NationStates Jolt Archive

The greatest problem with religion is that most of them aren't designed to be updated for the future.

The greatest problem with religion is that most of them aren't designed to be updated for the future.

Yay, religion, we haven't discussed this topic in a while.

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary traces the word back to an old Latin word religio meaning "taboo, restraint." A deeper study discovers the word comes from the two words re and ligare. Re is a prefix meaning "return," and ligare means "to bind;" in other words, "return to bondage." Do you still want some of that "old-time religion"?

Link (http://www.tentmaker.org/Dew/Dew1/D1-EtymologyOfReligion.html)

I really wish I still had that link to the "Religious Shit" page right about now.:D

Like anything, religion can be abused.

All religions make me want to throw up.
All religions make me sick.
All religions make me want to throw up.
All religions suck.

They all claim to have the truth and will set you free.
Send your money and you'll be free,
free for a fee.
They all claim to know the answers,
they don't even know the questions.
They just want your lives.
They just want your money.
They just want your consciousness.

I believe Jello Biafra summed up religion quite nicely.

The worst thing about any idea is the people that believe in it.

ORGANISED religion can be all of the above statements. This is why unorganised ones tend to be better, i am currently looking into the celtic pagan religions (wiccan being the major one) which have only one basic rule, which is not to harm anyone and not to do anything which you wouldnt want to be returned to you threefold.

Religion tastes like peanuts.

Every religion think it knows the answer but no one answer is truer than any other nor any falser.

Religion, like custard is a wholey personal thing. You wouldn't throw your custard at unsuspecting passers by, so don't do it with religon.

LG's religion prolly worships tacos.

religion is like marmite most people either "Love it or hate it"

religion is allot like libertarianism, it has a bunch of capitalists hanging on the wings killing it for everyone else.

religion is allot like libertarianism, it worships long dead men (Jefferson)

religion is allot like patriotism, full of shit and wannabe killers

religion is allot like immigration laws, unenforceable and darn right silly most of the time

religion is allot like pro-lifers, punishing people for having sex

now with that said I expect this thread to suddenly explode :p

edit: if any of that is too extreme just say and I edit away

LG's religion prolly worships tacos.

LG is a christian of some flavour as it happens. Maybe he has tacos instead of communion bread?

"Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Vadanti" - Vedas.

The Truth is one, the wise call it by many.

Religion sounds like a good idea to me. Has done wonders in a friends life where atheism would have left her a lot less sane.

"Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Vadanti" - Vedas.

The Truth is one, the wise call it by many.

Heh indeed! Ikonkar sat naam!

Religion, is was only intended to be a joke!

All monotheistic religions are inherently violent: my god is the only one therefore all other gods are false.

Polytheistic religions are not: your god can be a member of the pantheon.

We can only hope that Hinduism one day subsumes the abrahamic religions.

All monotheistic religions are inherently violent: my god is the only one therefore all other gods are false.

Polytheistic religions are not: your god can be a member of the pantheon.

We can only hope that Hinduism one day subsumes the abrahamic religions.

Well yes, but only exotericly, esotericly speaking all religoins preach the same thing, the oneness of the creator, all Gods are one, etc...

Surely this thread is flamebait?

Maybe a bit spammy, but......*considers*. Perhaps.

Surely this thread is flamebait?

Polytheistic religions are not: your god can be a member of the pantheon.

it can get a little crazy though:

http://www.streetdirectory.com/stock_images/travel/simg_show/11539868910898/1/little_india_hindu_gods/

:D

Well yes, but only exotericly, esotericly speaking all religoins preach the same thing, the oneness of the creator, all Gods are one, etc...

Many Hindus would say that. How many Christians? Or Muslims? Or Jews?

it can get a little crazy though:

http://www.streetdirectory.com/stock_images/travel/simg_show/11539868910898/1/little_india_hindu_gods/

:D

Thanks for the laugh.

Many Hindus would say that. How many Christians? Or Muslims? Or Jews?

Heh that is why exoteric and esoteric. But I know many Christians who realise this esoteric truth, some Muslims, I only know a few Jews, and for sure one of them would agree with me.

Heh that is why exoteric and esoteric. But I know many Christians who realise this esoteric truth, some Muslims, I only know a few Jews, and for sure one of them would agree with me.

Although I'm atheist I wish more would think that way.

Although I'm atheist I wish more would think that way.

Meh it'll happen or not, don't really matter though does it?

Religions are viral, their only purpose is to seek more recruits. To do this they look out for vulnerable people - this is why they do 'charity work' with homeless people, substance users etc and are so keen to run schools and be involved with children.

What a bunch of cynical boneheads. Not a one of you can find something nice to say about religion, huh? Well, religion does give people hope, where none may exist, otherwise.

Thanks for the laugh.

Don't laugh too hard. He only caught about a quarter of them on camera :D

But to be honest, most Hindus will tell you that the Hindu gods are one, merely differing aspects of the same central deity. A deity which is, in many ways in its singular form, the Deist impersonal creator god. But at the same time is expressed as various immanent, personal aspects.

It's all very confusing.

