Your Views

[kribensis12]

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE POSTING!!!!!!!!

So, I have always been interested in what people think, and why they think it. I read through the General Chat rules and I did not see anything that objects to this post. If this post is inappropiate then I would ask the mods to delete it.


So, I was wondering what all you guys and girls believe as far as religion. You don't even have to claim you are part of a religion. If you simply put that you are an athiest, that will be fine. Or that you believe in a God or multiple God's then that would be acceptable. If you decide to write down why you believe in what you do, then be my guest. But I would appreciate it if you guys were to abstain from arguing with others, as it is not necessary. I will start off. I believe in God, the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the God of Israel. If you would like to talk to be about it, feel free to PM me. Now please don't take this as a religion session where to try to shove yours down another's throat. I am personally interested in what people believe, or don't believe.

Please don't flame me, or cause this thread to be closed because you did not think before you posted.

 

[Tolak]

Seeing as this is our first topic on religion in General Chat, I think it is a good idea to remind members to review the forum rules before entering into this discussion.

So far our topics on politics have gone very well due to the mature & sensible posting habits of the members here, continuing in this manner will give the moderating team reason to let topics such as these continue.

Thank you!

 

[GAB99]

ok ill bite

my family is catholic and my confirmation is being postponed so idk exaclty where i am at the moment lol

imo (literally imo) i sort of jumbled up up in my head a way to have both science and my releigion (who have been at odds with each other scince who knows) to connect the two together with as little loose ends as possible,though i bet it can be plowed right through if affronted by someone determined to knock it down hehe. to make it short, in my opinion god treats the world as a fish tank, but does as little maintenence as possible to let things run as natural as possible

i dont talk religion but i do respect it and i guess to a certain extent i aggree with blaise pascal about aetheists (i do have 1 friend who is and many others who are different religions btw) in the fact that there is no harm in beleaving in something,and if you die and there is nothing you didnt waste your life, and if there is then good for you, if you dont beleive in anything and there is nothing then no harm done, if there is then idk...

also i dont understand the problem with catholicism and homosexuality, as far as i know and have been told/heard (which isnt much and subject to HEAVY biase) there is no problem, but do aggree with the logic of my friend ( i have even sort of formulated an excuse, imnot gonna post it cuz there is a GAPING hole in it though rofl)

such touchy subjects we are dealing with here, hopefully all of us arent dancing on eggshells...

i can only imagine whatll be next

i bet if my parents find this im in deep excrement xD

 

[chrisbassist]

Religion has always been a tough one for me.

My family has never been too religious, but it has always been Christian.

My problem, is I agree with what pretty much every religion teaches. Yes, it's wring to kill, yes it's wrong to steal, the ten commandments, or variants of them are shared by most religions, and very similar "rules" are shared by others. And whilst they all make incredible sense. I think though, that if you follow the rules because you don't wantbto go to hell (from fear of punishment) or to make sure you go to heaven (for a reward) then you are missing the point. You don't follow the rules because you want the reward, you don't follow them because you're scared of the punishment, you follow them because it's the right thing to do.

I'm not a believer, yet I am not an atheist. You show me god, and not only will I believe it, I will also not be ashamed of how I live my life.

Mojo dojo, you mention science and religion co existing. One of the major examples where opinions divide, is creation. You have god made everything in 7 days. And you have the big bang and evolution over millions of years. I for one don't believe they have to be exclusive. To start with, if there is a god, what does he consider a day? We measure a day by the amount of time it takes for our planet to rotate, maybe gods day is the universe rotating, THAT alone would line up timescales a bit better. So our millions of years could well have been a week for god. Next is the method. How did god make the planet? How did he make the animals and us? Do we know his methods? Since maybe he used the big bang as a tool. Maybe evolution is his way of creating us.

Maybe I just don't like the conflicts, maybe I like to please everyone, but I see no reason that science and religion can't mix. Indeed, who are we to guess gods methods?

One thing I do disagree with though. That's people pushing their religions on you. My belief is that everyone is entitled to believe whatever they like, but don't try and push it on me.

Finally, if we are to believe that god made us in his own image, can I point out that would make god female? Every single one of us started out female. A male can only be born once a very specific set of requirements have been met. If they don't get met the baby continues to develop as a female. Female is the base sex.

