Religion: what is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Huah!

[X Megadragon]

Hmm... I don't believe in any religion, and the only thing I think you get from religion is... hope. <.<

For example, if something catastrophic is going on, the first thing people hope for is for their god to save them... I guess it just gives them something to hope for, that's all.
For the ancient civilizations, religion is what motivated people to live or do good deeds. In today's society... I guess religion isn't taken as seriously, so there's not much "it's good for" anymore.

(BTW, this is all my opinions) <.<

 

[Aesir]

That verse does contradict though, if the The father, The son , and the holy spirit are the same person then blaspheme against the holy spirit would be the same as blaspheme against jesus.

But Jesus states blaspheme against him is forgivable but against the holy spirit you cannot be forgiven.

lol sounds a lot like Yahweh to me... ?

Yahweh is god in the bible so my point stands.

 

[KingJiggyWiggy]

Are we thinking of the same kind of lust here?

I don't know who you are but it seems as though you already have a deep relationship with your girlfriend, I don't see why sex would make you a sinner. Sex becomes a sin when you are at the point of being a fornicator. I know a guy who cheats on his girlfriend all the time, THAT is what lust is. When those girls find out he has a girlfriend they are deeply hurt and feel bad that they ever had sex before, and that is what I mean. Its just like those Girls Gone Wild women who eventually begin to regret ever being on that show.

And you said that Christ isn't needed and isn't something to be proud of. That seems more like a personal problem to me.

But Jesus states blaspheme against him is forgivable but against the holy spirit you cannot be forgiven.

Provide a source please.

Virgin Maria , is truly influenced by Isis the egypt Godess , and the Christianity is based on "pagan" religions , The religion is social , political and economic power for a little group of persons..............

Please stop using the word Religion, its becoming as abused as the words "mind games." It looks to me like everybody here is targeting Christianity, so lets stop using "Religion." Its far too broad.

 

[Aesir]

Are we thinking of the same kind of lust here?

I don't know who you are but it seems as though you already have a deep relationship with your girlfriend, I don't see why sex would make you a sinner. Sex becomes a sin when you are at the point of being a fornicator. I know a guy who cheats on his girlfriend all the time, THAT is what lust is. When those girls find out he has a girlfriend they are deeply hurt and feel bad that they ever had sex before, and that is what I mean. Its just like those Girls Gone Wild women who eventually begin to regret ever being on that show.

Then lust should be changed to fornication, hell I have no problem with a guy who has a one night stand with a girl. Just as long as he isn't cheating.

Just because you have sex without marriage doesn't mean it's a sin.

And you said that Christ isn't needed and isn't something to be proud of. That seems more like a personal problem to me.

Saying you need Christ appears to be a personal problem to me.

Provide a source please.

Luke 12:10
"10And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven."

If I say Jesus is a prick now, but later in life hypothetically ask for forgiveness then I shall be forgiven that is however if I truely am sorry for what I've said.

However speaking against the Holy Spirit in such a way say if I said.

The Holy Spirit is no more logical then the belief of elves, then I am ****ed for good.

Please stop using the word Religion, its becoming as abused as the words "mind games." It looks to me like everybody here is targeting Christianity, so lets stop using "Religion." Its far too broad.

Christianity is the most popular religion in the western world what did you expect?

 

[Jellybelly]

Yeah, that's why religion was created, to keep society in order and to enforce a moral code on weak minded / uneducated humans. Religion had it's place in history when dealing with uneducated masses, but I'd like to think society is advanced enough to move on. Who knows though, maybe fear of punishment / hope for life after death is the only reason Christians have morals? Most of them seem to be unable to understand moral behavior without religion anyways. .

This

Religions were created at a time where people couldn't read, couldn't comprehend the concept of an entire planet and generally new nothing, telling them that they would go to a happy place for all eternity was probably quite easy to do, alot of christian practices come from pagan religions that christianity usurped.

Scientology gets alot of bashing because it states that humans are from outer space left here by a all powerful alien race. Now because that was bought about in the last 100 years todays cynical brains look down on scientology, but isn't someone putting 2 of every single animal on a boat just as implausable?

 

[KingJiggyWiggy]

Well if the guy has a one night stand then I hope that women doesn't become tormented for it. It always happens. That lady is gonna look into that 30 years from now and regret that she was ever being used.

