http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/109066/detail/

Here, let me sum it up for you.

"I r smart. I don't belive in God. U believe in God. U r dumb."

Morality is doing right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right. (Mencken)


I really like this quote; unfortunately, it is a good illustration of the dogma that allowed so many to be victimized by those they trusted within the Church.

When the men "leading" a religion are wrong about something, it is terrible what can be lost. People believe and trust in these men because they have to. Because they have been taught that since God is infallible then the men he has chosen must speak only his will, thus must be followed no matter what and must not be questioned.

Here is how I, as a Christian and very religious person view it:

What better way for the devil to usurp God than to put in place "false" religions that claim to follow what the Bible teaches but in reality do not. The hypocrisy found in most religious establishments has been more than enough to push people away from religion completely.

It is no wonder the people quoted here have such disdain for religion.

Why is religion needed to believe in God? And which establishment is right and which is wrong?

Why is religion needed to believe in God? And which establishment is right and which is wrong?


Religion is not needed to believe in God. However, I am a Christian; a follower of Christ. As such I have to follow the example of Christ's first century appostles, meeting in established congregations and meeting together both for spiritual education and to build eachother up as part of worship to God.

As to which is right an which is wrong... if a person doesn't believe the religion that they are a member of is the right religion, why are they a member of it? As a Christian, I say find a religion that follows what the Bible says and without hypocrisy. All men are imperfect, so you'll always be able to find some kind of fault on an individual level. But is there hypocrisy on an organizational level?

What better way for the devil to usurp God than to put in place "false" religions that claim to follow what the Bible teaches but in reality do not. The hypocrisy found in most religious establishments has been more than enough to push people away from religion completely.


... (another post from you)


As to which is right an which is wrong... if a person doesn't believe the religion that they are a member of is the right religion, why are they a member of it? As a Christian, I say find a religion that follows what the Bible says and without hypocrisy. All men are imperfect, so you'll always be able to find some kind of fault on an individual level. But is there hypocrisy on an organizational level?


It is no wonder the people quoted here have such disdain for religion.

Especially with posts like yours.

Lemme paraphrase it for you.
I R Christian, so I R Smart. If you aren't Christian U R dum.

Christians are Atheists too. They just disbelieve one less religion than Atheists.

(I dunno if that was in the video, but it probably should be.)

LOL, I love that line. What's it from?

For me, The Internet. If I had to guess the original source, I'd bet George Carlin.

... (another post from you)





Especially with posts like yours.

Lemme paraphrase it for you.
I R Christian, so I R Smart. If you aren't Christian U R dum.


I fail to see what you have accomplished in quoting me there. I was not trying to provide fil with an answer, but the way to the answer. Fil's reason for the question about which is right and which is wrong was intended to show that one religion could not be clearly defined as right or wrong in a way that would satisfy everybody. I simply bypassed the debate by pointing to a way to your own solution, if you are a Chistian. I cannot speak for any other religeous denomination.

The part you chose to bold confuses me. The statement I was making was, in essence, saying "if you're a member of a religion, you should believe it is the right religion to be a member of... else why are you a member?" Maybe you interpreted what I said differently, I don't know.

And no, I never did imply any lack of intelligence on the part of people who do not believe in God, unlike the atheists quoted. You must be a person who is willing to have faith in order to believe in God. Your willingness to have faith or not has nothing to do with your intelligence.

Don't worry Akom, I noted such powerhouse aetheists as Homer Simpson, Jesse Ventura and other equally impressive mind blowing intellects on that video.

And about 50% of the rest of the quotes were from the same 5 people .....

I believe there is a God so I guess I r dumb :)

I'd like to treat the issue of religion, etc., in a more specific-topic, non-Nugget post, but in a nutshell the happiness and peace derived from the beauty of true, practiced faith can hardly be attained by other means (and if so, it's only temporary).

Don't worry Akom, I noted such powerhouse aetheists as Homer Simpson, Jesse Ventura and other equally impressive mind blowing intellects on that video.

And about 50% of the rest of the quotes were from the same 5 people .....

I believe there is a God so I guess I r dumb :)I noticed that, and I do think I'd want to avoid being on the same side as Homer Simpson or the ever eloquent Ventura, but since this post was in Nuggets, meh.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/Claymorbmaster1/1198759180414wa0.jpg

Hospitaller: I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. I have seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What god desires is here
(points to head)
Hospitaller: and here
(points to heart)
Hospitaller: and what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man - or not.

After hear this quote in the movie, it really changed my views. I dispise religion, but i love God.

Religon is our (humankind's) way of being able to comprehend something/someone that is far too mysterious, cosmic and awe inspiring for our flesh and blood brains to comprehend.

I'm thankful Grey that you've managed to differentiate between God (or whatever you call your supremem being/power) and what we people do to try and get into his/her/it's good graces.

I consider myself a man of faith, strong faith in fact. I've been searching for years, only to be lead back to where I was, but with new eyes. When religon is presented in an open, free and supporting manner, I have no problems with it whatsoever. It helps focus your meditation, and helps communities grow. It's when religon becomes political, a tool to be used by crackpots talking to God on a two way radio, or for people who like to exploit little childeren that I have a problem with it.

But as much as I'd like to generalize Religon, I cannot. I cannot blame an entire institution for the actions of some. I believe those parties should be punished to the highest degree (the offenders AND the people that covered up or helps fund them), but I cannot say Islam is bad because some of their supposed believers blew themselves up in a market place, nor can I say that all priests are bad because some abused children, just to name a few examples.

We are intelligent, thinking human beings capable of many great things, but I totally disagree that there is no room for religon. Faith is what keeps us going when science and human thought fail us. Faith is often what gets us through the tough spots. I don't think someone should blindly follow faith though, as it was indeed God who gave us free will. It's the most precious gift a being could recieve.

In closing, I think we could probably use more God these days than any other time. Our children are too busy growing up too fast, getting involved in things we hope adults would never get involved in (IE: Drugs, unprotected sex, drinking, guns). We're letting our kids be raised by strangers and more often than not, the TV or the Computer. We spend more and more time hurting each other than we do trying to help each other.

Here's an idea for religon. Each person has their own idea of faith, and I think that's awesome. If people want to discuss it, go somewhere and do it with as open a mind as possible, but other than this, lets keep it to ourselves. Sharing isn't sharing if the person on the recieving end does not want it.

Now, we take all these people, and we start doing stuff in the now. It's all nice and good to read through old books (Bible, Koran, Torah, etc) and learn from the lessons within, but lets make our own stories. Go out, do good stuff, get the word out. You'd be amazed at how much people help each other when it's out in the open. Don't ask for a reward. Be polite and respectful! It's sad to say that when I do something nice for someone these days they almost expect me to charge them for it or something. Sometimes, really good things are free.

Another thing we should do is explore the world. Be open to different cultures. Find out what people are doing on the other side of the world. The media is a great tool for seeing what's going on, but it's a small picture, and you only get a little of it. Nothing teaches better than experience. You'd be AMAZED at how many similarities you will find between you and the culture you are exploring. It is usually then that ignorance dies.

We, as a race (the human race), have the means to sort out a LOT of our problems. In this day and age, there should be no reason why we have starving people. There's no reason why we should have people losing their homes or not being able to get the medical care they need.

Who knows, maybe one day we'll figure it out and get it right. I just hope we last that long.

Sorry about that, couldn't stop typing LOL. This suddenly went from nuggest to Real Life in a blink!