11-06-2014 10:24 AM
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?
13-06-2014 12:43 AM
Or this.
13-06-2014 2:40 AM
Jehovah, the ultimate Parent, has the power to restore what his earthly children may view as hopelessly lost.
A parent who sent bears to rip apart children for simply making fun of an old man's bald head?
A parent who stood by while another parent sacrificed his daughter in his name possibly because he seems to be very fond of the smell of burning flesh?
A parent who ordered the slaughter of children on more than one occasion including babies in the womb?
A parent that deliberately engineered the deaths of the first born of Egypt?
A parent like that we can well do without.
If you count them God has either condoned or killed himself 2,821,364 men, women and children, that doesn't include those killed by the flood and many others for which actual numbers are not given.
The Old Testament is a book of myths and tales with a common theme, put simply it's obey God or else.
In the greatest of all demonstrations of his power, he resurrected his Son, Jesus, as a mighty spirit creature, making him second only to Jehovah
Ah yes, to forgive us for the original sin he himself created, he found it necessary to send himself down to earth, get himself killed then resurrect himself, wouldn't it have been simpler to just say "I forgive you"?
The resurrected Jesus appeared to hundreds of eyewitnesses. (1 Corinthians 15:5, 6) Even for skeptics, such evidence should be ample. Jehovah has the power to restore life.
But none of them thought to write about it or tell anyone who may have written about it themselves and heresay written down later by a non contemporary is not evidence.
In fact there is very little evidence to show a Jesus even existed and none whatsoever to show if he existed he was the son of God and performed miracles, no contemporary accounts outside the Bible mention him at all.
Nothing in the Bible is evidence for anything.
Not only does Jehovah have the power to restore the dead but he also has the desire to do so.
Just hasn't bothered for at least the past 2,000 years.
After Armageddon, the survivors will see miraculous healings on a global scale
Ah yes, the good old Armageddon, sign of the death cult I mentioned earlier, do we have a new date to join the other failures of prophecy?
I became an atheist because nothing about religion made sense, every time I explored an avenue which seemed to go somewhere, I was brought up short by a massive contradiction or became stuck in the bog of 'why on earth?' so I am not going to waste my life running around after a non existent sky daddy.
13-06-2014 6:45 AM
After Armageddon, the survivors will see miraculous healings on a global scale
Ah yes, the good old Armageddon, sign of the death cult I mentioned earlier, do we have a new date to join the other failures of prophecy?
I became an atheist because nothing about religion made sense, every time I explored an avenue which seemed to go somewhere, I was brought up short by a massive contradiction or became stuck in the bog of 'why on earth?' so I am not going to waste my life running around after a non existent sky daddy.
Come and join me and enjoy what life you have left..
13-06-2014 8:25 AM
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140612-friday-superstition-taboo-fear-luck-triskaidekaphobia-phobia/ ..Its another man made thing..
13-06-2014 8:39 AM
More nutcases... news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/employees-sue-company-saying-they-were-forced-to-say-“i-love-you”-195322921.html
13-06-2014 9:04 AM
@cee-dee wrote:I'll invite comments to this:-
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/jehovahs-witness-elders-were-spiritually-7258297
Yet another illustration of religious people believing that their practices and procedures should take precedence over the rule of law.
Also yet another incident of the corruption within such practices; the criminals using the structures and practices of the organisation in order to facilitate their criminal activities!
Religions are man-made and they often serve these men/women to facilitae their own evil!
13-06-2014 9:08 AM
I know a girl whos husband left the JW.. now she cant keep the sex mad elders away from her door..
13-06-2014 9:11 AM
13-06-2014 9:17 AM
Yes, that's us..........on that little insignificant ball; floating in an eternity of airless space. A tiny liferaft in the middle of an infinite ocean, where all history that ever was and all future that there ever will be........has and will happen. Now wouldn't you have thought that some almighty power, to whom, nothing is impossible; would have created something on a slightly grander scale and slightly less fragile.
