Explain your motive for participating in a religious forum

But not in the book itself, my friend. Real change, permanent change, will not come from just band-aids, it will come from a real heart-felt caring for ones' fellow man (LBGT) by taking the very bold, very moral step of bringing forward the 99.99% of the book that does not say to kill gays. They are smart enough to do that, and moral enough to....they just need the, well, courage to do the right thing. I believe in them.

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

Hypotheticals will show you that you are more moral than jesus. For example, I bet you would NOT support legislation to accept slavery and beat slaves, however, Jesus accepted those two things. See how you are even more moral than Jesus? You need to believe in yourself more than you do, ideally. As a (modern secular) HUMANIST, I believe that your HUMANITY is better than even Jesus, and I can show you how that's true.

 

He's already been here. He's coming back.

You left Christianity seeking a more moral teaching. LOL! I can't believe you went there! You don't seem to be consumed with morality. It's just an observation. Are we going to debate the seven passages in the Bible that refer to homosexual acts or not? You know it so well. You should be able to waste me on this one.

 

Don't shutter kids away in private schools, in an attempt to hide them from the world. If they can't do the right thing (whatever that is) after being exposed to belief like modern Secular Humanism (they wouldn't get that in private Christian schools), then Christianity is not strong enough to have earned being their belief system. Let them decide for themselves, after being exposed to Buddhism, Humanism, Islam, etc.

 

I have. I was punished when I was in second grade for refusing to lie and make things up for confession. The priest told me to list everything I had done wrong and I couldnt think of anything, when I refused to lie, I spent the afternoon cleaning pews as punishment. Then in seventh grade after having the audacity to question a nun on inconsistencies with religion she later told my parents that I had gotten rowdy and she was struck in the head by me. She did this in hopes my father would beat me when I got home. I later told her as an adult, it was at the moment she lied straight up to my parents in order to get me hopefully beaten that I determined the only evil in the world was humans and religion was a straight up farce. I spend times on those threads to inform people they are full of it. That doesnt mean I dont think there may be a supreme being out there as no one knows what the universe actually is at the moment. What I do know, is those pushing their religion in my face are doing so for their own agenda not gods. A true god as I have said does not require worship, Why would a true god have such a severe personality flaw? He/she/it wouldnt. If god is all knowing then there is no reaon for me to make things up while sitting in a wooden closet telling a guy in a white collar what I have done wrong. If being a good person is not good enough for god, then that makes me better than god. If the nuns god was true why did she need to lie in order to get me punished?
Oh another story, after noticing the gate was open on the priests duckpond and the geese were getting out, I knocked on the door of the rectory to let them know and before I could open my mouth the door flew open and I believe he said "get the hell out of here you little bastard". If thats gods will, you can keep it. I'll stick with my version of what a god is.
To answer your last question, its because most of the time you are. If you dont want an adverse reaction to your posts then dont call people bitter and hateful. Last time I checked atheists and agnostics never murdered men women and children for being "Witches". Religion is a form of control over a group of people nothing more. Thats why when you go to church, they make you stand up, sit down, kneel, stand up, sit back down, kneel. That how they brainwash you to do as they say. And people do it gleefully because they want to belong to something. Fascinating.

 

He could simply, if he's all-powerful, make token appearances to help us out, and give us the cure for cancer. YOU'D do that, I'm sure, if you had his supposed powers, because you are a very moral person. See you're better than Jesus in an important way, and you don't even realize it. Believe in yourself, and the rest will come.

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Destroys the human mind.

 

And create a new fundamentalism that was set in stone.
You are just creating a new line in the sand.

 

Morally indefensible to you perhaps, but not to others. Morality is relative. An American life is no more valuable than an Arab life, but we like to pretend they are.

 

Explain your motive for participating in a religious forum

Entertainment...pure and simple

 

Did you ever attend any excellent private school?

 

I did.
Phillips Exeter Academy.
Most intense educational experience I ever had.
Not indoctrinaire in the least.

 

Oh .. a man after my own heart!!!!!!!!

 

So you support homosexual acts (which harm no one) being punishable by death and think that it is moral for gays to be killed for doing them?

 

Instead they taught that it is moral for people to be tortured forever for thoughtcrimes. That is infinitely more evil.

 

Usually it's weakness and doubt in their argument that causes someone to try and force their views on others. This can be the atheist or the religious.

 

I'd like to say I only spend time on this forum, but it'd be a lie

I also can't claim to have been hurt by religion or religious persons (raised heathen, you see), but I've certainly seen religious people do bizarre and horrible things to others.

mockery? why sure, of course we mock. the core teachings of most religions are highly mockable. do you not mock things you find absurd and nasty? I'll bet you do.

as for this idea that religion ought not be disrespected - we'll need to agree to disagree. we know you don't mean 'tolerate', when you ask for respect - as you already have that. you're able to worship unmolested - what you really mean is 'venerate'. not only is that highly objectionable (asking others to venerate something they find abhorrent) and arrogant, but it's deeply hypocritical. if you expect veneration of your beliefs, you must in turn venerate any and all beliefs held by others - even if it involves sacrificing kittens to satan. VENERATE, not just tolerate.

 

and to no one in particular

I may be one of the few here, but I find FS's work magnificent. no matter what he may or may not be, or how irritating you find his stylings, the man sticks to the point ALWAYS, and is relentless at confronting the core problems of theism. much of it is uncomfortable, to be sure, but the messenger ain't the reason.

anyway, thank CHRIST there are people with the stones to weather the shiit you get for speaking plainly.

 

He is like a heretic in reverse.

 

with the fundamental difference that he doesn't hate women, think gays should be killed, and think sky faeries live up his nostrils.

 

Most religious discussions are philosophical. It deals with why,how, when, we are here.

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Yes, it does. For the unrepentant. Just like any other sin.

 

Kinda like telling people they will torment in hell for all eternity? That kind of attack?

 

They are in the real world. You can't change one's beliefs easily. If at all.
You can't prove what you want, to make everyone believe like you.'
Most have been born into what they believe, lived it their entire lives. People just don't stop doing something when it's the only think they know.
And belittling people is the surest way to get them to go in the opposite direction you'd like them to go.

 

But that is exactly what you challenged others to do in another thread.

Why should we respond to your hypotheticals if you say you cannot respond to ours?

 

If you're trying to represent SH, you are turning people off to it.