What do you Believe??? (Religion)

[Llevron]

If anything, I hope that if there is a God, he/she/it will be happy with me trying to be a good person. Passing on the lessons I have learned that help me deal with life, helping those who cant help themselves and doing what little I can to help make the world better. But even if he/she/it doesnt exist at all or some horrible worse case I havent considered is the truth, im happy currently just doing what I can do. 

 

I have many reasons not to believe (science is my fav, but I feel like I cant talk about that with a certain someone around, for now) but none of them take me very far away from the teachings in the good book so I really dont have a problem with religion itself when i break it down. 

 

7 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Took me a couple times looking at it, but I think I got what you're saying.  Yes, I agree, I do believe the individuals that are most pressed about this issue are more likely to do the most research on it (at least at some point before going into "I don't care anymore" category).

 

It's threads like these that really challenge my faith (Do I really believe in God or am I afraid of the idea that there is none).  There's a lot that goes into what I believe besides my own mortality, and I'm going to keep reading to help make sure I understand what I'm really dealing with (I find more comfort in asking these questions now then putting them off for later).

 

It just reaffirms that I need to make life count while I got it regardless, and cross that bridge when I get there.  

 

Yea you got me. Thats exactly what I was trying to say. I think its good that you challenge your faith. You should. And it should hold up to that challenge. If anything I think that validates it. And at the end of the day, its YOUR faith. As long as you are happy and peaceful, I think its doing its job. 

[thinwhiteduke]

I was born into a cult my family was in till I was about 4th or 5th grade.( plenty of psychological abuse in that) The world wide church of God, lead by Herbert W. Armstrong. It had grade school  and a college in Pasadena Ca.. I went to the grade school till 3rd grade. My dad was a high school and college teacher there.

 We eventually left it for various  reasons. Parents divorced.  My dad got into E.S.T ( it's like dianetics or some other self realization bullcrap) then he became a charasmatic...demon under every rock etc..

I believed the TBN crap for a few moments of my life..then listened to a lot of Christian radio but started to hear the redundant  inaccuracy  in it over time. I still think there may be some  good force or energy or being out there..but there is no god as a man with a writing tool has defined in a bible..

 The story of Lot is so incredibly  hilarious  to me now. God saves the one guy who offers up his daughters for gang rape  and then somehow he's too drunk to fight off his daughters raping him while he still has an erection...two nights in a row.. what? No time to grieve over a wife being turned to salt, just because  she turned to look? 

[Llevron]

That explains so much about you. Glad you shared. Notice no one is going to call your experiences dumb or you a slave because we want to have civil discourse. Thats how it works. 

[thinwhiteduke]

9 minutes ago, Llevron said:

That explains so much about you. Glad you shared. Notice no one is going to call your experiences dumb or you a slave because we want to have civil discourse. Thats how it works. 

.  What it explains about me is I've developed a spidey sense for bull**** ,over time. 

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

1 hour ago, thinwhiteduke said:

.  What it explains about me is I've developed a spidey sense for bull**** ,over time. 

 

Have you ever thought that you could have just posted what you believe or don't believe in one post and leave it at that?  Instead of responding to others posts and responding in a way that bashes their said beliefs?  

 

It's ok to question others, talk about it, in a positive way.  But whether you realize it or not, when you quote someone and start tossing out phrases like:

 

"Telling me i'm just born into sin out of no where is ridiculous. I gotta take the blame for a dumb ass, eating a piece of fruit, 3000 or what ever years later?"

 

"Why would I  look at a book defending a falsehood, to an answer I already know. If religion is false ,all books based  on religion are false. Rationalizing  suffering is only what a good slave does. "

 

It's mocking their beliefs, regardless if that was your intentions or not.  And to those that do believe in God and the teachings of the Bible, calling Eve a dumbass and those that follow religion and believe it's teachings "Slaves", is a direct insult to what they believe in.  Try working on your delivery in your responses, especially when the OP stated/asked everyone to not take the thread in the direction it's headed now.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Dont Taze Me Bro

[thinwhiteduke]

43 minutes ago, Dont Taze Me Bro said:

 

Have you ever thought that you could have just posted what you believe or don't believe in one post and leave it at that?  Instead of responding to others posts and responding in a way that bashes their said beliefs?  

 

It's ok to question others, talk about it, in a positive way.  But whether you realize it or not, when you quote someone and start tossing out phrases like:

 

"Telling me i'm just born into sin out of no where is ridiculous. I gotta take the blame for a dumb ass, eating a piece of fruit, 3000 or what ever years later?"

