The General Religion, Mythology, and Theology Thread

Such Bibles do exist but they were made specifically by pro LGBT groups so the Bias is up the wazoo. Now, come down to the parenting thread so we can all tell you what a horrible person you are.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

On my way.

It was an honor

I still think the Bible contradicts itself in the stories if not in the rules.

@Wildcard: No need to think about it. It does.

I'll reply with more later. Too hard to use my cellphone.

>>> About the call to arms thing. Christians were actually a persecuted party back then. I'm not entirely sure Jesus was a complete pacifist.

His death can be classified as passive resistance, but Jesus has shown rage (and of course also kindness). What he did at the Temple wasn't passive, lol.

I get the overall pacifist impression, because of all the sayings about love, tolerance, forgiveness and also cause the Pharisees weren't happy he wasn't the prophesied Son of David who would lead them to freedom. Instead, the Messiah kept on pointing out all their hypocritical ways.

Jesus also declared that he was for the people (the sinners who need saving), not the elites (who were already so falsely righteous and lording it over everyone else).

He also said nice things about (some) pagans, who had such great faith in his healing abilities.

Anyway, I like Jesus mainly because he was for the poor, the sick, the weak, the downtrodden of society (being abused by the rich and powerful who use the very laws which were supposed to help people live better lives into lining their pockets instead).

I tend to just ignore the "go forth and convert/recruit" bits, cause yeah... that is annoying. Maybe before, when Christians were a small persecuted group, I get it, but these days - there's 2 billion Christians (I think). We end up acting like the oppressors, and we are/were oppressing.

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.

Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13.

Ah, allow the resident Bible-thumper to correct this. Jesus often said his kingdom wasn't like other kingdoms. Christians are not politicians (though some politicians are Christians, but you know what I mean) they are not salespeople, they aren't ad execs. Christians don't get points on numbers.

The Bible has often said God would've sent his Son to die to save just one single person.

You'll also notice the Bible never uses the word recruit. In fact Jesus told his disciples that you are to speak your piece. If they want to hear more, great. If not, leave.

Christians are supposed to "win over" (the exact phrase actually used in the Bible) people to Christ. What does this mean?

It means a Christian's life must so honorable, so full of joy, and her/his convictions so unwavering, people can't help but want to know what's going on in their lives. We Christians are supposed to be the PROOF that non-believers ask for. We are supposed to be the evidence of the Christian life. That so many of us aren't is the great shame and disgrace of the Church.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:16:59 AM by TheStarshipMaxima

It was an honor

There's no disgrace in failing an impossible task.

I'm sorry. I just prefer what Gandhi said about that. (cause I'm still in Gandhi-worship mode atm)

Besides, I think we should be more concerned about the Christians giving Christianity a bad name before recruiting more. Quality > Quantity.

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.

Disagreed completely. Christians oppose gays adopting, but treat their own children like shit (I can speak personally to that one). Christians say gays destroy marriage, and meanwhile the list of Pastors having affairs would crash this wiki.

Christians march to oppose gay marriage, but not the Big Oil companies that are steadily abandoning PROVEN wind and solar energy and continue to destroy the only fucking planet we have to live on because they make more money that way.

Christians pick on people and bully them when the Bible says to do that is an ABOMINATION to the teachings of Christ.

It's one thing to try and fall short. It's another to not give a shit and continue hiding your cowardice behind hypocrisy.

It was an honor

X6 I have nothing against a bit of heavenly rage. There's something rather appealing in the idea of bringing down God's wrath on the unworthy, you just have to make sure they are actual unworthy.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:27:06 AM by Silasw

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

That's why I said we should be worried more about our fellow Christians than Bible-thumping, hoping to convert non-believers to our pov. The anti-Christian folks ain't the ones doing the most damage to Christianity.

Besides, I like other religions and I like the atheists too - great sense of humor making Isaac Newton's birthday your holiday, btw.

If Jesus can like-admire pagans, I can do the same thing.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:28:42 AM by probablyinsane

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.