I think this is why Hinduism doesn't allow conversion. You'd join the religion and then your head would just implode.

Heh indeed! Ikonkar sat naam!

Hindi? Or Sanskrit?

Gimme a break here, I only understand Gujarati and speak a few phrases of it.

What a bunch of cynical boneheads. Not a one of you can find something nice to say about religion, huh? Well, religion does give people hope, where none may exist, otherwise.

(Clears throat)

Thanks to their religion, Hindu people are the nicest on earth.

(Will that do?)

Don't laugh too hard. He only caught about a quarter of them on camera :D

But to be honest, most Hindus will tell you that the Hindu gods are one, merely differing aspects of the same central deity. A deity which is, in many ways in its singular form, the Deist impersonal creator god. But at the same time is expressed as various immanent, personal aspects.

It's all very confusing.

I think this is why Hinduism doesn't allow conversion. You'd join the religion and then your head would just implode.

I can only imagine how long it must take to pray to those guys......

(Clears throat)

Thanks to their religion, Hindu people are the nicest on earth.

(Will that do?)

No, no it won't.

Caste system.

Xenophobia.

Government corruption.

Fundamentalist persecution (and attacks against) Muslims in India.

I may be Indian, and I may be a former Hindu, but it has a LOT to answer for. They may not have led Crusades, but they weren't exactly paragons of virtue either.

No, no it won't.

Caste system.

Xenophobia.

Government corruption.

Fundamentalist persecution (and attacks against) Muslims in India.

I may be Indian, and I may be a former Hindu, but it has a LOT to answer for. They may not have led Crusades, but they weren't exactly paragons of virtue either.

You are right. I was being provocative. (Your second thread win?)

One of my best friends is a Telagu (and Tamil and Hindu and English) speaking woman from Coimbatore. She recently went back home for an arranged marriage. She didn't want to do it but believed she had to. Religion really sucks sometimes.

I can only imagine how long it must take to pray to those guys......

Hindu subcastes tend to pick a patron and stick with him mostly, and then pray to some of the more important gods at particular times.

For instance, my parents' subcaste, the Nagar-Brahmins have Shankar as their patron, who is an aspect of Shiva.
They also venerate Mataji (I'm anglicizing gimme a break Arya/Peep), which can roughly be translated to Holy Mother.
During Diwali, there's a special day where you venerate Laxmi, goddess of wealth, for good fortune in the coming year.
You venerate Krishna on his holiday.
You venerate Ganesh during weddings and as a "gimme a hand here" during troubling times (if you want. though I've never seen anyone actually do this outside of weddings)
And my mom has the idea of saying a prayer to Sarasvati, goddess of music, knowledge, and art, during her morning drive into work, and has been for years trying to get me to learn the prayer (it's long, I have more difficulty pronouncing it than I do most of the other prayers, and I have to do it something like 28 consecutive times. WAAAY too much effort, for a religion I no longer believe in).

Religions are viral, their only purpose is to seek more recruits. To do this they look out for vulnerable people - this is why they do 'charity work' with homeless people, substance users etc and are so keen to run schools and be involved with children.

Bwahhaha! Sure some churches have been known to do this, and some even for the sole porpuse that you say. But to say that all religoin is like this, seems to be some form of irrational idea. Say your not prone to irrational thought are ya!?

You are right. I was being provocative. (Your second thread win?)

One of my best friends is a Telagu (and Tamil and Hindu and English) speaking woman from Coimbatore. She recently went back home for an arranged marriage. She didn't want to do it but believed she had to. Religion really sucks sometimes.

Arranged marriage is one of the few minor aspects of the religion that piss me off to no end. If I'm ever set up like my parents were, I have made it clear that I wont hesitate to forsake the entire damn family if it comes to it.

Hindi? Or Sanskrit?

Gimme a break here, I only understand Gujarati and speak a few phrases of it.


Naaaa Gurmakhi. Which is essetialy Punjabi.

Ikonkar sat naam! = God is one, true/truth is the name!

(Clears throat)

Thanks to their religion, Hindu people are the nicest on earth.

(Will that do?)

Umm yeah if you want to include bias based on the traditional job that your family name means your forefathers once done nice, then umm.

Naaaa Gurmakhi. Which is essetialy Punjabi.

Ikonkar sat naam! = God is one, true/truth is the name!

Ah. Hadn't thought it might be Punjabi.

If I believed in a god a all, I'd agree with you.

Hindu subcastes tend to pick a patron and stick with him mostly, and then pray to some of the more important gods at particular times.

For instance, my parents' subcaste, the Nagar-Brahmins have Shankar as their patron, who is an aspect of Shiva.
They also venerate Mataji (I'm anglicizing gimme a break Arya/Peep), which can roughly be translated to Holy Mother.
During Diwali, there's a special day where you venerate Laxmi, goddess of wealth, for good fortune in the coming year.
You venerate Krishna on his holiday.
You venerate Ganesh during weddings and as a "gimme a hand here" during troubling times (if you want. though I've never seen anyone actually do this outside of weddings)
And my mom has the idea of saying a prayer to Sarasvati, goddess of music, knowledge, and art, during her morning drive into work, and has been for years trying to get me to learn the prayer (it's long, I have more difficulty pronouncing it than I do most of the other prayers, and I have to do it something like 28 consecutive times. WAAAY too much effort, for a religion I no longer believe in).

