this is institutional racism
i blame the schools

Brian OA wrote:

my religion = your religion and words

So basically what you're saying is

Jesus = Allah = Haruhi = Kira Yamato

If every religion is just as valid as the next, only a single religion should exist and we'll all go to heaven. Of course it's better that way but we just can't have nice things, can we?

Why do you pledge to put faith in a certain religion instead of an other certain religion? Even if other religions might have questionable amount of truths in them, everything that came from your Bible, Quran or whatever should never be doubted or questioned, since that predicament could be deemed as blasphemy. Their ideals are probably not far from each other and they probably share the same goal, but the way they execute their actions to achieve it are different. And that matters a lot. Comparing religions is okay, but if you start doubting your own, you better think long and hard about what you're going to do next. If you truly have faith in your religion, you should think of it as the greatest, and any thoughts of believing in an other religion should be thrown away. Otherwise just join the one you think is greater or quit religion and rely on SCIENCE

yes, religion sounds really unreasonable

ALSO I DON'T INTO RELIGION I HAVE NO NAMES OF PEOPLE TO DROP

and since homophobia is mentioned in this thread, I don't mind gay people but I have to admit that I think Clawsmash is way too open about his sexuality in his posts, and he should tone his gayness down alot little

tyrael6192 wrote:

I'm not seeking to dispute the opinion of anyone else here, i just wanted to throw my cards on the table.

That's not how a discussion works. We don't want a pile of cards, we want a deck.

Wojjan wrote:

tyrael6192 wrote:

I'm not seeking to dispute the opinion of anyone else here, i just wanted to throw my cards on the table.

That's not how a discussion works. We don't want a pile of cards, we want a deck.

The thing is,we can't possibly form a deck from this pile of cards...or should I say this mess...

You can still try

Hoverlegs wrote:

Brian OA wrote:

my religion = your religion and words

So basically what you're saying is

Jesus = Allah = Haruhi = Kira Yamato

If every religion is just as valid as the next, only a single religion should exist and we'll all go to heaven. Of course it's better that way but we just can't have nice things, can we?

A single religion would be impossible, given how almost every one is based on some form of divine intervention, such as Christ's birth, death, and resurrection, or some prophet squatting in a cave and communicating with an angel (this would cross out Haruhi and Kira, since their origins are of a different nature). Most of these religions might have similar moral and ethical codes, but they would still disagree on whether there is a heaven at all, on what happens to your soul or whether you even have one, etc. You can't compromise two religions where one says evil is an equal force to good and another that says evil has no power in the face of good. Zoroastrianism and Christianity wouldn't mix in that case.

I believe you're judged bases on your consciousness, meaning you're not going to be condemned if you have nothing to feel guilt or shame for. Meaning any good Shintoist, atheist, or pagan has as much of a shot of getting in Heaven as a Christian would, assuming said Heaven exists.

There can only be one true religion, but our method of determining that is far too arbitrary to be making claims such as "my religion>your religion". I have my reasons for placing my faith in Christianity, but it's not like I have empirical evidence supporting it. I won't have it even if I were Hindu, Islamic, or Jewish.

Why do you pledge to put faith in a certain religion instead of an other certain religion? Even if other religions might have questionable amount of truths in them, everything that came from your Bible, Quran or whatever should never be doubted or questioned, since that predicament could be deemed as blasphemy. Their ideals are probably not far from each other and they probably share the same goal, but the way they execute their actions to achieve it are different. And that matters a lot. Comparing religions is okay, but if you start doubting your own, you better think long and hard about what you're going to do next. If you truly have faith in your religion, you should think of it as the greatest, and any thoughts of believing in an other religion should be thrown away. Otherwise just join the one you think is greater or quit religion and rely on SCIENCE

AND YET WE ALL DOUBT. Even Mother Theresa doubted, for Pete's sake. Even Christ doubted when he was suffering the greatest pain any man could bear. Yet we all remember them as saints or the alleged Son of God. Faith wavers and makes you doubt a lot assuming you're not shutting the rest of the world out.