13-06-2014 9:21 AM
Maybe it's an experiment to see if it works out or not, if it does; the boss will do something on a much bigger scale..............MMMmmm.......sorry Boss ( in case you hadn't noticed ) it's not working !!
13-06-2014 9:22 AM
@bankhaunter wrote:Jehovah, the ultimate Parent, has the power to restore what his earthly children may view as hopelessly lost.
A parent who sent bears to rip apart children for simply making fun of an old man's bald head?
A parent who stood by while another parent sacrificed his daughter in his name possibly because he seems to be very fond of the smell of burning flesh?
A parent who ordered the slaughter of children on more than one occasion including babies in the womb?
A parent that deliberately engineered the deaths of the first born of Egypt?
A parent like that we can well do without.
If you count them God has either condoned or killed himself 2,821,364 men, women and children, that doesn't include those killed by the flood and many others for which actual numbers are not given.
The Old Testament is a book of myths and tales with a common theme, put simply it's obey God or else.
In the greatest of all demonstrations of his power, he resurrected his Son, Jesus, as a mighty spirit creature, making him second only to Jehovah
Ah yes, to forgive us for the original sin he himself created, he found it necessary to send himself down to earth, get himself killed then resurrect himself, wouldn't it have been simpler to just say "I forgive you"?
The resurrected Jesus appeared to hundreds of eyewitnesses. (1 Corinthians 15:5, 6) Even for skeptics, such evidence should be ample. Jehovah has the power to restore life.
But none of them thought to write about it or tell anyone who may have written about it themselves and heresay written down later by a non contemporary is not evidence.
In fact there is very little evidence to show a Jesus even existed and none whatsoever to show if he existed he was the son of God and performed miracles, no contemporary accounts outside the Bible mention him at all.
Nothing in the Bible is evidence for anything.
Not only does Jehovah have the power to restore the dead but he also has the desire to do so.
Just hasn't bothered for at least the past 2,000 years.
After Armageddon, the survivors will see miraculous healings on a global scale
Ah yes, the good old Armageddon, sign of the death cult I mentioned earlier, do we have a new date to join the other failures of prophecy?
I became an atheist because nothing about religion made sense, every time I explored an avenue which seemed to go somewhere, I was brought up short by a massive contradiction or became stuck in the bog of 'why on earth?' so I am not going to waste my life running around after a non existent sky daddy.
'Nothing in the Bible is evidence of anything' ?
A good definition of faith is ''belief in something without evidence.'' or ''belief in something that cannot be proved.'' I have absolutely no argument with that way of looking at faith, in fact, I insist upon such a definition. It is true that fundamentalist Christians take one step from that definition when they designate the Bible as something that is true. It enables them to take a position and then say it is in the Bible, and the Bible is true, and so my position is true. And that of course goes for all books on all religions I would have thought.
Some even say humans were creations only mistake. Well it was for sure for our animals that cant really communicate with us. If only these Gods had decided it would be unfair for them to be on the same planet as us? Then why would they be expected to consider them? Not one animal that has ever walked this earth has been evil? (instinct only). And as if there wasn't enough room out there in space.
13-06-2014 10:07 AM
@evoman3957 wrote:Maybe it's an experiment to see if it works out or not, if it does; the boss will do something on a much bigger scale..............MMMmmm.......sorry Boss ( in case you hadn't noticed ) it's not working !!
Please elaborate Evo, why do you say it's not working?
13-06-2014 10:33 AM
13-06-2014 11:00 AM
Well this depends on your criteria when deciding if it's working or not.
Huge parts of the World don't have such conflicts taking place and the population of the planet is increasing day by day. If success is measured by survival prolification of life then I'd suggest we're doing a good job!
13-06-2014 11:11 AM
If survival and prolification of life were the criteria of success, then RATS win hands down...............hardly a species one would get Kudos from competing with.............although I do see the similarities in many cases.
