[Viridian Tiger]

@ DarkSword
Oh, thank you! ^^ My religion isn't all about rules and such, and along with what I said about it when you die, while you live all that is expected of you is to just live a nice, leisurley life. ^^ No expectations. Just live the way you want to live. ^-^

[Ironsight]

While I might be officialy be a Christian, I dont think that the Bible can be taken completely certain, im sure that the story's have some grains of truth in them, but Humans often have the tendancey to over egzaderate

[R-dog]

@VT - It's good to keep that creative streak going! :D I like your "living how you want to live" philosophy.

If anyone cares, I'm a Catholic... but I'm not like "I see God in everything!", which is how a lot of the people in my church are. :P I'm a casual believer, and right now, I'm trying to figure out where my stance is with all of this bible stuff. So, you won't hear me preaching.

I do go to church every Sunday because, well, I like to! It's sort of like another home for me... my neighbors and friends are there and the priest is a nice guy. It is an important part of my life and I'll definitely keep going when I'm older.

For me, a Sunday without church would just feel... wrong.

[Someone Else]

Viridian Tiger, on Aug 21 2007, 05:57 PM, said:

The past may have been discovered, unearthed, and is now knowledge, but it is also a great mystery which cannot be solved.

Hence the agnostic "religion". Blargh.

[My Best Wishes]

Well we have to classify you some way. We wouldn't let a bunch of individuals run around with a sense of independency. (We as in all people, everyone)

[Nosferatu]

One of my favorite hobbies is killing the meaning of Christianity for people.
I gave up on it a long time ago, and aim to ruin the joy of religion for others. I like seeing people twist in the wind.

But to avoid potential headaches, I'll keep that to myself for now.

If there was ever a moment in the past where "god" did any good for me, then I could be different, but unfortunantly, nothing good came out of religion, so I decided to shun it, and ruin it for others.

Without god in my life, I feel no compasion help people, or donate. Ever since I gave it up, I may have recieved NOTHING but bad luck, but in return, I've gained money and everything I want.

MAN. I LOVE my life.

[My Best Wishes]

Nosferatu, on Aug 22 2007, 08:19 PM, said:

Without god in my life, I feel no compasion help people, or donate. Ever since I gave it up, I may have recieved NOTHING but bad luck, but in return, I've gained money and everything I want.

You're not a wanker or anything.
Forget religion, helping people is just a basic thing to do.

Why does this topic always get revived.

[Nosferatu]

watch, on Aug 22 2007, 03:43 AM, said:

Why does this topic always get revived.

It gets revived as it just happens to be a big topic.

And the helping thing, I'm guess I'm just a ******* then. Which I'm PRETTY sure I am.

[Aquamarine]

Viridian Tiger, on Aug 22 2007, 03:08 AM, said:

@ DarkSword
Oh, thank you! ^^ My religion isn't all about rules and such, and along with what I said about it when you die, while you live all that is expected of you is to just live a nice, leisurley life. ^^ No expectations. Just live the way you want to live. ^-^

So that means like, if you were a rapist and murderer, in the afterlife you'll be able to rape and kill as much as you want? I'm so gonna start with that stuff now!

[Eugine]

Quote

One of my favorite hobbies is killing the meaning of Christianity for people.
I gave up on it a long time ago, and aim to ruin the joy of religion for others. I like seeing people twist in the wind.

But to avoid potential headaches, I'll keep that to myself for now.

Aaah, I know someone kinda similar to you. He criticised religion just to get a sense of accomplishment because he was confused inside. He wanted to ruin the joy we Christians had (omg).. One minute he was an Atheist, next Satanist, next Christian, next Buddhist.

"Organised religion sucks!", "The Crusade war!", "OMG, I don't need an outdated book to dictate my life," he always screamed.

Why ruin the great happiness we guys have? Because you can't find it yourself? Jealousy? In the end, just keep your Atheism to yourself, and if religion tries to step in your life, simply tell them to stay out also.

All I can say now, may his soul rest in peace. He commited suicide.

I just hope you're not confused also.

[gsninja]

I don't think I've posted in this topic yet, so I'll state my views. =D

I'm a Christian-Catholic. I believe in the basic "guidelines" of the religion. Those are: God has been around forever and created the universe out of nothing and the stuff in the Bible.

Now, there are the people who think that the Bible exaggerates points or that it's all fake. Well, how do you know it's exaggeration or that it's fake? Just because a lot of the situations are supernatural doesn't mean that they're fake. You don't have to believe in the stories, but the Bible tells those stories to set the guidelines for Christianity.

