Should Faith/Religion Have Such a High Value In Our Society?

[lambsy_uk]

I'm not here to trample all over people's faith/beliefs but to ask if/why such beliefs should hold such high value in our society?

So where am I comming from? Well we can freely question almost anything in our society/lives; morals, political beliefs, actions and reactions, motivations, interactions, foreign policy, education, welfare, how we raise our children, law and order and so on..........

However we are positively discouraged from questioning people's faith/beliefs/religion! We are also actively encouraged to accommodate and allow for people's religious beliefs, and this is the bit that really irks me! Why is it that if something is done in the name of a religious belief/practice then we are expected to accept it with little fuss where if any other excuse were used we'd be up in arms?

We endure arguments of whether animal rights should take precedence over religion, whether saving the life of a child should take precedence over their parent's beliefs, should freedom of expression take precedence over religious sensitivities?

For me you may as well base stuff on the football team you support;

"I can't comply with the company dress code because I'm a United fan and therefore I must be allowed to wear a United shirt at work."

As far as I'm concerned this is no more ridiculous than anything done/not done in the name of religious beliefs!

So why do religious beliefs hold such high status and is it right that they do?

[tommy.irene]

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/we-forgive-girl-mortified-parents-3812954

[bankhaunter]

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@saasher2012 wrote:
I like the way he says woman of 50+ aren't in good shape! Hey Nasty had a good look in the mirror just lately? lol.

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That reminds me of the woman who had an aunt that had always had a sexually adventurous life.

Having reached over fifty the aunt told her niece she was thinking of turning to lesbianism, when asked why simply said "Have you looked at fifty year old men?".

[bankhaunter]

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@tommy.irene wrote:

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/we-forgive-girl-mortified-parents-3812954

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I don't think I would regard her as a victim, she didn't go to Magaluf for the scenery.

[tommy.irene]

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@bankhaunter wrote:

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@tommy.irene wrote:

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/we-forgive-girl-mortified-parents-3812954

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I don't think I would regard her as a victim, she didn't go to Magaluf for the scenery.

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I dont think so either..  https://www.facebook.com/EmilyGaythwaite?fref=ts

[saasher2012]

No! I'm afraid I agree with you on that point.

[saasher2012]

LOL.

[rose2008-2008]

Euuuuugh i just seen this about the TROLLOP in Magaluf!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Well they dont call it SH*****F for nothing!!. I dont know,,,words fail me!!!

[saasher2012]

I think that's she's only remorseful because it was filmed if it hadn't been the parents would be none the wiser!.

[tommy.irene]

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@saasher2012 wrote:
I think that's she's only remorseful because it was filmed if it hadn't been the parents would be none the wiser!.

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Yes and the Holiday she won was a scam..

[saasher2012]

Double whammy then!

[tommy.irene]

The joy of religion. Live a sinful life, just as long as you repent and ask for forgiveness afterwards.

[bankhaunter]

I was watching a video of a phone in television progamme from the US.

A woman was saying how when she was a believer if she did something wrong she could ask for forgiveness and then would feel better but having become an atheist, she now had to handle feelings of guilt and couldn't just shrug them off.

[saasher2012]

Just goes to prove how religion does your head in, just because you are a non believer doesn't mean you go about doing bad things!

[bankhaunter]

I find it quite annoying when a religious person insists morallity can only come from the bible and that the 10 Commandments are the be all and end all.

It's interesting that in most countries only three of them are actual laws and I don't see commandments such as, 'Thou shalt not **bleep**' or 'Thou shalt not have sex with young children' or even 'Thou shalt treat women and men as equals'.

[**bustysinclaire**]

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@saasher2012 wrote:
Just goes to prove how religion does your head in, just because you are a non believer doesn't mean you go about doing bad things!

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Quite a lot of truth in that bit saasher.

But what does set true christians apart from the bad and non believers is their pro activeness alongside the the good principles they claim to live by. Actions speak louder than words, so if you state you are a true christian (or a good person) then you show it by your actions and not just by word alone. You don't just state oh I don't do bad things you make a big effort in proving it. ie living by God's standards, and those standards are not the ones that worldly religions think they adhere to either.

That doesn't mean though that true christians ar perfect, far from it but it is the effort they make in everything they do to be a good christian.

[rose2008-2008]

I have to say on a similar vein to what Saasher said above. I came from a very strongly religious family where i was forced to don my best clothes every Sunday and go to church. It did me no good at all. I became fearful,frightened that terrible things would happen. I thought it depressed me and messed with my head listening to some of the trash they came out with in the Sermon of the Week!!. In the end regularly in the church i started having panic attacks and feeling faint. I think i knew even at a young age i was being brainwashed and controlled. As soon as i stopped going to church i felt so much better!!. I know some people believe and im not having a go at anyone ,these are just my views!.

[bankhaunter]

ie living by God's standards.

But they allow you to do almost anything,

'Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.' Hosea 13:16

Many more examples could be listed, however it would be less a case of ad infinitum and more of ad nauseam.

I rather think that my morals and standards along with those of the majority of ordinary people are somewhat higher than those of your God.

[saasher2012]

I am a non believer, not an atheist , as I believe in Mother Nature so verge on pagan rules,
I do not go about my daily life preaching to others I also do not go out of my way to hurt , steal or any other things that society deems unacceptable, I believe you never stop learning, I also have many faults & hopefully will own up to them, did I learn this from a fairy tale book ? No!! From my upbringing & also I hope knowing right from wrong, I need NO god to put the fear of retribution in my mind ,it's ingrained in me , it's called a CONS CIENCE. This puts us above all other animals in this world of ours.

[saasher2012]

lol. & spelling is one of my faults but at least I was able to quickly edit & slip the C in conscience. Apologies. lol.

[cee-dee]

On the other side of the coin, living by "Christian" values is no bad thing is it? Leave out the "God" bits and there's a lot of good sense.

If all this talk of a supreme being who created everything in a week was put aside the World over, it'd be a better place.

Even here we argue about it all (!!!) and when science points out that mountains (the Alps for instance) was once under an ocean, showing fossils that only lived in water and shows us lava tubes which also only began under water, the glib answer is always "Oh God created the mountains like that". There's none so blind as those who will not see?

The sooner religion and all the guilt-inducing rants and threats of divine retribution are forgotten, the better!