone ever made since the 1960's. He then added that everything they did on the internet was being monitored by the government and they were recording everything anyone did. That there were devices that could copy your computer without ever touching it. I thought, well surely the audience will not believe this garbage, but they were all shaking their heads in agreement. Hundreds of people believing this crap . Then he tries to tie it all in with bible verses.

This is the guys website. Looking at his books it is just hard to believe people read this garbage and think it is true.
http://www.grantjeffrey.com/


I understand now why people are going away from religion. The idiots that are on tv promoting it , are just that, idiots. I wouldn't follow their advice if I was blind in a room with pits filled with razor blades.

Republicans.txt

Oops, i think i sounded the Mosh alarm

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Nik
If you think that religious television is anywhere close to mainstream, you're off your rocker.

That being said, if you believe religion at all anyway you're also off your rocker.

Mainstream? Perhaps not. But they sure do manage to draw crowds of many thousands, and have enough moronic followers to maintain a very wealthy lifestyle.

 

[Nik]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Nik
If you think that religious television is anywhere close to mainstream, you're off your rocker.

That being said, if you believe religion at all anyway you're also off your rocker.

Mainstream? Perhaps not. But they sure do manage to draw crowds of many thousands, and have enough moronic followers to maintain a very wealthy lifestyle.

Yeah, and "Extendz" has sold over a billion pills to men around the U.S. even though it doesn't actually make your dick any bigger.

Fools and their money are soon parted. There are a lot of dumbasses in the world.

 

[SilverThief]

Its all about the money, baby.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: seemingly random

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

Originally posted by: Duddy
No religion for me thanks. Was raised in a strong Catholic family.

It only took me a semester in High School science class and studying astronomy to realize it was bunk.

I believe in being a good person and to treat others as you would treat yourself, that's all that matters

Out of curiosity, was there a conflict that you saw between science/astronomy and faith?

And, more importantly Duddy, do you have faith in science?

There's no need to have faith in science, there's plenty of evidence in lieu.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer

Originally posted by: seemingly random

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

Originally posted by: Duddy
No religion for me thanks. Was raised in a strong Catholic family.

It only took me a semester in High School science class and studying astronomy to realize it was bunk.

I believe in being a good person and to treat others as you would treat yourself, that's all that matters

Out of curiosity, was there a conflict that you saw between science/astronomy and faith?

And, more importantly Duddy, do you have faith in science?

There's no need to have faith in science, there's plenty of evidence in lieu.

In addition to that, I have faith that science is making a best effort at coming to the truth. They may occasionally come to some incorrect conclusions, but those are eventually routed and the truth is found.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

"Science is a self-correcting process"
-- Carl Sagan

Edit - FFS this was supposed to go below lxskllr's post.

 

[Nitemare]

Televangelists and lotteries are a tax on the stupid.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Religion and lotteries are a tax on the stupid.

Fixed that for you. It's not just televangelists that are perpetrators of criminal fraud, it starts right at the top. And why not? The wannabelievers are proven to be the most gullible people on earth. What, they buy into invisible men in the sky and talking shrubbery and a 6000 year old earth, but they'll draw the line at special healing oil because that's just too strange? Of course they'll buy snake oil, if they had any power of discernment they wouldn't be in the audience in the first place.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Televangelists and lotteries are a tax on the stupid.

I agree.

But I don't feel that the minister, pastor, priest, who takes up a collection in his/her church is in the same category. The electric bill needs to be paid no matter what organization you belong too.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Religion and lotteries are a tax on the stupid.

Fixed that for you. It's not just televangelists that are perpetrators of criminal fraud, it starts right at the top. And why not? The wannabelievers are proven to be the most gullible people on earth. What, they buy into invisible men in the sky and talking shrubbery and a 6000 year old earth, but they'll draw the line at special healing oil because that's just too strange? Of course they'll buy snake oil, if they had any power of discernment they wouldn't be in the audience in the first place.

Religion has it's place. It gives hope to those that have none and usually has some sort of moral code. But like every good thing, mankind fucks it up and corrupts it.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Televangelists and lotteries are a tax on the stupid.

I agree.

But I don't feel that the minister, pastor, priest, who takes up a collection in his/her church is in the same category. The electric bill needs to be paid no matter what organization you belong too.

But at what point does it become a non-profit entity when it is making money?

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Televangelists and lotteries are a tax on the stupid.

I agree.

But I don't feel that the minister, pastor, priest, who takes up a collection in his/her church is in the same category. The electric bill needs to be paid no matter what organization you belong too.

True. Just like at the local elks club, country club, etc. Why can't they be tax deductible also?

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer

Originally posted by: seemingly random

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

Originally posted by: Duddy
No religion for me thanks. Was raised in a strong Catholic family.

