A few questions on religion:

[Ian]

As someone who doesnt believe in God, I have some interesting question for those who are very religious (or at least have a better understanding of religions).

My questions are:
What makes you believe that your god wants you to worship them? If you were god would you want people to worship you?

Do you even know who wrote your religion doctrine and when? If you do, how do you know that your religious doctrine isnt simply an attempt at trying piece together stories about creation and also lay down some basic laws for civility? Sometimes I also wonder why people would follow a religion that developed 2000 years ago, when people had a serious lack of education and understanding of the world.

What makes you believe that there is a god? Have you ever truly experienced anything that proves to you there is a god? Worshippers are told to have faith when difficult questions come up about there religion but from human experience if someone always told me to have faith in them, I would be very suspicious of them.

Have you ever thought that most religions are simply a way of explaining the world? Since we cant understand how the universe started, religion fills the gap in our lack of understanding (since it is human nature to figure how things work). Have you ever thought that your religion could have never become popular and that if it didnt you would probably be worshipping another god.

What are the reasons you decided to follow your religion? Were you raised into the religion you believe now? And do you feel that it is a way to fit into you culture (being a non-christian in the USA I notice that siginificant part of our culture seems to be built around Christianity)?

Thats all I can think of for now. I am not trying to change anyones religion just trying to give you some things to think about.

 

[snakesnfrogs]

flamebait

 

[goodoptics]

you know what. I am kinda sick of this kind of threads. :|

 

[bandXtrb]

Good points

oh, but yes.........
Flamebait!!

edit: greetings my baghead brothers!

 

[Ian]

How do you guys think I should edit it so that it doesnt offend people? ....Well maybe I will just remove them if they are flamebait and since I am not getting the responses I hoped for:/

 

[bandXtrb]

I don't know, I guess someone will let you know when they reply -- if it IS flamebait.

 

[Elledan]

Good points, but you can't defeat blind faith with logic and reason. It's like trying to break a stone with your bare hands except that it doesn't hurt you much.

Just wait and see what happens with this thread.

BTW you don't have to edit your post. You're not offending anyone.

 

[bandXtrb]

yeah, the historical reasons for religion need to be looked at since religion defies a logical approach.

 

[rommel]

uh i am not going to read through your post because it would be pointless...but i will tell you this...there is a vast differance between organized religion adn GOD...religion is men...GOD is GOD....GOD does not require you to build churches and assemble in groups and ostrosize others that believe differently then your particular group...thas mans domain and well we all know how stupid men are(and gurls your included in that man generalization)....so dont confuse what GOD wants from each of us and what men acting under the guise of a particualr orginaztion might want to pursude you to do or think.
GOD only askes that you love him and think of him and put him first in you thoughts and actions...he requires nothing more then this

 

[rommel]

oh and your disbelief doesnt change the fact that god exists...jsut prolongs the time till you see it foryourself...but the good to this is time is not wht you think adn it never runs out

 

[pulse8]

<< oh and your disbelief doesnt change the fact that god exists...jsut prolongs the time till you see it foryourself >>



Why is it that your belief doesn't change the fact that God may not exist?

 

[Wallydraigle]

Good God, just stop it already!!!! Do a friggin search!

 

[Maetryx]

<<
My questions are:
What makes you believe that your god wants you to worship them? If you were god would you want people to worship you? >>



I'll answer as a Christian for the reason that probably springs to your head the fastest. Christianity is based on the written records of canonized authors that were eventually collected into The Holy Bible. In the Bible, the early Christians of the first century wrote down Jesus' instructions to his followers. Included in those instructions is mention of God's desire for his creatures to worship. I'll mention on my own that we can hardly whine about this instruction, since our very existence is not of our own doing. No one here created themself, right?



<< Do you even know who wrote your religion doctrine and when? If you do, how do you know that your religious doctrine isnt simply an attempt at trying piece together stories about creation and also lay down some basic laws for civility? Sometimes I also wonder why people would follow a religion that developed 2000 years ago, when people had a serious lack of education and understanding of the world. >>



The historicity of The New Testament is more certain than any other ancient work. Second place goes to Homer's _The Illiad_, with 600 manuscripts in existence. How many manuscripts of The New Testament? 10,000. And even if every copy of the document were destroyed, the early Christians quoted the New Testament with such frequency that the entire thing could be reconstructed from monk scrolls by 400 A.D. or so. Why is this important? Because many used to claim that the New Testament was &quot;mythologized&quot; over time and actually finalized in 1300 A.D. or so. But it's not so. There are copies of the Gospel of Mark that date to 70 A.D., meaning it was written while some witnesses of Jesus' life were still living and could have refuted the work if it conflicted with their memory. Certainly it would be difficult to spread the &quot;banned&quot; religion if the foundational work was false and everybody knew it.

