10-09-2003, 10:29 AM | #1 |
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REAL debate thread for RELIGION
I've searched Entmoot for a thread that actually lives up to the title of this thread and I've found nothing. "OH, wait!" you say, "What about "the Offshoot thread?" Nope, RĂ*an has made it clear that the 'Offshoot' thread is for people to come to that thread and allow her (and the other Christians) to answer questions regarding Christianity.
So, I've decided to open a new thread for the purpose of actually debating religion, as well as, discussing ANY religion (not just Christianity). I'm interested to know how many Hindus are here, how many Jews, etc. If you are Christian, are you Pentacostal, Catholic, Baptist, what? Why do you worship that religion? Were you born into it? Did you convert from your former religion to this new one? I'll start. I'm an Atheist. Atheists do not believe that any god or gods exist(s). I do not take religious teachings nor literary works at face value without intelligent thought and question, especially when they are incredible to believe. I don't believe that a supernatural being created the universe or life. I believe that the Bible and other religious writings were written by humans for the purpose of explaining the harsh world to primitive man. These writings then developed into a set of rules by which the followers of that religion obeyed without question in order to assume borders by which a society could smoothly run. I was not born into Atheism. I was born Catholic, and raised Catholic. Although I have always questioned religion (much to the dismay of my religious instructors and my parents) and tried hard to fit the reality of life, constant contradictions, scientific facts and discoveries and reason into Christianity, it never was a perfect fit. The more I questioned, the more I doubted. {Edit: One more thing. Atheism really isn't a religion but I chose this title in case it goes dormant for a while and someone does a search for something like this. } Your turn. EDIT: this thread has been splitt due to its size. Next post can be found in this other thread Last edited by Earniel : 02-07-2007 at 05:24 AM. |
10-09-2003, 11:01 AM | #2 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
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I believe the thread is "Theism"....started by the charming Anduril!
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10-09-2003, 11:07 AM | #3 |
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Ah, damn! I used .. christianity OR religion. I didn't think to use theism. But is it the same thing as my thread?
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10-09-2003, 11:09 AM | #4 |
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oh! I just checked. It's a closed thread. And is about theism, not really a discussion about religion or a disbelief in it.
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10-09-2003, 11:10 AM | #5 |
Elf Lord
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Hello
I am of the same religious persuasion as yourself, though raised in a Protestant (Church of Scotland) household. I'd suggest an addition to your "religion as explanation" hypothesis: community. Religions create and maintain community ties (from personal, life-partner type relationships to intercontinental charitable type relationships) in ways that secular society has as yet failed to emulate. These ties benefit everyone; indeed they're essential to our survival as individuals and as a species. Reading the debate about marriage on one of the other threads it struck me, again, that these cultural markers of personal relationships simply don't exist outside of a religious context. Secular weddings do happen, of course, but nobody knows what to do at them. Where I come from, Christian weddings are ubiquitous and everyone knows what to do at them (get lathered and have the best party of your life) whether or not they're religious. There's clearly a "separation of church and state" issue here, but I think the main thing is that our secular culture hasn't yet developed these universal rituals which validate our lives in the same way. |
10-09-2003, 11:23 AM | #6 |
Fëanáro's Fire Mistress
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weel, as I'm sure I've said beofre in the "Offshoot" thread, I'm Catholic. I've been Catholic all my life. Of course growing up in a household where my dad was a seventh day adventist and my mom was catholic had quite an impact on me. Nevertheless, I believe what the church teaches and have faith in Jesus Christ. I guess that's about all.
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10-09-2003, 12:29 PM | #7 |
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Arien, how did it have an impact. I'm not familiar with 7th day adventists.
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10-09-2003, 12:33 PM | #8 | |
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I was raised as a Christian, but our family was never very religious, which means we didn't go to church or prayed regularly and such. We didn't attend any Christian communities. Now I define myself as an agnostic. Basically it means that I live my life as an atheist would, yet I do not entirely deny the existance of God.
Quote:
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10-09-2003, 04:58 PM | #9 |
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I'm trying to convert to Buddhism, after hearing the Dalai Lama speak. Not quite there yet, though.
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10-09-2003, 07:10 PM | #10 |
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I am am with Ruinel and The Gaffer.