Ah, very sensible.

Also, All Glory To Ganesh (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfSqpX6j78Y)!

You are right. I was being provocative. (Your second thread win?)

One of my best friends is a Telagu (and Tamil and Hindu and English) speaking woman from Coimbatore. She recently went back home for an arranged marriage. She didn't want to do it but believed she had to. Religion really sucks sometimes.

This arrangd marriage malarky has nowt to do with religoin and 100% to do with culture.

Ah, very sensible.

Also, All Glory To Ganesh (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfSqpX6j78Y)!

Hehehe. I laughed SO hard the first time I saw that episode.

This arrangd marriage malarky has nowt to do with religoin and 100% to do with culture.

I imagine that India could do away with arranged marriages altogether without causing Hinduism much of a hiccough at all.

In my friend's case there were strong religious overtones in the whole affair, though. The crunch point for her, though, was the threat of being rejected by her family.

Religion is like glasses. Some people need them to see clearly, some people don't.

Ah. Hadn't thought it might be Punjabi.

If I believed in a god a all, I'd agree with you.

Heheh yeah me too! Huh wait I do belivein God!:eek:

ORGANISED religion can be all of the above statements. This is why unorganised ones tend to be better, i am currently looking into the celtic pagan religions (wiccan being the major one) which have only one basic rule, which is not to harm anyone and not to do anything which you wouldnt want to be returned to you threefold.

The problem with this, as I see it, is where do you draw the line? When you breathe, you remove oxygen from the air that I might have needed to breathe. But if you don't breathe, you won't exhale carbon dioxide, that my crops need to breathe.
But it is still a noble sentiment :fluffle:

Religion tastes like peanuts.

Shelled or unshelled?

"At all times, in every century, every age, there has been such a connection between despotism and religion that it is infinitely apparent and demonstrated a thousand times over, that in destroying one, the other must be undermined, for the simple reason that the first will always put the law into the service of the second."
- Le Marquis de Sade.

LG's religion prolly worships tacos.

Are they imaginary? Are they pink? *is distracted by the thought of "pink tacos"*

Religion is like glasses. Some people need them to see clearly, some people don't.

Or

Some people like theirs half full, and some half empty.

Or

You'd best fit a whole pint in there barman

Or

I aint paying for the froth man!

Shelled or unshelled?

Salted.
http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Kp_Salted_Peanuts_500g.jpg

What a bunch of cynical boneheads. Not a one of you can find something nice to say about religion, huh? Well, religion does give people hope, where none may exist, otherwise.

Better a cynical bonehead than a bonical cynhead! You've created a false dilemma: religion is not the only source of hope in the world. Or, at least, I hope so . . .

Or

Some people like theirs half full, and some half empty.

Or

You'd best fit a whole pint in there barman

Or

I aint paying for the froth man!

LOL true that, sometimes I see clearest after two pints ;)

Religion is looking up at a mountain and making educated guesses about what's at the top. Science is climbing that mountain. Unfortunately, there were'nt as many goats as originally thought and that thing that looked like a face was just a rock and some trees, so people at the bottom get angry with the mountaineers because they kinda liked looking at that face and it was nice to think you had an emergency supply of goats. But it's not the mountaineers' fault, they only wanted to know what was up there. What was I talking about, again?

Religion is looking up at a mountain and making educated guesses about what's at the top. Science is climbing that mountain. Unfortunately, there were'nt as many goats as originally thought and that thing that looked like a face was just a rock and some trees, so people at the bottom get angry with the mountaineers because they kinda liked looking at that face and it was nice to think you had an emergency supply of goats. But it's not the mountaineers' fault, they only wanted to know what was up there. What was I talking about, again?

Heh or religion is looking at the mountian and asking, why is that there, what is it's purpose?

Heh or religion is looking at the mountian and asking, why is that there, what is it's purpose?

Yeah, that one's better. I'm not good with metaphors. I'm too literal-minded and objective.

No, no it won't.

Caste system.

Xenophobia.

Government corruption.

Fundamentalist persecution (and attacks against) Muslims in India.

I may be Indian, and I may be a former Hindu, but it has a LOT to answer for. They may not have led Crusades, but they weren't exactly paragons of virtue either.

this is why I like you Deus, you are honest and stuff...... I also like you because you are mostly open minded and nearly always respectful.

I have nothing nice to say about religion today. ;)

I'll tell you a view I think is much too simple: the view I'd call "watered-down Christianity". It's the view that says there's a good God in Heaven and everything else is all right - leaving out some of the more unpalatable doctrines like sin, or Hell, or the devil, or Christ dying and then resurrecting from the dead. To be honest, it's certainly not the kind of 'religion' I would expect from an educated adult.