On Aesir's comment towards personal problems:

Ironically, a relationship with God is personal. But I never said I NEEDED Christ did I?

On Luke 12:10:

You have to read other verses to completely understand what Jesus was saying. You must fear God, not because he wants to be feared, but because you can use fear as a form of knowledge.

One example could be a terrorist. Do not fear another man because that man can only ruin your worldly body, but that man could never send you to hell or hurt your soul (unlike God).

Please don't tell me you found that verse on an Anti-Christ website.

Scientology gets alot of bashing because it states that humans are from outer space left here by a all powerful alien race. Now because that was bought about in the last 100 years todays cynical brains look down on scientology, but isn't someone putting 2 of every single animal on a boat just as implausable?

The average person hates Scientology because of that theory, however, the smart person hates Scientology because it kills it's followers.

As for the Ark, the Bible does not say exactly how long ago The Great Flood took place. Hell it was so long ago that I wouldn't be surprised if the evolution chain hasn't even gotten that far. So don't you think it is possible that there were not THAT many animals to put on a gargantuan ship?

 

[Aesir]

On Aesir's comment towards personal problems:

Ironically, a relationship with God is personal. But I never said I NEEDED Christ did I?

On Luke 12:10:

You have to read other verses to completely understand what Jesus was saying. You must fear God, not because he wants to be feared, but because you can use fear as a form of knowledge.

I have read the other verses, don't think I just find one verse and ignore everything else.
Using fear as a form of control which is exactly what you're describing isn't something I think a religion thats suppose to be about love should be doing.

If it's about love why use fear?

One example could be a terrorist. Do not fear another man because that man can only ruin your worldly body, but that man could never send you to hell or hurt your soul (unlike God).

A god that governs through fear doesn't sound like a very nice god to me.

Please don't tell me you found that verse on an Anti-Christ website.

Nope.

As for the Ark, the Bible does not say exactly how long ago The Great Flood took place. Hell it was so long ago that I wouldn't be surprised if the evolution chain hasn't even gotten that far. So don't you think it is possible that there were not THAT many animals to put on a gargantuan ship?

Using your own interpretations isn't a very valid point, it would be like me saying the Roman senate is largely responsible for the collapse of the roman empire.

Any historian would tell you thats incorrect.

I really think you need to be introduced to the geological time line, because for one to think Humans civilization predates many of the animals we see today shows your lack of understanding.

 

[KingJiggyWiggy]

Fear is not a tool of the Lord and is certainly not a terrorist, if that is what you are implying.

Using your own interpretations isn't a very valid point, it would be like me saying the Roman senate is largely responsible for the collapse of the roman empire.

Any historian would tell you thats incorrect.

I really think you need to be introduced to the geological time line, because for one to think Humans civilization predates many of the animals we see today shows your lack of understanding.

New species are always arriving. I never said humans existed before animals did I?

 

[arrowhead]

how is fear not a tool if he uses it to scare people into doing what he thinks is good?

uh wow. you actually believe the great flood happened? you must not believe in radiometric dating. and you can't seriously believe 2 of each of the hundreds of thousands-millions of species could have fit, lived, and not kill each other for forty days... on a boat. that must have been a hugeass boat. with TONS of food. and cages for every omnivore.

btw, how did the plants survive the flood? and where did the water come from? and how did it disappear? you must not believe in much physics either.

 

[KingJiggyWiggy]

Why does it matter?

He doesn't WANT you to fear him. It was a lesson teaching others not to fear another man. Seriously, why I should I fear a man?

If you believe in evolution then would it surprise you if the fishes somehow survived in the water? Hmmm.... GEE I never thought fish could survive in water! You would think that Noah would know how to go fishing!

It is believed that the animals were to live by God's miracle. I personally believe that God is the one who created science. As for the water, it is isn't said exactly how it appears. It hints that it would rise from the ground and rain heavily.

 

[arrowhead]

you should fear some men because they can make you miserable? seriously, what kind of question is that?

yes because all animals, even herbivores and omnivores, can live on only fish for 40 days. also, unless the rain had the same salt concentration as the ocean, almost all marine life would die

oh, so if something can't logically happen, it's god's miracle? no wonder you guys can't be convinced. i should just stop trying

 

[KingJiggyWiggy]

Ok so I went back and read Genesis to realize a few things that I have been missing.