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About Eowyn, Does anyone know what her alias Dernhelm means? She was kown as dernhelm because of her exclaimation when she realized that the rider's headgear was heavy and obscured her sight. 'Dern Helm" Culled from Entmoot From Kirinski 57 and Wayfarer. |
10-09-2003, 07:32 PM | #11 |
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I should have added that I started out in Catholic school. Then did some Southern Black Baptist then moved on to Easten philosophy. Even got a philosophy degree with a focus in Asian thought forms. But there was always a skeptic in me . Simply, I couldn't bull**** myself anymore. It was that the evidence was not in favor for holding on to such beliefs.
For me Faith is a cop-out. It is intellectual bankruptcy. If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits." Dan Barker Mystical explanations are thought to be deep; the truth is that they are not even shallow. : Friedrich Nietzsche and finally "I can live with doubt and uncertainty, I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe [that is] without any purpose, which is the way it really is, so far as I can tell. It doesn't frighten me." --- Richard Feynman
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About Eowyn, Does anyone know what her alias Dernhelm means? She was kown as dernhelm because of her exclaimation when she realized that the rider's headgear was heavy and obscured her sight. 'Dern Helm" Culled from Entmoot From Kirinski 57 and Wayfarer. Last edited by afro-elf : 10-09-2003 at 07:34 PM. |
10-09-2003, 07:55 PM | #12 | |
Fëanáro's Fire Mistress
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10-09-2003, 08:12 PM | #13 |
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I want to become Buddhist, don't know where to start though! As I know it, there are 3 branches: Zen, Tibetan, and something more close to what Siddhartha taught. I want to be of the last one, I'd appreciate any directions
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10-09-2003, 09:09 PM | #14 |
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Ok...I'm with Ruinel, The Gaffer, and Afro Elf., that would be atheist. My parents let me go to various churches for socialization purposes, but they are devoid of religion also. It just seems like another fairy tale to us.
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10-09-2003, 10:36 PM | #15 |
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I am a Scientologist, born and raised. I have studied other religions, but no other one has really been true for me.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with it and I don't have time to expain right now, but if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to explain.
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10-09-2003, 11:25 PM | #16 |
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I'm agnostic. Nothing indicates to me the existence of any sort of supernatural, paranormal deity, but I also do not see any reason to reject the idea of such a being as impossible. I guess one could say I'm keeping my options open, but honestly, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I wouldn't live my life any differently if I did know the answer. As far as I'm concerned, the entire notion of even having a position on the subject is completely pointless.
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10-10-2003, 12:03 AM | #17 | |
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10-10-2003, 12:50 AM | #18 |
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I guess skeptic would be another way
What does it mean to be a skeptic? Some people believe that skepticism is rejection of new ideas, or worse, they confuse “skeptic” with “cynic” and think that skeptics are a bunch of grumpy curmudgeons unwilling to accept any claim that challenges the status quo. This is wrong. Skepticism is a provisional approach to claims. It is the application of reason to any and all ideas—no sacred cows allowed. In other words, skepticism is a method, not a position. Ideally, skeptics do not go into an investigation closed to the possibility that a phenomenon might be real or that a claim might be true. When we say we are “skeptical,” we mean that we must see compelling evidence before we believe. Skeptics are from Missouri—the “show me” state. When we hear a fantastic claim we say, “that’s nice, prove it.”
I think the quote is from Michael Shermer or Sherman
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About Eowyn, Does anyone know what her alias Dernhelm means? She was kown as dernhelm because of her exclaimation when she realized that the rider's headgear was heavy and obscured her sight. 'Dern Helm" Culled from Entmoot From Kirinski 57 and Wayfarer. Last edited by afro-elf : 10-10-2003 at 12:52 AM. |
10-10-2003, 04:50 AM | #19 | |
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The Humanist Association also do that here (UK). The thing is that these are new ideas to most of us and they don't have anything like the cultural significance that a religious service does. Which, to my mind, is a huge part of the reason for having them. Nice quotes, Afro-Elf. I'm sure there's one from Douglas Adams along the lines of: "Why can't you see a beautiful garden as being beautiful in its own right? Why do you have to believe there are fairies at the bottom of it?" |
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10-10-2003, 06:53 AM | #20 | ||
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