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Its not his religion though. If my religion was incorrectly noted I would have it changed not go on a campaign to start a new religion.

Kudoes for effort though.

 Frazzled wrote:
Its not his religion though. If my religion was incorrectly noted I would have it changed not go on a campaign to start a new religion.

Kudoes for effort though.

when it comes to religions though, if he claims it is, than it is. To claim otherwise is in violation of the first amendment.

here is your list of government approved religions, pick one.

 sebster wrote:
Glad to hear that spiritual fitness isn't a religious test. Would have been nice to see the thread end with that.

 dracpanzer wrote:
Myself and all the Marines I served with were regularly forced to attend religious services.

God, Country, Corps and all that.

If you don't like it, don't join.

Only being able to sign up to defend your country if you're willing to attend religious services is a pretty basic rejection of religious freedom.

If you join the Marines to go on some SJW crusade, you are doing it wrong.

And now we see the concept of not forcing public servants to attend religious seminars defined as a SJW crusade. What utter fething madness is taking over your country?

I think your understanding of personal freedoms and the Marine Corps might differ. It isn't a democracy, and you don't have the right to be a special snowflake.

I always took our required attendance of religious services as command requiring we spend some time in front of the Chaplain. Who despite your religion, lack of it, or otherwise is the only officer in an infantry battalion who's job isn't to tell you what to do. A friendly ear. All of the Chaplains that were ever attached to my unit were excellent folks. You were required to go, you weren't required to give Our Fathers, kneel, recite the Lord's Prayer or otherwise. As an atheist myself, it never bothered me. I had Marines who were religious, it helped to understand them. Again as an atheist our Chaplain had several "services" with just us and we were actually able to have conversations about atheism with our Chaplains. Great stuff.

My comment about SJW crusades is that if you join the Marines to somehow correct the way they do things you are doing it wrong. Even atheism is a belief system and I find it perfectly fine if the Commandant wants to mandate that all Marines spiritual well being is looked after. Sure beats being put on a BS working party because you feel the need to be different.

 djones520 wrote:
The Commandants messages is utterly true. Without spiritual resiliency, our force cannot operate to the level that it does, to the level that is necessary.

Exactly!

 CptJake wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:
"Ass hat"? No, it's because some of the pseudo religions that have been passed and are actually allowable on your dog tags are unbelievably ridiculous, and when I first turned in my slip as an atheist, in came back Christian, no denom. So from that moment on, back in 1992, I've tried to get Kolinahr as my religion.

Being an "ass hat", how would YOU qualify that? I stood on principle and stepped out of the tail end of a convoy brief because the Chaplain led us in prayer. I got blow back from the entire section because of it, basically saying to stand in there and be silent so I didn't disrespect their beliefs. Yet when it came to MY beliefs, sitting there quasi participating in something I didn't want to participate in was the only answer. Who was the "ass hat" there?

Honestly, it sounds like you are intentionally being an ass hat because your feelings got hurt. A legit IG complaint if you felt your beliefs were not being respected (as it sounds like was the case) would be a reasonable reaction. Your crusade as an atheist to get a religion legitimized is not very reasonable. It is the action of a petulant child who wants to abuse the system for giggles and laughs and as balm to his butt hurt.

This.

 djones520 wrote:

 CptJake wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:
"Ass hat"? No, it's because some of the pseudo religions that have been passed and are actually allowable on your dog tags are unbelievably ridiculous, and when I first turned in my slip as an atheist, in came back Christian, no denom. So from that moment on, back in 1992, I've tried to get Kolinahr as my religion.

Being an "ass hat", how would YOU qualify that? I stood on principle and stepped out of the tail end of a convoy brief because the Chaplain led us in prayer. I got blow back from the entire section because of it, basically saying to stand in there and be silent so I didn't disrespect their beliefs. Yet when it came to MY beliefs, sitting there quasi participating in something I didn't want to participate in was the only answer. Who was the "ass hat" there?

Honestly, it sounds like you are intentionally being an ass hat because your feelings got hurt. A legit IG complaint if you felt your beliefs were not being respected (as it sounds like was the case) would be a reasonable reaction. Your crusade as an atheist to get a religion legitimized is not very reasonable. It is the action of a petulant child who wants to abuse the system for giggles and laughs and as balm to his butt hurt.