1) It took 8 people 120 years to build the massive Ark.

2) There are under 20k species to fit inside the Ark, that does not include the varieties of a specie. For instance; an American Warm Blood horse is not an entirely different species form an Arabian horse. They are simply different varieties and that also does not mean that one type of horse is unable to produce another kind. That brings the number of animals to bring from millions to thousands. It is not impossible to fit that many animals in a ship.

3) The first deck was built for storage of food and water. Since the number of animals is lower than you expected, it would take a few thousand tons of food to stock. Thats my guess at least.

4) You can survive of small amounts of food and water by rationing the amounts to everyone. That doesn't mean everyone will survive unscathed though.

5) The water said to come from the clouds and geysers in the earth.

6) The earth used to be one continent, you would all know this as Pangaea. Because it is one continent, why would it be impossible to gather 2 of every animal in a span of 120 years?

 

[Aesir]

6) The earth used to be one continent, you would all know this as Pangaea. Because it is one continent, why would it be impossible to gather 2 of every animal in a span of 120 years?

This is by far the funniest point you've made yet.

You realize that if Pangaea existed during the flood that would mean in order for the continents to be where they are today continental drift would have to have been at the very least 1 inch a year.

That may not seem a lot to you, but it is considering they barely move a millimeter every year.

So we would have had constant earth quakes right?

Yea I'm sure, like I said go study the geological time line before posting again.

Your other points where alright, but nothing that would make the flood seem likely to have occurred.

Except for the part about where the water came from, the earth cannot produce that much water in that short of a time frame. It just can't.

 

[Wikipedia]

I personally don't understand debating over the story of Noah's ark. If we are assuming that it even happened that you are assuming that God actually told him to build this ark. If you assume that God told him to build the ark, God being an all powerful God, then Noah would have no trouble gathering, loading and caring for all the animals on the ark.

But continually I see the story of Noah's ark brought up in every religious debate thread, that I see, on this forum

 

[arrowhead]

Ok so I went back and read Genesis to realize a few things that I have been missing.

1) It took 8 people 120 years to build the massive Ark.

2) There are under 20k species to fit inside the Ark, that does not include the varieties of a specie. For instance; an American Warm Blood horse is not an entirely different species form an Arabian horse. They are simply different varieties and that also does not mean that one type of horse is unable to produce another kind. That brings the number of animals to bring from millions to thousands. It is not impossible to fit that many animals in a ship.

3) The first deck was built for storage of food and water. Since the number of animals is lower than you expected, it would take a few thousand tons of food to stock. Thats my guess at least.

4) You can survive of small amounts of food and water by rationing the amounts to everyone. That doesn't mean everyone will survive unscathed though.

5) The water said to come from the clouds and geysers in the earth.

6) The earth used to be one continent, you would all know this as Pangaea. Because it is one continent, why would it be impossible to gather 2 of every animal in a span of 120 years?

oh let's all just fit 40k animals and bugs into a ship and hope none of them die before reproducing. let's make that a metal ship too since it's impossible to build a wooden one that big. what? we don't have the technology to build a metal ship that big? no worries. god helps me through miracle work. but let's just record that it was made of wood cause that sounds cooler. now it's time to load 40 days worth of food for the thousands of animals on board. ack! i can't do this by myself! the food will rot by the time i can get it all inside! o snap, god's carrying it in for me! thanks god! oh no! the animals were reproducing and now we have 5 of every species! oh well, i'll just toss them out the window. woopie look! a never-ending stream of water gushes from the ground. and it's raining about a hundred inches an hour. where did all that water come from? oh i know! god's miracle! look it stopped raining finally. and the water disappears! o snap god, you did it again! you sure are the miracle worker! wait, but why did you want to drown the world and all its inhabitants in the first place? and where are all the plants? oh my god, they've all died in the flood! ohhhh but then you've resurrected them! god, you did it again!

my point: don't question the existence of the christian god or you won't benefit from his miracles

 

[RedKnight]

Forget reading what other ppl have said already...whats wrong with something that teaches ppl to be kind to each other?

