Religion

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**Matthew**

There are Jews in the world there are Buddhists
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I've never been one of them

Oh, I'm a Roman Catholic
And have been since before I was born
And the one thing they say about Catholics is
They'll take you as soon as you're warm

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Nah, I'm an atheist.

**Happyjew**

Matthew wrote:
There are Jews in the world there are Buddhists
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I've never been one of them

Oh, I'm a Roman Catholic
And have been since before I was born
And the one thing they say about Catholics is
They'll take you as soon as you're warm

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Nah, I'm an atheist.

You don't have to be a six-footer.
You don't have to have a great brain.
You don't have to have any clothes on
You're a Catholic the moment dad .

**Matthew**

Happyjew wrote:
Matthew wrote:
There are Jews in the world there are Buddhists
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I've never been one of them

Oh, I'm a Roman Catholic
And have been since before I was born
And the one thing they say about Catholics is
They'll take you as soon as you're warm

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Nah, I'm an atheist.

You don't have to be a six-footer.
You don't have to have a great brain.
You don't have to have any clothes on
You're a Catholic the moment dad .

You sir, are awesome.

**Stonebeard**

Christian. Thinking about joining the Catholic church.

EDIT: Too much work. Sticking with the Episcopal Church. Women are hotter, anyway.

**jason_busy**

spiritual beleifs are fine, many people find it hard to deal with the idea there is nothing after death, our year are finite after all, and it is comferting to think a passed love one is in a better place.
im athiest and have no problem in accepting no life after death and that im insignificant in the universe.
organised religion governed by leaders telling you how to think and do is not ok, considering that monotheistic religions seem to be the most brutal.
when you consider the atrocities commited by those groups, and supposedly by their gods themselves.
spiritualism shouldnt be about what church you follow it should be about what feels right to you and whether it is peacefull and loving rather then persecution and the fear of damnation,
as richard dawkins said "telling a child that if it not good it will burn in hell for eternity is child abuse" and i think that goes for everyone

**Knight_Alpha**

I am Christian. Through the years I have found scientific theories that support a greater being. These theories have actually strengthened my belief. And the Bible isn't just a spiritual guide, it's also a guide for a living a good life. Christianity in my, opinion, has received a bad name through people who are self-righteous, and the Bible tells us not to be.

**SilverMK2**

Knight_Alpha wrote:
Through the years I have found scientific theories that support a greater being.

I would be interested in hearing what these scientific theories are.

**Knight_Alpha**

Second law of thermodynamics, where it talks about the level of entropy in a system. A system will always go from a state of order into a state of chaos, and never naturally the other way around. This law can be applied to nature. A house, for example, if you start to knock it down, then it will continue to increase in chaos until it doesn't exist anymore. With that in mind, the Big Bang theory can't possibly be true unless there is a superior being to organize the material produced by the explosion. So, not really a theory, but a law helps strengthen my faith.

**mattyrm**

Knight_Alpha wrote:
Second law of thermodynamics, where it talks about the level of entropy in a system. A system will always go from a state of order into a state of chaos, and never naturally the other way around. This law can be applied to nature. A house, for example, if you start to knock it down, then it will continue to increase in chaos until it doesn't exist anymore. With that in mind, the Big Bang theory can't possibly be true unless there is a superior being to organize the material produced by the explosion. So, not really a theory, but a law helps strengthen my faith.

Even if this was correct, it doesn't support a Christian God though does it? Why not simply practice deism?

Actually, don't even bother.. I get in trouble with dakkas monotheistic moderators when I argue with religious people.

Each to their own old chap. I certainly think its fair to say we all have more pressing concerns than Christianity these days.....

**SilverMK2**

Knight_Alpha wrote:
Second law of thermodynamics, where it talks about the level of entropy in a system. A system will always go from a state of order into a state of chaos, and never naturally the other way around. This law can be applied to nature. A house, for example, if you start to knock it down, then it will continue to increase in chaos until it doesn't exist anymore. With that in mind, the Big Bang theory can't possibly be true unless there is a superior being to organize the material produced by the explosion. So, not really a theory, but a law helps strengthen my faith.

However, taking that view further, there then must be something more complex than god which made god, and something more complex than that which made the god maker, etc.

Unfortunately on top of that I think you have misunderstood the second law of thermodynamics and the nature of the big bang.

**DaPino**

I am an agnost. It means I neither believe nor revoke the concept of a higher entity.

I simply could not care. I try making the best of my life, making as much people as possible happy and making as little people as possible miserable. Whether or not a higher entity exists is of little consequence.

**Lightish Red Space Marine**

Pentecostal Christian. PM me if you would like to know about Jesus Christ!

**Januine**

seriously - couldnt this be the one place that religiom is left to the side?

**Rainbow Dash**

Januine wrote:
seriously - couldnt this be the one place that religiom is left to the side?

All things considered this is the nicest talk about religion on the net I have ever seen.

