Stop God Petition

[ConcreteSchlyrd]

The problem lies in the people that take the Bible (or any religious text) in a strictly literal sense. They believe that people were really turned into pillars of salt and lived for hundreds of years.

The real (or at least more convincing) theologians realize that these texts are more allegorical than anything. It's a series of fictional stories meant to convey a standard of living through basic rules (don't kill, don't cheat, etc). I just wish that the people who take those things at face value would realize that most texts (Bible first and foremost) have been translated umpteen thousand times by anyone from priests to kings. As any linguist can tell you (or any person who's bilingual), translating a single phrase one time can alter the original meaning by leaps and bounds. And that's assuming that the translator didn't have any sort of alterior motives while translating (King James).

For the most part, organized religion is built around sensationalism and the opportunity for spiritual redemption. Unfortunately, it has also been twisted into multi-national corporations that are, at times, above secular law.

(I will now wait for Crven to make the obligatory "cunning linguist" remark.)

[Fit of Rage]

Originally posted by ConcreteSchlyrd
The problem lies in the people that take the Bible (or any religious text) in a strictly literal sense. They believe that people were really turned into pillars of salt and lived for hundreds of years.

And despite the fact that times have changed significantly over the past... 2000 or so years, religious zealots can't seem to find any distinction between the eras and seem to believe that the bible should still be taken 100% literally. Following this they find it absolutely necessary to preach their beliefs to others. I include atheists in this group as well as Christians, because their disbelief in God often comes with trying to influence others to do the same (At least is the case with the many atheists I've come to know in real life).

If people would just stick to their own principles and not find it necessary to "save" anyone else, the world would be a lot better. Live and let live.

[ÆNIMA]

Originally posted by Bioture
My point was that religion is not always right. It was the church who locked up galileo, and I do think it says somewhere in the bible that the earth is in the center of the universe. The earth must've been in the center of the universe when the bible was written a few thousand years ago? Not likely. After taking theism 250 and 351, I've realized that the bible presents a series of insights (pretty good insights) about life that can be figured out if one never read the bible. Does the bible create nice ideals and insights on life? Sure. Can you figure out what to do for yourself without the help of god? absolutely.

I don't thank god for anything I have now, because he never really gave me anything. He didn't give me my job, my car, my girlfriend. He didn't give me my personality, my strengths or my weaknesses. I owe thanks to the people that got me where i am today. Not god.

Funny how i see people always thanking god for something he didn't do. "oh thank god i'm still alive" - no thank the medic that gave you CPR and saved you.

and no, the bible -tells- you to "love your neighbor" if you dont, yo break a commandment, and you go to hell. Geez thats oppressing, always having to follow a set of silly rules. (yes silly)

Can you prove that God had absolutely no part in any one of these outcomes? You do realize that it's often written that God works in small and mysterious ways, perhaps if you opened your way of thinking a little more, you might realize that coincedences have a more profound side to it than you would at first think.


PS, yout still haven't denied the existence of god. your rant about galileo has nothing to do with organized religion today, people mention different time periods, galileo was from a different t ime period...a time period where the church had more to do with government than it ever will today

since the church back then controlled gov't, they also controlled science and education....the people of the churches obviously weren't inspired individuals, and were really just worried about making sure the people they governed knew the difference between what the church had outlined as right and wrong

the church back then was from a different time, it served the people in a different way, and i'm sure they weren't inspired.


Facetious, are you up for it??

[geekbot]

Aenima, I think it would be pretty difficult for Bioture to either prove or disprove the effects of God on his life, especially if he doesn't believe one exists (unless you're asking him to prove the non-existance of God).

[Bioture]

Originally posted by geekbot
Aenima, I think it would be pretty difficult for Bioture to either prove or disprove the effects of God on his life, especially if he doesn't believe one exists (unless you're asking him to prove the non-existance of God).

I can't prove god exists, and I can't prove he does not exist. But I can make conclusions like everyone else about his existence. Frankly, the more I actually study theism as a subject, the less likely it is that there really is a 'higher power.' Does god play a role in my life? No. Does it play a role in the lives of countless others? Sure. Is there a god? Maybe. Is it -likely- that there is a god? I dont think so.

