people like that creep me out

i pitched a bed to a christian nut who worked at the hospital downtown. i asked her if she ever got scared walking back to her car in the middle of the night after working the late shift. no, she said, because god is watching over her and protecting her

ignorant bitch

while she might be religious, i'm sure the guy hiding in the shadows waiting to mug and rape her isn't.

nonono

god is still watching.

they call those 'trials'

to 'test your faith'

I've heard that before and to be honest it's never sat well with me.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that a person's salvation guarantees them a better, easier life. It only guarantees what is after life.

We are all going to go through rough spots where life gets us down and at times completely destroys us, but this isn't necessarily God testing us, it's just life. That's according to Solomon (Ecclesiates).

Unless you're Job and then you're just SOL.

True, but God wasn't testing Job for his own satisfaction, he turned him over to Satan to be tempted to turn away from God, though He knew he would be upright in his convictions for God.

Then again, I am no expert on the story. My point in my above post is that Christians are not entitled to a better life here on earth any more than any other person.

Nah, you've got it about right. I still think it was a dick move on God's part, but the God of the Old Testament as a whole was pretty much a jackass.

if you don't believe he exists why do you even bother to discuss him as if he was real?

i don't get it... non-believers are always criticizing followers of religion for attempting to convert, for ramming their religion down others throats, but honestly, i'm getting sick of all the righteous assholes who put down religious people for their beliefs. what do you guys get out of it?

this thread is a perfect example. tetra obviously thought he was starting some intelligent religious discussion, but couldn't do it without comparing people's serious beliefs to flying animals & spaghetti monsters. sure there's a couple of posts with some legitimate discussion, but a lot of it is atheists making fun of religious people for their beliefs (with most of it aimed at Christians). it honestly is getting old. people start these threads it seems for the purpose of trying to pick apart other people's beliefs.

to you guys making fun of religion and religious people: all it shows to me is you don't have the ability to think or discuss the topic, and is a perfect demonstration of your intelligence (or lack therof). i could care less whether or not you follow any religion, but posting stupid pictures and calling christians dicks doesn't contribute to the discussion or describe your beliefs (or non-beliefs).

You know whats strange to me is that its politically incorrect to make fun of Judaism or Islam, but people rail on Christianity all the time now as if its the hip thing to do.

Perfect example: Woman working for a British Airline company wore a small discreet cross around her neck...nothing big... just a small silver cross. Her manager asked her to take it off because it was "making the customers feel uncomfortable" and they didnt allow religious attire. She refused on the grounds that the Islamic woman that worked there was allowed to wear her head dress. Manager claimed that was different somehow. The woman was suspended for 2 weeks without pay for refusing to remove the small, discreet necklace.

I think Impala is right on this one. If you dont believe, then fine. I see it as just as inappropriate for non-Christians to poke fun of Christians for their belief in God as it is for Christians to constantly bombard non-believers with their faith. As much as I dont believe that God is a loving God, I do believe in a lot of other aspects of Christianity. One thing I learned while going through the philosophy program at Tech was that Christians' beliefs have become a mockary to many "scholars". The one part of Christianity that I will always believe is that the world was created. Its going to take a lot more evidence for me to believe that somehow this world just came to be on its own...that something so ornate like the human brain just happened over time. I think its foolish for people to think that all this just happened over time, but I dont mock people for believing that way.

This post has been edited by Jessica: Dec 10 2006, 01:58 PM

I think everyone should have that view... and most people do. But you have your assholes in the world. Im not talking about on the internet either, i make fun of my own beliefs here because its all humor, i can't really have my views "attacked" on the internet. I am more talking about the example you used, assholes in the world that take peoples beliefs and suspend them for it... even when that person wasn't ramming it down anyones throat.

I think evolution is perfectly viable for evidence i've seen. Farther you go back in time, the less complex the organisms are. Even though i've seen only one converstation that talked about life coming from nothing (which science ruled in grade school to be impossible) i think its possible. But i believe in a god because of personal observations of the world. Yet, i think its perfectly acceptable that people can't see how evolution is correct... too bad the whole world can't think the same way.


And thats how the book of mormon was written....

Religion will promise you anything in death as long as you follow them.

Just like muslims won't get a hundred virgins in death, you won't get this perfect place of happiness either. Sorry to break the news.

