Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

[leswp1]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

Negativity from an atheist? How shocking.

Regardless, which of your examples would have been advocated by Jesus? On the other hand, where's the code of ethics for atheists Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, Mussolini, Kim Jon Il and Hitler - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religi...f_Adolf_Hitler 'hates Christianity'.

This makes me wonder how Jesus would view your persistent need to demonize all who aren't Christians. If we changed the names and settings of some Bible stories, Jesus wouldn't fit very far into your viewpoint. He communed with a number of unsavory people of the day while lecturing people not to judge but to love. He chastised the leaders of the day for being so wrapped up in their own definition of religion they forgot to remember the meat of the message.

[Kepler]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

This makes me wonder how Jesus would view your persistent need to demonize all who aren't Christians.

Jesus wasn't a Christian so he'd probably take it pretty personally.

Some believers miss the point and turn their religion into yet another way to say "my cave family good; your cave family bad." Monkey brains are territorial and adversarial. The Prophets tried to re-wire monkey brains to not be like that, but ironically too many believers are obtuse to the central message of love and just use it as another weapon to club people, shouting "hurrah for my side!"

Atheists mostly sidestep the whole problem, and indeed the solution is not to have the conversation with a believer unless he (and it seems to always be a he) absolutely insists upon ramming his fairy tales down your throat. At that point you politely, but firmly, tell him to stick his iron age myths where the Lawd don't shine.

5mn's maniacal fury against atheists, who he continually misunderstand and distorts to fit his strawman, is unusual. I've lived beside believers all my life who could function in an environment in which other people didn't share their worldview and that was okay. They may have simply been more self-confident, or perhaps their faith was stronger.

[St. Clown]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

Negativity from an atheist? How shocking.

Regardless, which of your examples would have been advocated by Jesus? On the other hand, where's the code of ethics for atheists Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, Mussolini, Kim Jon Il and Hitler - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religi...f_Adolf_Hitler 'hates Christianity'.

And yet the people bombing those various clinics and the Murrah Building in OK City all claimed ties to one Christian denomination or another. Is there nowhere in the Bible these people could find support for their actions? We already know that slavers have plenty of biblical examples to find their support. The Word of God has a violent and bloody tone to it. Or are you resorting to your usual defense of No True Scotsman, that you will dictate who is a Christian regardless of how they identified themselves and had biographical evidence to support their claims?

[Bob Gray]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

And yet the people bombing those various clinics and the Murrah Building in OK City all claimed ties to one Christian denomination or another. Is there nowhere in the Bible these people could find support for their actions? We already know that slavers have plenty of biblical examples to find their support. The Word of God has a violent and bloody tone to it. Or are you resorting to your usual defense of No True Scotsman, that you will dictate who is a Christian regardless of how they identified themselves and had biographical evidence to support their claims?

The Murrah bombing is somehow blamed on Christians? Yup, this place is as wacky as always. Continue.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

This makes me wonder how Jesus would view your persistent need to demonize all who aren't Christians.

Now that we're creating fantasy...why do you hate all humanity?

Show any posting where I said anything against anyone that is not atheist. Any.

And yet the people bombing those various clinics and the Murrah Building in OK City all claimed ties to one Christian denomination or another. Is there nowhere in the Bible these people could find support for their actions? We already know that slavers have plenty of biblical examples to find their support. The Word of God has a violent and bloody tone to it. Or are you resorting to your usual defense of No True Scotsman, that you will dictate who is a Christian regardless of how they identified themselves and had biographical evidence to support their claims?

I already addressed this...and showed that extremist atheist morality has caused a thousand times more chaos.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

Is it possible to be both a committed follower of the christian philosophy and an atheist?

Refreshing to have a normal post that isn't a blindly anti religious attack.

So when you ask that I assume you mean based on Christ's teaching. The answer is yes...you can. Again, I think atheism, while not being right for many, is not inherently bad. The scenario would be that someone espouses all the values that Christ brought to the table without believing in God. Now again such a person would act as Christ advised...truthful, forgiving, putting others first, charitable. IMO this combination disqualifies one from being 'extremist' as you don't work against society, but for it...you don't attack others beliefs/pov's, you welcome them. Long story, short...that type of person is not negative and is about solving problems rather than creating them. I haven't seen any atheist fitting that description on this site.

If I were to add...I'd say that believing in God adds an additional connection to the teachings and raises the stakes for one personally. If you believe that those teachings are God in a manner of speaking...you're going to take them pretty seriously. It also helps you to connect with others that have the same perspectives (morality based on Jesus). Unfortunately we have self labeled atheists and Christians who give lip service to Jesus which confuses matters. If society was made up of atheists and Christians that took Jesus teaching very seriously...the world would be a pretty wonderful place.

[FreshFish]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

If that was true, I might think any messiah would have 3 traits 1) Some uncontroversial life 2) One that aligns with the message of Jesus (I am a Christian afterall) 3) A really impactful life or major reason for existing.

Any thoughts as to who you think might qualify?

