NationStates Jolt Archive


what does religion mean to you?

Gassputia
09-01-2006, 18:05
OKey

Let the show begin...
Pure Metal
09-01-2006, 18:07
control. indoctrination. baseless belief. fiction.

not my cup of tea. i live quite well (and morally) without it thank you
Nadkor
09-01-2006, 18:07
It means too many stupid religion threads on NS General.
Megaloria
09-01-2006, 18:08
...


Unicron.
Mythotic Kelkia
09-01-2006, 18:09
Imagination. Interest. Culture. History. Magick. People. Gods.
Luporum
09-01-2006, 18:09
Sticking your head in the sand because real life is scary.
Minoriteeburg
09-01-2006, 18:09
It means too many stupid religion threads on NS General.



i've noticed that too. they should make a whole thing just for the religion talk at this rate.
Pure Metal
09-01-2006, 18:12
It means too many stupid religion threads on NS General.
only when the americans are on really.

i mean that thread last night "is George Bush going to hell?" looked indicative of the sort of nonsense most european NSers wouldn't even bother to start a thread about... or even consider normally
(didn't bother to read it hah)

thats imo anyhow
Minoriteeburg
09-01-2006, 18:14
only when the americans are on really.

i mean that thread last night "is George Bush going to hell?" looked indicative of the sort of nonsense most european NSers wouldn't even bother to start a thread about... or even consider normally
(didn't bother to read it hah)

thats imo anyhow

lol

i was suprised on how long that thread went on for.
Dago Plumbers
09-01-2006, 18:16
...


Unicron.
we should all follow megaloria in his belief of unicorns. i think that they will make the world a better place.
Megaloria
09-01-2006, 18:16
we should all follow megaloria in his belief of unicorns. i think that they will make the world a better place.

Unicron, not unicorn. The Chaos Bringer will devour you.
Minoriteeburg
09-01-2006, 18:18
All Hail Unicron *begins building giant golden statue*
Kazcaper
09-01-2006, 18:19
control. indoctrination. baseless belief. fiction.

not my cup of tea. i live quite well (and morally) without it thank youPM has pretty much summed up my entire thinking on the issue here. I could give reasons for for having all these objections, but I can't be bothered - and I'm sure we've seen them all a thousand times over anyway.
Dago Plumbers
09-01-2006, 18:19
sorry
Pure Metal
09-01-2006, 18:20
PM has pretty much summed up my entire thinking on the issue here. I could give reasons for for having all these objections, but I can't be bothered - and I'm sure we've seen them all a thousand times over anyway.
thats precisely how i've narrowed it down to such a concise summary :p
Nadkor
09-01-2006, 18:22
only when the americans are on really.

i mean that thread last night "is George Bush going to hell?" looked indicative of the sort of nonsense most european NSers wouldn't even bother to start a thread about... or even consider normally
(didn't bother to read it hah)

thats imo anyhow

Yup, I agree. With the general sentiment, anyway.

I have hardly been near this forum lately pretty much because are so many unoriginal and repetitive threads about religion, god, evolution/creationism etc.

It's not like before where after a while the religion threads would disappear and we would collectively move on to another topic to argue for a while, before moving on again. It seems like it's landed in religion and doesn't intend on moving on. Pile of crap, I say.
Yurka
09-01-2006, 18:23
Religion leads the mentally blind, those who lack the capacity to live their lives on their own and would prefer to believe that there is some rhyme or reason to why they exist. I mean some reason other than the random combination of DNA and eventual eternal nothingness which meets all of us. If religion keeps people from going goth or emo though...

Seriously though, I have no beef with religions like Buddhism who keep to themselves, but all of those vocal religions need to learn to stop talking so much about things based on factless books which have been changed countless times over the span of history.
Dago Plumbers
09-01-2006, 18:23
all that people need to know is that its overpushed and everyone is tired of it just sick and tired of the crap and junk and baggage. i feel like shooting anyone who starts a religion thread...:sniper: :mp5: :headbang:
Minoriteeburg
09-01-2006, 18:23
It's not like before where after a while the religion threads would disappear and we would collectively move on to another topic to argue for a while, before moving on again. It seems like it's landed in religion and doesn't intend on moving on. Pile of crap, I say.


i'll drink my disgusting mc'd s coffee to that
Pure Metal
09-01-2006, 18:25
Yup, I agree. With the general sentiment, anyway.