Now, I believe in the basic "guidelines", but I don't believe in everything the Catholic Church does. I'm not gonna list everything I think is wrong, but there are lots of things the Church does wrong. I am against abortion, though. ;) (Oh, I don't think the Church does everything wrong)

Helping people in need, etc...I do all that based on my own judgment and my own morals. Like watch said before, it's a basic thing to help people.

So, all in all, if you don't like Christianity, or any other religion for that matter, don't spout useless BS like Nosferatu did. Oh yeah, and to that statement: I never let that kind of pointless talk force me to deter from my beliefs. n.n

[Viridian Tiger]

Aquamarine, on Aug 22 2007, 08:42 AM, said:

So that means like, if you were a rapist and murderer, in the afterlife you'll be able to rape and kill as much as you want? I'm so gonna start with that stuff now!

Umm... well if that's the way you want to live your life!! ^^;; My religion is unofficial to the world, though. O.o

[Split Infinity]

May I ask you something? Is your religion actually based on existing texts and beliefs, or do you simply believe it because you want it to be so? Because in my personal opinion, that is not a very good way to view the world.

[Golden Legacy]

^ Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, and anyone can freely choose how he or she wants to view the world. It isn't for anyone to say otherwise.

[Split Infinity]

That doesn't mean I can't have an opinion. I'm not telling anybody to do anything, GL.

[pHantOm]

I think religion causes many of the worlds problems, and some elders take it too seriously. When my grandmother found out Kasey is Jewish they told me I'm not allowed to marry her, without meeting her yet.

Unfair pre-judgement in my opinion.

[Aquamarine]

Completely agree with you, pHantOm. So WHAT if she is Jewish? Does that mean that she's a bad person? No. You should have told your parents/grandparents to buzz off. Not that I'm in a position to tell you what to do...

But yeah, so many wars have been waged because of religion. So many people have been killed and so many civilizations destroyed because of religion. And then how can people say that religion is a good thing?

[My Best Wishes]

So many people died so many years ago. People have wars over everything. People have Genocide's over lesser things then Religion.

[Golden Legacy]

Religion isn't the source of all the wars and conflicts in the world, but there's a good reason why it's been a historically important factor. It's because the very nature of religion is ingrained deep in people's lives - for religious people, it's their morals, their guidance through life, etc. People obviously feel strongly about it, and differences surrounding religion lead to conflict because those people become more involved - their bodies, minds, and spirits all come into play.

[Ironsight]

Yea, people gat way to hyped up about religion when it comes to other religions :(

[Someone Else]

pHantOm, on Aug 24 2007, 02:57 PM, said:

I think religion causes many of the worlds problems

Quoted for truthiness.

[Toasty]

^True, but if you look at it from another perspective, the United States was built on the christian religion. From then, even up until the time my mom was a kid, you could leave your car unlocked in the middle of a parking lot and not have to worry about ANYONE stealing it. It was once that christianity was beginning to be rejected that we encountered more rapists, serial killers, and bank robbers. That's because religion offered morals, and with the rejection of religion, came the rejection of morals.

I'm not saying that if you aren't religious then you don't have morals, I'm just pointing out that religion was one of the best ways to spread morals. And when religion was rejected, more people began to grow up without an influence in what's right and what's wrong.

[Aquamarine]

SO I DON'T HAVE MORALS HMMMMM?!?!

[My Best Wishes]

Mr.T, on Aug 27 2007, 06:19 PM, said:

I'm not saying that if you aren't religious then you don't have morals, I'm just pointing out that religion was one of the best ways to spread morals.

Aquamarine, on Aug 27 2007, 08:00 PM, said:

SO I DON'T HAVE MORALS HMMMMM?!?!

Where you being serious or what Aqua?

[Toasty]

Well, if you want to run around rapeing people for eternity then......no.

[Aquamarine]

Of course I wasn't being serious. I thought that was obvious...

And of course I don't really want to go around raping people forever!

<.<

>.>

[Someone Else]

Yeah but I don't like it when people scream at me and start hitting me. It's such a buzzkill.

@ Mr.T I guess so. I'm the one of those kinds of agnostics that don't particularly believe in religion at all, but God himself, that's the part I'm seriously pondering.

SO, if we didn't believe in religion, but believed in the creator, I think life would be a lot more simple.