It's not blasphemy to question a book of scripture, though; that's something entirely different.

Aurani wrote:

so many words

Well cripe, if you don't know why, then you might as well not say it at all. If they have a reason to contend for it, it has to be profitable in some way, be it through money or power. But if you're just going to throw an ambiguous, unclear example and then say "we can't discuss it because we'd go in circles (as if we don't do that with every topic under the sun)" then don't mention it at all; you're not proving any points with that and providing no grounds to argue with either.

the only thing I want to add is that religion is basically a mere tool that certain people who rule the world use to control the masses with relative ease.It's in the nature of a creature to hate or fear somebody or something just because it can't understand it,and since most of Earth's population consists of intellectually crippled people,you can only expect religion to be used to control them in more ways than just the economic one.

A completely baseless statement. To clarify, the tool to control the masses isn't religion, it's comfort and media. That's the whole point in Brave New World, if you've ever read it. Secondly, you're not being clear; how is being afraid of the unknown and being intellectually crippled somehow relate to being controlled by religion? Thirdly, you're implying that the majority of the population is intellectually crippled--somehow making them subject to being religious. As if ignorance means religion. Yet there are exorbitant amounts of religious intellectuals, famous or not, around the globe, throughout history, and in every book.

Brian OA wrote:

Even Christ doubted when he was suffering the greatest pain any man could bear

To be frank, Jesus got off really lightly. Crucifixion was a punishment for the pettier criminals, remember.

I wonder if more people would believe it if he had suffered the boats, or the brazen bull?

>Implying crucifixion is light.

Relatively speaking, sure. Nonetheless excruciatingly painful and would kill anyone regardless.

Ok since this got waaay out of hand I'm just gonna keep it short:
1) I would really like to have a debate with you,since I see that you're well informed and have a bright head unlike most people.The reason why I can't is because I can't find the proper words/way to express myself the way I would like to,so essentially I'm in a dead end here...sadly,since I'm really in the mood for a healthy debate.
2) There isn't only 1 tool to control the masses,there are many ways to deceive someone,mainstream religions being one of them.I just believe that there is no need for religious organisations at all,they serve no purpose other than dividing people,causing distrust etc.
3) My mind wanders in a dark forest,all hail our messiah gurodoll.

1) Look up Strunken White. It's short and will help immeasurably.

2) Religions don't deceive; you're implying it's a big lie. Unless we're talking about Scientology.

3) Stahp

Brian OA wrote:

1) Look up Strunken White. It's short and will help immeasurably.

Just checked,I think that will be well worth my time.

Brian OA wrote:

2) Religions don't deceive; you're implying it's a big lie. Unless we're talking about Scientology.

They don't?As far as I know there was more than 1 occasion where Popes/various other people changed something related with religion to make people "bow" to their will,for the sake of their personal profit(or power,which is related to profit-like you mentioned 2 posts before).I'm not saying that everything is wrong,I'm against organisations and not against the core-believing in something divine.

Brian OA wrote:

3) Stahp

Are you trying to oppress my religious beliefs? *pulls out a gun*

Hoverlegs wrote:

and since homophobia is mentioned in this thread, I don't mind gay people but I have to admit that I think Clawsmash is way too open about his sexuality in his posts, and he should tone his gayness down alot little

you would have to then make the counterargument that everyone else has to tone down the heterosexuality in their posts. You just called that girl "kawaii uguu cute =3="? KILL YOURSELF

the rest of the people arent talking about how they are heterosexual and making extremely heterosexual comments in 50% of their posts

Maybe he just wants attention...but that's his way of dealing with things...he still has the right to express himself however he wants,doesn't he?

im not against it, animask has been the same for ages and nobody seems to be bothered by it.

I never said you were,I'm still new here and clearly don't have the right to say anything against you...I was just saying that he shouldn't be the main point of the discussion,since everyone has their own opinion about a certain individual.

Wojjan wrote:

tyrael6192 wrote:

I'm not seeking to dispute the opinion of anyone else here, i just wanted to throw my cards on the table.

That's not how a discussion works. We don't want a pile of cards, we want a deck.

