What's your Religion?

I'm fine thanks. The cities around my hospital are all under water though, and the water is within a foot of the top of the flood wall they put up last year. Sewage/water treatment plant is about to breach. Not sure if I'll even be able to get to work tomorrow, or if I should. Waiting to hear from the higher ups for a plan.

 

The discussion of another man's beliefs vs another man's is a discussion without end. There
is evidence on both sides(multi-sided) mind you, that makes it impossible to say that "this
way makes more sense than your way". I understand that we are different and can believe
whatever we like.

The reason for my religion choice is that I think the existence of a God/Gods are unknown.

Too much non-sense goes on in the world and people on one side of the globe pray that they continue to be "blessed" and flourish while on the other side of the globe, another prays that they will still be alive in the next few hours. I dont think that a God/Gods would simply allow something like this to happen. Thats just me.

 

That statement tells me you know very little about how evolution works.

Mathew, Mark, Luke and John were not eyewitness accounts. They written 50-60 years after Jesus supposedly died.

Comparing Jesus to Alexander the Great is futile, we have writings from Alexander the Great to the people of Chios from 332 BCE. We have eyewitness accounts of him from people that lived during his lifetime.

And mythological characters do impact history, look at Greek Mythology. They've had a huge impact on our world and our history. Doesn't mean they're true.

And most of the problems you say Jesus helped, such as slavery and the treatment of women, were justified by the bible in the first place. And trust me, plenty of people have kicked drugs and alcohol without the help of Jesus.

And the rapid rise of Christianity? Maybe it was the unprecedented brutality used to convert people? Atheists and non-believers were given a choice. Repent and convert or die. And plenty of new, interesting torture devices were being constantly invented to help people find Jesus. Don't even get me started on methods used to spread Christianity in Africa and abroad. I don't think Jesus would have approved of those.

 

It is equally likely these things you attribute to jesus actually happened despite christianity. The kkk is a god fearing bunch.

 

hope the flood walls hold up for ya'll. be safe Jon.

please explain both facepalms(as briefly as possible please in layman terms I can understand since I'm not that smart a fella).......so is information not added to the DNA during the process of evolution?

 

Thanks. They held. If you're curious, check this out. http://www.pressconnects.com/articl...atic-aerial-photos-flooding-Binghamton-region

 

Dinosaurs...nuff said .

I also stumbled across that article, http://news.yahoo.com/closest-human-ancestor-may-rewrite-steps-evolution-141606435.html, this morning. I fully believe in evolution even though none of us will ever "witness" it happening. It doesn't happen that quickly that any of us would notice it occuring lol during our life span lol...

I watched several opinionated documentaries on the interwebz that compared the story of christ to those that dated far back to before his time. The story has been around forever, and has been used for multiple cultures and with multiple names for the figure being resurrected. I personally believe the bible is nothing more than a story book to help provide a moral code for the masses; a "mother goose" book for the old ages if you will

 

Appreciate you reading my long post, I know it was a little long winded

Eye witness accounts
The resurrection of Jesus has been challenged for years, therefore, to be fair, the evidence should be judged like any other historical event. Based on standard rules of evidence, consistent eye-witness testimony from multiple credible witnesses would be considered the strongest form of evidence available. Therefore, if we find such testimony present in credible accounts of the historical record of Christ’s resurrection, we have satisfied the question. We do have multiple eye-witness testimonies regarding the resurrection of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, Paul established the following:

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

Manuscript studies indicate that this was a very early creed of the Christian faith, written within a few years after the death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, it’s dramatic that Paul ends the passage with “most of whom are still living.” Paul was inviting people to check out the facts. He wouldn't have included a statement like that if he was trying to hide something like a conspiracy, hoax, myth or legend.

Resurrection of Jesus: More Eye-witness Accounts
The resurrection of Jesus was also declared in numerous other accounts, including the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene (John 20:10-18), to other women (Matthew 28:8-10), to Cleopas and his companion (Luke 24:13-32), to eleven disciples and others (Luke 24:33-49), to ten apostles and others (excluding Thomas) (John 20:19-23), to the apostles (including Thomas) (John 20:26-30), to seven apostles (John 21:1-14).

 

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2961220/disproving_the_resurrection_of_jesus.html?cat=37

This somewhat backs up what June said

 

I find it interesting how there are 500+ declared christian's on this site, yet the smaller population against Christianity seem to be sticking together against my post's.

Just an interesting observation.

 

haha

 

I'm a pretty firm atheist. I grew up in a Christian home, my dad is a pastor at a church in the Philipines, and my mom is pretty active in her church.
Admitting to myself and relatives that I didn't believe in a god was extremely liberating. I have attended numerous Christian churches and have always felt like I was trying extremely hard to fool myself into believing. The truth was, There was nothing there. Either my parents' god was avoiding me even though I was going through the motions like everyone else, or there just wasn't anything there.
I guess that you can call the acceptance of my own atheism a 'coming out of the closet' moment. I was fearful of all of the terror that had been shoved down my throat my whole life regarding hell, the devil, and that empty 'Jesus shaped hole' that I would have in my soul.
I now feel as though I have nobody to blame, and nobody to praise but myself. I feel much better without the constant guilt, fear, and unwanted pressure that religion produced in me.
I don't care what other people believe. I am absolutely indifferent to all religions. My only wish is that religion didn't have such a stranglehold in politics here in the US. Laws are passed based on religious beliefs, and I think that its disgusting.
I personally feel that religion is an ultimate stupidity and wickedness. I feel that its child abuse. I think that people justify cruelty, hatred and greed in religion.
I don't hate the religious. I have many relatives that are church going, and very good people. I just hate the fact that they feel that I need to be 'saved', and the subject is brought up frequently.
All in all, I just want the subject to be left at home where it belongs. Is that so difficult? I don't want to hear the guys on bullhorns screaming at everyone, calling everyone outside of their congregation sinners. I don't want to see the billboards with photos of aborted fetuses.
Atheists don't do this. Atheists tend to keep to themselves. We don't fly planes into buildings, bomb abortion clinics, burn down churches, or claim that voices from the sky determine the course of our existance.
All in all, I don't care what you believe. I just don't want religion thrown at me all the time.

 

Glad they held. Wow that's a lot of water.

I've noticed that too....I've been there.....often.........they need to stick together to keep themselves convinced.

 

Na, most that said they were christian haven't even bothered to give it a serious questioning, and would rather not comment about something their parent's pre-determined for them.

 

I will definately agree with you that way too many Christians 'blindly' follow. Of course sheeple can be found in almost all religions and beliefs though.

 

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and one of the things I feel that religion has impacted positively has been the foundation and development of higher education in the United States and abroad.

Apparently, 106 of the first 108 universities founded in the United States were of religious backing. As of 2001, there were approximately 980 institutions with ties to religion. (20% of higher-learning institutions in America). In 1881, 80% of institutions were religiously-based.

Now, just because a school is religiously-based, doesn't make it a seminary. The difference lies in the mission statements and operational structure of these institutions.

So I have to admit that I do see the benefit of organized religion in its ability to further education. (I also happen to see the irony in that the more education people receive, the less likely they are to be religiously active.) I have to wonder if like many religious endeavors, universities were originally designed as a means of furthering a religious agenda, and that as the US economic structure developed over time, they took on more of a profitable role. Or if that there hadn't been religion, some other philanthropic, political or economic benefactors would have lead the charge. But I can't help crediting religion as a big reason why we have a very wide and diverse assortment of higher education opportunities in the world.

Other than that, religion sucks. Boo. Boo I say.

 

X2

 

member of Church of the Fonz