Religion

[ansem the wise 59]

Originally Posted by EbeneezerAl

Actually, that's historical fact. The modern Bible was compliled by a pagan emperor, Constantine I think, the books themselves may not have been written by him and the council he called, but they decided which ones to use, and no doubt put their own spin on them before releasing the final book. Look it up sometime.

oh, really? wow i never knew that... thanks for the tip EbeneezerAL

Originally Posted by SkylerOcon

And uhh...

It's a very, VERY, common thing to try to talk to a Christian about homosexuality today and they'll feed you a pile of crap like, "It's their choice, it's just that God and I don't agree with their 'lifestyle'."

okay, christan's don't ALL say that (so it isn't the common thing) nobody is saying that thier lifestyle is wrong they were born that way. they didn't have a chioce

Now then, as an honest-to-goodness person who wastes his time researching this stuff is that the only real difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality is the sex. What shock. But that's not why gays choose to be gay. There's evidence to support this theory (a lot of it at that) which is that gay people aren't gay because they made a conscious choice, but because they have an imbalance of Estrogen and Testrogen. And in honesty, I'm asking ever straight person on this forum -- did you have to make a conscious decision to be straight?

show me this evidence. where did you find it? (ex: website)

The point is that Christianity tries its best to make itself look like its an accepting religion. But when it comes down to it, hardly any Christians have taken it upon themselves to research what makes the people that the Bible says will burn in hell forever (but mind you, God still 'loves' them) so they just believe what they've read.

okay, at the begining of the bible adam and eve are told not to touch the apples on that one tree and when the dis-obay god he gives them knowledge and free will. now the free will let's it so that we can choose god if we want to or we don't want to, it's our desicion. so if they know of god and they choose to not believe in him then they will go to hell. and god loves everyone weather they do or don't believe in him

However, there is one thing that Christianity offers that Atheism does not. The biggest religion in the world is Christianity, so in honesty you guys have the majority. So I can go around talking about Christianity but I have to stay conscious of the fact that Atheism does fail to provide an answer to a question that everybody seems to love to ask: 'Why are we here?' Science can't do everything. If I don't keep that in mind, I'll just end up making a fool of myself. Everything has its flaws.

every religon (i wouldn't say flaws) has it's mysteries that only, when we die, will we truly know what was the right religon

[SkylerOcon]

[quote=okay, christan's don't ALL say that (so it isn't the common thing) nobody is saying that thier lifestyle is wrong they were born that way. they didn't have a chioce[/QUOTE]

Actually about 9 out of 10 Christians will say that in my experience. Last time I check 90% is the majority.

[quote=show me this evidence. where did you find it? (ex: website)[/QUOTE]

Honestly, I heard it from a friend, so I don't know where he got it from. But Estrogen and Testrogen is what causes hormones. I believe guys are supposed to have mainly Estrogen and girls mainly Testrogen. But, when a guy gets more Testrogen than Estrogen or a girl gets more Estrogen than Testrogen, it's not uncommon for somebody to become gay or bisexual.

Originally Posted by okay, at the begining of the bible adam and eve are told not to touch the apples on that one tree and when the dis-obay god he gives them knowledge and free will. now the free will let's it so that we can choose god if we want to or we don't want to, it's our desicion. so if they know of god and they [U

choose[/u] to not believe in him then they will go to hell. and god loves everyone weather they do or don't believe in him

Hahahaha! I'm sorry if I'm sounding like a complete and total asshole here, but I'm going to burn in a lake of fire for eternity at the hand of somebody who 'loves' me? You do realize that hell wasn't even mentioned until the New Testament was added in, which wasn't even in the original Hebrew version. It's another fact that the CHRISTIAN CHURCH added in the New Testament, and that means hell. So hell is just a scare tactic to scare people into 'believing' in god.

[quote=every religon (i wouldn't say flaws) has it's mysteries that only, when we die, will we truly know what was the right religon[/QUOTE]

Everything has flaws. Don't try to deny that. You have flaws, I have flaws, Jesus had flaws, and the internet has flaws. But, when we die... Well, I think when you die your soul will go to whatever you believed in life. Such as I believe in reincarnation, so I'll be reincarnated or something. You'll go to heaven. But I dunno, it's just what I think.

Gah...

