What's your Religion?

They drive some trucks, just not any with split tires. They also avoid anything with a snorkel and a camper shell.

Also, where the hell is Frisbeetarian on the poll?!?

 

Christian, Nazarene Denomination

 

You consider the Frontier a truck?

 

That is a valid point, my friend.

Anyone know what Joe Leiberman drives? Quentin Tarantino? Jerry Seinfeld?

 

Oy-otas.

 

^Now that's freaking funny.

 

Also, is Quentin Tarantino Jewish? I thought he was just a funny looking Italian?

 

That was a joke. He isn't but you'd think he was based on Inglorious Basterds.

 

You could probably take any book in the world and pull from 3-5 words out of it and create contradictions.

I underlined the words of your post that are the most important for us all.

You make your contradiction statement as if it is a fact.....just sayin'.

 

Arguing about self-contradictions in the Bible is silly, because there are a million apologist rebuttals to that fact.

Where it puts christians in a tight spot vis a vis evangelizing is how does one, as a christian, make the claim that their interpretation is any more valid than any other interpretation? Including the "someone made all this up" interpretation?

Fair enough, portions of the Bible came from different sources. But how does one, as a christian, know which are divinely inspired and which are humanly flawed? There's no index or governing authority to look this stuff up (unless you're Catholic ).

So where christians run into problems is trying to convince nonbelievers their worldview and beliefs are correct when they haven't even decided amongst themselves what their worldview and beliefs are. You can see how someone not raised, steeped, soaked in the belief system from infancy would be skeptical.

Of course christianity seems so obviously correct when you only talk with christians, and spend leisure time with christians, and worship with christians. Just like Islam seems so obviously correct to people who spend their entire lives talking, spending leisure time, and worshipping with Muslims...

 

Haven't seen it yet, but I have heard that. To be fair, World War II in retrospect has become mostly about beating up on the Nazis and savin' the Jews. And of course, Hollywood has always had a strong thing for Jews because well...look at the last names of every producer in Hollywood...

 

And herein lies my problem with any organized religion: the reference material is flawed. If the older, baldly translated copies where tossed out and never used, great! But they aren't so some people go by the old, some go by the new. If they contradict each other what's the point? Either one or both are wrong. There's no way they can both be right.

And if you can admit one was mistranslated, then maybe they ALL were mistranslated. Just like the game of Telephone. Because really, how many languages has the bible gone through before reaching the one people read it in today? How many words had no direct or literal translation from one language to the next? Hell, even in the 20th century with our current modern languages there are many words that don't translate.

 

In all actuallity, the older texts were probably less badly translated bacause they are closer to the source writing. You point about "telephone" is potentially correct. The translation errors happen mainly when translatations are translated. But then, too, no matter how one translates them, humans are inherently flawed, and since humans did the translating, potentially all of texts are flawed. Nonetheless, the basis of any spirituality is faith; therefore, flawed translations usually have the greatest impact on organized religions' interpretation rather than on individual's belief and faith. My faith has no real text; therefore, my beliefs are purely that, beliefs based on what I feel within myself. This does not in any way invalidate the beliefs of those who do have a text since they, too, believe what they do because of what they feel to be right within themselves.

 

I was raised Episcopalean. Never baptized so I never got the little wafer on Wenesdays. I liked singing the psalms but never bought into the whole god/devil mumbo jumbo.
Really now: an omnipotoent being creates among other things, a beautiful planet called Earth and then creates man to infest it like parasites and vermin that don't know better than to wallow in their own filth. Really now, what's the point in that??
Wow, was "god" surprised adam and eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Oh wait, he's omnipotent so of course he knew that they would so the point is he likes to watch along with his little plot. Maybe if he created them with the knowledge of good and evil they wouldn't have eaten from the tree.
Really now, an angel fallen from heaven to tempt humanity into being evil and to not follow god?? How did god go about creating a traitor amongst his ranks. I thought he was omnipotent. To me its all so ludicrous.

