Religion

[SwordMaster]

and God told Aberham to kill his son.

[Freakzilla]

and God told Aberham to kill his son.

But that was a test of faith...

[SadisticCynic]

First of all, the killing of Abraham's son was a test of Abraham's faith (and his son's incidentily) and God clearly did not mean for him to kill him as he provided the ram and stopped Abraham from killing his son. This event was also a foreshadowing of God's sacrifice of Jesus. Also elsewhere in the Bible God explicitly expresses his extreme disapproval of child sacrifice etc. Some knowledge of the full story is evidently required here.

Second, I assume you mean this Freak:

18 “In case a man happens to have a son who is stubborn and rebellious, he not listening to the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and they have corrected him but he will not listen to them, 19 his father and his mother must also take hold of him and bring him out to the older men of his city and to the gate of his place, 20 and they must say to the older men of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he is not listening to our voice, being a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city must pelt him with stones, and he must die. So you must clear away what is bad from your midst, and all Israel will hear and indeed become afraid. - Deuteronomy 21: 18-21

In this case it would seem to make sense to me to punish rebellious children that were going this drastically astray. (Reminds me of many stupid young people actually).

In any case, this obviously is not followed exactly anymore as the Law no longer applies - Jesus replaced the Law with something better: principles. The idea of the Law was to instill values in people until the Messiah came, which people ignored, focusing on technicalities instead. Now the principles are:

Children, be obedient to YOUR parents in union with [the] Lord, for this is righteous: 2 “Honor your father and [your] mother”; which is the first command with a promise: 3 “That it may go well with you and you may endure a long time on the earth.” 4 And YOU, fathers, do not be irritating YOUR children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah. - Ephesians 6: 1-4

CF: Proverbs 22:6

Phew! At least, thats what I think

[Freakzilla]

An argument for another topic.

[SadisticCynic]

An argument for another topic.

Good point.

[SwordMaster]

I was just saying, "we dont always have to take it in a literal way"

I dont care if it is a test of faith or anything else, you tell me to kill my son, I might try and kill you

[Freakzilla]

First of all, the killing of Abraham's son was a test of Abraham's faith (and his son's incidentily) and God clearly did not mean for him to kill him as he provided the ram and stopped Abraham from killing his son. This event was also a foreshadowing of God's sacrifice of Jesus. Also elsewhere in the Bible God explicitly expresses his extreme disapproval of child sacrifice etc. Some knowledge of the full story is evidently required here.

Second, I assume you mean this Freak:

18 “In case a man happens to have a son who is stubborn and rebellious, he not listening to the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and they have corrected him but he will not listen to them, 19 his father and his mother must also take hold of him and bring him out to the older men of his city and to the gate of his place, 20 and they must say to the older men of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he is not listening to our voice, being a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city must pelt him with stones, and he must die. So you must clear away what is bad from your midst, and all Israel will hear and indeed become afraid. - Deuteronomy 21: 18-21

In this case it would seem to make sense to me to punish rebellious children that were going this drastically astray. (Reminds me of many stupid young people actually).

In any case, this obviously is not followed exactly anymore as the Law no longer applies - Jesus replaced the Law with something better: principles. The idea of the Law was to instill values in people until the Messiah came, which people ignored, focusing on technicalities instead. Now the principles are:

Children, be obedient to YOUR parents in union with [the] Lord, for this is righteous: 2 “Honor your father and [your] mother”; which is the first command with a promise: 3 “That it may go well with you and you may endure a long time on the earth.” 4 And YOU, fathers, do not be irritating YOUR children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah. - Ephesians 6: 1-4

CF: Proverbs 22:6

Phew! At least, thats what I think

You mean...

I don't have to put my wife in a red tent outside the city walls durring "that time of month" anymore?

[SwordMaster]

How about you FZ?

If someone(god or otherwise) told you to kill your son, how much time before you introduce their teeth to your fist>?

Look I enjoy the metaphores and concepts, but with literal translation, its just so far out there.

[SwordMaster]

"Historically, the percentage of Americans who said they had no religious affiliation (pollsters refer to this group as the "nones") has been very small -- hovering between 5 percent and 10 percent. However, Putnam says the percentage of "nones" has now skyrocketed to between 30 percent and 40 percent among younger Americans. "

Good news!

[Freakzilla]

How about you FZ?

If someone(god or otherwise) told you to kill your son, how much time before you introduce their teeth to your fist>?

Look I enjoy the metaphores and concepts, but with literal translation, its just so far out there.

Oh lord...

My first experiences with "religion" were in New Orleans when my parents, who both went to Catholic schools, were into Voodoo and Witchcraft. Then they became "born again" on a Ouija Board. I shit you not.

I've seen shit that would turn you white!