Quote didn't work -_-

[ansem the wise 59]

Originally Posted by SkylerOcon

Actually about 9 out of 10 Christians will say that in my experience. Last time I check 90% is the majority.

check agian

Honestly, I heard it from a friend, so I don't know where he got it from. But Estrogen and Testrogen is what causes hormones. I believe guys are supposed to have mainly Estrogen and girls mainly Testrogen. But, when a guy gets more Testrogen than Estrogen or a girl gets more Estrogen than Testrogen, it's not uncommon for somebody to become gay or bisexual.

HAHAHAHAHAHA a friend... it's possible he got the information wrong when he tried to explian it to you

Hahahaha! I'm sorry if I'm sounding like a complete and total asshole here, but I'm going to burn in a lake of fire for eternity at the hand of somebody who 'loves' me? You do realize that hell wasn't even mentioned until the New Testament was added in, which wasn't even in the original Hebrew version. It's another fact that the CHRISTIAN CHURCH added in the New Testament, and that means hell. So hell is just a scare tactic to scare people into 'believing' in god.

alright, god doesn't throw you into the lake of fire the devil does (if your going to insult god, do it right) and sure hell wasn't mentioned but the devil was. and it may seem like a scare tactic for people who aren't christans, but really... it's just fact (for christans anyway)

Everything has flaws. Don't try to deny that. You have flaws, I have flaws, Jesus had flaws, and the internet has flaws. But, when we die... Well, I think when you die your soul will go to whatever you believed in life. Such as I believe in reincarnation, so I'll be reincarnated or something. You'll go to heaven. But I dunno, it's just what I think.

okay, everything has flaws EXCEPT for jesus, if you've read the bible (PROBABLY NOT) you would know he never had a sin in his life. and whatever you believe in is fine.

okay im gonna sum it up for ya

basically, in the bible, in the book of revalations: jesus predicted that we christans would be persicuted in the end just for believing in what we believe in (that is fact) i have seen it on TV and stuff like that... this one time this guy was teaching this class how the bible has effected american history and the people in that history (ex: martin luthor king jr. my hero) and this other guy talking about the subject siad "i don't agree with this, this is a way for the christans to spreed their message" like we are horrible people or something, when really the message we are trying to spread is a message of peace and of goodwill... also what if i were to say your religon is the stupidest religon in the world, you would be very pissed at me becuase i siad that about what you believe in. anyway my point is that what jesus predicted has come true and no matter what bad things you say about christanity, you are only proving my point to be even more true

[Yukou]

Well let me put my two cents in this conversation. Reiligon that control your actions, why believe in it? I am not Christian, but a Buddhist. I don't care if you trash talk Buddha, what ever, that is what I believe in and nothing is change. We were raise a certain way and we live a certain way. Christians are different from Cathlics who are different from Jews that are different from Islamic but they all share the same God, which is God. People are raise to believe in a certain religion. I am Buddist because I know for a fact that Buddha was real and he did walk the earth. Jesus is real to, because there are books, paintings, scriptures about him. All I'm saying that people need a religion and if you take that religion away from them, they have nothing to fall back on. It is their security. I am not going to believe in a religion that tells you to do something in a certain way or be somebody that you are not meant to be. No. Religion is for comfort and some people take that to the extreme. I am a Buddist because of numerous reason and one major reason is that my family all believe in the same thing. Religion is a good thing but when it starts to controll everything you do, aren't you some robot? Can't you think for yourself? Do you really need to ask God to craved a path for you? I learn through trial and error. I only turn to my religion for something critical, like family members being sick, happiness, wellness, and security.

[EbeneezerAl]

Firstly, don't double post. Second, the quotes will work if you replace the = with ].

And to put my two cents worth into the discussion, while I am a Christian, I don't believe everything said in the Bible at face value. I don't believe that good people in this world are going to hell simply because they don't believe. I believe we will be judged by our actions, not by our beliefs. I don't know or care whether homosexuality is a sin. It's entirely possible it was something put into the Bible, or represented falsely in the Bible to satisfy someone's own ends. Either way, I'm not going to judge anyone. That's not my place. And no I didn't make a conscious decision to be straight.

And actually, Ansem, no offense, but I think you're proving her point more than she's proving yours.

[ansem the wise 59]

Originally Posted by EbeneezerAl

Firstly, don't double post. Second, the quotes will work if you replace the = with ].