But I think the reason there saying that it is impossible is people will always say, (and be right about in my opinion) "I could never do that. I wouldn't be happy doing that".

Oh, it's okay to fail as a Christian.

What's not okay is condemning others (gays, non-Christians, atheists) for whatever sin while sinning like crazy.

This is was so fucking clear in the Gospels. Why do so many Christians keep misinterpreting this?!

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.

I meant that it's impossible to prove something that isn't true.

Or in some cases "I did do that. I did it for years. It ultimately brought me nothing but grief."

And on that note...

Hi! Is this thread only for Christians, or can those of us with varying viewpoints play too?

It's a general religion thread. Other religions are welcome to talk about their beliefs here. Or are you joking?

Also yes that is true.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:40:55 AM by Wildcard

And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, - Isiah 29:13

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ - Matthew 7:21-23

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. - 1st John 1:8-10

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. - 1st Corinthians 13:2

....Or as it would say in the SSV (Starship Standard Version)

"Verily, I say unto thee, simply because thou art call yourself Christian does not mean thou are not full of shit." - The Book of Starship, Chapter 1, verse 14

edited 4th Apr '13 11:41:06 AM by TheStarshipMaxima

It was an honor

Proselytism is not oppression.

There are good and less good ways to go about it, of course; but if I think that something is true and important, it is natural that I may want to tell others about it. Even the more obvious forms of proselytism are not really a problem, I think. I cannot really consider myself "oppressed" because Jehova's Witnesses sometimes come and hand me a pamphlet or stuff like that (and I have to admit, even though my disagreement with the JW worlview is just about total, they have almost always been perfectly polite and respectful).

My problem with this is that, it seems to me, it is just not possible for Christianity, Hinduism and Islam to be all true. Either Mohammed was a prophet, or he was not. Either Jesus rose from the dead, or He did not. Either people reincarnate after their deaths, or they do not. It's nice to say that we should all try to get along, and I agree; and I can even agree that one can find valuable insights in each of these traditions, and in more besides. But still, the most basic assumptions of at least two of these three traditions are deeply mistaken. If it were the case that all of these religions have some aspects which are true and some which are mistaken, the correct answer would not be to shrug and leave each tradition as it is; the correct answer would be to identify, as accurately as possible, which is correct and which is wrong in each religion, and then create a new perspective that contains the best insights of them all (and none of the defects).

If Hinduism is true, I don't want people to pray for me to become a better Christian. I want people to come and tell me about the good news of Krishna, and defeat all my objections and criticisms, and bring me one step closer to the eternal and absolute Truth I yearn for. And if Islam is true, then the person who convinces me of that will be doing me the greatest favour that could ever be made to a human being. And again, if — just to make one final example — atheistic materialism is true and all this religion talk is just fancy nonsense, I want to know that, and I would very much resent the notion that I should be left to my delusions as long as they make me happy.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:44:29 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Carciofus, if you were the Pope, I'd seriously consider becoming a Catholic.

It was an honor

@Kara: This is definitely not a thread only for christians. I started the damn thing and I'm an atheist.

Yeah well, like Easter, we're taking it over so too bad for you.

It was an honor

I was maybe joking a little. I don't have anything I particularly want to say about my beliefs right this second...but I may jump in at any time, so don't nobody get complacent.

An issue I do tend to have with theology as a discipline is that it seems to take patriarchal monotheism for granted and no good answers for when that assumption is challenged.

Ooh...bad thing to say when a Pagan just walked in the door, Starship. Some of us don't think there's much that's funny about Christians steamrollering the Old Religions and picking through the debris for the bits they liked.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:52:44 AM by Karalora

Sorry Karalora.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:53:43 AM by Wildcard

Ya better hope then that there's a Muslim or Hindu (or atheist) around here who'll be happy to proselytize to you.

As for me, I just don't care. I like (truly) good upstanding charitable people, no matter what religion they believe in or even if they don't believe in God or gods.

That's one of the reasons why I'm growing more and more fond with our new Pope. He's being inclusive.

edited 4th Apr '13 11:51:59 AM by probablyinsane

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.