Religion thread Zaku DL vs Ben Kenobi

[Dinner]

I always thought ZakuDL was Ben Kenobi.

[Space05us]

Nothing to see here, move along.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Brain cancer? That death should have been somewhat expected, no?

Not if the first recognised symptom is a fatal stroke.

[ZEE]

wow we can say ****** now?

[ZEE]

cool

[zakubandit]

Thanks Ben, at least there is still some humans left on this forum. And yes, it did affect my perception of the church, only made me less likely to go ever again. Now don't get me wrong, I respect religious people...they put their cards on faith. To me blind faith to a deity is preposterous, but irregardless of that I am raising my son to believe in god (catholic faith). The reason being that I made MY own choice and I would rather him know religion than not so he at least can make a design on his own while knowing how the religious think, act, and the such.

I cannot stand the christian zealots who treat me as though I just decided from the start that there is no god. No, sorry but it took me a long time to make a real decision. And as I said I have a lot of respect for religion and have studied the alternatives. I wear a Taoist prayer bead bracelet (blessed by Taoist monks at the Man Mo temple in Hong Kong), I do meditate and have been meditating for several years (alleviates stress and gets me in a clear mind when **** gets too thick). I have had a lot of **** happen in my life, and I will not elaborate any more than my combat experience) and meditation got me through tough times.

What gets me about religious is that they rest their problems on god to solve. That by praying and praying and laying their destiny in his/her/its hands that things will work out. To me I prefer and appreciate that when things are wrong (such as recently with the long weeks of **** to get plane tickets from my company to go home) that I am what gets me through it. Now of course my son and wife help, but it is self determination and my own diligence to persevere. Most of my actions and beliefs derive from Buddhism, but as I said I formed my own beliefs.

[Theben]

I just grew up and made my own choices, so don't get to think guys that just because I am an ag-ath that I know nothing of religion.

He hasn't been here for awhile, and who better to play a a loony nutter? Even if on the other side of the spectrum, it's a change.

[Solomwi]

expected or not, you insensative ass.hole, doesn't take the pain away.

I expect flak like...deal with death better pansy or soldier boy can't handle losing a few people, find god.

I have been called the anti-christ by several people before...please...come with something better trolls.

People die, *****. Those people include our relatives. Get over yourself.

[Solomwi]

He hasn't been here for awhile, and who better to play a a loony nutter? Even if on the other side of the spectrum, it's a change.

Nice catch, Thalban.

[Darius871]

My belief now is in an afterlife (agnostic) but no god or gods (atheist).

Am I the only one who thought neither of those propositions is agnostic?

[Elok]

NM

[Ben Kenobi]

What gets me about religious is that they rest their problems on god to solve. That by praying and praying and laying their destiny in his/her/its hands that things will work out. To me I prefer and appreciate that when things are wrong (such as recently with the long weeks of **** to get plane tickets from my company to go home) that I am what gets me through it. Now of course my son and wife help, but it is self determination and my own diligence to persevere. Most of my actions and beliefs derive from Buddhism, but as I said I formed my own beliefs.

I once thought as you did, and realised that some problems were beyond my best efforts to solve. There's a difference between the Church in the people who attend, and the Church as an institution. People are flawed and corrupt, but the Church and her teachings are not. It's an important distinction, but I hope you can see my point.

[zakubandit]

I see your point and thoroughly agree. Man is prone to mistakes and men in power are prone to corruption, facts of life. The church as an institution I see as far too controlling and oppressive. For example, the Vatican denounced Halloween as sin...children dressing up for candy is a sin? Oh because of ghosts and ghouls....its 1 day a year and it is not to praise satan/lucifer/bezzlebub/hades etc. it is just for fun, so fun must be a sin. Its just, the church has been slow to accept technology, has been trying to control people for centuries, and has done so much in the name of good that was not even good in thought...crusades I mean. I studied the crusades for a bit out of interest and it is probably the worst era I have ever read about. Bodies piled high in the city streets, Muslims being treated like horse manure, Muslims treating Jews like manure, Christians haplessly murdering whole families in the name of god...its the same church, different leadership.

ag·nos·tic (g-nstk)
n.
1.
a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.
2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.

In the sense that I am agnostic is that I do not believe you can prove or disprove what happens after life, not god as the definition intends. There is a large population of agnostic-atheists...we do believe there is something but there is no absolute way to prove or disprove it. Technically speaking all those people who believe in god but don't practice, or say they don't believe in god but also won't say they are an atheist are what are considered agnostics. I am atheist in the sense I do not believe in a god/gods/higher power/deity of any kind controlling my life. I have no qualms in saying that there is no god. As a joke though, I hope it can be taken as one, I usually say "if there is a god then he can smite me when I say there is no god". Christians say thou shalt not tempt god, and I say....see he didn't smite me.

Solom, your just a pathetic excuse of life and have no respect for others. Why do you even post here if all you are going to do is downtalk everything that I say...and only what I say?

[Solomwi]

It's not all about you, zakudl, though the board would probably be much more entertaining if it were.

[Ben Kenobi]

The church as an institution I see as far too controlling and oppressive. For example, the Vatican denounced Halloween as sin...children dressing up for candy is a sin? Oh because of ghosts and ghouls....its 1 day a year and it is not to praise satan/lucifer/bezzlebub/hades etc. it is just for fun, so fun must be a sin.

What you interpret as fun has to do with the culture behind it. I don't understand what's so fun about hallowe'en when compared with the feasts of All Saints/All Souls. The point the Church is trying to make is to ask the question of why. Why do people celebrate Hallowe'en. While it is true that most find it fun, the stuff behind it is problematic. It has been used as a celebration of Satan, and of sin.

Christianity isn't just adding Jesus to water and serve. It is an entirely different way of life. You have to be willing to leave the old behind. What meaning does hallowe'en have when you are in Christ? None. So why participate in it?

Its just, the church has been slow to accept technology

What makes you think that? The church has readily accepted technology, and has been one of the largest patrons throughout history of technological development. You've been lied to by others with their own goals.

I studied the crusades for a bit out of interest and it is probably the worst era I have ever read about. Bodies piled high in the city streets, Muslims being treated like horse manure, Muslims treating Jews like manure, Christians haplessly murdering whole families in the name of god...its the same church, different leadership.

I have studied the Crusades as well, but you must get the whole story. The story doesn't begin with the destruction of the church of the holy sepulchre, it begins 350 years earlier. This will give you an entirely different perspective on the crusades.

In the sense that I am agnostic is that I do not believe you can prove or disprove what happens after life, not god as the definition intends. There is a large population of agnostic-atheists...we do believe there is something but there is no absolute way to prove or disprove it.

What sense do you use the word prove? I can understand your skepticism, but the question that I got raised is if there is no God, how can I trust in anything at all? How do you avoid nihilism?