Let's have a good old religious fight

[dave the scaffolder]

Religion, IMHO, a load of old nonsense.

Now I believe Jesus existed and he was a decent chap, but son of God, please!

I mean the Bible was written some 200 years after he lived, feel free to correct me here pips. Faith is the ability to believe in something without proof, show me the proof of God and his son. Now I know religion gives loads of people comfort, but it is only a belief. Where is the proof?

Now I lead a fairly decent life, never been convicted of any major crimes etc etc, however I am unconvinced about any Gods, we have more chance of meeting an immortal vampire.

Feel free to agree/disagree with me.

Ps no offence intended to any of you believers intended, I am interested how you come by your beliefs.

DTS XXX XXX

[locoman]

Damn!

thought by your statement we would dress up in religious clothing of our own choice & have a proper tear up!

[rtwwpad]

Explain to me what the universe is expanding into and what came before the big bang and i will be converted to a non-believer until then the scientist in me believes in a higher power, although it is by no means interested in ourselves.

Most religions are cults which reached critical mass.

[zimbabwean]

Religion, IMHO, a load of old nonsense.

Now I believe Jesus existed and he was a decent chap, but son of God, please!

I mean the Bible was written some 200 years after he lived, feel free to correct me here pips. Faith is the ability to believe in something without proof, show me the proof of God and his son. Now I know religion gives loads of people comfort, but it is only a belief. Where is the proof?

Now I lead a fairly decent life, never been convicted of any major crimes etc etc, however I am unconvinced about any Gods, we have more chance of meeting an immortal vampire.

Feel free to agree/disagree with me.

Ps no offence intended to any of you believers intended, I am interested how you come by your beliefs.

DTS XXX XXX

This is going to be interesting

[JiveLad]

Well I do enjoy a good chat on the doorstep with the different people who come round offering their religious insights. We usually chat for about 15-20 minutes - and the discussion often centres on JC - and the mechanics of how God impregnated Mary - and how pissed off Joseph must have felt......

This time the focus was more on Haiti..............(excerpt)

"So your 'God' is all powerful right?"
"Yes"
"So why didn't he stop the earthquake in Haiti?"
"That was a natural disaster"
"So God cannot control it?"
"Yes he can, but he allowed it to happen"
"Why? Why did he allow such pain and suffering to small children?"
"It was a natural disaster - there are some areas of the world which are less safe"
"So why did God create a world with earthquake zones?"
"He just did - people can move to safer areas"
"So are you seriously suggesting that people born somewhere should find out the risks of an earthquake and move away? Come on get real!"
{Slightly shaken look}

............

[Trousers]

Your m. . .

. . . . . . Your m. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . Your m. . . .mad you are!

[dave the scaffolder]

I may be all of that my lover, however I am open to discussion about JC and his old man.

There are 3 things worhipped in the world.

Sex.
Drugs.
Money.

DTS XXX XXX

[locoman]

anyway DTS, i was thinking ..... i could dress up as a buddhist, maybe you as an egyptian priest & we'll have the tear up outside the pub in camber? loser gets the beers in?

[philsmove]

I may be all of that my lover, however I am open to discussion about JC and his old man.

There are 3 things worhipped in the world.

Sex.
Drugs.
Money.

And

Rock and Roll

[batnurse]

Religion should be subject to the same laws of proof that any other product is subjected to. Your medicine has health benefits? Fine - prove it. Your toothpaste will whiten your teeth more than your competitors? Fine - Prove it. Your God is the one true God, creator of the universe, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Fine - Prove it.


An interesting article on why god allows disasters http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8467755.stm

[dave the scaffolder]

anyway DTS, i was thinking ..... i could dress up as a buddhist, maybe you as an egyptian priest & we'll have the tear up outside the pub in camber? loser gets the beers in?

Loco baby I would love to get into a tear up with you, however we would both give up and get slashed pretty damn quick methinks.

Me and the Bat will be at Camber and a couple of sherbets could be just the answer to all of these religous wars in the world.

Ps bring along a nice couple of cd's for us if you can my lover.