I have hardly been near this forum lately pretty much because are so many unoriginal and repetitive threads about religion, god, evolution/creationism etc.

It's not like before where after a while the religion threads would disappear and we would collectively move on to another topic to argue for a while, before moving on again. It seems like it's landed in religion and doesn't intend on moving on. Pile of crap, I say.
ha thats why i stick to the social/fun threads :D

but its the noobs...they're mostly the ones going on about religion. blame them!
know what you mean though - used to change general topic week by week. bah.
Dago Plumbers
09-01-2006, 18:27
we could talk about people who have bad personal hygeine.
Liskeinland
09-01-2006, 18:33
Which religion in particular? What kind of religion?

Religion literally means way of life.

That's my answer.
Willamena
09-01-2006, 19:55
Relationships.
Nili
09-01-2006, 20:22
Relationships.
I agree. Death.
Cabra West
09-01-2006, 20:38
To me personally, nothing any more.

In society I see it as a means people love to hide behind when spreading intolerance and aggressive discrimination.
MotoGuzis
09-01-2006, 20:46
only when the americans are on really.

i mean that thread last night "is George Bush going to hell?" looked indicative of the sort of nonsense most european NSers wouldn't even bother to start a thread about... or even consider normally
(didn't bother to read it hah)

thats imo anyhow


I am an American and I did not read that thread either. Have no desire to. You have a pretty wide brush there. Not all Americans are "super religious". In my opinion, Organized Religion sucks donkey dicks. It is a huge stain on our society. On the world's society.

Religion only does 2 things. Neither of these have anything to do with salvation or with "saving" you. They try to control every aspect of your lives and they try to get as much monry out of you as they can. Got to build all those gold and crystal cathedrals donchaknow.

The only thing religion saves is money on taxes.

there is no god
there is no devil
there is no heaven
there is no hell

Get used to it.


Have a nice day.....*8-}

Lazurus Long
Pure Metal
09-01-2006, 23:30
You have a pretty wide brush there. Not all Americans are "super religious".
but of course. i didn't say you were. all i said was that the religious threads pop up in the evening/night when you americans are on here. fact.
during the day here there's barely a religious thread in sight in general.
Keruvalia
09-01-2006, 23:45
Religion, like love, should not require batteries.
BackwoodsSquatches
09-01-2006, 23:47
A topic of purely intellectual interest, that has almost no bearing on real life.
Smunkeeville
10-01-2006, 00:15
hmm.......what does religion mean to me?

I would say but you wouldn't like the answer, and judging from the tone in this thred, I doubt any of you would care as you would write it off as the ramblings of a blind, scared, unintelligent, brainwashed individual who has nothing important to say.

so I won't.
Dempublicents1
10-01-2006, 00:21
A personal relationship with God.
Megaloria
10-01-2006, 00:23
Religion, like love, should not require batteries.

You would deny robots love? Fiend.
Willamena
10-01-2006, 00:26
hmm.......what does religion mean to me?

I would say but you wouldn't like the answer, and judging from the tone in this thred, I doubt any of you would care as you would write it off as the ramblings of a blind, scared, unintelligent, brainwashed individual who has nothing important to say.

so I won't.
So... paranoia?
Cameroi
10-01-2006, 01:02
since the ten year old mentalities in america, and perhapse a few of the other places best represented on the net, seem to continue to insist on equating 'religeon' with christerism, and for this reason alone, that is what i herein address.

i do not understand how anyone can immagine themselves to 'know' someone, about whome, almost nothing is known that wasn't written by only four people, who wrote almost exclusively about the last three years of his life, and even then almost only about his public appearances, and that in a style it would be kindness to call hyperbole. not to mention that he lived in a time and place and in a way, few if any now living, can even begin to immagine.

now there IS something, nontangible, filling the space between the trees, and perhapse between the stars, that i experience the company of, whenever i'm alone there with it. yet i can see no connection between this, and what people have choosen to make, for reasons not above suspicion, of a charismatic leader who was wrongfully executed by a paranoid government a very long time ago. not, i might also add, longer ago then other bringers of similar wisdoms. nor was was he the first, and observably not the last, to have been mistreated in this manor.