I believe:
God does exist. In each of us as our highest "self". The devil does exist. In each of us as the foilable human nature that leads us to eat ice cream that makes us fat, steal a candy bar at the store, and in extreme: murder and chop up people. to me god and the devil are not external beings having any substance.

Believe in the Easter Bunny, Believe in Santa Claus, believe that god exists as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, if you will. I may respect that you believe something, but that doesn't mean I'll respect what you believe.
Be yourself, enjoy your life and be free of others that try to crash your reality and impose their beliefs on you.

 

I completely agree with you charlie. I just have a problem with people pushing those potentially flawed texts as set-in-stone fact. I mean, what would happen if someone produced and distributed flawed text books? What kind of repercussions would be if kids were being taught from a book that said 2+2=3 for a simple example while other books in other states/schools said 2+2=4? I'm sure someone would investigate and whoever produced the incorrect version would be punished (assuming the whole book was incorrect, and not just a couple typos). And yet, there are people that blindly follow religious books, quote their scripture, and judge people based on those, potentially, incorrect books without verifying their accuracy.

 

JohnV. I did not attack you, and I have no idea what "playing the victim" is, or how to do that. You're correct that I dont believe what you do, but I am not making fun. If I say I dont believe in god or harry potter, its because God is an invisible and unprovable being- and Harry Potter uses that type of unseen hand- just like miracles. I dont mean to make fun, its just that these things are so foreign to me as to be almost unbelieveable to me. As I said, I'm willing to change my mind in the face of new data or understanding.

I am making the most logical argument I can think of, and I am "giving" as much as possible. I re-read my posts and do not see what part was insulting- I understand that you might believe in god, and hold that to be some sort of truth- But I dont. You are probably a smart guy (you drive a tacoma!) and you are smart enough to know that god is not something you can draw a map to. You cant give me a location, and you cant say "god is everywhere" because that's not provable.

I did not attack you. I'm asking you to make a case for your idea- because it's not obvious. Gravity is testable, and provable even if we dont yet know the exact mechanism- but we have an analog- magnetism- to start with. And with more study, we will know it's mecanism and be able to show anyone, even if they are from another planet or galaxy.

Let's say I believed in god- I would say "God can be found by doing this, X." But I dont know how- because I am not a believer in the paranormal or the unseeable. (Please dont say we cant see wind or love- that's not valid.) God is "paranormal" because we cant see it with our eyes, we cant do math to prove it, and we cant see it in a telescope or with any means of photography- yet? I dont know. You believe in god, without a shred of proof. That seems amazign to me- because if someone said "Hey man, I know of this God and it's nowhere and everywhere and perfect but it allows kids to die of cancer" then I would say "that seems foolish."

Why do people shut down when they confront the possibility that god might be in their heads, or that God is make-believe?

I dont know what you think, and cant read your mind. Thats why I make my strong argument for reality- the reality that I can test and see and prove and back-up with math or observation. You would not drive a truck that was based on astrological-computers, and I wouldnt rest my life on magic or unseen gods. I'm not being insulting- I'm asking you for your point of view.

Its not an attack. I can attack you- by saying that you are stupid for your beliefs- but I dont think that. I'm sure were all on the same page, and some of you are smarter or dumber than me, and some are better at math and some are better at construction and I am better at something too.

So, I urge you to go back, please re-read knowing that I'm not the attacker. And that I genuinely ask for your insight.

Or you can take the easy way out, and tell me that I'm being insulting by asking you to prove yourself.


Cheers-
MF

 

I agree with the part about pushing certain religious views and judging others based on belief, but then, I'm not sure humans need a text for that. Granted, I've been told that I'm going to hell often enough and that is usually a christian concept, but I'm strong enough in my own beliefs that the threat holds nothing for me, and not all christians are like the kind that look down on others beliefs.

 

I was going to write or me but I changed it to "or anybody" so I wouldn't appear to be comparing myself to a Priest or Minister..
Growing up Catholic I have learned that if I assume to much I would get slapped.