Religion 101

[Jaybot]

damn, that neutral site was a good read.  thanks.

[Moose or Chuck]

Sorry, Techmage, but I'm NOT going to read a website for my religious information.

[Paul]

yeah moose is right, websites arent exactly useful resources. now, a collection of riddles written 2000 years ago by a couple of drunk jews. THATS reliable.

[RICoder]

So much for an intellectual discussion.<br><br>Tech, good attempt though.  And, as to what you said about morality != religion, you could NOT BE MORE CORRECT!!!<br><br>I am not an atheist, I consider myself "Agnostic++"...<br><br>I was brought up Catholic, then I went off to find out what I believed (ages 18-24), now I just keep my eyes and ears open.  For me, I find them all useful in their own ways.<br> Chrisianity, removing the old-testement part, is a good place to see morality in religion, Jesus had a good handle on it, too bad people often misinterpret him.<br> Taoism, not a religion, but my own personal favorite when it comes to the philisophy of living, is great for finding harmony in life.<br>  Judaism and Muslim teachings are similar insofar as their similarities to the old testement.  Meaning that all 3 have great stories the show how to live as a group, and put one's own personal interests in perspective.<br><br> I find the whole subject facinating.  What I find irritating are people who would rather say "you are gonna burn" or "get saved" instead of discussing existentialism and leaps of faith...but that's just me.

[Paul]

i'm just fed up with the whole 'its not how you live its whether you believe in god that gets you into heaven' thing - the very idea that a mass-murderer can find jesus in prison then die and go to heaven disgusts me.

[Jaybot]

Ric, if I like to snack on only the croutons sometimes in the salad, does that mean I'm going to hell too?  btw, that one hand clapping thing and the tree in the forest thing are definitely zen koans; however, they may be based off of even earlier stuff.<br><br>paul, lol.<br><br>And moose, I did check out those sites, the anti-christian one was really shitty, using lots of brackets and ... and putting together lots of quotes out of context.  the christian one points that out, but is still a tad biased towards, well, christianity.  the neutral one is done completely well, and all of the stuff written there checks out, he mustve done his research pretty well.<br><br>oh, and i'm not an aetheist, i believe that i am god

[Paul]

"oh, and i'm not an aetheist, i believe that i am god"<br><br>thats what jesus said. look what happened to him.

[RICoder]

judas: "So, what?  You're an atheist?"<br>jesus: "No...I believe I AM god!"<br>*drum snare*<br>*canned laughter*<br><br>------------------------------<br>paul, hope you don't mind...

[Moose or Chuck]

Paul, everyone is God's child, even the mass-murderers. In Heaven all of the bad qualities are removed and you/he/I/Mr. Mass-Murderer becomes a perfect being, and just because (atleast according to me, my religion, and about 5 billion others) you/he/I/Mr. Mass-Murderer believed Jesus took the blame for him.<br>Jesus was betrayed by his closest, he hung and died on the cross, went to hell, beat Satan, then rose again. He fullfilled His Promise and the prophecy of hundreds of prophets before Him. Don't you WANT it to be that easy.<br><br>And you have to take the New Testament above the Old Testament. The latest thing that was said Is. And if you're talking about contradictions like "I am the Alpha and the Omega..." then you're just dumb.<br><br>I keep forgetting you guys aren't all Christians. I keep saying these things about Jesus like they are facts, which they are to me, but I guess you don't even want to recognize them. You know, there's more proof of Jesus's life, death, and life than of the Battle of Troy, and I'm sure none of you doubt it took place.

[RICoder]

I don't doubt that Jesus lived, or for that matter, that he died.  I just don't buy into the Trinity thing, though I would be willing to consider him a prophet.<br><br>Now, don't go telling me about Saint Augustus and his long walk on the beach or anything as if I am an amature...I have thought about this quite a bit.<br><br>I want SO badly to go on a rant of the rampant current and historical hypocracy of the Catholic church, but I won't.

[TechMage]

Jaybot and RICoder, I agree with both of you in that the neutral site was the best.  Thats why I posted the anti one first, to let people see how silly anti-bible extremists are.  I posted the second pro-christian one next, to show how silly bible extremeists are, and I posted the neutral one last because after reading the first two and being totally confused.  The neutral one was very objective and rational, and pretty much sorted the wheat from the chaff.  Religion is a facinating subject and I wish all of us could be a little more open minded.  All religions are multi-faced like a cut diamond and can be viewed in many ways.  When we only look at one side and refuse to look at the whole diamond, we forget what we are even looking at.  Going to the extreme in any religion is dangerious and leads to horrors like the Taliban.

[Paul]

the first film i'm going to make in lightwave will be a jesus story...<br><br>now if only i could get george carlin to do the voice...

[Jaybot]

Moose, you're dead wrong.  I am a Christian.  I just have an open mind, unlike you.  And if you persecute me for having an open mind, and saying I'm not a real Christian, then you are not a real Christian.... man, I hate that term, its always attached to religion.  I think I'll just say I am a believer in Christ from now on.<br><br>However, as the chinese general sun tzu said:<br><br>Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never peril.<br><br>When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winnning or losing are equal.<br><br>If ignorant of both your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in battle to be in peril.<br><br>There is so much knowledge in that statement, and it can be applied to everything, even your religiousaphobia.<br><br>Or, if you want to stick to Christian stuff, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference," serenity prayer.<br><br>yo.<br><br><br><br><br>

[RICoder]

Jaybot, your wisdom always impresses me.<br><br>That Sun Tzu quote is hanging on my wall, as it was when I was in M.I.  We always considered it our credo.