This.

Not this.

If the system is already being abused by the religious members of the military (see Just Tony's example of being criticized for his atheism, or having his atheism declared "Christian non-denominational) then why not some "abuse" by the non-religious?

And really, what does trying to get Kolinahr added to the huge list of accepted religions do to believers? Does it diminish their faith? Does it somehow make the believers' religion suddenly false?

By the way, below is the list of recognized religions (for the US Army I believe). Some are pretty obscure, and most are variations of Christianity. If small, regional versions of Christianity can be acknowledged (Schwenkfelder Church) then why not something like Kolinahr? And if your answer to that question is "because a 'fake religion' disrespects the faithful" then try and understand how being a non-believer assigned a religion and or forced to participate in religious activities like prayers (fake practices to non-believers) feels. It is irritating at best, and demoralizing at worst.


Recognized religions:
AC Advent Christian Church
AJ Jehovah’s Witnesses
AN Native American
AS Seventh Day Adventist
AV Adventist Churches (excludes Advent Christian Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Native American, and Seventh Day Adventist)
BA American Baptist Churches in the USA
BB Baptist Churches (excludes American Baptist Churches in the USA; American Baptist Conference; Free Will Baptist Churches; General Association of General Baptists; General Association of Regular Baptist Churches; National Baptist Convention of America; National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.; and Southern Baptist Convention)
BC Southern Baptist Convention
BF Free Will Baptist Churches
BG General Association of General Baptists
BN National Baptist Convention of America
BP Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
BR General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
BT American Baptist Conference
BU National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
CC Catholic Churches (excludes Roman Catholic Church)
CR Roman Catholic Church
DL Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon)
DR Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints
EA Anglican Catholic Church
EC Episcopal Church
EE Episcopal Churches (excludes Anglican Catholic Church, Episcopal Church, and Reformed Episcopal Church)
ER Reformed Episcopal Church
FA Independent Churches Affiliated
FB Independent Fundamental Bible
FC Independent Fundamental Churches of America
FF Fundamentalist Churches (excludes Associated Gospel Churches, Independent Churches Affiliated, Independent. Fundamental Bible Churches, and Independent Fundamental Churches of America)
FG Associated Gospel Churches
GC Christian Church and Churches of Christ
GE Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
GG Restoration Churches (excludes Christian Church and Churches of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of Christ, and Tioga River Christian Conference)
GT Tioga River Christian Conference
GX Church of Christ
HA Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)
HC Churches of Christ in Christian Union
HH Holiness Churches (excludes Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), Churches of Christ in Christian Union, Church of the Nazarene, and Salvation Army)
HN Church of the Nazarene
HS Salvation Army
II Islam
JJ Judaism (Jewish)
KB Buddhism
KF Baha’i Faith
KH Hinduism
KK Eastern Religions (excludes Baha’i Faith, Buddhism, and Hinduism)
LE Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
LL Lutheran Churches (excludes Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
LM Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
MC Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
ME African Methodist Episcopal Church
MJ Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations
MM Methodist Churches (excludes African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Free Methodist Church of North America, Moravian Churches, United Methodist Church, and Wesleyan Church)
MN Free Methodist Church of North America
MR Moravian Churches
MU United Methodist Church
MW Wesleyan Church
MZ African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
NC Christian, no Denominational Preference
NO No Religious Preference
OE Eastern Orthodox Churches
OO Orthodox Churches (excludes Eastern Orthodox Churches)
PA Assemblies of God
PC Church of God in Christ
PD Full Gospel
PF International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
PG Church of God of Prophecy
PH Pentecostal Holiness Church, International
PJ Pentecostal Church of God
PP Pentecostal Churches (excludes Assemblies of God; Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee); Church of God in Christ; Church of God of Prophecy; Full Gospel; International Church of the Foursquare Gospel; Open Bible Standard Churches, Inc.; Pentecostal Church of God; Pentecostal Holiness Church, International; and United Pentecostal Church International)
PS Open Bible Standard Churches, Inc.
PT Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
PU United Pentecostal Church International
QB Brethren Churches
QF Friends (Quakers)
QQ European Free Churches (excludes Brethren Churches, Friends (Quakers), and Schwenkfelder Churches)
QS Schwenkfelder Churches
RB Cumberland Presbyterian Church
RC Congregational Churches
RD Christian Reformed Church in North America
RF Reformed Church in America
RG Churches of God, General Conference
RI Presbyterian Church in America
RP Presbyterian Church (USA)
RR Reformed and Presbyterian Churches (excludes Christian Reformed Church in North America; Churches of God, General Conference; Congregational Churches; Cumberland Presbyterian Church; Presbyterian Church in America; Presbyterian Church (USA); Reformed Church in America; and United Church of Christ)
RU United Church of Christ
SC First Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science)
TN Protestant, no Denominational Preference
TO Protestant, Other Churches
UU Unitarian Universalist
VA Asbury Bible Churches
VB Plymouth Brethren
VE Evangelical Covenant Church
VF Evangelical Free Church of America
VM Christian and Missionary Alliance
VP Bible Protestant Church
VV Evangelical Churches (excludes Asbury Bible Churches, Bible Protestant Church, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Evangelical Covenant Church, Evangelical Free Church of America, and Plymouth Brethren)
WW Not Applicable
XC Iglesia Ni Christo
XJ Churches of the New Jerusalem
XN New Age Churches
XX Unclassified Religions
YW Wicca (Witchcraft)
YY Magick and Spiritualist
ZA Atheist
ZB Agnostic
ZZ Unknown

