FAITH, RELIGION, AND YOU

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author=kentona
author=tpasmall
author=kentona
Are Jehovahs the ones that hand out The Tower magazine?
The wording is a little off, but basically, yeah.
Oh right, it's the Watchtower.

I've read it a few times. I've learned some interesting things (like a theory on Hell that I enjoyed), but at other times I see things like "Does God make earthquakes to punish people?" and that's when I shake my head (and my faith in humanity suffers).
For some reason, I read the watchtower for enjoyment. It's nice to know a little more about my religion.
@Dyhalto: Of course it has similar qualities to other belief systems, because atheism is, in fact, a belief system! Like I said, it is a set of common beliefs, which is exactly what is present in other religions. It is a group of people who believe similar things.

However, there isn't a Church of Atheism simply because of this: there ain't a fuckin' church of atheism. It isn't an organized religion. There are no religious leaders. There is no way to practice atheism. There isn't a book of atheism. There isn't a set of values and beliefs you have to adopt to be an atheist; all you have to do is not believe in any kind of theism. There is no institution built by it's followers.

Will there be a church of atheism someday? Maybe. Is there one now? No, there isn't. Arguing there is one is the weak argument here, because you're arguing that there is a system in place with the same organization that is present in something like Catholicism.

Seriously, show me the Pope of Atheism, someone that all atheists recognize as the leader of their "religion", and I'll be inclined to believe you.
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=Dyhalto
Plus, you have a group of believers whose ardent conviction ranges from passive to militant. It's exactly like other religions where you have extremists (suicide bombers, Qu'ran burners, people who enter #JesusLoveYou and pick fights) and passive believers (people who do their own thing quietly).

Again you're just applying the general rainbow of "how opinionated is this person?" that applies to every single opinion on everything ever, not just religion (or a lack thereof) so this is an incredibly weak argument.

author=Dyhalto
Saying there's no "Church of Atheism" is a weak argument because in any widespread belief system, the beliefs come first, then the institution is built by the followers

There is no atheist institution. You are either a theist or an atheist, regardless of your institution or system of beliefs, and that's all the word "atheist" means ;)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theist
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/atheist

sorry, there's no supreme beings guys
Oblic
Once a member of RMN, always a member of RMN!
1937
author=emmych
@Dyhalto:Seriously, show me the Pope of Atheism, someone that all atheists recognize as the leader of their "religion", and I'll be inclined to believe you.


HAH! I'd love to see someone claim to be the "pope of atheism"! It'd make my day! Oxymoron at it's best!
I have a statuette of Dawkins on my shelf.
My religion is fuck bitches get money.
author=emmych
However, there isn't a Church of Atheism simply because of this: there ain't a fuckin' church of atheism. It isn't an organized religion. There are no religious leaders. There is no way to practice atheism. There isn't a book of atheism. There isn't a set of values and beliefs you have to adopt to be an atheist; all you have to do is not believe in any kind of theism. There is no institution built by it's followers.

Once, catholicism had no institution either (well, that one might be a bad example). Older pagan religions, before they were burned away, had a common belief among the people first existing as stories or signatory gestures, then later they erected the temples and ordained the holy men and laid the laws. The big control edifice came after the beliefs did.
My point is that Atheism is a religion without an institution. But it can still be as full of bile as any of the big "one true religions". Imagine, if you will, a nation's leader getting up on the podium and saying "We must eradicate religion. It is barbaric and will doom us all. Lower your ploughshares and raise your swords, we will go to war to protect civil society from superstition-motivated savagery." That's what the creation of an Atheist institution might look like in the future.
I don't know why I'm posting this O.o You already agreed that it's a set of beliefs. Same thing :3

author=Versalia
sorry, there's no supreme beings guys

I saw what you did thar.
Oblic
Once a member of RMN, always a member of RMN!
1937
author=kentona
I have a statuette of Dawkins on my shelf.


I was thinking that, but I'm sure he'd shy away from such... "worship" (hah)? Great man, though!
Athiesm isn't a religion.

re·li·gion (r-ljn)
n.
1.
a. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
b. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.


The only one that applies to athiesm is 4, but Athiesm itself isn't a cause, a principle, or an activity. It's the lack there of. I don't deny that there are fanatical athiests who push their athiesm down thiest's throats, but it isn't a religion.
Versalia
must be all that rtp in your diet
1405
author=Dyhalto
You already agreed that it's a set of beliefs. Same thing :3

Then game design is a religion, because I have a very thorough and specific set of beliefs about it.

and RMN is the church.
author=Versalia
author=Dyhalto
You already agreed that it's a set of beliefs. Same thing :3
Then game design is a religion, because I have a very thorough and specific set of beliefs about it.

and RMN is the church.
All hail his holiness kentona; may those who do not follow his law be smited

and may we be delivered from salvation from the anti-Christ that is Craze

now chant with me
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
Oblic
Once a member of RMN, always a member of RMN!
1937
author=emmych
author=Versalia
author=Dyhalto
You already agreed that it's a set of beliefs. Same thing :3
Then game design is a religion, because I have a very thorough and specific set of beliefs about it.

and RMN is the church.
All hail his holiness kentona; may those who do not follow his law be smited

and may we be delivered from salvation from the anti-Christ that is Craze

now chant with me
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT


Hoo boy... I was waiting for this to happen! lol

But seriously, I think this has degraded pretty far from my original goal... unless anyone else wishes to share their story...

Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
emmych
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT


NOOOO I'MMM MEEELLLTTTIIINNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG

seriously I'm doing overly dramatic melting poses here

alt post #1: "I'm a supervillain and enjoying it."

alt post #2:
FUN FACT: I'm a baptized/confirmed Methodist, but only because I got free pizza and other meals out of the preparatory meetings and it was time spent with my best friend at the time, who was the reverend's son. I mean, I basically lived in the parsonage anyway and was constantly playing in the woods outside the church or inside in the church on rainy days.

It was great because I'm pretty sure they knew I wasn't really into it - I was the kid who'd protest against people surviving inside of whales - but they accepted me and I accepted them. I was basically part of a family of devout Christians even though I was obviously gay and non-religious and blah blah blah

THE IMPORTANT THING HERE is that I actually know a good bit about real Christianity, not what annoyingly liberal college students get all fussy about because some Christians are dicks (also, you annoyingly liberal college students are dicks, stop making me look bad). It's like... villification is wrong, man. It's fun to mock the Bible and people who read it too closely (protip: google define "allegory") but really

nice people are nice people

and jerks are jerks

and I just want us to get along like we did in middle school

author=kentona
I've read it a few times. I've learned some interesting things (like a theory on Hell that I enjoyed), but at other times I see things like "Does God make earthquakes to punish people?" and that's when I shake my head (and my faith in humanity suffers).


I think you'd be surprised what the Watchtower actually says about stuff like "Does God make earthquakes to punish people?", because basically the answer is no, he doesn't. Those articles usually quote from the Bible at Ecclesiastes 7:11,12 which says "Time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all. For man does not know his time".

So while the question may seem like it's going off into some crazy tangent, the articles themselves are usually an effort to use the Bible to debunk some myths about God. And while our views on God are diametrically opposed, the Watchtower makes it best effort to show how the Bible and scientific facts can coexist.
author=Craze
nice people are nice people

and jerks are jerks

and I just want us to get along like we did in middle school
HE DOESN'T EVEN GO HERE
here here ;__;7
author=tpasmall
author=kentona
I've read it a few times. I've learned some interesting things (like a theory on Hell that I enjoyed), but at other times I see things like "Does God make earthquakes to punish people?" and that's when I shake my head (and my faith in humanity suffers).
I think you'd be surprised what the Watchtower actually says about stuff like "Does God make earthquakes to punish people?", because basically the answer is no, he doesn't. Those articles usually quote from the Bible at Ecclesiastes 7:11,12 which says "Time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all. For man does not know his time".

So while the question may seem like it's going off into some crazy tangent, the articles themselves are usually an effort to use the Bible to debunk some myths about God. And while our views on God are diametrically opposed, the Watchtower makes it best effort to show how the Bible and scientific facts can coexist.
What upsets me is that the question needed to be asked and clarified at all.
author=Oblic
author=emmych
author=Versalia
author=Dyhalto
You already agreed that it's a set of beliefs. Same thing :3
Then game design is a religion, because I have a very thorough and specific set of beliefs about it.

and RMN is the church.
All hail his holiness kentona; may those who do not follow his law be smited

and may we be delivered from salvation from the anti-Christ that is Craze

now chant with me
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
ERAUQS SI DLROW EHT
Hoo boy... I was waiting for this to happen! lol

But seriously, I think this has degraded pretty far from my original goal... unless anyone else wishes to share their story...


Aremen.
Oblic
Once a member of RMN, always a member of RMN!
1937
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
I was raised a Lutheran, but I don't remember the distinction anymore. It's just one of the many subdivisions of Christianity, and I consider that the over-all religion of my youth. My parents weren't super-religious, but they were religious enough to make me attend church regularly (even well into my teens). I got confirmed, and the church I attended was actually my elementary school as well.

But it all failed to snare me and I made my own decisions about what I believe. Nowadays, I consider myself an agnostic with Christian leanings. I believe there is A creator, not necessarily God specifically, but something that instigated the universe. I fall partially in line with the intelligent design people who argue that everything's too complicated to have just fallen together randomly over billions of years. And if that's not really what they argue, well, then you should have some idea of just how aloof I am in regards to religion in general.

I've come to some interesting conclusions in my thoughts about the Big Questions, but I don't try to force them on anyone (I am willing to share, though!). For example...

from Oblic
The world (on a grand scale) is a pretty crappy place. Don’t get me wrong, there is much to live for, and lots of good in the world. But there is too much bad for a god to truly exist.
It's all too often asked "lol if there's a god who loves us why's he let bad things happen." My answer: God wants us to suffer. But that puts it too plainly, really. It needs some elaboration. What happens to people who have everything handed to them in life? They get spoiled, don't they? Bratty, privileged, more than a little entitled? This is why God "lets" bad things happen. If life on earth wasn't painful, we could never appreciate the sheer bliss that heaven promises. It makes sense to me, at least.

My other opinions tend similarly toward the devious, which is why I usually keep them to myself.