Christianity cured his homosexual tendencies...

[martin48]

Belief in God, is about our relationship with the universe, each other (mankind), and ourselves to the stream of life. It is basically a tool, for any to use. Some people misuse tools, based upon their limited knowledge. But for those that use it 'better', there are many rewards. This includes greater respect for one another, as an equal creation, and acceptance of ourselves as unique, and able to contribute to the value of a greater humanity. This is not exclusive to religion. However, many religions have had thousands of years, with people practicing and achieving a greater states of happiness. They also tell stories from ages ago, which demonstrate, that human behavior has not necessarily changed that much. For example, the Bible contains many stories about the types of "haters", that many people on YouTube complain about, today. When you can see your life, in a larger perspective going back thousands of years, today's headaches are more easily transcended. That is part of the Peace that religions often attempt to give their followers. I seem to have more of it, than many others around me. We are all blessed, to experience life. Many don't appreciate this as much as they could. I say, that if a person claims to be religious and does not have peace, they are missing some very important lessons in their teachings. And that's not the fault of the religion itself.

Greater respect for each others!! Sure!!

[talldudeil]

If you need to rely on a "higher being" to feel better about yourself or to feel that you are better than someone else, that is just pitiful. If there is someone or something out there why in the hell would they be interested in the tiny planet of ours in all of the universes in the infinity of space.

Get real people, feel good about yourself for you and do not think you are better than anyone else. All humans on the planet are the same, some more intelligent, some better looking, some taller, some with medical or mental problems.

All religion does is cause wars, get rid of religions in peoples mind and there is no reason for all the wars we have and we could then "just all get along".

[bluesoul]

Belief in God, is about our relationship with the universe, each other (mankind), and ourselves to the stream of life. It is basically a tool, for any to use. Some people misuse tools, based upon their limited knowledge. But for those that use it 'better', there are many rewards. This includes greater respect for one another, as an equal creation, and acceptance of ourselves as unique, and able to contribute to the value of a greater humanity. This is not exclusive to religion. However, many religions have had thousands of years, with people practicing and achieving a greater states of happiness. They also tell stories from ages ago, which demonstrate, that human behavior has not necessarily changed that much. For example, the Bible contains many stories about the types of "haters", that many people on YouTube complain about, today. When you can see your life, in a larger perspective going back thousands of years, today's headaches are more easily transcended. That is part of the Peace that religions often attempt to give their followers. I seem to have more of it, than many others around me. We are all blessed, to experience life. Many don't appreciate this as much as they could. I say, that if a person claims to be religious and does not have peace, they are missing some very important lessons in their teachings. And that's not the fault of the religion itself.

posts like this are extremely rare here. thanks

[yodajazz]

Greater respect for each others!! Sure!!

I was re-reading a book from college about Islam. The author pointed out in respect to Iraq, that the people there were fighting and feuding with each other before Islam came to the area. They appeared to be united under the direction of the Prophet, but began to feud again over the successor to him, when he passed. Now that was the in the seventh century, and they are still feuding. It's not because of the religion. It's in spite of their religion. War is about control of land, people and other resources. 60 million people died in WWII. That was not about any religion. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is not about religion, its about control of the land.

posts like this are extremely rare here. thanks

Thanks!

[iagodelgado]

^^^^ Yup. There will always be haters, whether religious or non-religious. There will always be people whose beliefs are "superior" to my beliefs, and who feel the need to ram this down my throat.

Fortunately, there are also those who don't feel the need to ram their "superior beliefs" down anyone else's throat.

[StinkyPete1000]

I don't think my beliefs are superior to anyone else's beliefs. Like I said, I don't think people who believe in God are less intelligent than those who do not. I'll even concede that studies have shown that believers often lead happier lives (although studies indicate that it's not the belief in God that causes them to be happier but the social aspects of belonging to a religion and being surrounded by like-minded individuals).

To me--happy or not--it's strange to put so much faith into something that has not been proven to exist. As thinking beings I find it hard to believe in something for which there is no proof other than circumstantial evidence (and people calling stuff miracles). Think about it, if I began to proclaim that I was a messenger of God who could perform miracles and that everyone needed to follow me to obtain salvation, many of you would be skeptical and others would demand proof (and rightly so). Why is it that we show skepticism with respect to certain things but not the existence of God?

If I was a deity, especially one who held the key to human salvation, why not prove my existence? Why not let people know that I exist. For starters, people now have evidence. In addition, now I know who really deserves salvation because those that continue to sin--even after I reveal myself--don't deserve to be saved. Of course there are those that claim this is all one big "test." But what's the point of the test?

Here's an example: for those of you with kids (or who pan on having them), if a man came to your house and in his suitcase was something that would guarantee that your children would grow up to be kind, respectful and successful individuals, would you buy it? Now let's assume that this man is telling the truth and the object actually would make your children better people. I'd venture to guess that many would make the purchase in a heartbeat (including me). The point is, the goal is what's important. Not how you got there. You don't need to go through struggle to achieve all goals and there is no inherent value in struggle itself. Thus, if you could snap your fingers and make your kids great you should.

If you can snap your fingers and make the world a better place, why not? If you can reveal yourself and make everyone a believer, why not? If you can cure illness, why not? If you can work miracles, why? If you are all that is good, why not do it? Of course, these are logical questions and my problem with faith is that it often requires one to leave logic behind.

[RallyCola]

if there is a god, why does he give aids to babies in africa and give penises to women that don't want them. i'm just saying...

[LibertyHarkness]

for kicks basically ..

myself i follow the imperial truth .. science and logic ... remove superstions,religions etc , replace it with logic, science, understanding and you will get all of humanity singing off the same song sheet and we will be harmonious as a species and achieve wondrous things ....


if only carlsberg ruled the earth eh

[iagodelgado]

for kicks basically ..

myself i follow the imperial truth .. science and logic ... remove superstions,religions etc , replace it with logic, science, understanding and you will get all of humanity singing off the same song sheet and we will be harmonious as a species and achieve wondrous things ....


if only carlsberg ruled the earth eh

This led me to check which wars are considered to be religious wars. According to the Encyclopedia of War it is a mere 7%

[RallyCola]

This led me to check which wars are considered to be religious wars. According to the Encyclopedia of War it is a mere 7%

that's 8% too much. if you believe in divinity, you should understand that war and murder in the name of a god is wrong. you should be confident in yourself and your faith to know that you are right and everyone else is damned so there is no need to fight over it.

also, that 7% figure is alarmingly low because there are always theo-political undertones to many more wars than may be recognized by that particular source.