tneva82 wrote:

 CptJake wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:
The Army is the same way, I just had to take fitness survey myself. Athiest and had one of the highest spirituality ratings in my unit.


As an aside, I'm working through my Chaplain to try to get Kolinahr passed as a legitimate religion.

I have to ask, why, as an atheist, are you working to get anything passed as a legit religion?

Maybe he wants religion that doesn't revolve around belief on god as legit religion? Googling up gave this definition for atheist: "a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods."

So if there's already legit religions without believe in existance of god or gods why not more?

Add to the fact that the closest two options that come to my true beliefs are Humanist and Kolinahr, and I almost threw in the towel and went Humanist as my religion of record, but I am personally more in line with Kolinahr and am of the opinion that it should be on the list in the first place. I'm not the only person living by its tenets.

Co'tor Shas wrote:

tneva82 wrote:

 CptJake wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:
The Army is the same way, I just had to take fitness survey myself. Athiest and had one of the highest spirituality ratings in my unit.


As an aside, I'm working through my Chaplain to try to get Kolinahr passed as a legitimate religion.

I have to ask, why, as an atheist, are you working to get anything passed as a legit religion?

Maybe he wants religion that doesn't revolve around belief on god as legit religion? Googling up gave this definition for atheist: "a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods."

So if there's already legit religions without believe in existance of god or gods why not more?

Yup, like Unitarian Universalism (what I am a part of). It's religion, but without gods, or rules, or anything else people assume you have to have to be a religion. You can have spiritualism without a higher power.

Humanists are an accepted religion as well. My actions stem more from having a name to ascribe to my beliefs/opinions, which before was lumped under Athiest or No Pref.

CptJake wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:
"Ass hat"? No, it's because some of the pseudo religions that have been passed and are actually allowable on your dog tags are unbelievably ridiculous, and when I first turned in my slip as an atheist, in came back Christian, no denom. So from that moment on, back in 1992, I've tried to get Kolinahr as my religion.

Being an "ass hat", how would YOU qualify that? I stood on principle and stepped out of the tail end of a convoy brief because the Chaplain led us in prayer. I got blow back from the entire section because of it, basically saying to stand in there and be silent so I didn't disrespect their beliefs. Yet when it came to MY beliefs, sitting there quasi participating in something I didn't want to participate in was the only answer. Who was the "ass hat" there?

Honestly, it sounds like you are intentionally being an ass hat because your feelings got hurt. A legit IG complaint if you felt your beliefs were not being respected (as it sounds like was the case) would be a reasonable reaction. Your crusade as an atheist to get a religion legitimized is not very reasonable. It is the action of a petulant child who wants to abuse the system for giggles and laughs and as balm to his butt hurt.