And to put my two cents worth into the discussion, while I am a Christian, I don't believe everything said in the Bible at face value. I don't believe that good people in this world are going to hell simply because they don't believe. I believe we will be judged by our actions, not by our beliefs. I don't know or care whether homosexuality is a sin. It's entirely possible it was something put into the Bible, or represented falsely in the Bible to satisfy someone's own ends. Either way, I'm not going to judge anyone. That's not my place. And no I didn't make a conscious decision to be straight.

And actually, Ansem, no offense, but I think you're proving her point more than she's proving yours.

um... EbeneezerAL.... SkylerOcon is a guy........

and maybe i am, but whatever

[EbeneezerAl]

Oops, sorry. It's the My Little Pony thing. It throws me off, XD. I got a real kick out of that, by the way.

But anyway, on topic. Another thing I tend to disagree with the majority of my religion about is evangelism. There are many people who believe it is the responsibility of every Christian to spread the religion to others. I disagree. For one simple fact.

If it was, then we'd all be good at it.

I don't know how to approach someone with something like this. I believe what I believe, but sometimes I can't hardly explain to people what it is I believe. How am I supposed to convince someone to come around to my way of thinking if I can't even accurately describe to them my way of thinking. There are people who are called to be ministers and missionaries, but that isn't all of us. And I don't think that I'll have to answer for not doing this someday.

I'm more than happy to discuss religion when the subject comes up, but I'm not planning on walking the streets asking everyone I meet "Have you accepted Christ?". That's not me. If I'm talking to someone about religion and the things I'm saying makes sense to them, and they decide, upon hearing them that they want to become a Christian, then wonderful. But I'm not gonna go around twisting arms. In my experience, it's a turn off from the religion more than a turn on.

[SkylerOcon]

I have a perfect example for you point, actually, Al (or uhh... EbeneezerAl? Everybody else seems to prefer to call you that.).

You see, in the student handbook for my school, there is - believe it or not - religious prejudice. The school handbook says that no satanic symbols are allowed. Yet its a daily thing to see kids walking around with crosses and other religious symbols.

And before anybody comes up to me and says, "SATANISM IS THE BELIEF IN THE DEVIL IF YOU SUPPORT IT THEN YOU'RE GOING TO BURN OLOL!" Then, let me get this out of the way. The actual religion satanism, has nothing to do with the Christian devil. In my opinion religious satanism actually has better beliefs and morals than Christianity. Their bible says nothing against any group of people. The only suggestive thing in there bible is that it says to avenge yourself against those who have wronged you.

And honestly, that's not as bad as saying 'slavery is ok'.

Oh yeah, and uhh... I wouldn't be offended if you called Atheism the stupidest religion in the world. After all, it implies that in the bible, right?

EDIT:

Oh yeah, and regarding the thing about the Estrogen and Testrogen theory, I actually have talked about this with a couple of doctors and they said that it was one of the best theories they had heard for it in quite a while. So eh... take your pick, scientific evidence or professional opinion. I'm pretty sure both of those help my point.

[Sephiroth X Slasher]

I'm a Christian, and I sometimes wonder about my religion. The Big Bang does make sense, but then for their to be a big bang their had to be another generated cause. But then that would be nothing because they say that's how the world started. But if you think about it, their had to some sort of godly figure. In my opinion, religions make you think of the science and the god,godess, or what ever. Basicly, it's a huge flip-flop with no real answer.

[EbeneezerAl]

@SkylerOcon: Al, EbAl, Eb, doesn't matter. Take your pick. I have a long name. Shorten it all you want.

I truly believe that science and religion have more in common than the more steadfast believers in them wish to admit. I'll use the fossil record for example. (I think I discussed this once already here, but it's relevant again, so whatever).

The order of creation in the Bible and the fossil record (as well as science's theories for the creation of the universe prior to life) match up perfectly. It seems an awfully huge coincidence that a book written before people really knew what fossils were, let alone studies them, matches up so nicely with what we've determined later with scientific analysis. So things aren't exactly the same, especially in the sense of time frame. It's still uncanny. And there is the possibility that it could be a mistranslation, or an intentional change in the facts.

Also, for a figure who is eternal, 65 billion years, or whatever it was, must not seem all that long. Could be six days for him. Time is relative, and ultimately irrelevant. strictly speaking, in space,away from the effects of gravity, there is very little time at all. Astronauts go into space and come back, not having shaved, and barely have a 5:00 shadow in the time most people would have substantial stubble or full beards here on Earth.