 

"Why would I  look at a book defending a falsehood, to an answer I already know. If religion is false ,all books based  on religion are false. Rationalizing  suffering is only what a good slave does. "

 

It's mocking their beliefs, regardless if that was your intentions or not.  And to those that do believe in God and the teachings of the Bible, calling Eve a dumbass and those that follow religion and believe it's teachings "Slaves", is a direct insult to what they believe in.  Try working on your delivery in your responses, especially when the OP stated/asked everyone to not take the thread in the direction it's headed now.

 

 

Again, pay attention..I did nothing personal towards anyone.i addressed the belief. I called no one any names.i insulted no one.  I addressed the 'belief' and then defined 'belief'. Stop getting on my case because  you choose  to think with emotion instead of logic. 

  I, in no way,shape or form insulted you or anyone. I said it was dumb to believe based on "my" judgement. No where did I tell "you, you" couldn't. I merely  said why "I"thought what I thought. 

 

I used the word "I". "Why would I"..." l gotta take the blame?"...etc.. I see no reference to you.

 You choosing to be insulted by that and take it personal is not of my doing.

 

[[, calling Eve a dumbass and those that follow religion and believe it's teachings "Slaves", is a direct insult to what they believe in.]]

Lol you are  way overboard now.  How is calling a fictional female a dumb ass, an insult to you?  How does me thinking the bible is a slave  manual insulting you?  It's

 My cold impersonal  observation, that  "you" choose to take personal..Nothing more. 

Have a blessed day

 

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by thinwhiteduke

[The 12th Commandment]

You tried Taze.  Whitethinguy, You were a jerk till that last post. Understandable feelings considering the trauma religion inflicted on you, but out of line.  Take the correction as positive thing, which is how it was meant. Don't right away get so defensive.

[Llevron]

4 minutes ago, KAOSkins said:

You tried Taze.  Whitethinguy, You were a jerk till that last post. Understandable feelings considering the trauma religion inflicted on you, but out of line.  Take the correction as positive thing, which is how it was meant. Don't right away get so defensive.

 

Like I said, that he was born into a cult explains so much about him. I almost can't be mad. He's taking it out on everyone else. 

[Renegade7]

6 minutes ago, Llevron said:

 He's taking it out on everyone else. 

Understandable, but still unacceptable.

[thinwhiteduke]

45 minutes ago, Llevron said:

 

Like I said, that he was born into a cult explains so much about him. I almost can't be mad. He's taking it out on everyone else. 

You are way off the mark and have no idea what you are talking about. It explains that I have a well rounded and in depth view of deception and lies. I learned to stop using emotion and belief to come to answers/ conclusions. 

  I'm not taking anything  out on anyone lol. You just don't know how to process it,  when truth is spoken. 

[nonniey]

4 hours ago, KAOSkins said:

I checked agnostic and I'm glad there's such a succinct word to describe my lack of religion.  Can't wrap my head around blind faith and I probably lean towards the when you're dead you're dead camp but I can't be absolutely sure of it.  Atheists, it seems to me, have as much blind faith as the faithful. 

Yep atheists are as far from agnosticism as any religion, more so probably as I'd wager most agnostics hope that a religion is correct than those who hope that the atheists are.   

[twa]

I believe i'll have a drink....the easy way out

[Renegade7]

2 hours ago, thinwhiteduke said:

You just don't know how to process it,  when truth is spoken. 

 

You don't get credit for speaking the truth if you're offending someone.  I asked nicely in OP that if you don't have anything nice to say, please don't say it.  I can't think of many nice things to say about a cult, so I get that, I really do.  

 

You still need to cut this **** out if you want to talk with us about it in here, man:

 

6 hours ago, thinwhiteduke said:

I'm Apparently  a very good writer because I accomplish getting a reaction.

 

I hope you make it to the bottom of this screenshot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm stunned that not a single person has picked Non-Monotheistic in this poll.  I feel like I have no idea wtf that means if I added that as an option and no one picked it.

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2018 by Renegade7

[The Sisko]

 

7 hours ago, KAOSkins said:

I checked agnostic and I'm glad there's such a succinct word to describe my lack of religion.  Can't wrap my head around blind faith and I probably lean towards the when you're dead you're dead camp but I can't be absolutely sure of it.  Atheists, it seems to me, have as much blind faith as the faithful. 

Not so. There’s a bit of shorthand involved. Most atheists acknowledge the inability to prove a negative. So in general terms we accept that a god is theoretically possible because we can’t prove it doesn’t exist but very highly unlikely to based on existing science and logic. It’s sort of like my telling you that you’re not going to win the lottery. Of course there’s a tiny possibility you may win it, but I’m going to be right 99.9999999999% of the time. I’ll take those odds every time. The atheist is doing the same as it relates to a god. That’s not faith. It’s drawing a reasonable conclusion based on the evidence.