No, giggles and laughs would be changing to other already approved religions, and reapplying monthly or more. But yeah, the reasonable part of my "crusade" (nice use of a Christian term, btw) is that I actually follow the tenets of Kolinahr, so the religion applies.

sirlynchmob wrote:

 CptJake wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:
"Ass hat"? No, it's because some of the pseudo religions that have been passed and are actually allowable on your dog tags are unbelievably ridiculous, and when I first turned in my slip as an atheist, in came back Christian, no denom. So from that moment on, back in 1992, I've tried to get Kolinahr as my religion.

Being an "ass hat", how would YOU qualify that? I stood on principle and stepped out of the tail end of a convoy brief because the Chaplain led us in prayer. I got blow back from the entire section because of it, basically saying to stand in there and be silent so I didn't disrespect their beliefs. Yet when it came to MY beliefs, sitting there quasi participating in something I didn't want to participate in was the only answer. Who was the "ass hat" there?

Honestly, it sounds like you are intentionally being an ass hat because your feelings got hurt. A legit IG complaint if you felt your beliefs were not being respected (as it sounds like was the case) would be a reasonable reaction. Your crusade as an atheist to get a religion legitimized is not very reasonable. It is the action of a petulant child who wants to abuse the system for giggles and laughs and as balm to his butt hurt.

why so defensive cpt? you seem so butt hurt over this.

having his religion legitimized is VERY REASONABLE, as he's being judged on his SFI spirituality score.

While I will immediately state that swinging the "butt hurt" back at the Captain (Never thought about that being his actual rank, problematic if I needed to be rendering respect this entire time...), I will also state that the military as a whole is steeped in rich traditions, and any blowback against those traditions is treated as an attack. That's half the reason you were seeing so much noise over the inclusion of females into combat arms units. The other would be logistics tied to billeting and other field issues.

sirlynchmob wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
Its not his religion though. If my religion was incorrectly noted I would have it changed not go on a campaign to start a new religion.

Kudoes for effort though.

when it comes to religions though, if he claims it is, than it is. To claim otherwise is in violation of the first amendment.

here is your list of government approved religions, pick one.

So who is saying that Kolinahr is NOT my religion? And exactly how does claiming a religion violate the first amendment?

It's really not difficult to get dog tags that say "Atheist" on them. If they messed up your dog tags, you should have just gotten new ones. It was more likely an administrative mistake than some weirdly malicious a "Oh, he put Atheist? Just give him 'Christian - No Denomination'!"

It's not like Atheist dog tags are some uncommon or forbidden thing.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Just Tony wrote:
So who is saying that Kolinahr is NOT my religion? And exactly how does claiming a religion violate the first amendment?

You said yourself you were atheist, so I guess the answer to your question is you.

It would be different if you came in here first and said you really respected the teachings and practices of Kolinahr and it held some deep spiritual meaning for you. But you didn't. You told everyone in this thread that you are atheist and started trying to get Kolinahr recognized to make some kind of stupid point.

 Just Tony wrote:

when it comes to religions though, if he claims it is, than it is. To claim otherwise is in violation of the first amendment.

here is your list of government approved religions, pick one.

So who is saying that Kolinahr is NOT my religion? And exactly how does claiming a religion violate the first amendment?

You misunderstood what I wrote.

if you claim kolinahr is your religion, then it's your religion. Just like the Jedi Religion and Pastafarianism religion which are also not included in that list. The jedi and pastafarians probably outnumber most of the religions listed.

For those that claim they're not real religions, or the religions need validation, those people are violating your first amendment.

Hordini wrote:It's really not difficult to get dog tags that say "Atheist" on them. If they messed up your dog tags, you should have just gotten new ones. It was more likely an administrative mistake than some weirdly malicious a "Oh, he put Atheist? Just give him 'Christian - No Denomination'!"

It's not like Atheist dog tags are some uncommon or forbidden thing.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Just Tony wrote:
So who is saying that Kolinahr is NOT my religion? And exactly how does claiming a religion violate the first amendment?

You said yourself you were atheist, so I guess the answer to your question is you.

