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]

Now this is fact ..Its happing in the USA..

[bankhaunter]

Love it.

[tommy.irene]

---

@bankhaunter wrote:

Love it.

---

They said they had a Warrant from God..

[rose2008-2008]

Jesus wants you for a SUNBEAM!!!!!!!!!. LOL

[tommy.irene]

[tommy.irene]

www.irishcentral.com/news/Pope-Francis-hints-time-is-coming-for-married-priests.html

[bankhaunter]

Celibacy for priests was originally introduced to ensure property stayed with the church and didn't go to offspring.

Like many other things it was turned into a virtue.

[tommy.irene]

"Why didn't Adam and Eve find it strange that a serpent was talking to them?"

Answer:Interestingly, the serpent/snake speaking to Adam and Eve is not the only instance in the Bible where an animal speaks. The prophet Balaam was rebuked by his donkey (seeNumbers 22:21-35). We have to remember that while animals are not capable of speaking, there are powerful beings out there (God, the angels, Satan, the demons) who are capable of the impossible, including enabling animals to speak. Most scholars hold that it was Satan in the Garden of Eden who was speaking through the snake, not the snake itself speaking on its own. Thus, theGenesis 3account it is not suggesting that snakes were of an intellect that would have enabled them to speak coherently.

Still, why didn’t Adam and Eve find it strange that an animal was speaking to them? It is unlikely that Adam and Eve had the same perspective we do on animals. In our era, we know from experience that animals are incapable of speech on the same level as humans. Adam and Eve did not have a childhood, nor did they have other humans to learn from. Given that Adam and Eve had probably only been alive a matter of days, it is not unreasonable for them to believe that animals were capable of speech. It is also possible that this was not the first talking animal Adam and Eve had encountered. Perhaps Satan or even God Himself had used animals to communicate with Adam and Eve before. There are so few details given in the account that much is left to speculation and presumption.

Lastly, it was not unreasonable for Eve to answer the snake. After all, the snake was evidently speaking in a language that she understood and asking an intelligible question. It is also likely that Adam was nearby and could verify that she was not imagining things. It was not the serpent speaking that should have alarmed them. Rather, it was the fact that he was causing them to doubt God’s instructions (Genesis 3:1), contradicting God (Genesis 3:4), and calling God’s motives into question (Genesis 3:5). That should have been enough to cause both Eve and Adam to stop talking to the serpent.

Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/talking-snake.html#ixzz37ZK7o347

[bankhaunter]

That website can be the source of much amusement seeing the contortions they go through when trying to explain the more absurd and contradictory parts of the bible.

Harking back to the original question, it is difficult to give much value to the belief such nonsense, much the same amount as it would be for the belief that the earth was manufactured by the Magratheans for the benefit of a couple of white mice.

[tommy.irene]

Now we have a cup with healing powers..  

Police hunt for the 'Holy Grail': Burglars steal ancient wooden chalice said to be carried to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea after crucifixion of Christ

• Artefact was stolen from Weston-under-Penyard in Herefordshire 
• Raiders targeted the property after the elderly homeowner was hospitalised  
• Was previously held at the Nanteos Mansion near Aberystwyth in Wales 
• Water drunk from the wooden chalice is said to have healing powers  

By WILLS ROBINSON

PUBLISHED: 19:49 GMT, 15 July 2014 | UPDATED: 00:59 GMT, 16 July 2014

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2693405/Police-hunt-Holy-Grail-Burglars-steal-ancient-wooden... 

[rose2008-2008]

Are Priests Completely Celibate?,,,,,oh dear how awful!!!

[tommy.irene]

www.irishcentral.com/news/Pope-Francis-puts-himself-in-danger-by-tackling-pedophilia-and-cover-ups.h...

[saasher2012]

It's about time they had a good clear out! Let's hope they allow him to do it cos I think it's the only way people will begin to trust them again, a case of "do as I say not as I do". Not a good policy if you want you're flock to toe the line.

[tommy.irene]

Everyone has their views on life I suppose, but having been brought up to attend Sunday 
School, being forced to join the local choir, I have observed a lot of these religious 
people being hypocrites in their personal behaviour.

I feel religion has a lot to answer for, but at the end of the day, or beginning of night,
surely every human being is issued with a mind of their own.

I cannot really call myself a christian, but I do know right from wrong.
I would rather do someone a good turn,rather than a bad one.
Would you say this has anything to do with your upbringing or the way you view life 
yourself?

As a matter of interest, you people who believe in a god, were you born into this belief
or have you involved your own mind?

I suppose it is similar to voting for a political party just because your old man did.

[saasher2012]

You don't have to be a Christian to know right from wrong Tommy! That is taught at home from your Parents( or should be.) before you are old enough to even think about a faith.

[bankhaunter]

It's interesting to note that only three of the ten commandments are coincidental with present law.

Shows how unimportant most of them are.

[bankhaunter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz3EEqtcJME

[paul4757]

While I admit that I haven't read all the posts has someone come up

with a more realistic proposal than God?

[bankhaunter]

has someone come up

with a more realistic proposal than God?

That's easy.

Reason, if there is something you don't know about and cannot find out, 'God did it' is not a reason.

God is for those who want an easy life and be told what to do by others who they allow to have control and who don't want to think for themselves.

Either that or it's fear pure and simple, believe in me or I send you to hell.

[paul4757]

---

@bankhaunter wrote:

has someone come up

with a more realistic proposal than God?

That's easy.

Reason, if there is something you don't know about and cannot find out, 'God did it' is not a reason.

God is for those who want an easy life and be told what to do by others who they allow to have control and who don't want to think for themselves.

Either that or it's fear pure and simple, believe in me or I send you to hell.

---

Just replace the words God\Religion with Science and that applies to virtually everyone who doesn't

believe in God