It only took me a semester in High School science class and studying astronomy to realize it was bunk.

I believe in being a good person and to treat others as you would treat yourself, that's all that matters

Out of curiosity, was there a conflict that you saw between science/astronomy and faith?

And, more importantly Duddy, do you have faith in science?

There's no need to have faith in science, there's plenty of evidence in lieu.

Do you have faith in the evidence?

You see where I'm going with this... Faith isn't necessarily attached to a religion or god-like creature. The word has been hijacked to be used as a code word for worshiping a supernatural, all powerful, all seeing being who's in charge of everything.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: seemingly random

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer

Originally posted by: seemingly random

Originally posted by: MovingTarget

Originally posted by: Duddy
No religion for me thanks. Was raised in a strong Catholic family.

It only took me a semester in High School science class and studying astronomy to realize it was bunk.

I believe in being a good person and to treat others as you would treat yourself, that's all that matters

Out of curiosity, was there a conflict that you saw between science/astronomy and faith?

And, more importantly Duddy, do you have faith in science?

There's no need to have faith in science, there's plenty of evidence in lieu.

Do you have faith in the evidence?

Scientific evidence requires no faith. By definition, it has to be observable and repeatable to satisfy the scientific method.

I don't need to have faith that the mass of an elephant is greater than the mass of a chicken egg. Through a variety of observable, repeatable experiments, I can conclusively prove that is true.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Televangelists and lotteries are a tax on the stupid.

I agree.

But I don't feel that the minister, pastor, priest, who takes up a collection in his/her church is in the same category. The electric bill needs to be paid no matter what organization you belong too.

Fine, then have them stop saying that "God" needs money, and just call it what it is: A membership fee.

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Religion has it's place. It gives hope to those that have none and usually has some sort of moral code. But like every good thing, mankind fucks it up and corrupts it.

Gypsy-bot: You want false hope or not?
Fy: Only if you don't have any real hope!

Originally posted by: seemingly random
Do you have faith in the evidence?

You see where I'm going with this... Faith isn't necessarily attached to a religion or god-like creature. The word has been hijacked to be used as a code word for worshiping a supernatural, all powerful, all seeing being who's in charge of everything.

Well yeah, but if you want to keep going with it, you need to have faith that what your eyes relay to your brain is actually a good representation of the environment around you.

But yes, "faith" has been hijacked - it's been romanticized into being a good thing, accepting that for which there is no evidence, like that whole "leap of faith" thing. It's not faith, it's a gamble. No one calls it a "leap of faith" when you buy a lottery ticket, or put money into a slot machine, but it's the same concept: Uncertain outcome, and the only reason you think it'll work is because you want it to work. Problem is, the Universe doesn't cater to an individual's whims.

Also, this. Or let's say a church is burned down by an arsonist, or better yet, destroyed by a natural disaster.
God can't even be bothered to watch out for his boyz down here on Earth.

 

[child of wonder]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
People are turning away from religion? You point out three scammers out of hundreds of millions of Christians and that's your proof? FAIL.

Don't forget the millions that follow the scammers. They're not rich because god is writing them checks and the fools in the audience aren't actors.

In the words of Hitchens, "religion poisons everything."

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I understand why people are turning away from religion. I haven't been to church in probably 7 years, but I remain somewhat religious.

Why haven't you been to church in 7 years? While your point about sham religion on television is certainly valid, I think the more interesting question would be whether or not you see that the mainstream religions have also turned away people from religion as a consequence of their specific interpretations and dictates which no longer mesh with a wider view of the world and its people.

 

[jpeyton]

God is going to smite that cancer! Glory hallelujah!

 

[seemingly random]

If the christian god is all-powerful, works in mysterious ways, has infinite wisdom, etc, trying to eliminate a cancer or any illness, which this god has given to a person, is going against the wishes of this god.

 

[Nik]

Originally posted by: seemingly random
If the christian god is all-powerful, works in mysterious ways, has infinite wisdom, etc, trying to eliminate a cancer or any illness, which this god has given to a person, is going against the wishes of this god.

That's a stupid argument. You could also argue, in the same breath, that since god provided the capacity for knowledge and understanding in humans to solve problems using modern medicine, many people who've been cured of cancer or are in remission would also be the will of god.

 

[nageov3t]

religion may not be for you, but you're as much of a moron as those you're condemning if you're going to damn all religion across the board based on a couple televangelists.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: loki8481
religion may not be for you, but you're as much of a moron as those you're condemning if you're going to damn all religion across the board based on a couple televangelists.

You're not the first to make a comment in this vain, so this applies to everyone who has said this: The OP never condemned the religions, he never generalised entire religious institutions based on what he saw on the TV. His point was that this is probably a factor in the diminishing religious audience. The over-commercialisation of religion is probably a big turn-off for many religious people.