It would be different if you came in here first and said you really respected the teachings and practices of Kolinahr and it held some deep spiritual meaning for you. But you didn't. You told everyone in this thread that you are atheist and started trying to get Kolinahr recognized to make some kind of stupid point.

My "stupid point" was about how spirituality has zero to do with actual religion. And yes, I probably should have started with something other than just "atheist", but I took the path of least resistance. It's like explaining I'm Lithuanian, for some reason, people can't process that and just lump me as Russian, which isn't something I particularly enjoy but I made peace with people generalizing, and I figured I'd head it off at the pass.

For the record, since starting to submit Kolinahr as my religion, I've gotten back "None", "Atheist", "Agnostic", "No Religious Preference", "Protestant non-denominational", "Southern Baptist", and "Roman Catholic". Food for thought.

sirlynchmob wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:

when it comes to religions though, if he claims it is, than it is. To claim otherwise is in violation of the first amendment.

here is your list of government approved religions, pick one.

So who is saying that Kolinahr is NOT my religion? And exactly how does claiming a religion violate the first amendment?

You misunderstood what I wrote.

if you claim kolinahr is your religion, then it's your religion. Just like the Jedi Religion and Pastafarianism religion which are also not included in that list. The jedi and pastafarians probably outnumber most of the religions listed.

For those that claim they're not real religions, or the religions need validation, those people are violating your first amendment.

I see, my apologies.

 Just Tony wrote:

Hordini wrote:It's really not difficult to get dog tags that say "Atheist" on them. If they messed up your dog tags, you should have just gotten new ones. It was more likely an administrative mistake than some weirdly malicious a "Oh, he put Atheist? Just give him 'Christian - No Denomination'!"

It's not like Atheist dog tags are some uncommon or forbidden thing.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Just Tony wrote:
So who is saying that Kolinahr is NOT my religion? And exactly how does claiming a religion violate the first amendment?

You said yourself you were atheist, so I guess the answer to your question is you.

It would be different if you came in here first and said you really respected the teachings and practices of Kolinahr and it held some deep spiritual meaning for you. But you didn't. You told everyone in this thread that you are atheist and started trying to get Kolinahr recognized to make some kind of stupid point.

My "stupid point" was about how spirituality has zero to do with actual religion. And yes, I probably should have started with something other than just "atheist", but I took the path of least resistance. It's like explaining I'm Lithuanian, for some reason, people can't process that and just lump me as Russian, which isn't something I particularly enjoy but I made peace with people generalizing, and I figured I'd head it off at the pass.

For the record, since starting to submit Kolinahr as my religion, I've gotten back "None", "Atheist", "Agnostic", "No Religious Preference", "Protestant non-denominational", "Southern Baptist", and "Roman Catholic". Food for thought.

Sounds like your admin personnel don't like wasting time on a fictional religion.

 Hordini wrote:


Sounds like your admin personnel don't like wasting time on a fictional religion.

All religions are fictional though. so there is that.

sirlynchmob wrote:

 Hordini wrote:


Sounds like your admin personnel don't like wasting time on a fictional religion.

All religions are fictional though. so there is that.

Yeah, well, you know, that's just like your opinion, man.

It is the obvious comeback to what you said, though. Who gets to decide what religion is fictional? Are we comfortable having our - supposed to be secular - armed forces having designations for five billion different flavors of Christian denomination and only one for, say, Islam?

That it funny looking at tge list someone posted earlier. There are 7 billion Christian sects on there, but only very genetic" Judaism" or "Islam," despite there being signifgant difference between Sunni, Shia, and Ibadi Musims. Or Orthodox Jews vs Reformed Jews.

 Spinner wrote:
It is the obvious comeback to what you said, though. Who gets to decide what religion is fictional? Are we comfortable having our - supposed to be secular - armed forces having designations for five billion different flavors of Christian denomination and only one for, say, Islam?

I get it that there are plenty of people who are atheist and don't believe in any religion. But that said, religion is a legitimately important part of many people's lives. If someone comes forward and says on the one hand that they are an atheist, and on the other hand that they are trying to get a fictional religion, that was created as part of a science fiction show, recognized as an actual religion, it's pretty straightforward to see that that person is not acting in good faith.

It's really not that difficult of a concept.


