ITT: People argue about unprovable concepts.
Oh shit a religious argument…
flee!
I’m sure this is appropriate at this point.
I agree that the majority of religions sound ridiculous but I think that religion is mainly meant to teach morals and the like. Now, I’m Christian, I believe that God and Heaven exists but that’s basically as far as I go into that. Religious extremists piss me off and using religion as an excuse for persecution is horrendous, the Bible isn’t meant to be taken literally.
I’m open to other religions, since they all sound equally ridiculous 
. That said, I agree with whoever said that the beliefs aren’t the bad thing about Scientology, it’s the manipulation and fraud. The French did a good thing here and I hope it carries to other places.
I honestly think this thread is boschitt. can we kill this disussion, Please?
One of the reasons I became an Atheist rather than say “The Bible isn’t meant to be taken literally,” is because no one knows for sure if that’s true. For all we know, “God” DOES want us to believe that the world is flat and that the Earth is the center of the universe, and that all who oppose must die. How do we even know if our Holy Book is the real word of God?
Maybe “God” IS a homophobic pedophilic tyrant who LOVES to watch us kill each other over “who’s right?”
So when someone says “gays sud not mary cuz God sayz so!”, rather than waste time trying to reinterpret a book that may not even be the word of God, we could simply say “there is no God. Try something else.”
And, as always, PICS or it didn’t happen.
Counter-Question: “Hey God, why should I? I thought you were all-knowing?” 
Woah, this thread is moving too fast for me. For one garthbartin, while it’s true religious institutions and cultures have sometimes held science back, many of the greatest scientific breakthroughs have been made by religious types, so you’re not completely correct. Charles Darwin, a man of great genius and massively significant contribution to science, was very devoutly religious and considered becoming a pastor, for one example. For another, over the years members of various orders of monks have contributed greatly to natural history and early scientific understanding.
To dredge something up where I was misunderstood:
You took the wrong emphasis from what I said. I said I don’t see why anyone with half a brain believes anything religious or spiritual, because I do know and have known many people who are intelligent and who do believe, I just don’t get why. I didn’t mean there aren’t any people like that, I meant there are and it frequently mystifies me.
Also, italics ftw.
The issue isn’t religious types holding science back, it’s religious institutions and leaders frequently doing that.
Religion is fine in my book (although I don’t believe), but as soon as it gets organized it becomes dangerous in many instances.
I don’t mean to say organized religion is bad per sé, but it can result in dangerous situations, often because of abuse of power and the incentive of retaining power.
A thread created to ridicule Scientology turns into a thread to ridicule Christianity.
Ya’ll are loozers in mah book.
Same here Cat
For me, Scientology is just like every other religion out there. It’s just younger. I have no problem with religion, from Scientology to Zoroastrianism. If you want to believe in the universe getting sneezed out of the nose of a Great Green Arkleseizure and fear the coming of the Great White Handkerchief, hey, more power to ya!
However, the moment your religion or belief begins to impinge and infringe upon others, even in the guise of “wanting you to hear the good news”, you and I are gonna tangle. If you call me “stupid” for not fearing the Great White Handkerchief, then you’ve opened the doors for me to go after you verbally. But, if you suddenly seek to pass laws against me because I don’t believe, then you’ve crossed a line where I do what I can to ensure that your actions are for naught.
I don’t believe anyone’s beliefs or religion gives them a mandate to rule over others. If you want to believe, if you want to convert, great. But you don’t get to tell others what they must do or believe.
Scientologists are frauds, in my opinion, but no more a fraud than, say, Catholicism. I look upon all these people as extreme fanatics of the Harry Potter books, where they dress up like students from Gryffindor. Or perhaps fans of Half Life where you make your own HEV suit.
But, hey, more power to everyone. But, if you begin to tell me I’m dumb because I am not preparing for the Seven Hour War…
You’re right. We’re all equal.
Thus, it is wrong for us to leave Islam out of the argument. We ARE all equal after all.
Here are some of my favorite videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjSjpNe1-Vc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp3Eam5FX58
I imagine most of the people on these boards are from the U.S. Oddly enough, something like 77% of America is Christian. What does this mean?
Well, Christianity is the religion seen most often. The “furiner Muslims” are the “terrorists,” the “Jews” are “Israel,” Buddhists are rather rare…and the average America is seen as Christian. We see people claiming America was founded as a Christian nation, we see 10 Commandments wanting to be put up along with nativity scenes, we see the people pushing for “intelligent design” in the classroom are Christians, etc.
Christianity is much more in the face of most people than everything else. At my university, I don’t know of any Scientologist group. But there’s a massive Catholic Student Center with pool tables, some large screen TVs, and the like. There’s a Campus Crusade for Christ. There’s even an Asian Christian Group. And many other things.
Does this have anything to do with whether Christianity is correct? Not at all. But if you’re wondering why Christianity is often the target in America, it’s because of the prominence. How many times have people who are Jewish or Muslim attempt to pass legislation or affect schools in America? How many Congressmen and Congresswomen aren’t Christian?
If the majority of America was Jewish and Israel was the Christian state, I guarantee people would be “bashing” people who are Jewish.
All that said, I don’t see reason to believe anything that any of the various religions and cults claim…but Christianity is no more ridiculous than most of the others. I think most Christians, however, just wind up saying “Yeah, I’ll ignore what the Bible says, ignore what the Vatican says (if you’re Catholic), go along with science, but praise God and I want to go to heaven.” In other words, they ignore 80-90% of what Christianity teaches (or try to, the messages Christianity sends about women and sexuality in general are not so easily shaken off) because they really how crazy most of it is.
However, they don’t want to believe the universe is the cold, hard, uncaring place it is where we aren’t exactly all that special. They want there to be some “magic” for lack of a better world. This desire is certainly understandable, especially if you’ve been raised with it for 30+ years.
So while I hate Christianity, I certainly don’t hate Christians (well, some, technically speaking…but no one I know personally). Sort of like that whole “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” aye?
I have found this thread to be quite educational and it is interesting to see where everybody stands in this regard.
myself personally, I belive that if the Bible is the word of God, then it is to be taken literally
[COLOR=‘Red’]HOWEVER[/SIZE]
I am meaning [COLOR=‘red’]all of it and not just the parts that tickle my fancy like the people Johnkiller is refering to.
Interestingly enough, reading this thread has caused me to read my Bible with much more interest that I had been previously. haha
EDIT: Magical Master, I have just read your post and want to clear things up on my end, I am NOT one of those male supiriority pricks so often acociated with Christianity. A large part of my friends are female and I consider them equal to myself humanly and much more than a few of them better than myself Intelectually. as you can see be my spelling and grammar. :retard:
I agree with this to a certain extent. The problem is that religious leaders often abuse their power, with dire consequences for their followers.
Just look at islam. It’s not a “bad” religion, but religious leaders misinform and twist it for their own goals.
Same goes for Christianity, less now maybe than in the past, but still.
I don’t follow this logic. Just because it’s the “word of god,” doesn’t mean it has to be taken literally. That assumes god is an unintelligent being that is unable to use metaphor and allegory to convey a message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt66kbYmXXk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CFbwqyZQF0&feature=channel
Check out those 2 passages and see what you think.
Also, how do you reconcile the two versions of Genesis and the conflicting accounts of Easter from the four Gospels?
alright, let ridicule Scientology again. Just because it’s fun mocking idiots.
A little late, but I have to say I think I am losing alot of skin on my hand and forehead from repeated facepalming. Just reading through thas website…damn.
Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?
Again, in general. CatzEyez is an exception, as well as a few others.
You sure like your A’s, B)'s and C’s