13-06-2014 11:17 AM
@astrologica wrote:
No Lambsy.....we don't have to struggle at the moment....unless you are a young person looking for a job, or a sick person hoping to be treated on the NHS. I agree...this is still a wonderful country, compared to other places in the world. That is why half of the world wants to come and live here, and we are becoming very overcrowded. I don't worry for myself.....I have had my three score and ten, although I am hoping for another twenty! I do worry about what this country will be like in twenty years time, when that flag of Islam could be flying over Downing St. I worry for my grandchildren, and what their lives will be like. The signs are there now that things could go badly wrong, but we have a spineless government that doesn't want to deal with the problem. I think we need to worry.
Wingnut alert. What is it with some older people of a certain stripe who try to justify their own irrational hyperbole and prejudices by citing "concern" for their children and grandchildren? Betcha this "concern" for the future doesn't extend to climate change, dwindling energy supplies, geopolitical stability, or how to support an ageing population...
Reading through this thread, it's funny how some scoff at others for taking religious texts too seriously, yet they're quite happy to swallow tabloid headlines and hoax chain emails hook, line, and sinker. Religious institutions aren't the only source for irrational thought processes.
13-06-2014 11:27 AM - edited 13-06-2014 11:31 AM
McCarthyism at it's best eh?
It's life Jim, but not as WE know it.
Live long and prosper.
13-06-2014 11:47 AM
@evoman3957 wrote:If survival and prolification of life were the criteria of success, then RATS win hands down...............hardly a species one would get Kudos from competing with.............although I do see the similarities in many cases.
But you suggested it may be an experiment, and if so it is not working, so I guess the question is what are we experimenting?
You say Rats win when it comes to survival and prolification of life, but is winning the only worthy result or is coming a distant 10th not a decent outcome also?!
So who/what is competing and what are we competing for, if anything? What are the perameters of the experiment?
13-06-2014 11:50 AM
@bookhunter2007 wrote:Wingnut alert. What is it with some older people of a certain stripe who try to justify their own irrational hyperbole and prejudices by citing "concern" for their children and grandchildren? Betcha this "concern" for the future doesn't extend to climate change, dwindling energy supplies, geopolitical stability, or how to support an ageing population...
Reading through this thread, it's funny how some scoff at others for taking religious texts too seriously, yet they're quite happy to swallow tabloid headlines and hoax chain emails hook, line, and sinker. Religious institutions aren't the only source for irrational thought processes.
Quite!
13-06-2014 12:05 PM
@astrologica wrote:
No Lambsy.....we don't have to struggle at the moment....unless you are a young person looking for a job, or a sick person hoping to be treated on the NHS. I agree...this is still a wonderful country, compared to other places in the world. That is why half of the world wants to come and live here, and we are becoming very overcrowded. I don't worry for myself.....I have had my three score and ten, although I am hoping for another twenty! I do worry about what this country will be like in twenty years time, when that flag of Islam could be flying over Downing St. I worry for my grandchildren, and what their lives will be like. The signs are there now that things could go badly wrong, but we have a spineless government that doesn't want to deal with the problem. I think we need to worry.
Sorry I forgot to reply to this earlier.
A young person looking for a job may struggle but most don't go without food or shelter, and the struggle one may have to be treated by the NHS is insignificant compared to struggling with no access to healthcare!
I don't buy the "we are becoming overcrowded" line. I'm fine with those who come here as long as they contribute, I don't want free-loaders. I believe we have pleanty of room for decent productive human beings!
If the flag of Islam ever flies above Downing Street it will not be in 20 years time, things could perhaps change over several centuries but the process leading to this would make it seem natural, just as we today take The Church Of England to be quite normal!
Your Grandchildren will be fine and there is little or no problem for the government to deal with. Take recent events in Iraq, they are problems, we just have some minor social issue that may need some attention!!!