christianity, because liberals and freedom can be justified from it's teachings. Your question is irrelevant anyways, why bother? - - - Updated - - - I don't see anything here to reply to.
Well, then why did you? Haha Honestly, I'm really unsure of how you can't see the vulnerabilities of faith based ideologies to manipulation.
A sense of belonging is a human need. Also, we only hear the same stories every three years. - - - Updated - - - Well, look at what is happening in Confucianist/Buddhist Asian countries........
Hitler wasn't motivated by christianity, but being the good manipulating politicians he was he knew he could play on people's religiousity to gain power. An interesting scenario indeed. Me personally would have liked europe to retain it's paganism, and that the world religions would never have spread. One can definitively say that the two big abrahamic religions have brought with them mucn intolerance and strive for homogenity. If you look at the pre-christian ancient world you see that trade flowed completely ignoring the religious boundaries. Religion was important but not in the way it was during medieval times. in the ancient world you adopted new gods then and now, and it was expected that a foreign people would have foriegn gods, but no one though more ill of them for that. But in the middle ages when christianity and islam spread there wasn't much communication and trade at all over the religious boundaries. A world without those two would surely have been a more interconnected world. - - - Updated - - - I do see that to an extent, but my point is that it's not inevitable.
I don't know what "Religon" is, but I do know that run-on sentences/spelling errors make reading posts difficult, and sometimes open to misinterpretation. "Life would be smoother" is a vague and strange argument. If you'd like to argue against most/all organized religion, that would be a fair discussion to have. However, I'm far more interested in your signature, "God favors no group only religions do that." Would you mind referring to your source which claims to know the mind of God? Otherwise, would you present your own evidence or reasoning for this assertion?
Well, you are flying that state flag, and that state flag is governed by the laws of that state. It looks to me like you accept those secular laws.
You can't agree with the "only one religion needs to go" and then say "three religions need to go" in the same breath. It nullifies your previous statement. Also, Christianity does not have as storied a history of unprovoked violence as does Islam.
I know know he was a christian. You can be a christian and do bad things that have nothing to do with religion. Like Stalin, Kim Jong Ill, or Pol Pot's actions have nothing to do with atheism. Hitler united Germany because he was charismatic, not under the banner of religion. Had his war been a christian one then I doubt the Japanese would have allied with them(speculation on my part). And I'm under the opinion that abolishing religion will do nothing to help with the violence. People will fight over land, money, power or whatever else they can. The smart thing to do would be for people to just accept that they're different. Learn to get along. Quit insulting and demeaning others as if that is somehow going to magically make people want to give up their lifestyle for yours. That is evolution. Not trying to make everyone be like you but instead learning to accept and learning to live with those who are different.
Are you saying that it is possible that God favors one group over another? If that is true I want nothing to do with him. Yes my spelling sucks. When my daughter was in high school I use to ask her how to spell things all the time. She no longer lives here sorry. Although she could spell and got good grades she really wasn't very bright. She is better now. BTW insults roll off of me but it does tell a bit about you as a person. Wasn't it Einstein that could not even tie his shoes?
That is a myth, actually - Einstein learned to tie his shoes much later than most children; however, you don't need to know how to tie your shoes in order to get your point across clearly in a nonverbal communication. What you do need is an ability to present your position in a clear, concise, logical, and accurate manner, without errors which hide the substance of what you are saying. And I'm still waiting for your explanation of your signature "God favors no group only religions do that." By the way, it is truly sad that you would insult your own daughter in order to support your untenable position that grammar and concise communication is irrelevant (or even somewhat unimportant, as it is vital to all written and verbal human interaction).
Because I live here and can't afford to move to another state? That's crazy thinking. Also I live in a very conservative town in ca. But I'd rather live in Wyoming, Montana, or Idaho. I'm my own man I don't believe in any political party completely. I don't think "in God we trust" should be taken off our money, but if they did it would not bother me either. In God we trust was not put on our money very long ago. I also believe that the monuments that were inspired by those who believe in God should be left alone. They are part of America.
There is a good side to religion as exemplified by the Salvation Army and their tireless work for the poor and downtrodden... but I do agree that there are some HUGE downsides to religion.
You don't need to insult me just because you disagree with me. I did not insult my daughter. I just told the truth. Most kids in high school are not to bright. They know little about life nor do they even care to think about it. Maybe its you that can't comprehend. No one else has a problem. If you misspelled ever word in a sentence but got close I could read it and understand it. Maybe I'm just smarter than you. Now the God favors no group question. No I do not know what god thinks. That is just a little dig towards religions. Getting a little nit picky aren't you? I figured most people would be bright enough to figure that out on there own. I must have really offended you at some point because you are being somewhat of an %#$hole.