I started rewritting the Book of Mormon for... boredom, stemmed from a joke but I am liking where the story is going.
(I made it up from the acronym "DLDS" or Church of Doll-Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
But in my own bizarre way, I poke fun at things I like...
Though I could never be Mormon, there's too many rules that get in my way, and their church starts at 9 am and that's too early.

But I always thought I ought to have a religion, because I have a lot of beliefs, but I live by none of them.
I just like having them, they're my little belivesies...They make me feel good, but if something like the chance to have sex or whatever comes along then feth it I'm gonna do that.

**OneManNoodles**

Atheist.

There is more than one faith system, there have always been more, so long as there are Humans there will be more, many of them were/are/will be vastly different to each other, constantly inter-breading borrowing ideas from one cult to add to another and mutating over time otherwise known as evolving. Faiths evolve as do all memes.

It seems many faiths seem strongly to believe that their, and only their, belief system is right. Since there is equal evidence (beyond fiction, like repeatable measurable evidence, or accurate historical sources) for each of them being right individually we treat them all equally, then if they are all right any version of heaven would read like something from Terry Prattchet (see "Small Gods") and creation would be a mess (imagine the Ice giants), but back to what is real, the belief of the believer. If all they have is belief and on all parties the belief is equal then they must all be right yes? Well I just made a brief point as to what that would entail. Leading me, by Occam's razor to conclude there are no gods, only men and men makith gods in their own idealised image, to fulfil what they themselves cannot ... like viagra.

This is just part of the line of argument that has led me to say that I am an atheist, I could go on for a long time.
It has taken me at least a decade of constant questioning, that a good science education brings in order to properly understand and objectively appraise each piece of information to come to the conclusion on my belief that I have, I have as many have on this thread, I am sure.

**MWHistorian**

jason_busy wrote:
spiritual beleifs are fine, many people find it hard to deal with the idea there is nothing after death, our year are finite after all, and it is comferting to think a passed love one is in a better place.
im athiest and have no problem in accepting no life after death and that im insignificant in the universe.
organised religion governed by leaders telling you how to think and do is not ok, considering that monotheistic religions seem to be the most brutal.
when you consider the atrocities commited by those groups, and supposedly by their gods themselves.
spiritualism shouldnt be about what church you follow it should be about what feels right to you and whether it is peacefull and loving rather then persecution and the fear of damnation,
as richard dawkins said "telling a child that if it not good it will burn in hell for eternity is child abuse" and i think that goes for everyone

Inexcusable atrocities, yes, but nearly as bad as the slaughter done in the name of atheism in the 20th century.
Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc etc.

**OneManNoodles**

You are confusing Religion with ideology and lust for power, it's an easy mistake, take the one called "Freedom" see how many people were slaughtered for that one.

Or there is "They look funny", "He stole my wife", "I want a great big empire" is another good one, really the list is as long as the history of warfare itself.

**SilverMK2**

MWHistorian wrote:
Inexcusable atrocities, yes, but nearly as bad as the slaughter done in the name of atheism in the 20th century.
Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc etc.

Right...

Hitler:

Hitler's public relationship to religion has been characterised as one of opportunistic pragmatism.[10] His regime did not publicly advocate for state atheism, but it did seek to reduce the influence of Christianity on society. Hitler himself was reluctant regarding public attacks on the Church for political reasons, despite the urgings of Nazis like Bormann. Although he was skeptical of religion,[11][12] he did not present himself to the public as an atheist, and spoke of belief in an "almighty creator".[13][14] In private he could be ambiguous.[15][16] Evans wrote that Hitler repeatedly stated that Nazism was a secular ideology founded on science, which in the long run could not "co-exist with religion".[17] In his semi-autobiographical Mein Kampf (1925/6) however, he makes a number of religious allusions, claiming to fulfil the will of the Christian God[citation needed] and having been chosen by providence.[14] In a 1928 speech he said: "We tolerate no one in our ranks who attacks the ideas of Christianity ... in fact our movement is Christian."[18]

...

Samuel Koehne of Deakin University wrote in 2010: "Was Hitler an atheist? Probably not. But it remains very difficult to ascertain his personal religious beliefs, and the debate rages on." While Hitler was emphatically not "Christian" by the traditional or orthodox notion of the term, wrote Koehne, he did speak of a deity whose work was nature and natural laws, "conflating God and nature to the extent that they became one and the same thing..." and that "For this reason, some recent works have argued Hitler was a Deist".[127]

During his career, and for a variety of reasons, Hitler made various comments against "atheistic" movements. He associated atheism with Bolshevism, Communism, and Jewish materialism.[128] In 1933, the regime banned most atheistic and freethinking groups in Germany - other than those that supported the Nazis.[129][130] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Adolf_Hitler

Stalin:

"During his time in power, Stalin had a complex relationship with religion. He officially adopted the Russian Communist Party’s stance on religion, claiming atheism and continuing the tradition of teaching atheism in schools and propagating the idea that religion was only damaging to a perfect communist society. Stalin even took it further than his predecessor, Lenin, and initiated a nationwide campaign to destroy churches and religious property and even persecute and kill church officials.3 It is said that under Stalin, the Russian Orthodox Church went from 50,000 to 500 open and operating churches.4