Wojjan you of all people should know that OT doesn't work like that
so in the spirit of things, i made a post semi-relevant to the title of the thread without relating it to any previously-made post... i'm not asking you to read it or draw anything from it :I

But OT should be better than that.

It should at least be one of those fancy chrome-plated trash cans that open when you get close to them.

You must be new here -_-

I'm really glad that this place devolved into Reddit.

Pokebis wrote:

I'm really glad that this place devolved into Reddit.

you can just go back into that box you came from if you're going to be like that mister

Ephemeral wrote:

good-ass points

lol, I was just asking for a post dissection with that weak argument. Nah, I totally agree with most of your points; if I were to impose my atheistic beliefs unto others it would be hypocritical of me, because I hate Christians (singling them out, because they're notorious for this but to other religions as well) that have that "holier than thou" mindset.

mathexpert9981 wrote:

I hate Christians (singling them out, because they're notorious for this but to other religions as well) that have that "holier than thou" mindset.

The way I see it, they can be holier than thou. I'm fine with being smarter than thou

Any Christian that'd be honest with themselves can't adopt that mindset without being hypocrites. Basically what Matthew 7:1 says: "You shall not judge, lest you be judged." Because some people deem it more important to call others out for their sins without dealing with their own problems first.

Brian OA wrote:

Any Christian that'd be honest with themselves can't adopt that mindset without being hypocrites. Basically what Matthew 7:1 says: "You shall not judge, lest you be judged." Because some people deem it more important to call others out for their sins without dealing with their own problems first.

nail, meet hammer.

that is the core of the "bible-basher" attitude that you commonly see in extremist Christians.

I don't understand. Could you elaborate?

i don't really know how to explain it properly, but a lot of religious extremism extends from the fact that people seem to feel the need to prosecute others in order to appear pious or whatever, hence when religion becomes intrusive and repulsive

Oh, I see.

No more discussions?And I just got my popcorn...

This thread isn't even popcorn-worthy

Kanye West wrote:

This thread isn't even popcorn-worthy

It started nice tho...but then it just went in a completely wrong direction,which is to be expected of such a delicate topic.

In any case, I had fun reading this thread. It was interesting seeing so many similar and different viewpoints.

Some interesting quotes regarding religion:

"In the 'bullshit department' a businessman can't hold a candle to a clergyman."
- George Carlin

"We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."
- Richard Dawkins

"Lighthouses are more helpful then churches."
- Benjamin Franklin

"It isn't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand"
- Mark Twain

"What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of “humility.” This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism."
- Albert Einstein

This thread got boring.

Well then it's probably time to post a George Carlin clip, huh?

Nah.

Funny as it is, it's not enough to keep the discussion going. It's like trying to argue against Nietszche's "Needle and Barbs" section in--ah God what was it... Twilight of the Gods. It's satire; arguing against jokes always end on a sour note. That said, if there's any particular point he made in the video you want me to address, I will.

Oh, here's something that annoys me about Christianity, especially Roman Catholics.

The churches are just ridiculous. The protestants do it right, where it's a simple building to bring the community together. The Roman Catholics on the other hand... everything has to be gilded with stained-glass windows and gold and idols (!!) everywhere. It's a tremendous waste of money to "show people the glory of God" or whatever.
Surely it'd be better to actually help people with the money they spent on furnishing the churches like that.

Brian OA wrote:

I believe you're judged bases on your consciousness, meaning you're not going to be condemned if you have nothing to feel guilt or shame for. Meaning any good Shintoist, atheist, or pagan has as much of a shot of getting in Heaven as a Christian would, assuming said Heaven exists.

This is an interesting statement, because consciousness doesn't differ from religion to religion, but from person to person. There are people out there who can do pretty terrible things, up to murder, and not lose any sleep over it. Would they be allowed into heaven? They don't feel guilt because they can justify it as eye for an eye or whatever, but what they did is still ethically wrong.

Didn't follow the discussion well but, I must say, there are tribes that expects you to kill your own father.

It's "wrong" to you and "norm" to them.