Personally, I don't think that any of the Christian sects are really necessary. I'd be perfectly satisfied with "Christian" covering all of them. But at the same time, I understand that there are probably others who would not be satisfied with that.

 Hordini wrote:

 Spinner wrote:
It is the obvious comeback to what you said, though. Who gets to decide what religion is fictional? Are we comfortable having our - supposed to be secular - armed forces having designations for five billion different flavors of Christian denomination and only one for, say, Islam?

I get it that there are plenty of people who are atheist and don't believe in any religion. But that said, religion is a legitimately important part of many people's lives. If someone comes forward and says on the one hand that they are an atheist, and on the other hand that they are trying to get a fictional religion, that was created as part of a science fiction show, recognized as an actual religion, it's pretty straightforward to see that that person is not acting in good faith.

It's really not that difficult of a concept.

And if someone tries to live by the principals and philosophies of that religion, and use them to become a better person...isn't that part of their spiritual fitness? It's not like he's trying for Pastafarianism here, there's no mention of stripper factories or beer volcanoes. I could see someone trying to live their life with logic as a guiding principle. Seems weird to replace it with various flavors of Christianity on the guy's tags.

 Spinner wrote:

 Hordini wrote:

 Spinner wrote:
It is the obvious comeback to what you said, though. Who gets to decide what religion is fictional? Are we comfortable having our - supposed to be secular - armed forces having designations for five billion different flavors of Christian denomination and only one for, say, Islam?

I get it that there are plenty of people who are atheist and don't believe in any religion. But that said, religion is a legitimately important part of many people's lives. If someone comes forward and says on the one hand that they are an atheist, and on the other hand that they are trying to get a fictional religion, that was created as part of a science fiction show, recognized as an actual religion, it's pretty straightforward to see that that person is not acting in good faith.

It's really not that difficult of a concept.

And if someone tries to live by the principals and philosophies of that religion, and use them to become a better person...isn't that part of their spiritual fitness? It's not like he's trying for Pastafarianism here, there's no mention of stripper factories or beer volcanoes. I could see someone trying to live their life with logic as a guiding principle. Seems weird to replace it with various flavors of Christianity on the guy's tags.

Of course it is. Except for the fact that the first thing he said when he came into this thread is that he's an atheist. As such, his tags should say "Atheist."

 Hordini wrote:

 Spinner wrote:
It is the obvious comeback to what you said, though. Who gets to decide what religion is fictional? Are we comfortable having our - supposed to be secular - armed forces having designations for five billion different flavors of Christian denomination and only one for, say, Islam?

I get it that there are plenty of people who are atheist and don't believe in any religion. But that said, religion is a legitimately important part of many people's lives. If someone comes forward and says on the one hand that they are an atheist, and on the other hand that they are trying to get a fictional religion, that was created as part of a science fiction show, recognized as an actual religion, it's pretty straightforward to see that that person is not acting in good faith.

It's really not that difficult of a concept.


Personally, I don't think that any of the Christian sects are really necessary. I'd be perfectly satisfied with "Christian" covering all of them. But at the same time, I understand that there are probably others who would not be satisfied with that.

When it comes to christians there are also those who will tell other christians that they are not true christians. So once that bar is set between real christians and false christians, then the question quickly becomes 'how do you prove you're a real christian'

when it comes to actual religions, It worked for L Ron Hubbard. It worked for the Jedi, and it's working for the pastafarians, it's time the trekies had their due. They do have the cooler language.

Who are you to decide who is and who is not acting in good faith? is that something we really want the government deciding?

Before you set a bar for legitimacy, you might want to consider if your religion can meet it.

 Hordini wrote:

 Spinner wrote:

 Hordini wrote:

 Spinner wrote:
It is the obvious comeback to what you said, though. Who gets to decide what religion is fictional? Are we comfortable having our - supposed to be secular - armed forces having designations for five billion different flavors of Christian denomination and only one for, say, Islam?

I get it that there are plenty of people who are atheist and don't believe in any religion. But that said, religion is a legitimately important part of many people's lives. If someone comes forward and says on the one hand that they are an atheist, and on the other hand that they are trying to get a fictional religion, that was created as part of a science fiction show, recognized as an actual religion, it's pretty straightforward to see that that person is not acting in good faith.