DTS XXX XXX

[Maxine]

anyway DTS, i was thinking ..... i could dress up as a buddhist, maybe you as an egyptian priest & we'll have the tear up outside the pub in camber? loser gets the beers in?

Is this going to be a new round in the quiz

[Brian Doolan]

Your m. . .

. . . . . . Your m. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . Your m. . . .mad you are!

And you can't spell

[geoff332]

Jesus exists. He has an account on twitter. http://twitter.com/jesus

[NickC]

anyway DTS, i was thinking ..... i could dress up as a buddhist, maybe you as an egyptian priest & we'll have the tear up outside the pub in camber? loser gets the beers in?

you dont need to believe in god to be a buddhist

[marcusj]

Your m. . .

. . . . . . Your m. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . Your m. . . .mad you are!

Nail 'em up I say, nail some sense into them

[daveb9000]

Religious arguments are pretty pointless as I doubt either side is going to be 'converted'. The very essence of faith is that it is belief without proof.

For what it's worth, I don't believe in God, but do believe in the need for religion. Religions are, at their basic level, a doctrine on how to behave in life. Hence why different cultures have evolved different religions. Pretty much all of which can be summed up as: "treat others with the repect you wish to be treated with yourself". The concept of God is required as the deterrent for disobeying the doctrine; there has to be a greater threat than parents/government/state that will punish you for disobeying. Unfortunatley, as a world that moves increasingly away from responsibility and consequences for our actions, religion, as a doctrine, is becoming less and less relevant. Additionally, there will always be those that use religion as an excuse for overpowering and controlling others.

I believe that a lot of the problems we have in these current times are not due to a lack of religion, but that it is not being replaced with anything else. Although I was raised a Christian and I no longer 'believe', I still recognise the good moral grounding that I received from that religion. As a non-believer I have no problem with parents not raising their children within a religion, but they have to replace it with a good moral grounding. Otherwise we will get even more of the young hooligans that have no respect for anyone else and think they can do as they please regardless of consequences, and we will see more cases like those recently in the news of young children commiting horrendous crimes against others.

Essentially I'm saying, it's fine not to 'believe', but you have to take responsibility and replace it with something else, or treat it like 'Santa Clause' and raise your children withing the doctrine, but leave them free to make their own choices when they are ready.

[Bubble]

The way I see it.........................(lights blue touch paper, stands well back and waits for massive explosion!)

Good things about religion
1. The charitable work that results from religion.
2. Having faith means you don't have to trouble yourself with difficult philosophical questions like 'Why am I here?'
3. Research shows that people with faith cope better with negative events such as a major illness than those without faith.

Bad things about religion
1. Can be a way to exert control over individuals, especially within cults.
2. Religious viewpoints on issues such as contraception, sexual equality, and apostasy.

Things where religion is irrelevant
1. Despite what some people say, most of the major wars in the last century were not caused by friction between different religions.
2. You don't have to be religious to be a 'good' person.

Religion often receives a lot of flak, but looking at it from the other end, I've never understood why some of the prominent atheists write on the topic of religion with so much vitriol. No doubt their rantings impress some of the pro-atheists, however, people like me just wonder why they can't articulate their arguments in a more professional manner.

Is there such a thing as an atheist extremist? If there is then I think I've read their articles and met a few of their followers. Although I can understand why someone may think religion is irrational, I also feel that some atheists are equally irrational for refusing to countenance that religion can bring even one single benefit to society.

[Dreadful Scathe]

you dont need to believe in god to be a buddhist

no one suggested you do- its still a religion

[Lory]

For what it's worth, I don't believe in God, [B]but do believe in the need for religion.

I'm sorry but I wholeheartedly disagree

Religions are, at their basic level, a doctrine on how to behave in life.

~snip~ "treat others with the repect you wish to be treated with yourself".

I get angry at the sheer hypocrisy of it all!

I'm afraid that through history, I think you'll find that almost all the most heinous acts of violence and cruelty between humans, is done in the name of religion.

People are persecuted and tortured and killed. Neighbours are divided. Wars are fought.. all in the name of religion!

All in the name of something that cannot be proved!