I have a legitimate question about religion (more so Christianity)

[Puppet]

I think the answer to your question is actually fairly simple. The kind of people you are talking about probably have very little religious knowledge and Christianity is probably the easiest target as it is the one they know the most about.

 

I'm guessing the same could be said for most countries with a dominant religion.

[Trik'Stari]

As an atheist, I can say that my problem with religion and more specifically Christianity hasn't been the belief in a god, it's the blind faith that most of them put into what other people tell them. I live in the south, and most Christians that I've ever met have been what I call "peer pressure christians". They were raised that way, told it was "the right way", and they continue in those beliefs mainly out of a social requirement than actual faith. I say this because when speaking with them, it becomes obvious (to me any ways) that they have never questioned their own faith, or even considered that those that taught them were raised the exact same way.

 

Which comes to my point, my problem with Christianity has always been that it is entirely dependent on blind faith, they (in my experience, and my father has tried to convert me numerous times) never encourage anyone to question their faith (unless it's someone of another faith from my experience) which I find to be abhorrent. Blind faith is NEVER a good thing, it leads to horrible things, always has in human history.

 

Finally, the argument I've always tried to make to my father. How can any god, that requires more than simply doing the right thing for it's own sake, be a good one? In my mind, the only thing a person should be judged on is their actions towards others. If you do the right thing, simply because it's the right thing to do, then you are a good person, and that's all that should matter. There should be no need for an enternal reward/punishment. In my mind, the promise of heaven and hell is purely a human invention, made up along time ago, to control the masses (religion has always been an opiate for the masses, there is plenty of historical evidence of this).

 

So for my part, that is why people don't tolerate religions and Christianity anymore. I feel that "the church" actually has nothing to do with a faith in god, but just another form of control. If you are a good person, and do good things, that's all that should matter, not how much time you spend in church or how hard you pray. But most Christians that I have met in my time are the complete opposite from this. They qualify for what Ghandi said "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

[Guest Kloaked]

Some of you are looking into this way too deep. This has less to do with religious practices and more to do with social interaction.

 

I'll say this: hating all Christians because some are bad apples is the same as hating a whole race of people since a few out of the race are bad apples. You're going to find morons everywhere, no matter what social category they're in.

[Commander Llama]

I guess my problem with religion is that it's a just scam, a series of large cults used to extort money and control people, while hiding under the guise of extremely conflicted morality and community.  Oh, and it is mostly propagated by childhood indoctrination.  Most, if not all religions are anti-scientific and anti-progress, since they flourish best in ignorance.

 

Those would be the main problems.  I view every case of apostasy as an improving world.

[Misanthrope]

To sum it up:

 

[meritmaster]

To sum it up:

 

How did the crusades start?

Couldn't of been Muslim genocide, and Barbary against Christians; kinda like what's going on now in then middle east.

[meritmaster]

I have a very straightforward answer for you: Antitheism.

 

Basically, these are people who don't get religion and the happiness that it gives to people, so instead, they bash and knock Christians and others who believe in other religions.

These people call themselves atheists, but are really not, because being an atheist is actually an oxy-moron. The whole point of Atheism is that the hypothetical TV of Religion is in the 'off' position, so how is it that people are spending their time to promote their lack of belief, their lack of their TV being on?

I myself am not religious, I used to be, but I just don't see God like I used to. Nothing more, nothing less. I would personally love to be religious, to fit into a group of generally good people who don't hate, judge or generally be a dick. It's nice to know that there are people who have found happiness in religion, but passively, I have not found this yet, and do not wish to pursue this in life as I am sure it will come eventually.

 

Atheists don't understand happiness, or any good from religion generally. Many think that this world would be better without. Many people think that religion is horrific and wrong, promoting extremes and humanitarian problems. Whilst this is true in some places, generally, this is a false assumption, made by people who have no fucking clue to be brutally honest. Islam, for example, is a great religion promoting peace, love and understanding. Unfortunately, you have enthusiasts, who send missiles into Israel, planes into towers and pentagonal shaped buildings and bombs into London buses. However, most Muslims are wholly against this act (and, it is worth noting, extremism too). As are Christians with the whole Northern Ireland matter. IRA bombers still present a problem to the UK to this day, just because they can't accept that they are never going to win, ever.

 

So what I would do is ignore these ignorant rascals, who are just too into their religion and be happy atheists, Christians and/or whatever you want. We are free in this world, we have the freedom to do whatever we want whenever the fuck we want.