It's really not that difficult of a concept.

And if someone tries to live by the principals and philosophies of that religion, and use them to become a better person...isn't that part of their spiritual fitness? It's not like he's trying for Pastafarianism here, there's no mention of stripper factories or beer volcanoes. I could see someone trying to live their life with logic as a guiding principle. Seems weird to replace it with various flavors of Christianity on the guy's tags.

Of course it is. Except for the fact that the first thing he said when he came into this thread is that he's an atheist. As such, his tags should say "Atheist."

Unless that was also the first thing he said to the person who made the tags, that's irrelevant.

The only religious bits the corps needs is preaching about the lord and savior Chesty Puller, and Mad Dog Mattis.



Anything else is fething wrong.

But yes, Djones and Drac are absolutely right. Pretty ironic how the veterans in here are the only ones understanding the memo from the Commandant. Much better than when Amos was in.

 Spinner wrote:

 Hordini wrote:

 Spinner wrote:

 Hordini wrote:

 Spinner wrote:
It is the obvious comeback to what you said, though. Who gets to decide what religion is fictional? Are we comfortable having our - supposed to be secular - armed forces having designations for five billion different flavors of Christian denomination and only one for, say, Islam?

I get it that there are plenty of people who are atheist and don't believe in any religion. But that said, religion is a legitimately important part of many people's lives. If someone comes forward and says on the one hand that they are an atheist, and on the other hand that they are trying to get a fictional religion, that was created as part of a science fiction show, recognized as an actual religion, it's pretty straightforward to see that that person is not acting in good faith.

It's really not that difficult of a concept.

And if someone tries to live by the principals and philosophies of that religion, and use them to become a better person...isn't that part of their spiritual fitness? It's not like he's trying for Pastafarianism here, there's no mention of stripper factories or beer volcanoes. I could see someone trying to live their life with logic as a guiding principle. Seems weird to replace it with various flavors of Christianity on the guy's tags.

Of course it is. Except for the fact that the first thing he said when he came into this thread is that he's an atheist. As such, his tags should say "Atheist."

Unless that was also the first thing he said to the person who made the tags, that's irrelevant.

If what he said to us is the truth, and that's not the first thing he said to the person who made the tags, then he's an integrity violator.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

sirlynchmob wrote:

 Hordini wrote:

 Spinner wrote:
It is the obvious comeback to what you said, though. Who gets to decide what religion is fictional? Are we comfortable having our - supposed to be secular - armed forces having designations for five billion different flavors of Christian denomination and only one for, say, Islam?

I get it that there are plenty of people who are atheist and don't believe in any religion. But that said, religion is a legitimately important part of many people's lives. If someone comes forward and says on the one hand that they are an atheist, and on the other hand that they are trying to get a fictional religion, that was created as part of a science fiction show, recognized as an actual religion, it's pretty straightforward to see that that person is not acting in good faith.

It's really not that difficult of a concept.


Personally, I don't think that any of the Christian sects are really necessary. I'd be perfectly satisfied with "Christian" covering all of them. But at the same time, I understand that there are probably others who would not be satisfied with that.

When it comes to christians there are also those who will tell other christians that they are not true christians. So once that bar is set between real christians and false christians, then the question quickly becomes 'how do you prove you're a real christian'

when it comes to actual religions, It worked for L Ron Hubbard. It worked for the Jedi, and it's working for the pastafarians, it's time the trekies had their due. They do have the cooler language.

Who are you to decide who is and who is not acting in good faith? is that something we really want the government deciding?

Before you set a bar for legitimacy, you might want to consider if your religion can meet it.

All the more reason to just go with the title "Christian." Let them work it out amongst themselves.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

sirlynchmob wrote:
Who are you to decide who is and who is not acting in good faith? is that something we really want the government deciding?

Before you set a bar for legitimacy, you might want to consider if your religion can meet it.

When someone comes into a thread and literally says that they are an Atheist but are trying to get a fictional religion recognized to make a point, it's not too difficult if you actually engage your brain.

Engage your brain, brother.

Going to go shead and lock this one up.