[gsninja]

I just don't like those religious fanatics that will hate you forever if you think of making even the smallest insult about their religion. Mark my words, I'll never be like that. =|

[Someone Else]

All teenagers question their faith at some point. I think people need to be a bit more tolerant when it comes to religion as a subject.

[Eugine]

I've questioned my faith, but I have some friends who are die hard Christians and I can't imagine them questioning their faith (it feels so wrong). If they did (even thought about it!), I'll picture them as big hypocrites.

[Ironsight]

Wesley, is Christian to the Core. Its so fun getting him worked up about it, and then contradict him on every thing he says. >:rolleyes:

[Aquamarine]

... Who the heck is Wesley?!

[Someone Else]

Probs one of his friends.

[Ironsight]

Oh, i forgot. to avoid spaming, look in the Pet Peeves topic please.

If you practiced anther religion, what would it be?

[My Best Wishes]

Probably Atheist or Agnostic, most likely Agnostic.
If you can count them as religion, they're more ways of life?

[Eugine]

Judaism and then Buddhism.

If the Bible has any inaccuracies which can destroy the entire religion, most likely it will come from the New Testament. Hence my flocking to the Old Testament. If the entire Bible is decredited, then Buddhism.

I've met some Buddhist, <3
My main reason for going to Buddhism is that it requires no faith, but simply teaches how to achieve enlightenment. Everyone knows Budda was a human who was simply magnified as generations passed. His philosophy are the best I've ever seen though.

[Someone Else]

Atheism and agnosticism are more just philosophies rather than religion. There's no church to either. :rolleyes: Well as far as I know. An Atheist church would be scary.

[Envy]

My story on religion is complicated, I think.

I grew up as a Christian. A few years back we joined a Methodist church. (I don't remember what kind of Christianity we were in before!) I wasn't really ever a strong Christian you could say, I've always had my own morals, not all of them completely agreeing with Christianity. Plus I don't really think I was ever doing enough to be considered a devote Christian. I didn't spend a lot of time praying for others or anything. Shortly after we joined the Methodist church I started losing belief due to personal issues among other things and then I became an atheist. A close-minded one with that. I remember back in school I told a few people that God doesn't exist and that religion is stupid... Yeah.

Within the last few months I have opened my mind and became an agnostic. I'm not saying that atheists are close-minded, but the kind I was, was. No doubt about it. Part of the time I didn't have any clue what I was talking about either. >_< I don't go to church anymore, though I did go last Sunday because a friend of mine begged me to go to church with her. Yes, it's a good thing she didn't do that a few months back...

Even though I'm an agnostic, I'm a very confused one. I don't know whether to believe in a God or not, and I don't agree with Christianity in quite a few things.

[Someone Else]

Envy, on Sep 30 2007, 09:56 PM, said:

Even though I'm an agnostic, I'm a very confused one. I don't know whether to believe in a God or not, and I don't agree with Christianity in quite a few things.

This. I don't think I believe in religion, but God, I'm not sure to believe or not.

Things are going on in my life which may affect if I'll ever believe in a God. If things turn out well, I might become a believer, but if the worst happens, I don't think I ever will.

[Aquamarine]

That's not exactly how you should choose whether or not to believe. I mean, God is supposed to present people with many hardships to test their strength and fate. If things don't go as planned for you WD, you can't just say "Oh, that means He doesn't exist."

Although I'm a non-believer...

[Eugine]

I'm a rogue Christian, or so to speak. I don't go to church, but I do believe to an extent in the Bible. Sometimes I defend my faith, sometimes I don't...

[Someone Else]

Aquamarine, on Oct 1 2007, 12:25 PM, said:

That's not exactly how you should choose whether or not to believe. I mean, God is supposed to present people with many hardships to test their strength and fate. If things don't go as planned for you WD, you can't just say "Oh, that means He doesn't exist."

That means that good people's lives should be ruined by mistakes out of their control? This isn't happening to me directly but... what happens to this somebody else will affect me.

[Eugine]

>> I think you should believe because of the opposite Aqua. After all, we believe in Heaven because we have faith that if we live a 'Jesus-like' life we'll be taken to a better place.

[Toasty]

Well, the only other thing you need to get into heaven, according to christianity, is just to believe that Jesus died for your sins. Those two things are what get you into heaven accrording to the christian faith.

And in response to this:

Aquamarine, on Aug 21 2007, 04:57 AM, said:

The Bible 'explains' that God has always existed? The Bible says "Oh yeah, and btw, God has always been there and stuff". If they so wanted, scientists can say the exact same thing about the dense clouds, but they try to explain and not just choose the easy answer. If they were to say the clouds existed forever you wouldn't believe them, but you do believe that God has existed forever?