In the end, it's not really any good asking for a simple religion. After all, it's not hard to see that real things aren't simple. The chair I'm sitting on looks simple; but ask a scientist to tell you what's REALLY going on - all about the atoms (with all of their complexities) and how light waves (with all of their complexities) rebound from them and hit my eye (with all of its complexities) and what they do to the optic nerve (with all of its complexities) and what it does to my brain (with all of its complexities) - and of course you'll see that what we call "seeing a chair" delves you into mysteries and complications and complexities the average person can barely get their mind around...indeed there are things about atoms which even the scientists themselves don't quite understand. By the same token, you could look at a child saying a child's prayer, and many would use the words "simple" or "quaint" or "cute". And if a person's content to stop there, well then, it wouldn't be unjustified to say that person's quest for the truth about religion was at best a victim of apathy, or at worst, a victim of cynical closed-mindedness.

But if you're NOT content to stop there (and the modern world is usually not) - if you want to go on and ask what's really happening - then you've got to be prepared for something difficult. If you ask for something more than simplicity, it'd be silly for anyone to expect that the "something more" isn't simple.

Religion, like anything else, needs to be taken in moderation. When people become too extreme on anything, or worse, when those at the extremes come to power, that's when the bad things happen.

Religion itself is not this big bad boogey monster out there. It is a tool like anything else-- it can be used for good or evil.

Or, from the viewpoint within the religion, it is just something to believe in about things you would otherwise have no answers for.

Now some die-hard (extremist) athiests will pounce and say "Whoa! No no no, religion is ALL BAD ALL the TIME" basically because it forces people to no longer think objectively and makes them stop searching for the answers.

While the former is not true, the latter has truth associated to it. But that is a characteristic of the person practicing the religion and not necessarily a characteristic of the religion itself.

I am agnostic, because I like the search. But I understand that there are just some questions that can't be answered out there, and probably never will be.

The truth is rarely pure and never simple. ~Oscar Wilde

I'll tell you a view I think is much too simple: the view I'd call "watered-down Christianity". It's the view that says there's a good God in Heaven and everything else is all right - leaving out some of the more unpalatable doctrines like sin, or Hell, or the devil, or Christ dying and then resurrecting from the dead. To be honest, it's certainly not the kind of 'religion' I would expect from an educated adult.

In the end, it's not really any good asking for a simple religion. After all, it's not hard to see that real things aren't simple. The chair I'm sitting on looks simple; but ask a scientist to tell you what's REALLY going on - all about the atoms (with all of their complexities) and how light waves (with all of their complexities) rebound from them and hit my eye (with all of its complexities) and what they do to the optic nerve (with all of its complexities) and what it does to my brain (with all of its complexities) - and of course you'll see that what we call "seeing a chair" delves you into mysteries and complications and complexities the average person can barely get their mind around...indeed there are things about atoms which even the scientists themselves don't quite understand. By the same token, you could look at a child saying a child's prayer, and many would use the words "simple" or "quaint" or "cute". And if a person's content to stop there, well then, it wouldn't be unjustified to say that person's quest for the truth about religion was at best a victim of apathy, or at worst, a victim of cynical closed-mindedness.

But if you're NOT content to stop there (and the modern world is usually not) - if you want to go on and ask what's really happening - then you've got to be prepared for something difficult. If you ask for something more than simplicity, it'd be silly for anyone to expect that the "something more" isn't simple.

Wow sorta blows Ochams razor out of the water then huh!:eek:

Religion, like anything else, needs to be taken in moderation. When people become too extreme on anything, or worse, when those at the extremes come to power, that's when the bad things happen.
I somewhat disagree, I think people who don't take their religion seriously are most of the problem.......people like Ted Haggard.

Wow sorta blows Ochams razor out of the water then huh!:eek:

Well, I suppose it might, but then again, that'd be going under the assumption that Occam's Razor is necessarily true; however, if you compare Bohr to quantum physics, or Newton to the theory of relativity, then you can see that it's not.

I somewhat disagree, I think people who don't take their religion seriously are most of the problem.......people like Ted Haggard.

There's an old saying "Religion was made for the people, not the people for religion".
I think as soon as you lose this balance, you become dangerous.

Religion, like democracy, is a word that must be carefully defined before one can comment on it. It is different things to different people. Today, I will look at it as a social force, because that is where politics and religion meet, and I feel it is appropriate here at NSG.

Religion provides several things to a community. A set of rituals to mark important points in a person's life. Such rituals help place a person within their community by allowing a moment for the community to recognise the person's new status. Please note that this has nothing to do with a belief in a god. Many 'hatched, matched, and dispatched' Christians do not believe in Jesus, but still go to the church for these events. It is the ritual that is important.

This is not to say that belief is not important. Many religions act as social unifiers by categorising people according to their beliefs: if you beleve what we believe, you are one of Us. If not, you are an unbeliever; one of Them.

Religious dress codes work on this principle, visibly separating the religious adherent from the larger society and identifying the individual with a specific religious community. A nun's wipple or a priest's cassock are the most obvious example, but the simple dress of the Amish or Mennonites also sets the believer apart.