Ah, how did we suddenly migrate from "son of God" to "messiah"? no fair moving the goalposts!

It seems to me that the Buddha is just as divine as Jesus and has a similar number of adherents. and their messages are complementary as well.

"God so loved the World that he sent his Son twice, once to the East, and once to the West, and between them they constitute the yin and the yang of human spirituality."

[FreshFish]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

Less literal and the way I interpret it- Jesus died to cleanse us of our sins. All of us. Not just those who believed. He didn't say I am only dying for the people who believe in me.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to leswp1 again.

[FreshFish]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

The lesson I learned about atheism is that it is really just a philosophy of 'no'. It just stands for 'I don't believe in God' and offers no platform in its place.

While that might be true of the minority that I'd call "militant atheists" it is not true of the majority of atheists IMHO.

The whole conversation about whether God "exists" or not to me is mostly a distraction or a sideshow. God said "Love your neighbor." So does every other major religion. So does the good and moral atheist.

There is more than one way to ground yourself in ethics, morality, and your responsibility to contribute to the common good.

What matters to the rest of us is how you behave, not what you believe.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

While that might be true of the minority that I'd call "militant atheists" it is not true of the majority of atheists IMHO.

The whole conversation about whether God "exists" or not to me is mostly a distraction or a sideshow. God said "Love your neighbor." So does every other major religion. So does the good and moral atheist.

There is more than one way to ground yourself in ethics, morality, and your responsibility to contribute to the common good.

What matters to the rest of us is how you behave, not what you believe.

Remember by definition atheism simply rejects the existence of a god. That is all it does and regarding religious tenants, it doesn't replace them. Hence - 'no'. Atheists can be moral...but it doesn't come from atheism as broadly speaking it provides no morality platform.

Otherwise agree. It's about behavior...see post 231.

[leswp1]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

Now that we're creating fantasy...why do you hate all humanity?

Show any posting where I said anything against anyone that is not atheist. Any.



I already addressed this...and showed that extremist atheist morality has caused a thousand times more chaos.

Woosh. Slow captioning for the reading comprehension impaired- Jesus spent a good deal of his life communing with the unclean, shunned and not of his faith. He also spent time chastising those who were more impressed with their definition of the Law/declaring the sin of others than in what God wanted. You bear a striking resemblance to the Pharisees. Surely we should all understand Atheists the way you do but I don't think any of us do?

[Kepler]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

The whole conversation about whether God "exists" or not to me is mostly a distraction or a sideshow. God said "Love your neighbor." So does every other major religion. So does the good and moral atheist.

There is more than one way to ground yourself in ethics, morality, and your responsibility to contribute to the common good.

What matters to the rest of us is how you behave, not what you believe.

Jesus Christ. As god is my witness, our assigned Redstate bot just made a good point.

Maybe there is something to divine inspiration.

I think it comes down to the following: what if you are given the choice, "be a good person" or "act in accordance with your faith." Kierkegaard agonized over this and eventually understood the full weight of divinity dictates that we should act in accordance with our faith. If you believe, then you are wrong not to got up the hill fully intending to sacrifice Isaac. Something is wrong with your prioritization if you have superseded divine command with human morality.

Nobody wants to go full Kierkegaard, but he is exactly right in drawing out all the implications of the god concept. If god is to be taken at His word, then you say "where you want this killin' done?"

I'm with Huck Finn. "All right, then, I'll go to hell." You can either be a moral being with full responsibility, or follow the rules to avoid a smiting. Sartre took a couple thousand pages to say the same thing in incomprehensible jargon, but that's at the root of the Existential recognition that to be moral is to realize we are alone and we are in charge and nobody is there to help or scold us, so to the extent that we want to see good in the world we must make it. Humans are the only actors for good or evil. Everything else is just humming along its tracks.

[burd]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

Well said, Kepler.

Can anyone speculate on what the highest elected office an avowed atheist has held in this country?

[5mn_Major]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

Woosh. Slow captioning for the reading comprehension impaired- Jesus spent a good deal of his life communing with the unclean, shunned and not of his faith. He also spent time chastising those who were more impressed with their definition of the Law/declaring the sin of others than in what God wanted. You bear a striking resemblance to the Pharisees. Surely we should all understand Atheists the way you do but I don't think any of us do?

So you said 'I demonize all non Christians'...and when I ask you for any evidence, you say 'Woosh'?

No need to respond to groupies.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Religion Thread: That's Me In the Corner...

So you said 'I demonize all non Christians'...and when I ask you for any evidence, you say 'Woosh'?

No need to respond to groupies.

You've already established that you think Christianity is a spotless faith that is responsible for every positive development in the world. That is, when you exclude and disavow all of the folks who've abused the Christian message, because they are "not really Christian".

If you can't see the ridiculousness of this position and acknowledge that Christianity IS responsible for its share of the world's ills (LBGT hatred, abortion absolutism, the Inquisition, anti-science chicanery, etc.), then I guess I have no need to respond to "groupies" either. It's a good thing I've already mostly disengaged.