What are your thoughts on people who wear crucifix necklaces?

Dec 6, 2018 19:40:01 GMT @homergreg said:

So having faith is delusion?  How is it any more delusional than not having faith?

I have faith... that the sun will rise tomorrow. I have faith that 2 + 2 = 4 and always will not matter when and where you are. I have faith that my loved one will look out for me.

I do not have faith that there is a wise old wizard who lives in the sky, created everything in seven days, and that I will go to hell, if that even exists, unless I love him absolutely and without reservation.

I also have faith that if god exists he/she/it doesn't give a crap whether or not meaningless specks like us worship him/her/it. If god exists I'm sure they've got MUCH bigger fish to fry. Do you need the worship of a colony of ants? Why would you care?

However, I also accept the possibility that god does exist. Could be. Maybe. I just don't KNOW it; so I'm not going to live my life devoted to a maybe as if that makes me a better person somehow, as if I'm going to be "saved" just because I "believe". No one who is religious is "better" than me, or is going to be "saved", just because they are religious.

As far as I'm concerned religion is just believing in something that doesn't exist simply because mom and dad ingrained it into you when you were a kid. It's the toughest form of brainwashing to overcome and most people never come out of it. That's how religions continue to exist. Convert them when they're young.

But, if at the end of the day, you've given it serious thought and decided its for you, then I respect your opinion and decision. Its just not for me.

Dec 2, 2018 16:04:04 GMT Archelaus said:

It's my name and I am a Christian in faith. However, your statement that "Christianity is evil" is a broad generalization that ignores the good that Christians have done. In fact, just last year, The Washington Times reported that a study finds religious people are more likely to give towards charity. I am well knowledgeable that Christianity has twisted and abused as a vehicle for one's own ideology such as anti-Semitism and racism, to profit and promote themselves at the expense of others, and oppress and repress populations.

However, that's not what the Christian walk is about. It is a relationship with God through the salvation that comes through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and to use that relationship to help others. As for my statement, "more power to them", it's in reference to the Christians who were persecuted for centuries. They did not have the freedom to show their faith as people can do now. 

Firstly, let me be perfectly clear that I do not have anything against people who are religious. I like to make fun because I have a sense of humor and I think its funny. Nothing more than that. I respect that religion is important.... to you. And I accept that for a good many people religion is a force for good in their lives. I assume you are one.

But...

I love it when Christians talk about having been/or currently being persecuted, when its Christians who DO all the persecuting!!!

Have Christians accepted gays? Aren't they still condemning them?

Have Christians called out their own child molesters? Aren't they still covering them up?

Have Christians called out assholes like Trump? Don't they still support that behavior by supporting him?

Have Christians called out the gun violence going on in our country?

Did Christians call out the slavery, the mass lynchings in the south, the decimation of the Native American Indian and the converting of their children, and the institutionalized racism that still goes on today?

And while we're at it...

Have Christians forgotten the Crusades?

Have Christians forgotten the Inquisition?

Have Christians forgotten the so called "witch" burnings?

Have Christians forgotten all the in-fighting between them and the Protestants?

Have Christians not made it clear that you will go to hell unless you convert, specifically to their religion and dogma, thus making it clear that everyone other than themselves are worthless and pitiable and need to be "saved", or else?

I for one cannot follow such a hypocritical and segregationist organization, and I certainly hope that you are a "better" Christian than most Christians, Christian.

Dec 8, 2018 14:24:05 GMT @homergreg said:

I'm talking about whether one puts faith in that this universe was created, or whether it was just "banged" into existence without any reason.  The basis, the root of theism.  Was the "big bang" an act, or did it somehow just happen?   

Is the fact that each time an atom adds a proton and an electron, and sometimes neutrons, that although most of it's volume is void, that we get completely different substances, with properties that vary in utility to nature all an accident, or does the fact that these elements  are like tinkertoys (and actually tinkertoys can be used to model them pretty well) point to a designer?

Does one have faith in it being designed or does one have faith in spontaneous universe, spontaneous energy, spontaneous order?  Either way, it takes faith.  

I'm not talking about the faith it takes to take it to complex religion. Let's start "In the beginning", one really needs to start their journey there, at the creation of this universe.

Faith is not something that will change the existence of what we perceive as the universe, or how it got here, it just is. Faith is just a thought brought about by belief and where exactly are these beliefs? People put too much stead on hope, hoping this or that will happen. Who are they hoping will make it all happen....God? Holding onto a belief in faith is a waste of time and energy because it isn't real. 

We are the designer and mind is what creates what we perceive as reality. It is ALL mind and ALL mind is God.