Aqua, if science was capable of explaining everything, we wouldn't still have questions to ask. Science STILL hasn't explained where the two dense balls of stuff that caused the big bang came from. Just like christians can't explain where God came from, other than "he's always been there and always will be." There's just a point along the line were you have to say you don't know. For the big bang theory, that point was just farther along the line than the christian faith's explanation of where God came from.

[Eugine]

I have been thinking about my religion the past few days (and now), and I think I have finally made a conclusion as to why I am Christian.

First of all, I personally put my scientific knowledge above my religion, for example I strongly denounce Genesis account on creation and I think that no one knows if, or when the world would end (Revelations).
I have started to base my faith on "What would Jesus do?" rather than "Follow the 10 commandments or you would burn in Hell for infinity". No matter how inaccurate the Bible may be - I honestly believe Jesus in the Bible is the perfect role model for everyone. Also, this has allowed me to open my eyes to other important figures in religion such as Muhammad and Bhudda cuz I honestly believe they lived a morally upright life, one that even Jesus will say challenged his own.

Anyway, for some reason, believing in Jesus has somehow made me a stronger person, and has allowed me to make better decisions, and has helped me in tough times. The power of faith I believe has a unexplainable effect on someone - one that can cure the body from many ailments.

In conclusion: I'm Christian because I believe it has made my life happier and the belief has helped me throughout my life.

Just had to say this, I was thinking about this while taking a piss (it was a darn long piss! o.o) and had to get this off my chest. lol.

[Lightning Star]

.eugine, on Oct 1 2007, 03:19 PM, said:

I'm a rogue Christian, or so to speak. I don't go to church, but I do believe to an extent in the Bible. Sometimes I defend my faith, sometimes I don't...

EXACTLY! Same here. (Though I think I end up defending it more often than not. The only thing I disagree with is the concept of homosexuality)

.eugine, on Jan 26 2008, 11:33 PM, said:

Just had to say this, I was thinking about this while taking a piss (it was a darn long piss! o.o) and had to get this off my chest. lol.

Though I honestly didn't need to know that, it sure made me laugh and proves that even Christians can be pretty crude :P We're not all straight-laced like we're made out to be.

[redchi]

i am Catholic but i dont go to chuch anymore or pray that much meh i lost a part of my faith some time ago

[Eugine]

Why did you disconnect with your faith redchi?

[Mathak Kraven]

Dude of Wind, on Oct 12 2007, 06:30 PM, said:

Aqua, if science was capable of explaining everything, we wouldn't still have questions to ask. Science STILL hasn't explained where the two dense balls of stuff that caused the big bang came from. Just like christians can't explain where God came from, other than "he's always been there and always will be." There's just a point along the line were you have to say you don't know. For the big bang theory, that point was just farther along the line than the christian faith's explanation of where God came from.

Well we don't know everything because
1. We're not smartie enough to know it all.
2. We're not quick enough to discover everything instantaneous.
3. Alot of time and effort go into this, to you, a science newbie, the answers need to be evidently there and directly deductable, but the very complex mathematics and experiments required to formulate a good evedince takes time, and in some cases we would need so much time that our lifetimes isn't enough.

You can't pin the blame on science for not knowing everything, because at the very least science doesn't want to give the generic answer of "God did it.", but actually wants to know what happened and give a well explained answer.

[Drizzy Drake]

Well don't we only use about 10% of our brains, and back like, 3 thousand years ago, we only used about 5%. So in 100 thousand years, we might know how the universe was created. But yo uare right. SOMETHING had to coem before the big bang, AND God. He could'nt have jsut been always there. Something had to create God, because if their was actualy NOTHINGNESS(No not the lack of planets, or stars, but just, NOTHING) then God couldn't have jsut, appeard, because nothing could have. Basically it goes on forever, because something always made the thing after it.


?>?>?>?>?>?>God

?>?>?>?>?>?>Big Bang

We jsut don't know. But really that thing goes on forever.


EDIT-If that didn't make any sense, I will try to explain it in a more simple way.

[redchi]

.eugine, on Jan 29 2008, 09:44 PM, said:

Why did you disconnect with your faith redchi?

after i found out that priest do bad things to lil kids and it made me really mad

[Drizzy Drake]

Ya, that is very disturbing. SINNERS.

Di my explanation make sense?