As far as your claim that people had a &quot;serious lack of education and understanding of the world&quot;, it's sort of beside the point. Our understanding of the world is based on certain worldview assumptions. Yours apparently is based on atheistic naturalism. But if you're wrong, then your understanding of the world couldn't be better than the Christians writing the Bible (if they're right). And not all the author's of the Bible were uneducated. They were all literate for example. And Paul, who wrote about half of the New Testament, was a scholar of the highest order being educated in law, theology, philosophy, languages and administration. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and The Acts of the Apostles, was a physician. Presumably our medical technology is better now, but a physician is an educated person.




<< What makes you believe that there is a god? Have you ever truly experienced anything that proves to you there is a god? Worshippers are told to have faith when difficult questions come up about there religion but from human experience if someone always told me to have faith in them, I would be very suspicious of them. >>



Experience is a shaky foundation for philosophy. And what would you do if I just &quot;oh yeah, I've felt God in my heart since I was real little.&quot; You couldn't refute my claim. Personal experience can't be refuted, but can be in serious doubt. It is not the basis for any convincing philosophical treatise. HOWEVER, I do not want anyone to believe ANYTHING without examining the evidence. The truth is not something one must believe in blindly, and is not going to be undone by examination.



<< Have you ever thought that most religions are simply a way of explaining the world? Since we cant understand how the universe started, religion fills the gap in our lack of understanding (since it is human nature to figure how things work). Have you ever thought that your religion could have never become popular and that if it didnt you would probably be worshipping another god. >>



I am with you. Most religions are simply a way of explaining the world, or for controlling people or whatever. But the God I belive in is not a God of the gaps, as was once a popular way of explaining the phenomenon of assigning God only to gaps in human knowledge. God is the beginning of knowledge. The firm understanding that God exists is the beginning of sorting out the world. As far as the question about what if my religion wasn't popular, I have no answer. I don't know.



<< What are the reasons you decided to follow your religion? Were you raised into the religion you believe now? And do you feel that it is a way to fit into you culture (being a non-christian in the USA I notice that siginificant part of our culture seems to be built around Christianity)? >>



I follow Christianity because I am philosophically, logically, theologically and scientifically convinced that it best explains the world. I was raised as a Christian, but the churches and doctrines to which I was exposed were burdened with ignorance and apathy. Education and logic were not pillars of the churches I attended. Blind faith was often seen as a virtue, and questioning and doubt were seen as blasphemy. That is NOT true Christianity. The truth is not afraid of careful examination.

------EDIT--------------
I took out one mean-spirited sentence, for which I apologize.

 

[bandXtrb]

<<Good God, just stop it already!!!! Do a friggin search! >>
If you can't take the heat...

 

[rommel]

well kinda like this pulsie...when you tell a child not to touch that its hot but it doesnt believe you...the fact that it doesnt believe you doensnt make the object any less hot...so you like a lil child will one day reach out and touch it and see for yourself...i ahve already been there and you will come to where i am too...this is how it is...but it is not my job to amke you believe....it is not needed...it will happen because it must....it is creation...and we are his answer to his own question of&quot;who am i&quot; that started it...you in your disbelief are as much a part as me in my conviction

 

[RACERSTODEATH2002]

i was brought out in a christian family and once a christian but somehow i turned the other way... i guess, i too find it hard to believe... too many questions that ppl dont want or know how to answer...

heres some of my questions...
1.) why does all religion believes in if you do good, you will have a good after live in heaven??
2.) ppl say the bible is the word of God.. then y throughout the 2000 years, the bible have been edited and reedited boocoo times??
3.) ppl throughout history have fought wars thinking there God would save them... y were they not saved??? aren't they men of faith??
4.) y do ppl of faith all put every thing good that happens on God and everything thats bad happens blames it as a trial of his/her faith??? How come God never gets the blame!?!?!
5.) y does ppl think they are always in the &quot;CORRECT&quot; religion when there are numerous religions??
6.) how come religions never talk about dinosaurs???


snakesnfrogs and goodoptics, i guess you are both christians... can't you even defend your faith without offend each other??

 

[pulse8]

<< well kinda like this pulsie...when you tell a child not to touch that its hot but it doesnt believe you...the fact that it doesnt believe you doensnt make the object any less hot...so you like a lil child will one day reach out and touch it and see for yourself...i ahve already been there and you will come to where i am too...this is how it is...but it is not my job to amke you believe....it is not needed...it will happen because it must....it is creation...and we are his answer to his own question of&quot;who am i&quot; that started it...you in your disbelief are as much a part as me in my conviction >>



Pulsie? Well, let's start by saying that I didn't much care for the patronizing tone of your post. With that out of the way, I can see that your faith is very strong. You believe that there is a God without any proof or reason. That's fine and I will not continue this discussion for the pure fact that in your post you have not opened up your mind to my comments, but rather gave me a &quot;because that's the way it is&quot; reply. This will end up going nowhere and would rather not spend my time like that.