 

And just as a note: It's Shinto, not Shintoism

First all for truth finding brother, and i feel as your words ring honest to me, so i would like to thank you for posting a honest opinion, as in this world the one thing we need is understanding, so let me offer you some of my understanding.

You're right about the different types of atheist, but you have to also take into account another kind some people just hate the world, and don't believe in good, and evil, so they will do anything to stomp out the flame of what they think is "ancient thoughts", "outdated ideals", and the "opium of society"; There are world leaders, and atheists countries whom have gone out of their ways to stomp out religion, and murder them; Stalin, Lenin, Marx, Engles, and Mao all were atheist's that led atheist countries; all countries inspired by this battle of destroying religion, and "advancing the human race with 'science!'."

"Islam, for example, is a great religion promoting peace, love and understanding"

 

Ah really? The third Imam in the Koran doesn't promote  violence? 

Qur’an 9:29-Fight against Christians and Jews ”until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.”

Qur’an 4:91- If the unbelievers do not offer you peace, kill them wherever you find them. Against such you are given clear warrant.

. Qur’an 9:7-9-Don’t make treaties with non-Muslims. They are all evildoers and should not be trusted.

Qur’an 9:12-14-Fight the disbelievers! Allah is on your side; he will give you victory.

. Qur’an 9:5 Kill the nonbelievers wherever you find them.

Qur’an 2:191-2-Kill disbelievers wherever you find them. If they attack you, then kill them. Such is the reward of disbelievers.

O trust me it's an awful religion.

 

[FranBunnyFFXII]

Some of you are looking into this way too deep. This has less to do with religious practices and more to do with social interaction.

 

I'll say this: hating all Christians because some are bad apples is the same as hating a whole race of people since a few out of the race are bad apples. You're going to find morons everywhere, no matter what social category they're in.

Some of you are looking into this way too deep. This has less to do with religious practices and more to do with social interaction.

 

I'll say this: hating all Christians because some are bad apples is the same as hating a whole race of people since a few out of the race are bad apples. You're going to find morons everywhere, no matter what social category they're in.

I don't hate christians, I hate their religion.

See this is what people don't understand. I'm against the child abuse and emotional disassociation and lack of proper judgement that being religious brings. "A few bad apples"

The biggest problems with humanity have been caused by religion.

The OP stated "why just christians" When in reality, the religion I have the most distast and disapproval of is Islam, because of its vicious and destructive sexism.

I'm getting tired of seeing this: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS590US590&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=islam%20woman%20stoned

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/27/world/africa/sudan-christian-woman-apostasy/

http://www.inquisitr.com/1402481/woman-stoned-in-syria-for-not-being-a-virgin-was-a-widow-isis-threaten-death-by-sword/

This is what religion does to people

Where as this is what education, science, and Knowledge does to people.

There is goodness in the hearts of all mankind, but religion makes them blind to it.

It doesn't matter Egyptian cult, to Christianity, to Islam, to Hinduism, it is all simply fairytales of no worth beyond telling us that people of the past were unaware of the world around us.

But now we know better.

Now we truely know that this universe was not made for us, that we are nothing more than a floating spec of dust in a much larger expanse of spacetime

We can be so much more, but we adhere to old ideas which are false and falsely guarded.

To throw away your religion is to free yourself from the shackles of man's past, and to move forward into a place where knowledge breeds facination, understanding and even love for your fellow humans.

We are not the sum of ourselves, but instead the sum of all things in this universe.

We are the result of the universe trying to observe itself, to understand itself.

And that In my eyes is the most powerful emotionally driving fact that I know.

We are part of this universe, and We are the universe trying to understand itself.

[Guest Kloaked]

I don't hate christians, I hate their religion.

See this is what people don't understand. I'm against the child abuse and emotional disassociation and lack of proper judgement that being religious brings. "A few bad apples"

The biggest problems with humanity have been caused by religion.

 

Religion = child abuse and emotional disassociation?

 

 

LOL

 

Have you been outside recently?

 

Edit: If you hate the religion and not the people, then why do you even bother with evangelizing your point of view on a thread that has nothing to do with the existence of a god?

[FranBunnyFFXII]

Religion = child abuse and emotional disassociation?

 

 

LOL

 

Have you been outside recently?

