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They'd rather have the child's life taken. Sometimes some people baffle me. Why would they even want to worship a being that would prefer that? Especially when side by side with the taking a life is horrible belief...

Because religion is irrational.

As  I have said. Good people left to their own resources will do good things generally. Bad people left to their own resources will do bad things generally. If you want good people to willingly do bad things, give them a religious belief and a mandate to do or believe bad things.

I think i said something like that once in any case it is true.

I'm confused

You don't necessarily have to give them a theist belief though - just something that takes on fanaticism.  And you certainly don't need religion for that.

Very true. However, Religion with absolutist concepts tends to produce such behaviours at an alarming frequency.

Agreed.

This post was last modified: 04-23-2012 07:38 PM by Some_Bloke.

I like the irrationality of spirituality, and feel that a strict adherence to logic leaves much to be desired (along the line of "Imagination is more important than knowledge”)

That being said, I agree that “Religion with absolutist concepts tends to produce such behaviours at an alarming frequency.”

But I think the true secrete to its success is that people are intolerant of differences and con artists know how to use Bible scriptures to justify these people in a way that they do not need to be accountable (“[the devil, scratch that] god made me do it") for their nature. They actually pay these con artists (i.e. preachers) huge sums to justify them.

This post was last modified: 04-24-2012 01:21 AM by awiddershinlife.

The Bible is simply written in a difficult manner to accept. First and foremost it is sexual totalitarianism. The overall message is submission to God and each other. God is in charge at all times. And if you don't like it you can go to....

For example the Catholics even think your hand is a sin.

This post was last modified: 04-24-2012 03:39 AM by Shrek.

I totally agree with you Shrek!

Christ came to get everyone off the negative minutia and back on the path of spirituality. I have been railing against those who claim to be followers of Christ who turn their backs on his corrections. I simply have no memory of Christ complaining about hands - haha!

Christ was basically the first women's libber.  Women held key roles in his ministries, including leadership. They attended his birth, death, and resurrection. They had leadership roles in his ministry, which have been messed with. For example, calling women 'deacons’ was changed to ‘deaconess’ and their role minimalized in the first centuries following his death.  

The Christians who have inspired me the most are Catholics, I totally reject the pope and his homies as rich, old misogynistic, self-serving b******ds. The position is political and has been the source of incredible harm. This office has alienated countless people from Christ’s teachings and eliminated whole cultures, let alone instituting sexual abuse for two melinia. As we speak, the pope is disciplining American nuns for following Christ’s teaching instead of Vatican pronouncements.

I have met only lovely nuns but I know papist nuns can be twisted.  I have met many arrogant nasty priests, but also ones who were truly enriching. Its hard to dis such a diverse group.

My three major role models are the Dalai Lama, Ghandi, and Mother Teresa.

The Bible is not useful as a literal text. It is useful when considering each book in context, and recognizing if it is allegory, opinion, or history. And just like the histories were taught in grade school, they need to be read with a grain of salt.

Big parts of it make the national enquirer look like children's bedtime stories!

This post was last modified: 04-24-2012 05:26 AM by awiddershinlife.

I've never understood how you can institutionalize hatred of "this world."  Even if you believe there are other worlds, you've never been to any of them, and cannot have any basis for comparison.  

The key to this, however, is that it's a trick question.  It's a test of what you believe about faith, rather than a question of whether it's more important to you than (someone else's) life.  If you forget all religion, you can always learn more.  But once the kid is dead, s/he is not ever coming back ever.  

The real question is, you can guarantee the child's life or death, but you can't guarantee your own faith.  So are you willing to gamble for high or low stakes?

Edit: No better illustration of the destructiveness of faith, IMO.  If faith, rather than good behavior saves you, why be good?  Why not rape, murder and steal?  What difference would it make?  If saving a child's life isn't a worthwhile prize, then you've lost the game before you've even started playing.

This post was last modified: 04-24-2012 05:50 AM by Lang.

I am sorry but even with his corrections and the new testament, to accept this holy, good, light person (er...  who I guess also condones eternal torture according to some), you'd only be accepting Jesus in half his moods. The very idea of there being corrections confuses me, as if they are prone to mistake and flaws with opinions like humans.

Oh yes that is a good way to put it, never thought about that. they've no real way to guarantee their faith... especially @ people who refer to their faith as an opinion sometimes... it shows the def of "faith".

Who do you think wrote it; Martians?

Sorry but good people will refuse to do bad thing. For example, Lawrence Hughes was a Jehovah witness. He was against blood transfusion etc. But when his daughter got sick with leucemia. he accepted that she get blood transfusion, against his own core belief, telling himself: "I wont get to paradise myself, but my daughter will be saved." That's a good man, a good father. He sacrifice his eternal salvation, to save his daughter. Jehovah Witness believe it's not a sin if the blood was forced on you, thus you still get into paradise. (Lawrence later realised what kind of BS the JW were really about later.)

My parent on the other end they tried to get me evincted from the hospital since i was trying to find a way for my brother to receive a blood transfusion.

Religion turn people into bad people.