For these and other reasons, religion can be used to mobilise communities to do things that they would not do if they were disparate individuals. Some times these are good things, like fund drives for victims of natural disasters. Sometimes they are bad things, like war and murder. Religion may be an opiate of the masses, but it can also help liberate them. Ask Óscar Romero or Desmond Tutu. Or the Reverend Martin Luther King.

While I have limited my examples to Christianity, I would be surprised to find out that other religions do not share many, if not all, of these traits.

There. I said something insightful about religion.

Well, I suppose it might, but then again, that'd be going under the assumption that Occam's Razor is necessarily true; however, if you compare Bohr to quantum physics, or Newton to the theory of relativity, then you can see that it's not.

Yeah well esspecialy when you consider that Ochams Razor is really a philosophy tool, not a scinentific one huh!

A man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle. (Bertie Russel, iirc)

I somewhat disagree, I think people who don't take their religion seriously are most of the problem.......people like Ted Haggard.

I sorta do agree with the other poster. I am a religious man, but there seems to be something inherently wrong with putting people down because they don't share your particular faith, or God forbid have no faith at all. That kind of taking religion seriously I think does more harm than good.

Religion can make you go to interesting places.


Religion can make you do nice things to people.


Also in ages long past, religion was the only way you could have a family.
I have often wondered if this has made humans more suspictable to this sort of thing.

Something interesting :

http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html

Religion is the MSG in Chinese food; some people love the taste, some are addicted while it makes the rest of us ill.

Religion is the MSG in Chinese food; some people love the taste, some are addicted while it makes the rest of us ill.

Ummm shiny!:D

RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

Taoism: Shit Happens.
Hare Krishna: Shit Happens Rama Rama Ding Ding.
Hinduism: This Shit Happened Before.
Islam: If Shit Happens, Take A Hostage.
Zen: What Is The Sound Of Shit Happening?
Buddhism: When Shit Happens, Is It Really Shit?
Confucianism: Confucius Say, "Shit Happens."
7th Day Adventist: Shit Happens On Saturdays.
Protestanism: Shit Won't Happen If I Work Harder.
Catholicism: If Shit Happens, I Deserve It.
Jehovah's Witness: Knock, Knock, "Shit Happens."
Unitarian: What Is This Shit?
Mormon: Shit Happens Again & Again & Again.
Judaism: Why Does This Shit Always Happen To Us?
Rastafarianism: Let's Smoke This Shit.
Southern Baptist: Send Us Money And Shit Won't Happen.
CALVINISM: Shit happens because you don't work hard enough.
HEDONISM: There's nothing like a good shit happening.
MOONIES: Would You Like To Buy Some Shit?
STOICISM: This shit is good for me.
ZOROASTRIANISM: Shit only happens half the time.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: Shit is in your mind.
Atheism: Can you believe this shit?

A man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle. (Bertie Russel, iirc)

I <3 Russel's Teapot

this is why I like you Deus, you are honest and stuff...... I also like you because you are mostly open minded and nearly always respectful.

I have nothing nice to say about religion today. ;)

Thanks.

From your mouth to Deus' ears :D

Hate the religion but show love for the brainwashed dolt.

RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

Taoism: Shit Happens.
Hare Krishna: Shit Happens Rama Rama Ding Ding.
Hinduism: This Shit Happened Before.
Islam: If Shit Happens, Take A Hostage.
Zen: What Is The Sound Of Shit Happening?
Buddhism: When Shit Happens, Is It Really Shit?
Confucianism: Confucius Say, "Shit Happens."
7th Day Adventist: Shit Happens On Saturdays.
Protestanism: Shit Won't Happen If I Work Harder.
Catholicism: If Shit Happens, I Deserve It.
Jehovah's Witness: Knock, Knock, "Shit Happens."
Unitarian: What Is This Shit?
Mormon: Shit Happens Again & Again & Again.
Judaism: Why Does This Shit Always Happen To Us?
Rastafarianism: Let's Smoke This Shit.
Southern Baptist: Send Us Money And Shit Won't Happen.
CALVINISM: Shit happens because you don't work hard enough.
HEDONISM: There's nothing like a good shit happening.
MOONIES: Would You Like To Buy Some Shit?
STOICISM: This shit is good for me.
ZOROASTRIANISM: Shit only happens half the time.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: Shit is in your mind.
Atheism: Can you believe this shit?
win! :p

Who cares? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism)

The greatest problem with religion is that most of them aren't designed to be updated for the future.

I vote the lack of sex!

RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

Taoism: Shit Happens.
Hare Krishna: Shit Happens Rama Rama Ding Ding.
Hinduism: This Shit Happened Before.
Islam: If Shit Happens, Take A Hostage.
Zen: What Is The Sound Of Shit Happening?
Buddhism: When Shit Happens, Is It Really Shit?
Confucianism: Confucius Say, "Shit Happens."
7th Day Adventist: Shit Happens On Saturdays.
Protestanism: Shit Won't Happen If I Work Harder.
Catholicism: If Shit Happens, I Deserve It.
Jehovah's Witness: Knock, Knock, "Shit Happens."
Unitarian: What Is This Shit?
Mormon: Shit Happens Again & Again & Again.
Judaism: Why Does This Shit Always Happen To Us?
Rastafarianism: Let's Smoke This Shit.
Southern Baptist: Send Us Money And Shit Won't Happen.
CALVINISM: Shit happens because you don't work hard enough.
HEDONISM: There's nothing like a good shit happening.
MOONIES: Would You Like To Buy Some Shit?
STOICISM: This shit is good for me.
ZOROASTRIANISM: Shit only happens half the time.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: Shit is in your mind.
Atheism: Can you believe this shit?