Stalin once said:

You know, they are fooling us, there is no God… all this talk about God is sheer nonsense.5

But during World War II, Stalin eased up considerably on religion. He allowed for tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox churches to reopen, adopted an official policy of tolerance toward Muslims,6 and re-established the hierarchy of leadership in the Russian Orthodox Church.7 There were even rumors that Stalin had reconsidered his own personal relationship to religion when he took a “mysterious retreat” in 1941.8" http://hollowverse.com/joseph-stalin/

Pol Pot:
Pol Pot was a Theravada Buddhist, as were the majority of his movement, and indeed the majority of the population of his country. His "war" was one on inequality through the elimination of any potential difference between people. Unfortunately this lead to the death of about 2 million people.

**Norn King**

MWHistorian wrote:
jason_busy wrote:
spiritual beleifs are fine, many people find it hard to deal with the idea there is nothing after death, our year are finite after all, and it is comferting to think a passed love one is in a better place.
im athiest and have no problem in accepting no life after death and that im insignificant in the universe.
organised religion governed by leaders telling you how to think and do is not ok, considering that monotheistic religions seem to be the most brutal.
when you consider the atrocities commited by those groups, and supposedly by their gods themselves.
spiritualism shouldnt be about what church you follow it should be about what feels right to you and whether it is peacefull and loving rather then persecution and the fear of damnation,
as richard dawkins said "telling a child that if it not good it will burn in hell for eternity is child abuse" and i think that goes for everyone

Inexcusable atrocities, yes, but nearly as bad as the slaughter done in the name of atheism in the 20th century.
Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc etc.

So they went to war in the name of atheism?

...

**Crimson Heretic**

i'm not religous at all, i'm pretty much athiest but i find myself relating to alot of the ideas of anton lavey...i respect people who believe in whatever religon and have no problem with them until they tell me i'm going to hell or come to my door trying to speak the good word. I was raised to be christian but even as a child it made no sense to me, the thought of turtles living in a sewer fighting crime as ninjas seemed more tangable then a book of riddles and a god that walks on water.

**TheMisterBold**

Raised Catholic but realized how imo false and wrong it is. Now i'm an atheist with christian friends and open sunday mornings.

**GavinCapener**

True and blue old fashion atheist. Day by day, I feel nihilism ever encroaching.

MWHistorian wrote:
Inexcusable atrocities, yes, but nearly as bad as the slaughter done in the name of atheism in the 20th century.
Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc etc.

Stalin committed most of his atrocities in the name of Communism, which isn't synonymous with atheism, but some could've been considered to have been done in the name of atheism. Nazism though, was certainly not an atheist movement.

**timetowaste85**

Christian, and I believe in the teachings from the Bible that tell us to love our fellow man and respect him, even if his views and life choices are different. Despite acting like an ass on the Internet from time to time (we ALL do it), I want nothing more than everyone to get along and work together. That's what Christianity means to me. Acceptance and love.

**GavinCapener**

I'm actually pleasantly surprised to see so many "non-religious."

**ZergSmasher**

Knight_Alpha wrote:I am Christian. Through the years I have found scientific theories that support a greater being. These theories have actually strengthened my belief. And the Bible isn't just a spiritual guide, it's also a guide for a living a good life. Christianity in my, opinion, has received a bad name through people who are self-righteous, and the Bible tells us not to be.

timetowaste85 wrote:Christian, and I believe in the teachings from the Bible that tell us to love our fellow man and respect him, even if his views and life choices are different. Despite acting like an ass on the Internet from time to time (we ALL do it), I want nothing more than everyone to get along and work together. That's what Christianity means to me. Acceptance and love.

Amen Brothers! Christianity is supposed to be a religion of love (Jesus said to "love one another" after all!), and for that reason I am proud to call myself a Christian. And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has looked at it from a scientific perspective, too. Science really does support the Bible, but secular scientists don't want anyone to know this.

**SilverMK2**

ZergSmasher wrote:
Science really does support the Bible, but secular scientists don't want anyone to know this.

As a scientist and a non-believer, I would be interested to see where this suppression of the holy truth is occurring... and indeed where all this scientific evidence for "the bible" is.

**KaptinBadrukk**

Non religous. Seems like just about everyone else on here.

**timetowaste85**

KaptinBadrukk wrote:
Non religous. Seems like just about everyone else on here.

While the non-religious group almost doubles the Christian group, I don't think that counts as "just about everyone".

**Riquende**

It's certainly everyone that matters. We're all planning a party in hell...

**KaptinBadrukk**

timetowaste85 wrote:
KaptinBadrukk wrote:
Non religous. Seems like just about everyone else on here.

While the non-religious group almost doubles the Christian group, I don't think that counts as "just about everyone".

Well, let's just say that I am Atheist.