Beyond that, I was raised "non-denominational, charasmatic christian" and to believe the Bible is the direct word of God, no interpretation. I like to call them zealots. As I grew I learned to question this, especially when I started getting into science.

Then I read Dune...

[Rakis]

"Historically, the percentage of Americans who said they had no religious affiliation (pollsters refer to this group as the "nones") has been very small -- hovering between 5 percent and 10 percent. However, Putnam says the percentage of "nones" has now skyrocketed to between 30 percent and 40 percent among younger Americans. "

Good news!

There is an odd thing happening in Quebec right now : Since september, schools have replace all Christianity related class by a Ethics and religion class, which is a class that will teach about different religions and values, etc...Well there's been an uproar against it by people, mostly young families , that they should choose what their kids are learning in school about religion, not the state to decide, and most of them want the emphasis on Christianity...All that after years of massive defection from the church (we have churches for sale over here). Maybe it's another generation thing...

[Freakzilla]

I took a "World Religions" course in college and I think it would be a great course to have at the high school level.

[SwordMaster]

I think so too FZ, with more knowledge about the world's differnt faith systems, we are all more able to include each other and avoid the whole "false faith" trap

Plus once you take a good look at every faith system its fairly obvious that they all overlap quite a lot

[Freakzilla]

There's some major differences between the Eastern and Western Religions but, what was it Bill and Ted commanded?

Be excellent to one another?

Fighting for religion is like screwing for chastity.

[SwordMaster]

east vs. west

Jesus vs. Buddha

Try to list the differences between these two

[Freakzilla]

east vs. west

Jesus vs. Buddha

Try to list the differences between these two

Buddism focuses on achieving enlightenment though introspection, where Christianity focuses on telling people they're going to hell.

[SwordMaster]

east vs. west

Jesus vs. Buddha

Try to list the differences between these two

Buddism focuses on achieving enlightenment though introspection, where Christianity focuses on telling people they're going to hell.

LOL, FZ your killin me today

I mean the example of the men themself. They are almost the exact same person. The faith systems go in various directions, but the example of the way they lived and the messages they sharred. IMO almost the exact same on many levels.

[SadisticCynic]

hey SadistiCynic , (i was gonna abbreviate it to SC, but then chig would get all up my bizniz),

what christian tradition are you from? the use of the word Jehovah in your quoted verses tells me either a newer denomination, or a more traditional one.

I was wondering if anyone would spot that. I suppose you would say I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses although I'm currently not baptised. The reason I don't usually flat out state this is because people make judgements based on groups instead of individuals. Plus I love the look on people's faces when I say I don't celebrate Christmas .

On another point, screwing for chasitity sounds entertaining . I agree that violence in the name of religion is ridiculous, especially considering the fact that most religions (or even most moral codes) have some sort of commandment against violence. Violating your beliefs for the sake of your beliefs is just dumb .

(You all post too fast) I don't believe the concept of hell is supported in the Bible, although I certainly understand why some verses might suggest that...

Edit: I suppose you could just shorten it to Cynic or whatever...

[Freakzilla]

I can't pass up an opportunity to take a jab a X-tians.

But you're right, it's kind of a messiah archetype.

[Freakzilla]

east vs. west

Jesus vs. Buddha

Try to list the differences between these two

Buddism focuses on achieving enlightenment though introspection, where Christianity focuses on telling people they're going to hell.

lol that was a great line.

I've had some fun debates with JWs at my door in the past

Oh, my parents LOVED it when they came to our house. After a while they learned to avoid us. But I warn you, don't try that unless you know the Bible. Those people have their shit together in that regard.

[GamePlayer]

Remind me again how the Flying Spaghetti Monster fits into all of this

[Freakzilla]

Remind me again how the Flying Spaghetti Monster fits into all of this

Sure!

I feel that religion was forced on my by my parents. It's one thing to take your kid to church and let the child decide if they like it, it's another to try to cast the demons out of them.

The whole Flying Spaghetti Monster Idea originated with the Kansas BoE teaching ID in public schools:

Open Letter To Kansas School Board
I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.

It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.

Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs. We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease.

I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t.

You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average global temperature over the last 200 years. As you can see, there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature.



In conclusion, thank you for taking the time to hear our views and beliefs. I hope I was able to convey the importance of teaching this theory to your students. We will of course be able to train the teachers in this alternate theory. I am eagerly awaiting your response, and hope dearly that no legal action will need to be taken. I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.

Sincerely Yours,

Bobby Henderson, concerned citizen.

P.S. I have included an artistic drawing of Him creating a mountain, trees, and a midget. Remember, we are all His creatures.

[GamePlayer]

There we go! Now that makes sense to me

[Freakzilla]

There we go! Now that makes sense to me

BTW, heaven is filled with beer volcanoes and stripper factories.

[GamePlayer]

I'd settle for just one good woman.