Hey I got that almost word for word on a Tshirt!

Catholics are cannibals.

Hey I got that almost word for word on a Tshirt!

I used to have that T-shirt.

I used to have that T-shirt.

Whoa right there? You used to have it and now I have it! My wife bought it for me(she knows my sense of humour), say you don't know my wife now do you?

religion is allot like libertarianism, it has a bunch of capitalists hanging on the wings killing it for everyone else.

religion is allot like libertarianism, it worships long dead men (Jefferson)

religion is allot like patriotism, full of shit and wannabe killers

religion is allot like immigration laws, unenforceable and darn right silly most of the time

religion is allot like pro-lifers, punishing people for having sex

now with that said I expect this thread to suddenly explode :p

edit: if any of that is too extreme just say and I edit away

allot = to give out, designate or set aside for

a lot = very much (of something)

religion is great so long as everyone agrees with me.
GOD.
MANAGING DIRECTOR
HEAVEN

Religion is like glasses. Some people need them to see clearly, some people don't.


How do people without the glasses no if they're seeing the clear picture though, because until you put the glasses on correctly (a.k.a really put your faith into a religion), you're not going to see things the same way another person would, or the same way you would with the glasses to see if there's a difference.

Religion is like glasses. Some people need them to see clearly, some people don't.

Interesting. To further the analogy, much depends on the opthalmologist and the optician with regard to what you see and how clearly.

Whoa right there? You used to have it and now I have it! My wife bought it for me(she knows my sense of humour), say you don't know my wife now do you?

Uh, why no. I've never met her. I certainly didn't see her at the motel.

How do people without the glasses no if they're seeing the clear picture though, because until you put the glasses on correctly (a.k.a really put your faith into a religion), you're not going to see things the same way another person would, or the same way you would with the glasses to see if there's a difference.

Because when you put the glasses on, they give you a headache. You try out a whole bunch of different glasses, different prescriptions, and in the end, you just figure out that glasses are a hell of a lot more pain in the ass than they could ever be worth. Add to the fact that every glasses person seems to think that their particular prescription is the only right one, but from the outside, they all look the same, I'll just stick with my god-given eyes (pun intended).

PS, I am under no delusion that this counts as an insightful statement about religion. Just thought you ought to know.

Well, I suppose it might, but then again, that'd be going under the assumption that Occam's Razor is necessarily true; however, if you compare Bohr to quantum physics, or Newton to the theory of relativity, then you can see that it's not.

Occam's Razor states that if two competing theories explain the data equally well then the simplest one is probably right. Quantum and Relativity make better predictions than there competitors which is why they're accepted, complexity doesn't come into it.

A better analogy to illustrate Occam's Razor would be Early-Heliocentrism versus Geocentrism or Geochronology versus Young Earth Creationism.

When Galileo first published, his model was only slightly better for predicting the positions of planets because the Geocentric model had been tweaked and prodded for hundreds of years to fit better with observations. The result was that it incorporated loops within loops within loops within looping orbits, wheras Galileo kept it nice and simple with the planets travelling in circles (IIRC Galileo rejected Kepler's work on eliptical orbits).

They're all just theories.

Disclaimer: He/She means theories in a lay sense, not in a scientific sense.
END Disclaimer

Thank you for clarifying my own words. :)

And yes, you're correct. They're not scientific theories because they can't be tested.

They're all just theories.

Disclaimer: He/She means theories in a lay sense, not in a scientific sense.
END Disclaimer

Some others' insights:

"Did you make disease / and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind / after we made you?
And the devil, too?"

-- Andy Partridge (XTC), "Dear God"

"Doubt is the beginning of wisdom and fear of God is the end of it."

-- W. Somerset Maugham

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

-- Stephen Roberts

My own insight:

I've met and lived with any number of people on many sides of the religion debate. My father told me that "religion is not the opiate of the masses, it's the cyanide." And through my teens and early 20s, I believed that. I was more than willing to engage in any cosmological debate with anyone, and started my share of them, too. When the "weekend kockers" came to my house, I'd go toe-to-toe with them about evolution, science, and all that for as long as they had the tolerance.

In my mid-20's, I'd met enough people who weren't the pushy, judgmental, and pretentiously smug brand of Christian, and it led me to become an agnostic instead of a militant atheist. I'd admit that I just didn't know, and one of the things that I was told by a hristian friend was that "God doesn't really want idiots and sheep for followers." I was in college -- these were incredibly intelligent people. Without directly trying to, they appealed to my sense of reason, and I began to lean away from atheism and away from mocking those who had faith and intelligence (I still saw fit to lampoon the mindless yammerers who couldn't go a minute without mentioning Jesus).