 

[kribensis12]

Finally, if we are to believe that god made us in his own image, can I point out that would make god female? Every single one of us started out female. A male can only be born once a very specific set of requirements have been met. If they don't get met the baby continues to develop as a female. Female is the base sex.

No where in the Bible does it say that God is not female. Actually, according to scriptures, He is both. Also, for your how long is a day statement, scholars believe that it was literally seven days, as God created the universe AND time, He is before time, and time does not affect Him, so how can He make a universe in seven days if He is above time? That would be a human perspective. The biggest problem I have ever had with religions as a whole, is how historically accurate are they? If the writings are not historically accurate, how can the book be trusted? Everything written in the Bible is true. Every location listed, exists or existed at one point and time, the prohphacys(spelling?) which are not recorded in just the Bible, but in works written before the Bibles existence, line up perfectly with the year #93### #33### was born and crucified. Every verse in the Bible is not only historically true, but is believe to be accurate as far as it's views on God in the minds of many.

- I hope that didn't sound like I'm trying to put a religion banner up, I am just explaining Chris's thoughts, and debunking many myths about the Bible.

 

[kaivalagi]

I truly believe in what religions stand for in terms of morals and loving they neighbour etc, but don't agree with some of the churches/temples/synagogues around the world that like to think they preach the "true" religion and all others are not true. Also, in Fiji, I've also seen how much power the church still has, it raises millions of pounds and anyone who is anyone in the church has serious wealth in comparison to the congregation, that's not god's work but man's IMHO.

Anyway that aside, I would class my self as agnostic or dare I say it a Panthiest (http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism).


I like to think everything is connected, as I can be quite spiritual, but at the same time I have an engineering background and have a problem with Science versus traditional Christian teaching. I don't for one moment entertain the idea of "a" god. I like to think that god is in all of us and is the common thing that binds us all together, "life" essentially

I too would be quite happy with my past if there turned out to be a god who judges me at "the end". The one main rule I live by is treating others how I wish to be treated which I think is a good virtue to have. It makes for a simpler life and keeps me grounded.

Each to thier own though, what ever brings you peace and happiness is good by me

p.s. Careful you don't preach here, it won't necessarily go well for you, I mean that in the nicest possible way...I don't want to see flaming of that magnitude

 

[Nick16]

science all the way for me. until i see some hard evidence i cant belive any religion. science has proved evolution etc so its case closed as far as i see it.

in my opinion (and dont get offended by this please) religion was invented to keep the 'peasants' happy in the early days of human civilisation. during times of hardship, they always had something to belive and a path to follow. it gave many people jobs. like in the american civil war, where people were paid to dig up the roads and then others paid to fill the holes back in again a few days later. purely so people were doing some sort of job.

 

[chrisbassist]

Again I see that sentiment and read it as science vs religion. Why can't there be both?

Another thing I thought of.

About JC. The son of the lord. (picking words carefully so you can read them without them getting filtered). I find JC quite believable. The fact a guy was born, preached great good and wisdom, taught a lot of people a lot of things. Sure some stories will be exagerated, much as many modern true stories are exagerated. And when you realise that in the past people have been quick to call themselves gods or have others call them so, it makes sense. And if the man believed that we are all his children, of course he would say his is the son of the lord. In conclusion, I see no good reason to declare the life of JC false.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I like the view Alan Davies said on QI once- 'be good; if you can't be good, be lucky.' The general 'be good' message of religion is fine, I suppose, but it still seems a bit weird to use the past as a basis for how you should behave now.

If there is a god, of any form, one or multiple, then I honestly think they don't care whether you eat meat on a Friday or wear a necklace or go to a religious establishment whenever. And I think that once people just accept that and stop trying to 'save souls' and impinge their own beliefs on everyone else, the world will be so much of a better place.

 

[kaivalagi]

I agree on the JC front, for the most part...a good man teaching how to be good and believe in our selves and each other, that's great. But...how would you explain the resurrection of JC whilst maintaining humanities modern scientific beliefs though Chris? Is there an explanation for this in rational everyday terms? I am being serious and not cynical...I would like to know if there was a believable explanation for me. I just haven't heard one yet...