so i will continue to believe in what i personaly have experienced, and continue to question and doubt, those who somehow expect, what they believe to be greater then themselves, to begin and end with what they think they know about it.

this is not a trashing of BELIEF.

i have an absolute faith that we live in a very large and diverse univers and in the sacredness of the dust beneath our feet and that there is indeed something about which no one knows anything other then that it intends us no harm and also that none of the above has all that very great deal much to do with the mechanism by which we collectively create the conditions we individualy experience. the latter being a matter of incentives created by the defacto statistical summation of all the priorities that are actualy lived by.

but i do believe, as i have already pointed out, that there ARE nontangible forces and beings, who are good friends to have, just like tangible friends are.

just not that anyone bennifits from splitting hairs, let alone heads, over how we choose to perceive them

my favorite quote from a true revealer of that eternal nontangible will is this:
that "when two people argue about religeon, they are both wrong."

the author of that quote, incase anyone is curious, was called Baha'u'llah

=^^=
.../\...
Kryozerkia
10-01-2006, 01:08
It means nothing to me.
Dempublicents1
10-01-2006, 01:09
So... paranoia?

Let's be honest. The overall tone of the posters in this thread has not exactly been pro-religion.
Smunkeeville
10-01-2006, 01:16
So... paranoia?
I don't think so really.

control. indoctrination. baseless belief. fiction.

Sticking your head in the sand because real life is scary.

Religion leads the mentally blind, those who lack the capacity to live their lives on their own and would prefer to believe that there is some rhyme or reason to why they exist. I mean some reason other than the random combination of DNA and eventual eternal nothingness which meets all of us. If religion keeps people from going goth or emo though...

In society I see it as a means people love to hide behind when spreading intolerance and aggressive discrimination.
[NS:::]Elgesh
10-01-2006, 01:21
Religion's weird to me;

there's my family who are christian; nowt wrong with them or the people at church.

There's religion on the news, which makes everyone sound like xenophobic, gaybashing suicide bombing hatemongers.

Then there's uni and critical thought, where religion is just a part of a society's culture.

There's also me! I agree with all these points of view at different times, depending on circumstance.

Difficult to really _know_ what it is, I think.
Willamena
10-01-2006, 14:42
Let's be honest. The overall tone of the posters in this thread has not exactly been pro-religion.
Ah, yes. It's only paranoia if they're not really out to get you.
Pure Metal
10-01-2006, 14:45
I don't think so really.
hm sorry, perhaps i should qualify my post further:
thats the first things i think of when someone mentions religion. more specifically organised religion.

non-organised religion can have some good facets, but i think in general, and throughout history, the church (with regard specifically to christianity) has been a wolf in sheep's clothing
Puddytat
10-01-2006, 14:50
Religion is nothing to do with me, but it seems to be an excuse for people who do or don't want to do a particular thing

The Magic errr. God thing under the stairs made me do it, Honest...
Bokolov
10-01-2006, 14:51
relegion is daft:headbang:
Eutrusca
10-01-2006, 14:55
"what does religion mean to you?"

Most organized religion is one of two things: an excuse for socializing, or an opportunity for people to share the same prejudices.

Personal spirituality is another thing entirely.
Smunkeeville
10-01-2006, 15:02
hm sorry, perhaps i should qualify my post further:
thats the first things i think of when someone mentions religion. more specifically organised religion.

non-organised religion can have some good facets, but i think in general, and throughout history, the church (with regard specifically to christianity) has been a wolf in sheep's clothing
okay, I think I am officially non-offended by you anymore. ;) (if that actually makes any sense.)
Commie Catholics
10-01-2006, 15:05
Religion. A minor irritance in my otherwise peaceful life. :rolleyes:
Willamena
10-01-2006, 15:08
okay, I think I am officially non-offended by you anymore. ;) (if that actually makes any sense.)
But why were you offended at all? http://www.seabluegreen.com/images/krab.gif It's not like they were talking about you.
Critz
10-01-2006, 15:12
Religion is a politicizing of individual or group moral or social beliefs. It is a way to gain power to influence others , to coerce others or to force others to live as you want them to live. Religion generally seems to do in real life just the opposite of what it preaches.

