Believing

Only you can answer that.

 

To add a few words, the beauty of religion is that it provides incentives for following what would otherwise be moral ways. I've never understood how that can be a bad thing. I can't bring myself to believe, but I think the world would be a much better place if everybody believed so much that they simply refused to break any of God's big rules.

Of course, that's Utopian. What has developed is a society where nobody can agree on the rules and who made them. That has led to divisions, and that has given rise to this sense that the other folks are evil.

Another problem is that people seem to have discovered ways to claim a religious affiliation without actually following the rules it sets forth. And that's where a lot of people see a disconnect. If I'm living a moral life without religion, it's sure upsetting to me to be ostracized for it by people who claim to be filled with the spirit of the lord but break all softs of moral principles in their lives.

I wish we'd put an emphasis in our society on morality, what it really is, not what religion and politics say it is. If people were judged on their morality rather than on their willingness to dress up and spend a few hours a week in a church pew, our world might be better off.

 

Not really, since it is your meaning I was asking about. Personally, I tend to base my opinions on people on their actions rather than their faith or lack of it.

 

But parables are usually deliniated as such. PROTIP: If if has the term "like unto" in the first sentence, it's a parable.

 

Something else: One of the great disconnects that I've observed for professing born-again Christians is the why of their professions. As a Christian, you believe that God has given you this awesome gift (that being eternal life in Heaven via the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ) and you want to share it with as many people as possible (sorta like photos of Jessica Biel's ass or Stephanie Abrams' hoo-hoos). Problem is, it turns into "well, you BETTER believe in Christ or you're going to hell", which for a Christian is technically true, but it's also born of the wrong intent -- intimidation instead of inspiration. And since the squeaky wheel rules the day, the well-meaning Gospel spreaders are thrown in the same paddy wagon with the loudest and most venemous of the lot. And that seems wrong.

 

I'll say this as a Christian who realizes he isn't perfect: Your reply is useless without pictures! ;D

 

Biel: http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/39193/
Abrams: http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/39306/

 

No, actually, it isn't taken far enough. Declaring something as FACT when it can neither be proven as such is not just misrepresentation but intellectually dishonest.

Many people argue all over the world about "truths" that are in reality beliefs. As soon as people are able to figure that out, maybe people will get along. However, I have no faith in any such thing occurring.

Morality is subjective. It existed before religion. It exists after religion. Just because someone has religion doesn't automatically give them better morals or even proper morals.

It is often forgotten that the golden rule existed before the Bible.

 

outofp,

Was there something in my response that made you conclude I thought there was nothing of merit in the Bible?

Or that I am not playing nicely with you?

You are the one who pointed out that Genesis comes before the New Testament, which I bet even a cannabalistic atheist would know.

 

Nice.

 

Ok, I see what you're saying. I agree that to claim your beliefs as facts simply because they are facts can be a problem. However, I use the term "truth" when I refer to my beliefs on occasion. It's because there are some things I just know, even without concrete evidence. I'm not trying to force them on someone else or make someone else live by them, but they are simply "truths" to me.
For example, I just know that murder is wrong. What evidence can we provide that it is? It's a morality question, and I don't know how you prove morality. So I can claim that as a truth.
But I completely agree that you can't go around brow-beating or even killing because someone else won't accept what you just know in your heart.

 

I attended and graduated from a small, religion-based liberal arts college affiliated with the Lutheran Church. Had an anthropology professor who, when asked to explain dinosaurs and evolution and shit, said “I believe what I believe.” That pretty much sums it up.
Also, one night they showed “The Life of Brian” in the cafeteria, and there were four ordained Lutheran ministers there laughing their asses off. ;D

Anyway, the best church in the world is a duck blind. It gets very spiritual there, at least for me.