Religion is nuts

[johns]

19 minutes and 1 second of the most ignorant and rude comment/opinion/verbal sewage you will ever hear...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTSbfs32yCU&feature=feedu

[The Good Michael]

Johns,

And all religions are just a few expert brainwashers away from these nuts.

Mike

[Robert]

But Mike, that's what being human is - valuing yourself through someone else's eyes, whether its your parents, or your partner, or your children, your friends, your society or your god. There aren't many people who place their own value on themselves. Those who do have passed the point of being human, all too human and gone on to quite another sphere.

[Errata]

Errata,
Organized religion is all the same. It creates societies of people within societies who distinguish themselves from one another (groups, I mean, not individuals) as being correct, while other groups are incorrect. Some are 'saved' while some are not. This doesn't mean that inidviduals within these groups don't think differently, but I would suggest that if they are not adhering to the doctrines of their religions, they are not actually of that religion except by name, and for a certain level of solace it gives them to identify as such. So, a Christian who believes in God as a possibility and in Jesus as just a man, is not a Christian. A jew (by religion and not by ethnicity) who doesn't believe he or she is one of God's chosen, is not religiously speaking, a Jew. The biggest problem with this world (in my opinion) is that folks can't comprehend what it is to be human, or to just be part of Earth, so they settle for race and ethnicity (which don't actually exist), and religion as their means of valuing their existence.

Mike

And Buddhists? Jainists? Animists? Hindus? Shintoists?

And what if I told you that the things you said about Judaism were not in fact true at all? That no one is saved? That no one is "right" or "wrong"? That it creates a community that chooses to live by certain tenets, but not that these communities are better or worse than others? And that choosing to live a life in harmony with our beliefs is no more exclusive or separating than people who choose to be vegetarian? There are good people and bad people in the world. Good Jews and Bad Jews. But if you knew anything at all about the religion, you could never accuse us of not being able to comprehend the human condition, or valuing our existence through any means other than existing.

I mean belief in a god is not even a tenet of our faith.

[The Good Michael]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhekTRrvGrI&feature=related

Phelps fun

[The Good Michael]

Errata,

I would include all the religions you've mentioned in my beliefs and not just Judaism and Christianity both of which have many diverse sects and cults. As for a belief in God not being a tenet, I must have misunderstood the Torah when it said that God has chosen the Jews for a special purpose and that they will be holy and a nation of priests whose favor will not be exchanged for people of any other nation. Now, perhaps things have changed in the way things are practiced, and that also speaks to the fickleness of religion.

Mike

[cappuccina]

Let's all join this group!!! LMAO...

http://www.venganza.org/

[Bob Hinton]

If it works....

I remember eating in an American café last year and was very impressed with the waitress. When I was leaving I asked her how she managed to keep so cheerful all day. She replied it was because she had the love of Jesus Christ. I thought good for you – if it works don’t knock it. Personally I’m agnostic.

[Bob Hinton]

Really?

19 minutes and 1 second of the most ignorant and rude comment/opinion/verbal sewage you will ever hear...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTSbf...&feature=feedu

Whoa! I thought religion was supposed to make you happy, those two poor creatures seem to revel in their misery.

[Errata]

Errata,

I would include all the religions you've mentioned in my beliefs and not just Judaism and Christianity both of which have many diverse sects and cults. As for a belief in God not being a tenet, I must have misunderstood the Torah when it said that God has chosen the Jews for a special purpose and that they will be holy and a nation of priests whose favor will not be exchanged for people of any other nation. Now, perhaps things have changed in the way things are practiced, and that also speaks to the fickleness of religion.

Mike

Where, please tell, is it written that when new and scientifically proven reasons for things emerge that being religious means you have to ignore new ideas? Because that isn't written anywhere that I know of.

So we know now that laws of Kashrut were written for the specific purpose of avoiding food borne illness, and to avoid objects of other religions worship. If I can avoid food borne illness in another way, why do I have to keep Kosher? I don't have to. The religion is fine with that. Why is that fickle? Why isn't it just recognizing the reality of the modern world? Or do you think that we all have to be superstitious Luddites in order to find peace and beauty in our lives?

I mean, maybe YOU do, but I don't feel that need, and my religion does not demand it of me. But if it brings you satisfaction to judge everyone based on completely fictitious standards in your own head, may it bring you joy.

[kensei]

There is a Catholic radio call-in show that I sometimes listen to (though I am by no means Catholic), and recently I heard a caller talking about how he had been a counselor at a Bible camp where he'd heard another counselor telling a young person, "Don't worry, you don't have to worry about all the exact nuts and bolts of religion, because there are many paths to God." He then said he'd taken the other counselor aside and scolded him, "Do you realize you just told that kid that Jesus died for nothing?" This of course was from the Catholic standpoint that theirs is the one and only true way.

I pondered that for a bit, and came up with some thoughts. I've always been very much of the view that religions are like a mountain with many paths leading up it- pick whichever one works best for you, they all lead to the top. I think there have been many important religious figures, Jesus included, and that they were all truly divine, because since God created man in so many diverse races and cultures He would realize that they would not all be able to relate to a single figure, or "avatar," which is not just the title of a movie or a term for an online representation of you but a term for God manifested in a human body. Many avatars would have existed at various times in various places around the world, and all of them would have done tremendous good for people. So with that in mind, that caller on the radio show made me think- Jesus has inspired and saved the souls of millions upon millions of people over the centuries. If other figures have done the same, are you really saying that Jesus died for nothing? Are you really saying that unless he could save literally everybody, there was no point to saving anybody? If you saw a bus full of children plunge into a river and you were about to dive in and try to save them, but then you saw other people about to do the same, would you say "What's the point unless I alone can save them all myself?"

Just some thoughts. God bless.

[Robert]

I think I rather like the "accretions," the rituals, traditions, musty smells etc. And if I were Jewish, I'd probably do the kosher thing. But is there a loophole on circumcision?

[The Good Michael]

I think I rather like the "accretions," the rituals, traditions, musty smells etc. And if I were Jewish, I'd probably do the kosher thing. But is there a loophole on circumcision?

I think you can get it done at any age. I've got an old pair of toenail clippers I can send you. A plug of whiskey, a quick flame over the clippers, and what could be easier?

Mike

[Hatchett]

[QUOTE=The Good Michael;183204]I think you can get it done at any age. I've got an old pair of toenail clippers I can send you. A plug of whiskey, a quick flame over the clippers, and what could be easier?


Hello Michael,

Not having it done at all!

Best wishes.

[Errata]

Okay, so clearly I am a: a woman and b: pretty much surrounded by circumcised men so I gotta ask this.

Why is it so objectionable? I mean, I get the pain thing, although that is pretty negligible. Is that it? An objection to pain? Or is it offensive in some manner? Here in the States it was considered routine for boys for decades. They pretty much circumcised everyone unless someone actually objected. They still recommend it. So I'm curious why the emphatic refusals?