 

[arrowhead]

because it doesn't do just that. for christianity: the bible can be interpreted flexibly so lots of people make it so the bible fits their beliefs instead of changing what they believe to fit the intentions of the bible, but even the bible isn't "fair" to everyone

right now we're just arguing about the existence of god though. but it's not going anywhere and never will go anywhere but i still post cause i have too much time

 

[Gamer4Fire]

What? You mean that people can interpret the bible to mean whatever they need it to mean when they need to? And they have been doing this for nearly two thousand years? You don't say.

 

[Gamer4Fire]

Spoiler

Double Post What? You mean that people can interpret the bible to mean whatever they need it to mean when they need to? And they have been doing this for nearly two thousand years? You don't say. Double Post

 

[espio87]

because it doesn't do just that. for christianity: the bible can be interpreted flexibly so lots of people make it so the bible fits their beliefs instead of changing what they believe to fit the intentions of the bible, but even the bible isn't "fair" to everyone

the Vatican is the best example in this case.

 

[Kr3w]

I was a christion until about a year ago.
I just didn't find any good coming out of beign a christian, in fact, I think of religion as just putting restrictions on what you can and cannot do.
Please, I'm not trying to get anyone angry, or trying to be an *******, its just my opinion

 

[Flipthepage]

I'm a Marxist in a somewhat classic sense of just agreeing with a lot of his viewpoints, so my view on religion is a highly negative one in the mass controlling sense, but i can admire jung's thought that it can inspire and unite communities, a trait that is needed in a world as segregated as ours.

 

[Wikipedia]

Does religion unify? Or does it actually segregate its members from members of other faiths?

 

[Gamer4Fire]

Go to Ireland and ask them. They're all christians.

 

[-Risky-]

Does religion unify? Or does it actually segregate its members from members of other faiths?

Bit of both, it strengthens the bond between members of a community, while creating gulfs between separate communities of faith

 

[Wikipedia]

Go to Ireland and ask them. They're all christians.

Ouch, that question makes my stomach queezy.

 

[-Risky-]

Go to Ireland and ask them. They're all christians.

Oh oh oh! I resent that, there's at least one non-Christian Irishman, I can tell you that much, thank you very much

 

[KingJiggyWiggy]

This is by far the funniest point you've made yet.

You realize that if Pangaea existed during the flood that would mean in order for the continents to be where they are today continental drift would have to have been at the very least 1 inch a year.

That may not seem a lot to you, but it is considering they barely move a millimeter every year.

So we would have had constant earth quakes right?

Yea I'm sure, like I said go study the geological time line before posting again.

Your other points where alright, but nothing that would make the flood seem likely to have occurred.

Except for the part about where the water came from, the earth cannot produce that much water in that short of a time frame. It just can't.

I usually don't like quoting but there are many posts before mine.

I am sure that it takes many earthquakes for continental drift but the thing is, the Bible doesn't say what year this was in. Whos to say that there weren't many earthquakes afterwards?

oh let's all just fit 40k animals and bugs into a ship and hope none of them die before reproducing

Evidently it is not stated whether any of them died or not. What is stated is that 2/3s of the original animals have died (that may include Dinosaurs).

That doesn't mean its impossible to get other breeds of species back though. When a reproduction community is small then the results will be fairly larger than a larger community. Does that make sense to you?

Just because I have one breed of dog does not mean I can't get the others. I have experienced this first hand and I don't need and Evolution theory to tell me this. My mother has an aunt with 13 kids, all with the same parents. The parents are white but surprisingly the offspring are all different. You've got one kid red hair, the other with blond hair, two with black skin, one with a hint of Asian, etc. It is not impossible to get other breeds back, you don't need 23 million+ animals like you have exaggerated.

You can figure out the rest on your own if you aren't going to be mature about it.

I was a christion until about a year ago.
I just didn't find any good coming out of beign a christian, in fact, I think of religion as just putting restrictions on what you can and cannot do.
Please, I'm not trying to get anyone angry, or trying to be an *******, its just my opinion

So what are you now? Atheist?

 

[Kr3w]

So what are you now? Atheist?