Religious groups are just another political party. Look at our present group of congressmen. Aren't they mostly "born again christians"......Yeah....They are born again. Most are running like rabbits at the moment.

Where is Boris Lastisky when we really need him????????????????
Pure Metal
10-01-2006, 15:17
okay, I think I am officially non-offended by you anymore. ;) (if that actually makes any sense.)
hooray :fluffle:
i know what you mean (and i posted that precisely because i thought you might have taken offense at the post as it stood ;))


But why were you offended at all? http://www.seabluegreen.com/images/krab.gif It's not like they were talking about you.
well, quite... seperating out followers from the institution is a must in any situation

like how many bourgeois capitalists can be throroughly nice people, but it is the institution in which they operate that makes them "evil" (according to marx... not too sure about 'evil' myself, but meh you know what i mean)
Smunkeeville
10-01-2006, 15:19
But why were you offended at all? http://www.seabluegreen.com/images/krab.gif It's not like they were talking about you.
I don't know, I get offended when people say things like "religious people are blind, stupid, scared, hateful, ect." It kinda feels like they are saying those things about me personally because I know that they regard me as a "religious person". I get the same way when people make remarks about "stupid Americans" or "heartless conservatives". I don't make overgeneralizations, I try not to assume things about people, I try not to let my bias cause me to call people names.

When someone says "organized religion stupid" it doesn't really bother me, because I am not organized religion. I can see where they could say that, I can see how organized religion can be a huge problem. In my experience though I don't see how everyone who believes in God can be labeled as stupid, blind, weak, hateful, evil, or anything else.

It could be that I am overly sensitive this week. It could also be that people who speak in absolutes, or make unqualified statements annoy me anyway. It could be that I am one of those people that I don't care for that gets offended for no good reason. I really have no idea.
Dark Shadowy Nexus
10-01-2006, 15:24
Here in the U.S. there is a massive EVIL fundie problem see ( smunkeeville ;) ) That is why we make religious threads. It is in order to vent cuase here in the U.S.A. you can't talk much religion in real life it's too taboo.

I've come up with this one a while back.

Religion is dogmatic; superstition, suspicion, ignorance, fear, oppression, and hate. Unless of course that religion just happens to be mostly superstition without without getting to messy in the suspicion, ignorance, oppression, fear, and hate part.

Oh and um,,,,

I was kidding about you being an EVIL fundie smunkeevil. To me you do not seem like the religious right at all.
Willamena
10-01-2006, 15:38
I don't know, I get offended when people say things like "religious people are blind, stupid, scared, hateful, ect." It kinda feels like they are saying those things about me personally because I know that they regard me as a "religious person". I get the same way when people make remarks about "stupid Americans" or "heartless conservatives". I don't make overgeneralizations, I try not to assume things about people, I try not to let my bias cause me to call people names.

When someone says "organized religion stupid" it doesn't really bother me, because I am not organized religion. I can see where they could say that, I can see how organized religion can be a huge problem. In my experience though I don't see how everyone who believes in God can be labeled as stupid, blind, weak, hateful, evil, or anything else.

It could be that I am overly sensitive this week. It could also be that people who speak in absolutes, or make unqualified statements annoy me anyway. It could be that I am one of those people that I don't care for that gets offended for no good reason. I really have no idea.
The question is, What does religion mean to you?

With that question I can't get offended by anything they say, because if that's what religion is to them, then that's what religion is to them. They are seeing the world through their eyes, and that is what they see. What religion means to them doesn't impact what it is to me at all.

Do you see?

I for one would love to hear what religion means to you.
Willamena
10-01-2006, 15:45
To me you do not seem like the religious right at all.
Hahaha! ...now that she should probably take offense at.

;)
Smunkeeville
10-01-2006, 18:11
Yeah, I see your point Willamena, I guess then I am going with the "I am overly sensitive" this week.

Religion, the word in it's self to me has a bad connotation.

Organized religion makes me think of people who are trying to be something they are not, to try to make others think they are something they are not, to try to cheat the system and get something they don't deserve. It seems to be a 'special club' much like when I was a kid and had "clubs" and the only reason was so we could tell others that they couldn't be in the club.

I prefer to think of myself as less of a religious person and more of a spiritual person, I am not as interested in all the ritual and rules as I am having a personal relationship with Christ.
Karte Blanche
10-01-2006, 18:23
Excuse me for jumping in.....