In my early 30s, I began to examine my responses toward art and natural beauty. I realized that science can explain a sunset, but it takes a human soul to appreciate its beauty. The same went for music. I can analyze just about anything I hear, but the things that I've heard that affect me deeply speak to something beyond my intellect. Whether soul is a combination of memory and rationalization or an actual spiritual construct, I still don't know. But those examinations led me to believe that there is a kind of Divine in the world. I do not believe it demands prayer or sacrifice beyond the basic golden-rule idea of karma. In short, I don't think God has a telephone.

I guess that makes me a Deist, like Jefferson and some of the other US founders. The point is, though, that your ideas on this topic will change with time and circumstance -- even if you believe that they never will. It tends to sneak up on you.

Thank you for reading.

I would say something about religion, but my religion advises me to plead the fifth.

Is there anything you would like to add before you are sentenced?

No comment...

The fifth amendment makes baby jesus cry

Don't thank me. I just read the quotes and skipped to the end.

Wow. That may qualify as the most uncalled for post ever. Thanks?

Post one insightful statement about religion here...
dispite all the evidence, all the errors, all the examples of wrongdoing, hyprocracy and other negative things... INCLUDING scandals...

more people turn to Religion to receive the one thing that they couldn't get anywhere else.

Hope.

The greatest problem with religion is that most of them aren't designed to be updated for the future.

Religion, though good in intent, can be manipulated for a bad outcome.

Just like any other sort of external philosophy.

Catholicism must be wrong because Kennedy was a Catholic, and he got shot. Quel profundity!

The Star of David is a pretty neat shape.

Wow. That may qualify as the most uncalled for post ever. Thanks?

As I figured out (sadly, after responding in another thread), German Unity Day = October 3 :(

dispite all the evidence, all the errors, all the examples of wrongdoing, hyprocracy and other negative things... INCLUDING scandals...

more people turn to Religion to receive the one thing that they couldn't get anywhere else.

Hope.

I'm not religious, so I really hope you're wrong.

As I figured out (sadly, after responding in another thread), German Unity Day = October 3 :(

Well, at least he's clever.

One statement on religion, ok, I'll bite:

Worship the old gods!

One statement on religion, ok, I'll bite:

Worship the old gods!

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!

Note: Fuck Umlauts.

When studying religion (actually this can apply to almost anything) it is imperative to remember to think both objectively and subjectively, if you don't you lose what ever it is your are trying to learn or understand.

Arranged marriage is one of the few minor aspects of the religion that piss me off to no end. If I'm ever set up like my parents were, I have made it clear that I wont hesitate to forsake the entire damn family if it comes to it.

Arranged marriage has got nothing to do with Hindu religion.

It's Indian society. That's the way most pre-industrial agri societies were. We were stuck in it for a long time and only now we are slowly moving out.

Look at any matrimonial site and you will see Christian and Muslim parents seeking alliances for their sons/daughters with specific caste (yes, Muslims and Christians too have castes) mentioned.

Whomever god may be...may he/she have mercy on us

Heh indeed! Ikonkar sat naam!

Jo bole so nihaal

Sat sri akal.

:)

I'm posting more than one:

religion offers hope where it would otherwise not exist.

It gives you hope that death isn't the end of the end, but the end of the beginning.

Most don't demand money, they ask for it. Donation does not equal robbery.

Makes more sense than militant atheism. If there is no god, why throw a fit if someone like me disagrees? Are you that much of an asshole that other ideas scare you?

If religion isn't being abused, something else is. Capitalism has been abused. Communism DEFINITELY has been abused. race and ethnicity have been abused. Gender. Hair color. Eye color. Possible handicaps. Strengths. Weaknesses. You name it, it's been used as an excuse to do wrong to others, usually violence and murder. Religion is hardly special in this regard.

In a thesaurus, the word "fear" and "religion" are on the same page.

Post one insightful statement about religion here...

They say to me in their awakening, 'You and the world you live in are but a grain of sand upon the infinite shore of an infinite sea.'
And in my dream I say to them, 'I am the infinite sea, and all worlds are but grains of sand upon my shore.'

~Kahlil Gibran

Arranged marriage has got nothing to do with Hindu religion.

It's Indian society. That's the way most pre-industrial agri societies were. We were stuck in it for a long time and only now we are slowly moving out.

Look at any matrimonial site and you will see Christian and Muslim parents seeking alliances for their sons/daughters with specific caste (yes, Muslims and Christians too have castes) mentioned.

Fair enough. Then it's one of the things that piss me off about Indian culture.

It's bigger than a breadbox.

It's bigger than a breadbox.

It's truly the biggest thing since sliced bread.

The greatest problem with religion is that most of them aren't designed to be updated for the future.

Aside from the fact that it can be the greatest motivational force in the world, and that it recognizes God, I'd say religion is a load of crap. The motivation it DOES provide is used for harm rather then good AT LEAST 50% of the time.

religion offers hope where it would otherwise not exist.

Okay, you are the 3rd person to post this, and I responded to the other two and neither answered. I'm getting a little upset about this. I am not religious. I have hope. I cannot prove that you are wrong, but I hope you are.