 

Edit: If you hate the religion and not the people, then why do you even bother with evangelizing your point of view on a thread that has nothing to do with the existence of a god?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2312813/Richard-Dawkins-Forcing-religion-children-child-abuse-claims-atheist-professor.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/children-religion-fact-fiction_n_5607009.html

[Guest Kloaked]

 

 

Why are you posting a video as your only reply? I thought this was a discussion thread.

[FranBunnyFFXII]

[...]why do you even bother with evangelizing your[...]

 

e·van·ge·lize

iˈvanjəˌlīz/

verb

verb: evangelize; 3rd person present: evangelizes; past tense: evangelized; past participle: evangelized; gerund or present participle: evangelizing; verb: evangelise; 3rd person present: evangelises; past tense: evangelised; past participle:evangelised; gerund or present participle: evangelising

•  

• convert or seek to convert (someone) to Christianity.

  synonyms:

  convert, proselytize, redeem, save, preach to, recruit; More

   

   

  •  

  • preach the Christian gospel.

    "the Church's mission to evangelize and declare the faith"

     

•  
•  
•  

Origin

late Middle English: from ecclesiastical Latin evangelizare, from Greek euangelizesthai, from euangelos (see evangel).

[Guest Kloaked]

*snip*

 

 

[sqwidee]

The main reason I've noticed that Christianity is spit on constantly is because Christian scholars attempt to debunk some areas of science, resulting in a majority of the science community hating Christians. I choose to stay out of the science argument since I don't know anything about physics and whatnot. I just argue logic and what's in front of me instead and that's about as far as I go.

 

Other reason is people seem to think since Christians don't believe in certain lifestyles being right, that we automatically hate people who participate in said lifestyles, which is not the case with every single religious person. It's just as bad to assume every Christian hates gays for example just like it is with every Christian assuming any non-Christian who questions their deity as a religious offense.

 

Example: the CEO of Chick-Fil-A restaurants was asked about what he thought about marriage - he didn't randomly say this out of nowhere to spite someone, he was asked - yet every social media and news outlet painted him as a bigoted asshat who hates gays, yet his employs them and offers fair treatment to any lifestyle. People were surprised that a Christian didn't believe in same-sex marriage.

 

Later it was revealed that he donated money to one-man one-women marriage groups to protest gay rights and such, which is understandable to be upset about, but the man doesn't hate any particular people group.

 

The thing I find most off-putting about religious people or argumentative atheists is that they forget what science is for.

 

SOME Christians (not all, I've met some smart ones who don't do this) seem to think that they should argue against scientific thought because somehow it "proves the Bible wrong". They're missing the point. A lot of stuff in the Bible is written in a way that makes the PURPOSE OF THE RELIGION make sense, not the science of the physical world. They assume that because the creation stories are in that book, they must be absolute fact. This is not necessarily the case at all. If those books out of the Bible were meant to unite the people of Israel under one faith (as many Christians would argue is the original application of the first 5 books), then it wouldn't make sense to fill those texts with elaborate explanations of DNA, mutations, evolution, and the whole scientific sha-bang now would it? That wouldn't get the job done.

 

SOME Atheists (not all, I've met some smart ones who don't do this) seem to worship this big "god" called "Science" and say it disproves every facet of a religious belief system. This also is not the case, it's missing the point, and it's the same kind of thought process that lead to Social Darwinism (and we all know how that shitstorm turned out). Science is simply a method of investigating the physically observable reality around us. Scientists look at what happens around us, and ask why those things happen. They devise theoretical models to explain these occurrences, and if investigation cannot disprove these models, they keep them until they need to be revised or thrown out altogether.

 

I guess in short, the way I see it is that there are many atheists who believe they're swinging a sledgehammer at religioun when in reality they're wielding a feather, and likewise there are a bunch of Christians who wrongly believe that scientific thought is distant or opposed to a religious belief system when that's not necessarily the case.

 

In the end all we'll get as a society is a bunch of confused and angry people, and that's a waste of time imo

[Guest Kloaked]

*snip*

 

Maybe, maybe not. That's not what the OP was talking about, though.

[sqwidee]

Maybe, maybe not. That's not what the OP was talking about, though.

 

I quoted a post for a reason, wasn't a response directly to the OP.

Sorry if it's not totally on point...

[Guest Kloaked]

I quoted a post for a reason, wasn't a response directly to the OP.

