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?

[cee-dee]

"With the greatest of respect CD........" What you mean there is that you have absolutely NO respect.

".......... if I choose not to continue to try and answer again and again" But that doesn't stop you repeating your same old, same old doctrines over and over again! You've not, ever, made any attempt whatsoever to answer factual questions with factual answers point by point. You've glossed over questions, evaded issues or largely ignored the actual questions that were asked (and not JUST by me either).

[**bustysinclaire**]

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@cee-dee wrote:

"With the greatest of respect CD........" What you mean there is that you have absolutely NO respect.

".......... if I choose not to continue to try and answer again and again" But that doesn't stop you repeating your same old, same old doctrines over and over again! You've not, ever, made any attempt whatsoever to answer factual questions with factual answers point by point. You've glossed over questions, evaded issues or largely ignored the actual questions that were asked (and not JUST by me either).

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You are quite free to believe that CD of course you are.

I have no wish to make this thread a tit for tat interpersonal dispute. I believe I have in a friendly manor tried to answer questions respectfully as they have come. My answers are not evasive at all.

And no, I do not mean I have no respect. I quite politely meant what I typed. To politely tell you I cannot keep answering as it will be the same answer which you don't wish to take any notice of. 

CD how much more polite and respectful can I or should I be?

[cee-dee]

The fact is you've NOT answered at all.

There's no personal dispute here. The dispute is that statements are made as a supposed fact when they're not a fact at all and when questions are asked, they're evaded, ignored or a question answered which hadn't been asked in the first place.

[bankhaunter]

Although in fairness I do agree the Christian faith does cherry pick in its efforts to move with the times.

I have heard an Anglican bishop state that when modern morality changes, they go back to the Bible and reinterpret it, so man's morality is followed by the Bible rather than coming from it.

Unfortunately many Christians will say that there can be no objective morality without God and if God deems something to be moral that makes it right.

The scary thing with that is if the god voice in their head tells a believer they should commit any act no matter how awful that act would be, it's perfectly moral to do it.

A quote to make you shudder from William Lane Craig, a well know christian apologist in the US. justifying the slaughter of the Canaanites.

"So whom does God wrong in commanding the destruction of the Canaanites? Not the Canaanite adults, for they were corrupt and deserving of judgment. Not the children, for they inherit eternal life. So who is wronged? Ironically, I think the most difficult part of this whole debate is the apparent wrong done to the Israeli [sic] soldiers themselves. Can you imagine what it would be like to have to break into some house and kill a terrified woman and her children? The brutalising effect on these Israeli [sic] soldiers is disturbing."

The thinking that says killing children is good for them and enables such actions as the Holocaust.

He went on further to say that any Canaanite that died was due to them not leaving their own land quickly enough so God was not actually ordering them to be killed, they had a choice.

So it's okay to drive people out of their own country and it's their own fault if they die whilst trying to prevent it, that 'choice' thing again.

Atheists many Christians and others would say that killing innocent children is always morally wrong but apparently some followers of God don't, since JWs follow the Bible's every word, it seems to indicate they wouldn't either.

[bankhaunter]

You won't get answers CD.

Another push towards atheism for me was that Christians made out they knew God's mind and what he wanted but when asked an awkward question, would just say God moves in mysterious ways.

[cee-dee]

"Ours is not to reason why"? That's another get-out excuse?

[saasher2012]

From what I've read the JW is just a whole lot of contradictions, nothing I've learned on this debate has convinced me otherwise!.
In fact the only thing that sticks out is of a very stern parent saying " do as I say not as I do" or you will suffer the consequences , Big time!.
CD is correct none of our questions have been answered I myself & others have pointed it out many times, far from being argumentative we have all asked pertinent questions but never received answers.

[tommy.irene]

[tommy.irene]

It must be handy to kill people and get 7 hail Marys.. or reap someone and get forgiven by the priest..

[saasher2012]

lol. If only it was that easy!.

[saasher2012]

Sorry Tommy my reply was to your soap post not that one above which is a serious point!.

[bankhaunter]

Christian thinking is such that had Hitler repented before dying, he would have gone to Heaven whilst six million Jews, no matter how good they had lived their lives, would all be cast into a lake of fire.

Probably one of the reasons it became so popular, it didn't matter how monstrous a way you live your life, you only need to repent just before you die to be saved.

And they say atheists cannot have morals.

[saasher2012]

Double standards At its best along with hypocrisy?.

[evoman3957]

That reminds me of the old IRA, plant bombs Mon to Fri ( killing as many Men, Women & Children as possible ) then go to church and repent every Sunday to make everything alright.  IS......kill your fellow Muslims in their thousands ( a BIG taboo in the Koran ), say you're doing it for Allah and that makes everything alright. Priests...abuse Children Mon to Fri, then repent every Sunday to make everything alright..............there's a MUG born every minute alright !!

[bankhaunter]

The Catholic church held and in places still holds, their power by being the instrument by which forgiveness has to be made through.

It has been said that Christianity must be the truth as it has endured for so long but when you give it a good hard look it's easy to see why.

[cee-dee]

Hinduism has survived a lot longer than Christianity surely?

When you look at the various religions, you find that some are really based on an older version of something similar and the later versions have been formed by picking and choosing bits that suited and added other bits "as desired".

A word that's getting a lot of mentions just lately is "redacted" and although it has several interpretations, where old beliefs or documents are concerened what's really meant is "edited" and so it is with religions.

Bits that didn't quite suit have been left out or altered so really, what is true and what can be believed, if anything?

[tommy.irene]

People believe people are Holy

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/indian-holy-man-charanjit-gui...

[tommy.irene]

Jesus and Moses were sitting in heaven bored as usual. Nothing but chaste women leads to an eternity of boredom. So they are watching Tiger Woods playing golf on earth and Tiger smacks a ball over a water trap and Jesus says: “That is what I am talking about right there, this mortal has no idea whether his ball will go over the water or fall in, but he takes his chances and his best shot”. Moses nods and agrees. “Yeah, I missed the burning bush days, man that was some righteous bud.” Jesus says: “Hey man, lets go down there and try that game!” Moses was like: “But your father would not appreciate it”. Jesus said: “he is resting, so how would he even know?” Moses could not think of a reason so down they went. They went to the golf course and went into the clubhouse. Right next to the clubhouse was a huge lake. So Jesus tees a ball up and smacks it way out over the lake but it falls into the water. “Aw Christ, now what do I do”? asks Jesus. Moses says: I would just part the waters and shoot through, and Jesus says: “Nah, I never saw Tiger Woods do that, he just hits balls, there is no walking on water or parting water either.” So Jesus tees up another ball and smacks it way out into the lake, but if falls into the water. “DAMN.” And Jesus tees up another, and another, but they keep falling into the water. Soon some golfers come by and see Jesus bashing golf balls one after another into the lake. One of them approaches Moses and says: “What the hell is this guy doing?” Moses says: “He is trying to hit the ball across this lake.” Astounded the golfer asks: “Hit the ball across THIS lake? Who does he think that he is? Jesus Christ?” “No” says Moses, shaking his head. “He thinks that he is Tiger Woods.”

[saasher2012]

lol.

[Anonymous]