There is no TOS clause that mandates a person to place a flag icon on his/her profile. Doubt it,,, just look at mine. I realize what you are saying, as I have often entertained the idea of moving to Montana. Well, I concur with all of that last paragraph. But those are just a small sampling of the 10's of thousands of laws that are written in the secular laws of this country, and most of those that you did not cite, are also laws that you accept because someone else said they were needful and you do nothing to have them rescinded if in deed you are opposed to them.
I just think that the human race needs to move forward as far as religion is concerned. I don't believe that religion is necessary. Go ahead and believe in God or don't. I know it won't happen any time soon but I do believe maybe 1000 years from now there will be no religion only God.
What follows is purely a personal opinion. Religion to me isn't so much about god and faith anymore, like any organization you have people who do good and others who do bad I see no difference in religion. The good that religion does can be measured in the number of people who, for what ever reason, have found a way to enrich their own lives as well as others. The bad that religion does is to try and enforce those beliefs onto others. Do we need it, yes I think we do, there will always be people who need something to believe in, even ancient man worshiped .. it gives people a meaning to why are we here, what is our purpose. The problem as I see it is that for a long time religion was used as a means of control over the mostly uneducated masses, as education improved so religion began to lose its control. I do find using the "just because someone says they are religious doesn't mean they are" argument pretty weak. So to summarize, religions to me are something humankind requires but should be a more personal item, not used to try and enforce a particular brand of morals or laws onto others.
You're talking about organised religion aren't you? because obviously if there's still a belief in god there's religion. However I don't believe religion will disappear. Our brains make us very prone to find religious answers to deep questions and to help us understand the world, and because of wishful thinking. In Sweden for example most people aren't religious, but 'spiritual'. Most people will say they're not christian but they still believe in some kind of supernatural thing, be it ghosts or reincarnation. And as long as there's people believing in gods (and there will always be unless our brains change significantly, which is unlikely since natural selection amoung humans have mostly stopped. and even if it began it wouldn't remove religiousity) they will want to organise somehow, thus organised religion will never vanish either.
How do you figure I accept those laws? There are many people in ca that do not like those laws. We are just out numbered. Should I just pull up stakes with the little cash I do have and leave my 4 kids and a granddaughter behind to go live in a shack? To be honest that has crossed my mind. As far as the flag goes I was just stating the state that I live in. I didn't say I was proud of it.
Yes that is what I'm talking about. I have an honest question for you. Maybe you can help me understand. What is the difference between religion and organised religion?
For one thing, you are not in jail. If you refused to accept those laws, then there are only about 70000 right there in Ca that would be cause to put you in jail... not to mention Federal laws, county laws, and or metro laws.... Are you now suggesting that the number of private citizens in that state are outnumbered by the number of state, county, city, and federal agents? I doubt that seriously. Also, we were not talking about whether or not you like those laws, but rather your acceptance of those laws. I believe that I have not made any such suggestions, so that must be a question that you are entertaining... so in response to that thought that you are entertaining, I would merely suggest that you let your conscience be your guide. Thought so... see above. I believe that I have also not mentioned anything about pride.
I am only telling you that I - and possibly other posters - am having trouble deciphering your posts because of the linguistic innaccuracies. We all have our failings - I, for example, am not socially grateful. I appreciate it when someone shows me how to be more socially graceful, even though I might dislike it. There is a huge difference between intelligence and wisdom. The former is inherited and gifted, and merely denotes a capacity to learn or understand. The latter is won partially through experience - so of course a high school kid wouldn't be wise. So the word you're looking for is wisdom, not intelligence. An intelligent man might not like correction, but a wise man surely does. Which one are you? As for your answer: a "little dig" towards religions only reflects poorly on you if it is unsubstantiated. Since you admit it is unsubstantiated, you have caused your statement to reflect poorly on yourself. And if you really want to contrast your intelligence and mine, be aware that I am neither interested in, nor am I greatly inconvenienced by, your argumentum ad hominem. And although I will not be so childish as to report you for violating PF policy, you should be aware that dodging the profanity censor by partially masking the profane term isn't allowed, from what I hear. But again... I couldn't care less.
paganism was varied with no large cult dominating romans enjoyed a great selection of religious practices, despite people thinking the Romans as oppressive conquerors they were religiously very tolerant...Confucianism and Buddhism being philosophies rather than religions aren't really polarizing or intolerant...we would still have had our wars but religion wouldn't have been the driving force or excuse for them...