Also, there isn't a santa claus. If you didn't know.

I know it's easier to not believe the above statement than it is to stop believing in your religion. But what's right isn't always easy either.

"if you don't believe he exists why do you even bother to discuss him as if he was real?"
if this thread bothers you, then why do you even bother to read it?
i would say that the answers are not far from the same.

i do not think there is anything wrong with someone who does not believe in go to discuss god in the hypothetical sense. christine's comments were based on the biblical portrayal of god. so, we can at least think of god as a 'character' and i do not mean that in a diminutive way. i mean that the word 'god,' in reference to the christian god, specifies an entity, whether real or fictitious, possessing a certain set of characteristics, as described by biblical record. i do not think anyone is trying to convert anyone here, but to sometimes necessary to talk about 'god' to describe why you do not believe in him/her.

do not be so presumptive. i did not intend to start "some intelligent religious discussion," i merely wanted a cataloging of explications of different individuals beliefs and disbeliefs and its ensuing counterpoint. the only reason that i dare mention such blasphemy as the flying spaghetti monster is to keep the conversation light-hearted. if this thread bothers you, you know that you can just ignore it. Yes, there have been some sarcastic posts and mockeries of christianity and although i do support open mockery of all points of view, i would prefer it be more subtle and equal. by dissecting one another's beliefs, we can better understand each other as individuals and we can also have our 'faith' strengthened in our beliefs, by facing the challenges of open discussion.

i did not see someone call christians "dicks," but i will assume that i overlooked it. although, this is not the type of thing this thread was designed for, it is really inevitable. if you have not been keeping up with the boards, each thread seems to turn into a silly mockery of one thing and then another. no one possesses the ability to stay serious all the time on here and rightly so. this is not the place for such seriousness. no thread has ever stayed on topic for very long.

if you have been watching television, you will note that it is becoming more and more socially acceptable to mock other people's religions and religious beliefs. whether you agree with it or not, popular social conditioning is slowly making it a normal part of any religious criticism. although it may speak to a weakness of character, humor is the way people of our generation deal with things, especially things outside of the scientific realm.




more relevantly, jessica, the situation you mentioned about the lady wearing a cross at work reminds me of the dilemma of french schools. in french schools, students are not allowed to wear anything that would identify their religion (or lack of religion). this includes: crosses, veils, pictures of mary, pentagrams, etc. while this might initially remove visual markers which may cause religious clashing in the classroom does it really infringe on one's own self expression? and if so, is this type of expression appropriate for a classroom?

broadening the question, in everyone's own particular opinion, when and where do you think it is acceptable to visibly display your religious beliefs/symbols and where is it not acceptable?

this post doesnt make sense to me. someone explain it. I get the whole "religion throws out rewards upon death", but I dont understand his last statement about what right isnt always easier. Isnt leading a religious life harder than living a secular life? Perhaps Im just not understanding your post at all. EXPLAIN

I think that children should be allowed to express themselves to an extent in school. Im not talking about piercing every ounce of cartiledge on their bodies, but a little religious expression never hurt anyone. If anything, suppressing religious expression is harmful. Of course there should be boundaries, but a simple cross, pentagram, star of David around the neck never killed anyone. I am so sick of people who are offended by simple personal religious expressions. Its alarming to me that more and more we are becoming a society that caters to the inability of people to accept social and religious differences in each other.

To me, yes, it is very important that children be allowed religious expression. Its important for them to be proud of who they are or where they came from. I also think that this type of religious freedom should extend to the home also. If a child is old enough to make a conscious decision based on logical choices to go or not go to church then he should be allowed that right.

I believe that as long as you arent trying to convert others to your religion, then anywhere and anytime is ok to display religious symbols or attire.

This post has been edited by Jessica: Dec 10 2006, 04:04 PM

I would say simple things that merely identify your beliefs (crosses, whatever) are always acceptable (america's freedoms), except maybe prison where freedoms are taken away. I think when you are getting to the point of causing a religious debate by what you are wearing (or displaying) then its inappropriate. I wouldn't think any normal person would find a cross, as a peice of jewlery, something that would distract from normal life and cause a huge debate in any environment.

Do you know for sure? How do you know? Been dead and come back?

I also don't understand the last sentence in the above either...