Post one insightful statement about religion here...

I find my particular brand of it very comforting, and a guideline for behavior designed to help people get along with one another.

Okay, you are the 3rd person to post this, and I responded to the other two and neither answered. I'm getting a little upset about this. I am not religious. I have hope. I cannot prove that you are wrong, but I hope you are.

That's hope where it does exist.

Most major religions seem to help people be better human beings when those people focus on the essentials of their faith and pay little attention to the details.

Most major religions seem to help people be worse human beings when those people focus on the details of their faith and pay little attention to the essentials.

Poliwanacraca, you are very right here!

Religion is not opium for the people, it's crack for the crackheads! (this once was said in #nationstates)

Freedom is the distance between church and state.

As I figured out (sadly, after responding in another thread), German Unity Day = October 3 :(

I never got to see his post. It was deleted before I could view it. :( I hope it was at least a decent insult. I can take an insult if it's really good.

I mean, saying things like "faggot", especially if you spell it wrong, doesn't insult me, it depresses me. It makes me weep for the future.

*snip*

Most don't demand money, they ask for it. Donation does not equal robbery.

Makes more sense than militant atheism. If there is no god, why throw a fit if someone like me disagrees? Are you that much of an asshole that other ideas scare you?

*snip*


While not explicitly "demanding" money, many televangelists make it very clear that the disposition of your immortal soul hinges upon dontaing money. That may not be a demand, but it's certainly a form of emotional blackmail.

I think militant atheists are assholes, too. However, they usually aren't throwing fits because someone disagrees. The fits happen when someone they disagree with is in power and uses that power to push their religion's ideology on the rest of the populace. And in that case, pitching a fit is the proper response. Since you're merely disagreeing on prinicple in a civilized debate and NOT trying to get, say, sodomy laws passed or openly declaring that tolerance of homosexuals is the reason the US was smote on 9/11 and standing behind a presidential candidate who agrees with you, thus throwing all your followers behind that candidate, since you're not doing any of that, I've got no issue with you.

Religion is derision.

While not explicitly "demanding" money, many televangelists make it very clear that the disposition of your immortal soul hinges upon dontaing money. That may not be a demand, but it's certainly a form of emotional blackmail.
even worse with the new 'prosperity doctrine' they make it sound like giving to their ministry is a get rich quick scheme......note, I have never heard them say giving to your local church is going to make you rich, it's always "give it to us".

I think militant atheists are assholes, too. However, they usually aren't throwing fits because someone disagrees. The fits happen when someone they disagree with is in power and uses that power to push their religion's ideology on the rest of the populace.

Hm. I posted in here before, but from the looks of it the post didn't go through...

Anyway, religion itself isn't the big bad wolf. Everything taken to the extreme is bad; moderation is the key.

Your post interested me, because I see militant atheists in nearly the exact same light as fundamentalist Christians. Both are advocating their respective beliefs in a way that is elitist and exclusive.

I mainly see the (extreme) atheists throwing the "fits" in terms of insults. If you do not believe in the way that they do then you are unintelligent, deliborately ignorant, and sheep-like. Their tactics are nearly purely directed at ad hominen retorts.

Hm. I posted in here before, but from the looks of it the post didn't go through...

Anyway, religion itself isn't the big bad wolf. Everything taken to the extreme is bad; moderation is the key.

Your post interested me, because I see militant atheists in nearly the exact same light as fundamentalist Christians. Both are advocating their respective beliefs in a way that is elitist and exclusive.

I mainly see the (extreme) atheists throwing the "fits" in terms of insults. If you do not believe in the way that they do then you are unintelligent, deliborately ignorant, and sheep-like. Their tactics are nearly purely directed at ad hominen retorts.

No more or less so than religious whackjobs who insist that everyone but they are going to hell. It evens out at least. At most, the atheists are lagging in the "broadcast of annoyance" category.

I'm not religious, so I really hope you're wrong.

don't get me wrong. I didn't mean that Religion is the only source for Hope, just that alot of people who couldn't find hope elsewhere tend to find it in Religion.

even worse with the new 'prosperity doctrine' they make it sound like giving to their ministry is a get rich quick scheme......note, I have never heard them say giving to your local church is going to make you rich, it's always "give it to us".

uhhhh
is there really a "new 'prosperity doctrine'"?

did someone dig up a passage from the bible supporting this idea?

uhhhh
is there really a "new 'prosperity doctrine'"?

did someone dig up a passage from the bible supporting this idea?

it's stolen from the old "faith-word" thing......they have new verses pulled out of context from the OT now! (not just the thing from John about prosperity)

edit: be prepared to vomit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvY5uQ6QNtI

Pulling Bible passages out of context is S.O.P. for fundamentalists. How else do you get "love thy neighbor/God is love" and "death penalty/pro-war/god hates fags/etc." out of the same mouths?

Pulling Bible passages out of context is S.O.P. for fundamentalists. How else do you get "love thy neighbor/God is love" and "death penalty/pro-war/god hates fags/etc." out of the same mouths?

Some people are just so Old Testament. :rolleyes: