French Court Convicts Scientologists of Fraud!

#201

Hi guys,

Just checking out Black Mesa to see whether it was out yet, and this topic was on the front page. And, well, I just thought I’d put my two cents in…

I grew up as a Muslim in a South-East Asian country (I’d say which one, but I wouldn’t want anyone knowing, 'cause you know what happens to apostates in Islam…). Prayed five times a day, read the Qur’an every Friday, fasted every Ramadan. All well and good. But I’ve always had my doubts; why pray five times a day? Why read the Qur’an in the original Arabic? Sure, there are reasons. For the Qur’an example, apparently reading it out in any other language would dilute the message. But then, why bother reading it out if I didn’t understand a single word of it? Even now, I can recite a slew of verses off by heart, but have absolutely no idea what they mean. Everyday Muslim life is full of these pointless rituals.

I felt guilty for having these doubts. Have done so for a couple of years. Then, I heard about Scientology (ever came across https://www.tomcruiseisnuts.com? Yeah). Had a good chuckle, and ranted with my Muslim buddies about how Xenu and his thetans will take over the world and how ridiculous anyone would buy into this stupid cult, etc. But in my head, something clicked, and I wondered to myself, isn’t it much different from my religion…?

Then I came across the site https://www.faithfreedom.org. I read through the site and articles religiously (haw haw). Everything there correlated with what I learned at religious school (another thing; religious school is MANDATORY, for five, six years). I would recommend anyone to have a look through it. As someone who spent most of his young adult life trying to be a good Muslim… well, it hurt. But then, it was also kind of a relief.

I have to say though, Muslims are NOT bad people; my grandma, my parents, all good, pious people. Heck, my parents are in Mecca right now for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. They grow up believing this stuff, brainwashed. I’d say that Muslim people are good in spite of being Muslims.

(And another thing, the Hajj: all able-bodied and financially secure Muslims are required to attend the pilgrimage once in their lifetimes. I’ve even gone once before, when I was smaller, but was a bit wary about the big business involved in catering towards the devotees. Even now, I suspect that Muhammad put that in as one of The Five Pillars so that he can mooch money off believers for the benefit of his hometown, ala Scientology).

Don’t try to defend Islam; it’s a horrible religion. Even in my home country, it doesn’t matter how clever you are or how much you contribute to society, so long as you’re a non-Muslim, you will always be second rate, and this is Islamic Law; always has been. And we’re more conservative than the hardliners in the Middle East!

So yeah.

Anyway, I apologise if my post probably seems a bit of a jumble, but then I didn’t really mean to be typing all this up when all I wanted to do when I got here was check out the Houndeye and Bullsquid models! Looking forward to when Black Mesa is released.

Peace, everyone!

#202

You’d think so, but you’d be wrong.

#203

The people who don’t believe in this are total morons in my opinion.

#204

Guy in the sky, no. According to this thread, it’s a huge camera.

#205

Hey I did say it couldn’t not be a joke, I just didn’t get it :frowning: You must admit the scientology bit isn’t exactly part of the discussion anymore.

#206

wait, your only allowed to read the Qur’an every friday?!

I knew that the Islamic religion was er… religious, but that’s quite odd. IMO.

Sounds kinda like catholisism (which is what most people seem to assosiate with Christianity).

BTW, welcome to the fourms, and ONLY if you don’t mind my asking, what is it that you believe now?

#207

You can’t prove the existence of God. And thus, every religious argument backed up by “God says so!” should be thrown out and forgotten. Sadly, we live in a society that thinks having faith is important, when really it isn’t.

#208

Cause JohnKiller seemed to have missed my edit.

#209

You don’t need religion to achieve happiness and security. I’m an atheist, and I’m relatively happy and feel secure.

Plus, the world is an unhappy and insecure place. Hiding from them isn’t going to solve it. “Praying” isn’t going to do anything either. If you want to make the world happy and secure, do it yourself, or not at all. But don’t think getting on your knees with your hand together is making any kind of difference.

#210

Don’t be such an obstinate dick. Different things make different people happy, it doesn’t matter if people like you object to it. And who the hell are you to say who needs what to be happy? You evidently have so many problems with the world and the people in it, there’s no way you’d have any knowledge on the subject.

And I don’t see why you’re saying all that stuff about praying: if you’d have read my post, you’d know I’m an atheist.

#211

Fine. It looks like, despite my efforts, none of you can get it through your thick sculls that religion is holding us back. I’ve done all I can to get you to “repent!”

I’ll drop by this thread a few times, but I won’t post. I’ll just sit in my chair, lay back, and shake my head in disgust. Maybe even have a chuckle or two.

Just know this:
“I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will–and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain.”
-Gene Roddenberry. Yes, the guy that made Star Trek.

I found this little gem here:
https://atheistempire.com/greatminds/index.php

By the way, I was simply making a generalization. I didn’t aim my “praying sucks” comments at Soup specifically, but just in general.
Yeah, I admit I kind of went off-topic in my own post.

#212

I think he’s arrogant to the point that he believes the only people who would think of defending religion must, in fact, be religious themselves.

Look out, Robot, it looks like you, yourself, might be religious. Better get checked. :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT: I find it amusing, John, that your best spokesperson for your cause is the creator of a science fiction show, as if that makes it more credible.

EDIT2: And don’t belittle our intelligence and think it’s “too late” for us just because we appreciate the cultural and moral contributions of religion. Out of all of us, you seem to be the most ignorant hick here.

#213

That’s the idea. It was intended as kind of a joke. Not exactly hilarious, but it’s amusing.

Yeah, I know I broke my own rule. I just wanted to claify this one thing.

And as I said (after an edit), I know that you, Soup, and SassyRobot aren’t religious and you’re just defending religion. I just don’t understand why.

#214

Bullshit. Don’t go gung-ho with an argument then step back and call it a joke when it’s utterly destroyed by someone with a few more neurons then yourself.

#215

So you can read minds over the internet? You can tell what my intentions were when I posted that? Amazing.

#216

Note how he condemns the prophets and religious leaders, not the everyday believers. That’s a giant difference in attitude.

BTW, Gene Roddenberry is awesome.

#217

Our thick skulls?! How fucking dare you?!

You’re spouting out opinions and reasoning that isn’t even your own, yet you’re saying that the rest of us - who’ve thought through it all for the majority of our fucking lives, constantly changing, discussing and re-evaluating our view - are the ones that are thick skulled?

You’re only parroting what others have told you - you’re just the same as the people you’ve been criticising for blindly following what they’re told.

#218

I’m sorry to feed this Reb, but it is immensely aggravating to have some little dick tell me that I’m obstinate.

We’ve both been brought up Christian and we’ve both thought about it for the majority of our lives, coming to the conclusion that it didn’t add up. I mean, hell, it was only about four years ago that I became a proper atheist, rather than agnostic. My point is, we’ve but a ridiculous amount of though and discussion into it all, and we’ve come to our own conclusions, so having this child tell me I’m stubborn and thoughtless makes my blood boil.

#219

I realize what was wrong with my first attempt to get out of this thread: I was pretty much begging for more comments, with my “thick skulls” comment and “Gene Roddenberry” quote.

So, let’s try again: I’m leaving this thread. Go on with your chat. Maybe without my constant trolling I’ll be able to see your points. But for now, I simply don’t see them.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to do what I joined this forum for: Talk about how awesome Half-Life is, how amazing the mod looks, and how Adrian Shephard sucks. Hopefully, I’ll get a few laughs out of the trolls that want a Blue Shit remake.

#220

So wait, I don’t understand this. Are you saying I was different earlier, or are you saying John isn’t the same as me?

EDIT: Also, a bit of humor. John seems to think we have “thick sculls”. Awesome.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.