Sorry if it's not totally on point...

 

It's not a big deal, I just think you were over-thinking and over-analyzing it.

 

The issue is very simple

[sqwidee]

I quoted a post for a reason, wasn't a response directly to the OP.

Sorry if it's not totally on point...

 

I do think the OP kinda has a point though. I would say it has a lot to do with the compartments we put people in when they say they're Atheist or Christian or whatever. I know a lot of Atheists and Christians on a more personal level so it's easier for us to discuss our ideas without "bashing". If society weren't against Christians, it would be targeting someone else, simple as that.

 

Everyone has slightly different ideas and everyone wants to be right. I'll say what I think, but in the end if I'm wrong I'll just have to eat it and be wrong, right? 

[Guest Kloaked]

I do think the OP kinda has a point though. I would say it has a lot to do with the compartments we put people in when they say they're Atheist or Christian or whatever. I know a lot of Atheists and Christians on a more personal level so it's easier for us to discuss our ideas without "bashing". If society weren't against Christians, it would be targeting someone else, simple as that. Ya but it's cool and edgy to hate on Christians in 'Murica for various dumb reasons, which why it's an issue. If you said something bad about Muslims while at a political gathering, you'd be spit on and had tomatoes thrown at you. But if you talk bad about a Christian, you'll get rewarded by the hivemind of self-righteous individuals.

 

Everyone has slightly different ideas and everyone wants to be right. I'll say what I think, but in the end if I'm wrong I'll just have to eat it and be wrong, right? Totes.

[Trik'Stari]

The holocaust, and the Holomodor were cool right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor

So science 

So wow

So no god 

So smart

Communist countries were atheist based societies, and looked how they turned out.

Actually they were based in blind faith in the people in charge of them, who used anything and everything to increase their own power, just like all religions always have. That being said, communism is evil.

 

If you read my argument earlier, any logical being would shun the idea of a "supreme authority figure without question" which is exactly what the societies you mentioned were based around.

[Guest Kloaked]

The holocaust, and the Holomodor were cool right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor

So science 

So wow

So no god 

So smart

Communist countries were atheist based societies, and looked how they turned out.

 

I don't think that's a fair statement, though. There's plenty of Atheists who are chill with everyone. The issue there is communism and asshatery 

[Huginn]

Actually they were based in blind faith in the people in charge of them, who used anything and everything to increase their own power, just like all religions always have. That being said, communism is evil.

 

Communism isn't always evil, it's just poorly executed. Poland was off way worse after they got seperated from SU. Their economy completely collapsed.

And how much better is capitalism? The rich get richer, the poor get even more poor. A great movie showing this is " In Time ".

 

On topic: I don't care about religions. Believe in whatever you want, but make sure you don't harm others with your beliefs. Or force them upon others. Only reason I don't like the Islam is because of this, stupid Jihad nonsense + female surpression.

[Puma911]

I used to be the guy who would seek to argue with religious people. Not anymore. Now the only time I have a problem with someone's religion is when they use it to dictate our country's laws (ie gay marriage).

 

I used to be atheist but found myself depressed with some kind of spiritual void. Now, as a member of a 12 step program, I pray and meditate but I have no Idea what I pray and meditate to. I'm ok with that. Makes me feel better so fuck it.

 

"Religion is for people who are afraid to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there."- Anonymous. 

[Trik'Stari]

Communism isn't always evil, it's just poorly executed. Poland was off way worse after they got seperated from SU. Their economy completely collapsed.

And how much better is capitalism?

 

On topic: I don't care about religions. Believe in whatever you want, but make sure you don't harm others with your beliefs. Or force them upon others. Only reason I don't like the Islam is because of this, stupid Jihad nonsense -.-

Communism is always evil, your talking about socialism, which is impossible as long as humans are involved.

 

I agree people should believe in whatever they want, but they shouldn't organise groups based around it with "leaders", as we have seen time and time again leads to nothing but abuse of power

 

Capitalism is better because it's more like nature, whoever can win, will win (whoever can survive, will survive). Capitalism is more natural than socialism or communism

[meritmaster]

I don't think that's a fair statement, though. There's plenty of Atheists who are chill with everyone. The issue there is communism and asshatery 

That's true; i didn't say all atheists are bad, but their atheism hotbeds communism, and people who tend to hold no value to human life.

I was an atheist for most of my life, so i have nothing against people not believing god.