~1200~

[Laharl]

props to whoever made this poll for leaving out Sihkism (sp?), its not onr pf the world's 5 major religions for nothing :/

i am an atheist, contrary to fundy belief i dont want the 24 christians here dead. I dont like religion but if people keep it to themselves i've no problem. Only the zealous tards bget my special faith pwning treatment

[Mathak Kraven]

Skidzorz, on Jan 31 2008, 01:33 AM, said:

Well don't we only use about 10% of our brains, and back like, 3 thousand years ago, we only used about 5%. So in 100 thousand years, we might know how the universe was created. But yo uare right. SOMETHING had to coem before the big bang, AND God. He could'nt have jsut been always there. Something had to create God, because if their was actualy NOTHINGNESS(No not the lack of planets, or stars, but just, NOTHING) then God couldn't have jsut, appeard, because nothing could have. Basically it goes on forever, because something always made the thing after it.
?>?>?>?>?>?>God

?>?>?>?>?>?>Big Bang

We jsut don't know. But really that thing goes on forever.
EDIT-If that didn't make any sense, I will try to explain it in a more simple way.

This is considering the fact that we will always have a cause-effect structure for everything.

[Werebarrret/St Jimmy]

I'm a devout Roman Catholic.

[slomz]

Catholic. Catholic schools all my life. Gone on many retreats. Yay God!

[Toasty]

.eugine, on Jan 26 2008, 10:33 PM, said:

I have been thinking about my religion the past few days (and now), and I think I have finally made a conclusion as to why I am Christian.

First of all, I personally put my scientific knowledge above my religion, for example I strongly denounce Genesis account on creation and I think that no one knows if, or when the world would end (Revelations).
I have started to base my faith on "What would Jesus do?" rather than "Follow the 10 commandments or you would burn in Hell for infinity". No matter how inaccurate the Bible may be - I honestly believe Jesus in the Bible is the perfect role model for everyone. Also, this has allowed me to open my eyes to other important figures in religion such as Muhammad and Bhudda cuz I honestly believe they lived a morally upright life, one that even Jesus will say challenged his own.

Anyway, for some reason, believing in Jesus has somehow made me a stronger person, and has allowed me to make better decisions, and has helped me in tough times. The power of faith I believe has a unexplainable effect on someone - one that can cure the body from many ailments.

In conclusion: I'm Christian because I believe it has made my life happier and the belief has helped me throughout my life.

Just had to say this, I was thinking about this while taking a piss (it was a darn long piss! o.o) and had to get this off my chest. lol.

I just wanted to make one thing clear that you stated in your post. Christian belief doesn't say you get into heaven by doing good deeds (or following all ten commandments to a t), it says that you get into heaven by believing in God, and that Jesus died for your sins. Though, that's not to say you shouldn't follow the ten commandments or do good deeds.

Icy, on Jan 26 2008, 11:18 PM, said:

Though I honestly didn't need to know that, it sure made me laugh and proves that even Christians can be pretty crude :ph34r: We're not all straight-laced like we're made out to be.

True. :lol:

[Eugine]

Science vs God

"Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'
'Yes sir,' the student says.
'So you believe in God?'
'Absolutely.'
'Is God good?'
'Sure! God's good.'
'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'
'Yes.'
'Are you good or evil?'
'The Bible says I'm evil.'
The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible!' He considers for a moment.
'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'
'Yes sir, I would.'
'So you're good...!'
'I wouldn't say that.'
'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent.

'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
'Let's start again, young fella Is God good?'
'Er...yes,' the student says.
'Is Satan good?'
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'
'Then where does Satan come from?'
The student : 'From...God...'
'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'
'Yes.'
'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'
Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues: 'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'
The student: 'Yes.'
'So who created them?'
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them? There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.
'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'
The student's voice is confident: 'Yes, professor, I do.'
The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'
'No sir. I've never seen Him'
'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'
'No, sir, I have not.'
'Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'
'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'
'Yet you still believe in him?'
'Yes.'
'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?'
'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.'
'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat?'
'Yes,' the professor replies. 'There's heat.'
'And is there such a thing as cold?'
'Yes, son, there's cold too.'
'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.

'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'
'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'
'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,
flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'
'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'
The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'
'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.'
'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'
'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do'
'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'
The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.'
The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter.
'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelled the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'
'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?'
Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'
To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'

The professor sat down.

[Ironsight]

Christianity sucked, I switched to Atheism.
@Eugine: Old post is old.