Organized religion means indoctrination (or brainwashing, that could work too) of children who are too young to think for themselves, authoritarianism, the cause of most wars, falsities, discrimination, bigotry, and I suppose on certain occasions, molestation.
Dempublicents1
10-01-2006, 20:06
Ah, yes. It's only paranoia if they're not really out to get you.

Essentially, that is correct. Paranoia is defined by an excessive or irrational suspicion or distrust of others. Smunkee had every reason to expect exactly what she posted to be the response to anything she might bring up. Thus, it was not paranoia.
Frangland
10-01-2006, 20:13
1)The joy and security caused by the belief in, and personal relationship with, Jesus Christ.

2)Guidelines for living a decent life... treating others with respect, being honest, not stealing, etc.

3)The means to an end: the path to salvation and everlasting life with Jesus in heaven after life on earth has passed.
Revasser
10-01-2006, 20:29
Excuse me for jumping in.....

Organized religion means indoctrination (or brainwashing, that could work too) of children who are too young to think for themselves, authoritarianism, the cause of most wars, falsities, discrimination, bigotry, and I suppose on certain occasions, molestation.

I think you'll find that territory and resources (ie. Human greed) are far more common causes for war than any religion. Religion is a useful tool for whipping up the fervour of the masses and getting them to support a war. I think many people confuse religion as a cause of war, when it is far more often just another tool used in war.

As for the rest.. I think exposing children to religion(s) is fine, but they should be left to make up their own minds. Teach, don't preach, as they say. Authoritarianism? Sometimes. It depends on the specific religion and on what is happening around it at the time. Falsities? Mere opinion on your part. Discrimination and bigotry? Again, it depends upon the specific religion and circumstances, but humans will always find reasons to hate each other. If we couldn't use religion as an excuse, we would (and do) find other excuses. I think blaming religion itself for child abuse (I assume it's what you mean) is a little short-sighted. This can and does happen anywhere where you have an adult in a position of power over children. The position of "priest" is but one of countless positions of power that certain adults will abuse for this end. To blame "religion" for it is like blaming "education" for it, because there are teachers who abuse their students, or blaming "family" for it, because children are sometimes abused by their parents or other relatives.
Dogburg II
10-01-2006, 21:31
Religion is primarily about faith - believing in something even though lots of people tell you it's not true.

This is normally a bad idea unless you have faith in Wotan-1, the X-day prophecies and the teachings of J R "Bob" Dobbs which are obviously all completely true and holy.
The blessed Chris
10-01-2006, 21:33
A moral code justified by the existence and according actions of the divine, or, the most divisive and conflict inducing notion upon the planet since the conception of civilisation.
Liskeinland
10-01-2006, 21:45
Excuse me for jumping in.....

Organized religion means indoctrination (or brainwashing, that could work too) of children who are too young to think for themselves, authoritarianism, the cause of most wars, falsities, discrimination, bigotry, and I suppose on certain occasions, molestation. No, organised religion is religion with organised structure and possibly hierarchy. :rolleyes:

Now excuse me while I brainwash some children and kill a Jew.
[NS:::]Elgesh
10-01-2006, 21:52
Excuse me for jumping in.....

Organized religion means indoctrination (or brainwashing, that could work too) of children who are too young to think for themselves, authoritarianism, the cause of most wars, falsities, discrimination, bigotry, and I suppose on certain occasions, molestation.

No, organised religion is religion with organised structure and possibly hierarchy. :rolleyes:

Now excuse me while I brainwash some children and kill a Jew.

I'll join you, if you don't mind? Then maybe on the way to my organised religion, I'll find the time to beat my wife, rape my children and start a war. Then, if I'm not _too_ tired, maybe I'll just go burn down a mosque.
The blessed Chris
10-01-2006, 21:54
Elgesh']I'll join you, if you don't mind? Then maybe on the way to my organised religion, I'll find the time to beat my wife, rape my children and start a war. Then, if I'm not _too_ tired, maybe I'll just go burn down a mosque.

You wouldn't happen to be a member of the Labour party by any chance?
[NS:::]Elgesh
10-01-2006, 21:56
You wouldn't happen to be a member of the Labour party by any chance?
LOL! Heh, no :p