 

5 hours ago, thinwhiteduke said:

.  What it explains about me is I've developed a spidey sense for bull**** ,over time. 

Honestly, I think you’re seeing cynicism as a spidey sense. While I agree with you about the low likelihood of there being a god, I think you need to spend some time unpacking some of your ??. 

 

Now, you’ll say you’re merely telling the truth. However, you can present your lack of belief without calling others slaves and such.

[pjfootballer]

3 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

Understandable, but still unacceptable.

 

BTW, good thread. Like that we’re keeping it civil and policing it.

[Renegade7]

39 minutes ago, The Sisko said:

but I’m going to be right 99.9999999999% of the time.

That may be a little excessive right there, bro, lol.   I like the idea of Intelligent Design in regards to scientific design.  It was brought up in here about God being an alien, that's too limited a term for something like a god.  But make no doubt about it, if he made Earth, he must not be from Earth.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Renegade7

[Epochalypse]

I'll throw a response in here.

 

I'm Christian. I was raised Lutheran, drifted away a bit, but came back and now attend a nondenominational church weekly.

 

As for what I believe, I think it boils down to this: based on my understanding, Christianity at its root is based on love.

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

"For God so loved the world..."

 

I believe that if everyone actually followed what Jesus taught, the world would be Heaven on Earth. Imagine if everyone put others before themselves and cared for all people. That is Christianity at its core, not what a lot of so called Christians have ****ized His teachings to be.

 

But God has already told us that is not what this world holds, even though we are to try to live that way here. Perhaps this world serves as nothing more than a grindstone we can and should use to shape us into better people, should we choose to see it that way. And maybe, just maybe, we care enough about our neighbors as we travel this path to bring them along with us to a better place.

[thinwhiteduke]

43 minutes ago, The Sisko said:

 

Not so. There’s a bit of shorthand involved. Most atheists acknowledge the inability to prove a negative. So in general terms we accept that a god is theoretically possible because we can’t prove it doesn’t exist but very highly unlikely to based on existing science and logic. It’s sort of like my telling you that you’re not going to win the lottery. Of course there’s a tiny possibility you may win it, but I’m going to be right 99.9999999999% of the time. I’ll take those odds every time. The atheist is doing the same as it relates to a god. That’s not faith. It’s drawing a reasonable conclusion based on the evidence.

 

Honestly, I think you’re seeing cynicism as a spidey sense. While I agree with you about the low likelihood of there being a god, I think you need to spend some time unpacking some of your ??. 

 

Now, you’ll say you’re merely telling the truth. However, you can present your lack of belief without calling others slaves and such.

 

.I said the bible teaches you to be a good slave ( lol i called all of us slaves to govt. Already. Now with God involved ,it becomes a taboo comment?). I didn't name call anyone.

  Forgiveness= bowing down to your oppressors. It's not  cynicism. It's critical awareness through first hand experience.   

[thinwhiteduke]

Quote

You don't get credit for speaking the truth if you're offending someone.

 

oh? huh? unless you are Fictional Jesus,right? LOLOL

you know, that guy that offended everyone.. but he's right? ..right?

[Llevron]

Let that cult hurt go bro

[Renegade7]

14 hours ago, thinwhiteduke said:

 

oh? huh? unless you are Fictional Jesus,right? LOLOL

you know, that guy that offended everyone.. but he's right? ..right?

This thread is 5 pages long over the acknowledgment that he's not perfect, either, so please pay attention.  

 

 

The idea of the thread is to be able to talk about it civilly, we know there's hypocrisy in organized religion.  You're not pointing out anything new to us.  Did you even read my OP?

Edited March 29, 2018 by Renegade7

[Zguy28]

16 hours ago, Llevron said:

That explains so much about you. Glad you shared. Notice no one is going to call your experiences dumb or you a slave because we want to have civil discourse. Thats how it works. 

To be honest, the slave comment in itself didn't bother me, it was the way it was said. The bible does indeed use the Greek word Doulos to describe Christians. Some translators soft pedal it by using "servant" or "bond-servant", but essentially the NT says you are a "slave to Christ." Of course it also says unbelievers are also slaves, but their master is sin.

 

I feel bad for him coming out of WWCG (Armstrongism), that's a messed up place. And then getting into something akin to Scientology. Wow.

[Riggo-toni]

[Renegade7]

Posting this for @LadySkinsFan who found it first.  I'm proud of us being able to have a serious discussion about this, think we can have a more light-hearted one as well (which ever ya'll feel most comfortable with):

 

[CrypticVillain]

Young ???