[Zeypher]

One question I have, is if God controls everything, then why did a ton of people in China just die from natural disasters?

[Ironsight]

Because God hates the yellow people, duh.

[Zeypher]

DarkSword, on Jun 7 2008, 05:10 PM, said:

Because God hates the yellow people, duh.

That explains it -_-

[Split Infinity]

Eugine, that post fails to take into account the concept of comparitive faith. We believe what we are told because it fits in with our self-gained knowledge of the world. The idea of a God is flawed in so many ways that it is unreasonable.

[kate]

...ok so apparently I'm alone in my judaism. awesome.

eug I like that post, inspirational. Flawed in so many ways, but very nice n.n and I concur, faith is faith and we don't need science to believe in God. If we knew He existed it wouldn't be religion anymore, it'd be a fact, like how we know Bush is president (unfortunately) and that there are laws we follow. And considering how much of science is theoretical, they reeeally shouldn't be talking. I don't mean evolution or things like that (because bio is flawless and there's proof to back that shiz up :( ) but especially in physics. Gawd sometimes they make up particles just because otherwise some of their other laws wouldn't work. strange and charm quarks people, you know drugs were involved XD er what was I talking about? God is good. yes.

I like religion. Not knowing for sure keeps things interesting. Meesteriousss :B

question though, I've never gotten how people without faith...exist actually. Like I mean no offense, I'm just curious, how do you think about death without freaking out? Like actually stop and think about what it would be like if there were nothing after life. I would probably go mental.

[Caael]

Quote

question though, I've never gotten how people without faith...exist actually. Like I mean no offense, I'm just curious, how do you think about death without freaking out? Like actually stop and think about what it would be like if there were nothing after life. I would probably go mental.

When you die, you're gone. Your conciousness just goes so you cease to exist. Lilke before you were born; you weren't anything, you didn exist. Well thats what I think happens when you die.

I'm not scared of death either, i'm actually intruiged to see what death is like.

[kate]

...er according to you you won't be able to 'see' what death is like. You won't exist, there will be no seeing, or feeling or anything.

[Shikonaurum]

Of course, we could always be wrong and perhaps there is an afterlife. Then we'd see for ourselves.

For me, death is less concrete. Anyone could be right; I could be reincarnated, get dropped into hell, etc, or I could be in utter nothingness. All the same, because this may just be the only life we've got, I want to make the most of it.

As for mulling over nothingness... It just comes down to heck, I don't want to die now. Regardless of whether or not a person is religious, I don't think anyone wants to die. I don't spend my life worrying that it might be over at any second; nobody really does, do they? Maybe the paranoid.

[kate]

lol well I have an actual fear of death so yes, I do. If I start thinking of the possibility of there being nothing after death I'll hyperventilate and have panic attacks. Hence my religiousness XD

[Shikonaurum]

XD

Ideally nobody thinks about that 24/7, that'd put one quite ill at ease with the mere act of living. I don't want to die, and that's that. Regardless of whether I'm religious or not, I'd be gone from this world, unless reincarnation really does exist.

I hope this doesn't come out as insulting, but I hope that your basis for religion isn't only a method to allay a fear of death. From your previous posts, it doesn't sound like it is, but just checking. :(

[kate]

It was always a factor, but it was not the reason I became religious, nor is it the reason I remain so.

Honestly if I were solely religious to alleviate my fear I still wouldn't care, it's better to lie to myself until I believe something happy instead of constantly dwelling on my fears.

That being said, my belief in a higher power came from quite a different place. I've always been a very scientific person, and so I never really bought some of the reasons people try and use to "prove" God. But as I learnt more and more about science and the way life works, the more I became convinced that there's something more. And really I just find it difficult to look out my window and not believe in God. Trees are purty n.n seriously though, if you think about the fact that artists spend their entire lives trying to master skills enough to be able to recreate a simple nature scene and still can't get it quite the same, and then you analyze the molecular interactions required to produce that scene in real life, it seems so obvious to me that there's a God. and He/She's a nerd :(

[Shikonaurum]

Those are interesting points you make.

Perpetual fear; I must say, you're an interesting case, in the best meaning possible. =D

I believe, on occasion, in a higher being that has influenced the making of this world somehow; I wouldn't deign call him god, since that usually implies a heck of a lot of other things with it, including definitions of morality that I'd rather not touch. There is something higher than us in the universe, and I don't think it's the mice or the dolphins. [/blatant reference]

Perhaps not a nerd, but maybe a superior craftsman?