I also can't except god as being a physical thing...to me "it" is more about life as a whole (think Gaia but bigger)...that's the only way I can interpret it and accept there is a god.

A lot of the disbelief issues stem from how the bible has been translated, exaggerated and changed over the years as well as the fact that it was written by man 2000 years ago before a better understanding of the world around us existed. Alright so you could argue that some things such as genesis can be explained if you take 7 days as not being literally 7 days etc etc (or say there was no time then, i.e. the big bang maybe?) but it really does just boil down to faith and belief in it all in the end. Science still gets in the way of that for me.

Maybe if JC came into the world now instead of 2 millennia ago then the whole thing would have been recorded and understand in a modern way, and I might just believe it, but it didn't and I can't accept the contradictions to today's world.

That's my quick take on my belief's or not versus the bible and Christianity's teaching...

I like the view Alan Davies said on QI once- 'be good; if you can't be good, be lucky.' The general 'be good' message of religion is fine, I suppose, but it still seems a bit weird to use the past as a basis for how you should behave now.

If there is a god, of any form, one or multiple, then I honestly think they don't care whether you eat meat on a Friday or wear a necklace or go to a religious establishment whenever. And I think that once people just accept that and stop trying to 'save souls' and impinge their own beliefs on everyone else, the world will be so much of a better place.

Nicely put, you can't go wrong listening to Alan Davies, even if he nearly always comes last in QI

I guess I would have to say that "knowledge is my religion and god is everything around me"

right, time for a beer

 

[chrisbassist]

Although you can't explain those things, I don't know if that matters. I personally don't believe it. And to explain why it was written that way would be easier. Almost all the big things he did in his life would be exagerated, and there would be a few additions like coming back from the dead, which requires the reader to take that leap of faith. And faith is important in religion. So much so that I can fully believe that it would be added to exclude those who weren't prepared to believe in it.

 

[Shelby]

Tough one.

I was raised Southern Baptist. My personal choice is not to go to "church" or worship any God in any given way. I prefer to live my life to the best of my ability and the Bible to me was NOT written by God but by men who interpreted the word however they so chose. Same as telling someone a story. 5 people all there will tell it different. There are always 3 sides to every story. Your side, my side, and the truth. I am not sure I believe in GOD but I do believe there is something out there greater than myself.

Personally, IMO (we all know about opinions.. everyone has them and some of them stink) BUT I personally believe that religion is fine as long as it is kept to ones self. The reason I say that is because once you get a bunch of people together who all think the same thing they then feel it is their right/duty to convince the rest of the world they are right and everyone else is wrong. Organized religion has done more damage to this world than most. Spanish Inquisition, The Crusades, Hitler & the Jewish, the current issues in the middle east.

Religious Wars are a terrible price to pay when no side is right or wrong and nothing can be proven one way or the other.

 

[MewMew42]

Im am personally an athiest, not agnostic, I still believe that there is something tehre I just don't know what!

I used to be a christian, I used to pray, and when things got bad i prayed even more, then I sort of 'fell out' with the whole idea because nothing was ever answered for me...

I still feel that i carry the good morals of christianity, and Ive always tried to be good, I still remeber most of the stores from the bibble that have stuck with me

 

[Ben M]

hi, i'm sort of between an agnostic and a theist. i believe that there is a god, but science proves a lot of religion wrong, like if we were all from Adam and Eve, then we would all be inbred. and things like evolution. i think that science has more answers, but i like to believe that there is a god.

 

[Truck]

science all the way for me. until i see some hard evidence i cant belive any religion. science has proved evolution etc so its case closed as far as i see it.

in my opinion (and dont get offended by this please) religion was invented to keep the 'peasants' happy in the early days of human civilisation. during times of hardship, they always had something to belive and a path to follow. it gave many people jobs. like in the american civil war, where people were paid to dig up the roads and then others paid to fill the holes back in again a few days later. purely so people were doing some sort of job.

I'm the same, Science is everything in my mind, if the story in Genesis of Adam and Eve is true then why do Males and Females have the same number of ribs? You may say that God left them there as a test of a persons faith, but I believe in evolution, I could also pose the point, why do we have a colon if we didn't evolve? Science has proven too much for me to be able to believe in any religion, my personal opinion is that religion is there because there is no real explanation as to why the big bang happened, we will find out one day.