GREGtotheHOUSE Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 We have a new Pope. Long live Pope Francis, let's hope he won't quit on us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuddy999 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 User request lock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy303 Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Pope, smope. I am reading "God is not great" by Hitchens. Highly recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
med?? Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 ^ great book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuddy999 Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Cannot go wrong with the Portable Atheist. I am absolutely fascinated by religion, yet I cannot fathom how billions can either passively or actively adhere to it. "Heaven is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark." -Stephen Hawking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty Posted March 15, 2013 Report Share Posted March 15, 2013 Pope, smope. I am reading "God is not great" by Hitchens. Highly recommend it. I liked the first half of it and then it got repetitive and boring. I prefer "In God we Doubt" by John Humpreys. Much less obvious disgust for religion with all the same points. Reading a book by someone who is obviously shaking with hatred...even if it is toward religion is tiresome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy303 Posted March 16, 2013 Report Share Posted March 16, 2013 I liked the first half of it and then it got repetitive and boring. I prefer "In God we Doubt" by John Humpreys. Much less obvious disgust for religion with all the same points. Reading a book by someone who is obviously shaking with hatred...even if it is toward religion is tiresome. I found it refreshing. Then maybe I should read Humphreys because ive never heard a source makes anywhere near the argument that Hitch does Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthy1 Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 I still don't understand the animosity towards those with faith. Do we act differently or live life any more righteous than the rest of everybody else? Is it really a point of contention to live by a set of principles which we believe in? Nobody is asking you to believe in what we believe in, so what's the issue? Of course, there is the possibility that secularism feels just as justified in "converting" the theists that every time there is an opportunity, people find ways of throwing dirt onto people with religion. Funny how nobody seems to have an issue with Buddhism or Hinduism or (marginally, in this country) Islam, but most people seem to have issues with Christianity and Judaism (to a lesser extent). I am proud of my faith and I aspire to be a doctor motivated by morality and ethics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuddy999 Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 Funny how nobody seems to have an issue with Buddhism or Hinduism or (marginally, in this country) Islam, but most people seem to have issues with Christianity and Judaism (to a lesser extent). Pah-lease, hatred of Islam (and Arabs to a certain extent) is ubiquitous in this society (though I admit MUCH more so in the United States). Have you ever heard of Borat? Buddhism and Hinduism don't rear their head up in our society too much, so there isn't much to criticize. I don't like how people use religion to justify social and moral issues such as homosexuality and condom usage. I am proud of my lack of faith, and I can be morally upright without the fear of spending an eternity in hell if I don't adhere to a 2000 year old book. I really mean no hard feelings, I just do not understand where such strong adherence to faith comes from. Why do we need it? I do not know. It is something I am working on studying in my spare time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthy1 Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 See? The issue of religion comes down to a little bit of ignorance. My grandparents are Muslim and I am nowhere from the Middle East. So it is an issue of who has the most influence on society then? I would suppose you could just ignore others' opinions. I am not using "religion" to justify anything, it is my own personal justification. You don't have to like anything anybody else says. Unlike how you might think, I have homosexual friends and have no issues with their lifestyle, and I have never advocated against others using condoms. People misunderstand the difference between the faithful's personal beliefs and those who advocate and promote it. The Church has never asked anybody except their adherents to fully accept the position on these issues; the media rather has made it a spectacle and thus it appears that the Roman Catholic Church is "backwards." You might even not know that the first proponent of the scientific method was an RCC Priest, as was one of the first to propose the Big Bang. I am fine with your lifestyle and I am sure you have morals and ethics. I just have "extra" in that I believe in something more with my life. You might want to start your studies by understanding what faith means. To have faith is to believe in something for which evidence is not necessarily available to explain. I might add that I used to be an agnostic/atheist. I was not brought up into a faith-oriented family nor was I "converted" by others. This thread is clearly off topic, so if you would like to talk more perhaps we should continue via PM? Friendly conversation, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuddy999 Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 Just for the record, I never said that Muslims come exclusively from the Middle East. I said hatred of Muslims and Arabs was prominent in our society. Arabs tend to get clumped together with Islam, even though Arabs practice many different religions (Christianity, Druze). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy303 Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 Just for fun Is it really a point of contention to live by a set of principles which we believe in? If they are religious beliefs that promote violating human rights, then yes it is a point of contention. Nobody is asking you to believe in what we believe in, so what's the issue? Google the word "proselytization". Explain to me why there are people outside my apartment downtown handing out religious pamphlets. People find ways of throwing dirt onto people with religion. Religious beliefs are responsible for many acts of war, violence and oppression. Funny how nobody seems to have an issue with Buddhism or Hinduism or (marginally, in this country) Islam, but most people seem to have issues with Christianity and Judaism (to a lesser extent). This is an observation you make. This picture looks very different elsewhere in the world. Some religions have more/less violence and/or oppressive belief systems in their doctrine than others, but any of the religions commonly seen in Canada will do: islam, christianity, judaism... they all have violent rhetoric in their religions texts. I am proud of my faith and I aspire to be a doctor motivated by morality and ethics. It is possible to live a moral life without god or religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy303 Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 I just have "extra" in that I believe in something more with my life. People often advertise their religious beliefs as "I know something you don't", in the fashion that you do here, as though you have somehow attained a higher level or status due to what you believe. You can be a spiritual person without religion. To have faith is to believe in something for which evidence is not necessarily available to explain. you don't seem to consider the possibility that the "extra" something you believe in is completely false. I mean: what of the likely possibility that your religious beliefs are not correct? It surprises me that people are proud to believe in something for which there is no evidence. I base my beliefs on the best evidence available, which is that the world as we know it did not start due to Adam and Eve, etc. or some other fairytale. I agree with the principle of living life based on a set of moral beliefs. But I determine for myself what is moral and I live that way. I dont need a religious prescription for that. One obvious problem is that you may agree with much of the religion, but not all of it. What then? You are sacrificing your own personal beliefs to satisfy some arbitrary criteria.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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