[Bioture]

Originally posted by ÆNIMA
Can you prove that God had absolutely no part in any one of these outcomes?

-- no, i dont think you can prove it otherwise either. I'm just saying is highly unlikely. (and with good reason)

You do realize that it's often written that God works in small and mysterious ways, perhaps if you opened your way of thinking a little more, you might realize that coincedences have a more profound side to it than you would at first think.

-- I'm open to the possibilty of a god, its theists like you that should open thier ways of thinking a little more to realize the improbability of such an existence.

PS, yout still haven't denied the existence of god. your rant about galileo has nothing to do with organized religion today, people mention different time periods, galileo was from a different t ime period...a time period where the church had more to do with government than it ever will today

-- again, i cant prove the existence of a higher power, but can only cite facts that lead to the conclusion of the improbability. my point on the galileo thing was to cite a specific incident where religion was disproved by science.

since the church back then controlled gov't, they also controlled science and education....the people of the churches obviously weren't inspired individuals, and were really just worried about making sure the people they governed knew the difference between what the church had outlined as right and wrong

-- agreed, old testament, new testament, whatever.

the church back then was from a different time, it served the people in a different way, and i'm sure they weren't inspired

-- and theyre inspired now, when they realized they fucked up? when they realized what they were saying was wrong?

Facetious, are you up for it??

[Bioture]

Libral Christian Mike clears up on a few things:


Hengyi88: theists think im closeminded.
Hengyi88: but theyre the ones that r close minded
lawnmowerman6987: I made people cry on christian BB's
lawnmowerman6987: they should be open minded, but they CAN'T, cause christian music brain washed them ALL
Hengyi88: im quoting you
lawnmowerman6987: nice
lawnmowerman6987: that made a couple little christian girls cry, cause I called them all mindless zombies
Hengyi88: not seriuos
lawnmowerman6987: now, if they only listened to america's REAL muxsic, like manson, and some death metal and scream-o, they'd turn into real people again. but until than, I'd like to hail the millions of america's hugest cult. congratulations kids, for diluting america!
Hengyi88: i have no idea what that means
lawnmowerman6987: I'm saying, if they listened to real music about poppin gangstas with deagles and killuing everyone who made fun of them, they'll become real humans, but until them, they're just a part of the world's largest cult.... christianity
lawnmowerman6987: people should believe in what THEY want to believe, not what other people believe
lawnmowerman6987: I'm sorry, that was wrong
lawnmowerman6987: like, people should believe what they want to believe, not what religion is forcing on them
Hengyi88: thank god i so agree with you this is like the first time
lawnmowerman6987: I thought you were athiest
Hengyi88: I am i cant seem to stop using 'god' in expressions when girls scream 'oh god oh god' it just sounds better than 'oh darwin oh darwin'
lawnmowerman6987: we should mass produce darwin fishes

[kuRaMA]

i signed this... but as "jesusrox@godnet.com" explaining how gay the petition is and how much god roxxorz! he even ownz pepsi christina aguleira and other huge sluts/companies!

[poop juice]

this thread is so stupid. nobody is going to change thier religous views because of a petition. and if there is a god, how is a petition going to stop him? the whole thread is a bunch of useless crap

[Troll King]

That is no longer relevent.

[Troll King]

Originally posted by Taciturn Bob
None of this is relevent.

That I do disagree with.

[King Missile]

Originally posted by Troll King
That I do disagree with.

did you really have to use 5 whole words to explain that to the world?

2 would suffice...

[Troll King]

And ruin the flow of the posts? Where's your sense of stylistics?

[ÆNIMA]

Originally posted by Bioture
Is there a god? Maybe. Is it -likely- that there is a god? I dont think so.

You're not athiest, you're what they call agnostic.

ag·nos·tic
n.

One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.
One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.


a·the·ist
n.
One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

[Savageee]

If god does exist he is doing a pretty bad job. Sure, you can say he works in "small mysterious ways" all you want. I don't see how that can be true, unless of course god approves of all the bad things going on in the world. Why can't he sneak a slice of bread to some child before he dies from starvation? Why can't he stop disease? Why can't he stop little kids from drowning when they fall in a pool when nobody is around? I know, because he is off helping musicians and movie stars win awards, the important things in life.