WEll, I'd say I'm more Agnostic, but really I just dont bother with religion anymore. Ever since my family stopped going to church

 

[Gamer4Fire]

How much sectarian violence is there, really?

 

[arrowhead]

oh let's all just fit 40k animals and bugs into a ship and hope none of them die before reproducing

Evidently it is not stated whether any of them died or not. What is stated is that 2/3s of the original animals have died (that may include Dinosaurs).

That doesn't mean its impossible to get other breeds of species back though. When a reproduction community is small then the results will be fairly larger than a larger community. Does that make sense to you?

Just because I have one breed of dog does not mean I can't get the others. I have experienced this first hand and I don't need and Evolution theory to tell me this. My mother has an aunt with 13 kids, all with the same parents. The parents are white but surprisingly the offspring are all different. You've got one kid red hair, the other with blond hair, two with black skin, one with a hint of Asian, etc. It is not impossible to get other breeds back, you don't need 23 million+ animals like you have exaggerated.

You can figure out the rest on your own if you aren't going to be mature about it.

......
i never said you can't get other breeds of species back. read our conversation over again.

so how can you explain how they built the boat, and how it stayed intact? it's physically impossible for a boat big enough to fit 40 days worth of food and 40k animals and bugs and still be made of wood. same with the water. where did that come from? there isn't enough water on earth to flood it. and how did the plants survive? and how did the water disappear? admit it. these are questions you cannot answer without going back to "god did it with his miracles."

 

[arrowhead]

buddhists are awesome

 

[Black Waltz]

im buddhist! high five!
*looks around*

 

[otter]

I've never been a religious person but I sort of had a breakthrough lately. Heres why I believe religion exists:

Relgion is an instinct.
Humans are one of the only creatures on this planet that knows it's going to die one day. We learn this from a very young age because we have the ability to pass on crazy amounts of knowledge from one generation to the next. We even know the average age that we are going to die. This is scary. Too scary, in my opinion, for the subconcience to handle. People need to find a way to convince themselves that they will never die or they will have to face the reality (Possibly, I'm not saying I know) that they will someday cease to exist. Enter Heaven, reincarnation, etc....


I choose to just assume that this is all we have and live the best life I can. That way, if there is a creator and he's not as dumb as Christians think, I will be seen as a pretty good dude. And if there is not, then I had a good life.

 

[arrowhead]

so being able to pass knowledge means there's a god?

 

[Jellybelly]

Christianity legitimizes hatred. This (along with other reasons) is why I'm against it.

 

[Aesir]

I usually don't like quoting but there are many posts before mine.

I am sure that it takes many earthquakes for continental drift but the thing is, the Bible doesn't say what year this was in. Whos to say that there weren't many earthquakes afterwards?

Exactly how old are you?

Because if you're younger then I think you are (20ish) then I don't want to be mean.

Basically right now you're making no sense. What your proposing conflicts with a proven time line, Unless you think you know more then well qualified Historians and Scientists then I'm gonna call bull crap on your post and say you're just making it up.

 

[otter]

so being able to pass knowledge means there's a god?

Well it means that we have no idea, in my opinion. Basicly I just think that all religion is equally irrelevant and created by humans to support their own agendas, and that the existance of a creator is a totally seperate issue.

I don't really care either way. I'm a better person morally than most of the Christians who wish to judge me.

 

[KingJiggyWiggy]

Close enough, I will be turning twenty soon.

I have seen the time line and it doesn't convince me. Isn't there a time where we question things before we believe in them? I have questioned Christianity before.

I have been introduced to Evolution, Geology, and I have taken the liberty to go beyond my studies and look further into it on my own time. What surprises me is that people will believe theory's like Evolution without giving it a second thought (I'm not saying that YOU are though).

I mean what is the point of believing something just because a larger community agrees? If you look at the Evolution you will note that Darwin never admits it to be fact.

 

[KingJiggyWiggy]

Dear God what is wrong with smashboards connection?

Anyways....

I think you need to start looking at people more as adults than children, if that is what you were saying in your second line.... I mean Thomas Edison published a broad sheet at age 12, so why shouldn't -->I<-- be looked at as an adult? There is no one on this entire forum that can tell you how I grew up.

"Christianity legitimizes hatred. This (along with other reasons) is why I'm against it."

Source please.