The Faith & Religion mega Thread

I'm disappointed with the recent end of the world. I hope 2012 will be better, but I doubt it.

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H I'm disappointed with the recent end of the world.

Me too. Not as spectacular as it is in the movies.

Originally Posted by brianL Me too. Not as spectacular as it is in the movies.

Have you seen the movie 2012 ?

Absolutely horrible movie. It makes me wonder about the people who recommended it to me. If you want to see a completely ridiculous movie, go see it. The ending is particularly ridiculous, I walked out when I saw that.

I've seen trailers for it, and I agree it does look ridiculous. I wouldn't pay to see it, might watch it when it comes on TV.

Does it mean that a person running slackware/windows dualboot will be turned into zombie instead?

No change apparently occurred, still dual booting XP and Slackware... is there something about that which predisposes me to zombification? Does posting from an iPhone make it worse? References would be helpful.

The world does seem different today. Has the apocalypse stsrted or is it just a post-intoxication effect?

Originally Posted by sycamorex The world does seem different today. Has the apocalypse stsrted or is it just a post-intoxication effect?

Take a couple of Anadin. If your headache goes away, then the Apocalypse never happened; if it doesn't...
I think I'm still alive, but I could be in Hell, because it's not much different to Oldham.

I think we're all in hell, we just don't realize it yet.

Originally Posted by oskar . . . I know some of you don't like to be mashed together, but it is more about the state of mind than the actual religion that I'm interested in. My thread, my rules

Definitions from http://dictionary.reference.com/

religion (noun)- a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.
the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
religious (adj)- imbued with or exhibiting religion; pious; devout; godly: a religious man.

Religiousness, therefore, is the extent to which one exhibits (or is imbued with) a particular set of
beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. A belief in the randomness of evolution
(a scientific theory), when accompanied by actions consistent with a faith in it, can be said to be religious.
Many scientists exhibit this religiousness even when professing to be agnostics or atheists.

State of mind is what matters!

I think this definition is a better one:

belief in, worship of, or obedience to a supernatural power or powers considered to be divine or to have control of human destiny any formal or institutionalized expression of such belief: the Christian religion the attitude and feeling of one who believes in a transcendent controlling power or powers

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion

This is a much more complete, specific, and accurate definition.

My own definition would be:

A way of thinking devised to do all of the following:

1. Replace the fear of death with the fear of God.
2. Subjugate the mind and prevent understanding that might provide an alternate and permanent solution to all fear. Replace understanding with ignorance and "faith".
3. Implement a system of self control, where people do as they are told because of fear of God. Replace a rational view of problem solving with a strict, harsh, ineffective system designed to make people feel "small and insignificant" (as they keep telling me) and most importantly bad and sinful ... otherwise they wouldn't have any reason to go to church or to repent or pay the priests (that would be very bad).
4. Turn people into free energy, the harder they work and the more they suffer and the less material goods they have, the more they will get when they die and go to the afterlife, which does not exist.
5. Work hand-in-hand with the gubmint, because, without this, oligarchy and monarchy would be more difficult to implement.

Let's not even mention the obvious hypocrisy of one of the ten commandments being "thou shalt not kill", and similar propositions in other religions, while all the wars that have ever been fought were rooted in a religious debate, and all in the name of a bloodthirsty god.

No, I will never have anything to do with religion or the religious or the supernatural. It is madness, hypocrisy, and hatred in their purest forms. It is one of the main reasons the world is "so f'd up" as people often say now.

I bet this gets the flames burnin.

"Followers of an evangelical broadcaster who declared that Saturday would be Judgement Day are trying to make sense of the failed prediction."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13489641
Attachment 6938

http://newsthump.com/2011/05/19/tick...ur-a-sell-out/
"Ticketmaster bosses confirmed today that, as expected, there has been unprecedented demand for tickets for the second coming of Jesus this Saturday."

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H I bet this gets the flames burnin.

Sounds about right to me. Making the population think they'll toil and suffer for eternity is a pretty good way to get their money off of them for either building pyramids or financing illegal wars.

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H ...

Few problems with your post:

• When you say something, it is generally recommended to support your statement with facts, otherwise you can't be taken seriously. So far there are only opinions in your posts, and overall it looks like a rather crude trolling attempt.
• You forgot that there's more than one religion in the world, and it looks like your knowledge about religion is even more limited than mine. AFAIK, there's no "god" in buddhism, and, for example, laveyan satanism is atheistic by nature.
• It seems that you're trying to portray all religion as being unconditionally "bad". AFAIK, it isn't that simple. I know at least one person that has been saved from death by charity started by a catholic priest (and no, they didn't even try to convert that person), plus every belief tend to have certain reasonable ideas within it. It is also quite possible that all the lunatics are a "loud minority" and have nothing in common with rest of the followers of a particular beliefs.

In short, unless your life is being threatened by beliefs of others, I'd advise to let other people (and their beliefs) be. Insisting that only your position is "right" is (IMO) childish, and since the truth will be probably never known, such discussions are a waste of time. In the end your beliefs won't matter, and there's no room for "brain excercise" to make this topic interesting.

@ SigTerm

I don't think you've said anything interesting or useful in this thread or others. You seem to just like attempting to argue for using facts, and that other people are wrong and childish.

I challenge you to make and support an argument with facts, and we'll see how I can demolish it completely just for fun.

I know for sure the things I say are probably a waste of finger movements on a keyboard, and I'm just wearing it out, but I say them anyway. I mostly say them to try to probe the audience and see how people react. I don't tend to do this in real life, because I may get hurt. At least here on the net, nobody can punch me in the face.

I don't care what people believe in their own minds as long as it makes sense to them. I do care about the consequences of those beliefs. I do not deny that there may exist good, religious people, but I think it is in vain, because the system they support is bad, so in the end two rights don't right a wrong. However, I do prefer to avoid religious people, because I don't trust them, as I don't think they can think and reason properly, at least from what I've seen. I would also have to take into account historical accounts, even tho I don't believe much in history either, I know they are force to be reckoned with, a violent, dangerous force.