Jenks,

 

Exactly, if it cant be proven, dont use it as a fact.

 

That is the exact problem I have. If people want to believe in some non-provable thing, go for it, just let me live my life in peace with things that can be proven.

 

I fully understand that one day I may have to answer to St. Peter for my beliefs, but that is after Im dead.

3.) No, he worded how they feel about women pretty strongly. That they should be treated like animals. I think they takes away the fact they might be "intelligent" and puts them in cretan category. Don't you? I mean if you think a woman should be treated as an "animal" you are not intelligent. Right?

 

Maybe your religion says to treat women equally, but the faith they have known since birth tells them differently. Who are you to say that yours is right and theirs is wrong? They would probably call you a cretan for letting a woman make a decision for you in your life. It's the only thing they know.

Perhaps it's both extremes, but I tend to feel that religious people get attacked much more as being morons that haven't accepted we live in a modern world full of the almighty science.

There are a hell of a lot more religious people in this country than atheists. Atheists are still widely distrusted.

Do you guys live your lives wildly then?

Why not just go crazy if this all means nothing? If you are going to just be done when you die and not cognizant of anything in heaven, then why not be reckless pursuers of debauchery?

 

Just FYI, these types of questions reveal far more about the questioner than the people he or she is asking.

Maybe your religion says to treat women equally, but the faith they have known since birth tells them differently. Who are you to say that yours is right and theirs is wrong? They would probably call you a cretan for letting a woman make a decision for you in your life. It's the only thing they know.

 

But you said treating them like "animals."

That is pretty harsh to me. If you stand by that wording, I stand by my responses.

Just FYI, these types of questions reveal far more about the questioner than the people he or she is asking.

 

Why? I am actually a conservative Christian and pretty good person IMO.

Maybe your religion says to treat women equally, but the faith they have known since birth tells them differently. Who are you to say that yours is right and theirs is wrong? They would probably call you a cretan for letting a woman make a decision for you in your life. It's the only thing they know.

On my phone so I can't easily find it, but I posted a thread here a couple of weeks ago with an article about the misogyny rampant in middle east cultures. The same sort of misogyny can be found in fundamentalist christianity, judaism and probably every other major religion.

 

Dominance over women is a cross-cultural thing. It is embedded in religions because their early practitioners held these beliefs, but I wouldn't necessarily blame religion itself for it any more than I would for slavery. People will point to it to justify their beliefs no matter what they are.

But you said treating them like "animals."

That is pretty harsh to me. If you stand by that wording, I stand by my responses.

Sub-human or less-than-equal to men.

TRUE STORY:

I know a guy who has a beautiful wife and 4 kids, three of whom they adopted from impoverished countries.

He goes to inner city Chicago and hands out 100 dollar bills to homeless people a few times a month.

He is coach of his kids' teams and he is a doctor. He believes the Bible and reads the Bible.

He drops the word "God" in conversation every third sentence or so. he does this all for God.

Is he crazy? Is he a saint? You make the call.

 

He is neither. He is a good person. Whether he does it in God's name or not. Why is this person any different than a non-religious person doing the exact same thing?

Perhaps it's both extremes, but I tend to feel that religious people get attacked much more as being morons that haven't accepted we live in a modern world full of the almighty science.

 

Why is this a surprise given that religion teaches absurdities like a 6,000 year old Earth or man living amongst dinosaurs?

 

A significant portion of people in America believe things like this, and worse still, want this nonsense taught in public schools.

He is neither. He is a good person. Whether he does it in God's name or not. Why is this person any different than a non-religious person doing the exact same thing?

TRUE STORY: The guy is actually greg!

The Bible wasn't designed as a tool. Science has done an excellent job of furthering human knowledge about God's creation. Amazing actually.

 

Revelation is considered a source of knowledge to those who believe in it.

 

It is the least reliable form of knowledge. I believe it should be discouraged.

Why? I am actually a conservative Christian and pretty good person IMO.

It implies that, absent an afterlife to punish or reward you, that is how you would act.

 

I don't cheat on my wife because I love her. When you ask your question, it may lead someone to believe that the reason you don't cheat is out of fear of spiritual atonement and not your own moral convictions.

Why? I am actually a conservative Christian and pretty good person IMO.

 

Because it makes it sound like if you didn't believe in your god, YOU would be some crazy hedonist.

 

 

Why is this a surprise given that religion teaches absurdities like a 6,000 year old Earth or man living amongst dinosaurs?

 

A significant portion of people in America believe things like this, and worse still, want this nonsense taught in public schools.

 

Exhibit A.

Threads on Soxtalk have more curves than Kate Upton. That is all.

Exhibit A.

Of what?

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/07/fox-...ing-women-vote/

But you said treating them like "animals."

That is pretty harsh to me. If you stand by that wording, I stand by my responses.

 

Jenks,

 

Exactly, if it cant be proven, dont use it as a fact.

 

That is the exact problem I have. If people want to believe in some non-provable thing, go for it, just let me live my life in peace with things that can be proven.

 

I fully understand that one day I may have to answer to St. Peter for my beliefs, but that is after Im dead.

 

I've never met a sane/rational person that believes strongly in their beliefs that doesn't recognize that it is their belief, that spirituality at the end of the day is an individual thing, and that it is simply that - a belief that cannot be proven like a scientific problem.

 

I get on the science community for stating theories of how something happened as concrete fact. SS likes to remind me that it's understood, if not clearly stated, that it's still a theory. I think religion operates the same way.

Of what?

Atheists are mean.

Of what?

 

People being vehement (or straight up angry) about someone believing in something they don't believe.

But you said treating them like "animals."

That is pretty harsh to me. If you stand by that wording, I stand by my responses.

 

 

Sub-human or less-than-equal to men.

 

Thank you. That's what I meant.

Threads on Soxtalk have more curves than Kate Upton. That is all.

 

Any thread that gets a Kate Upton mention is a good thread!

I've never met a sane/rational person that believes strongly in their beliefs that doesn't recognize that it is their belief, that spirituality at the end of the day is an individual thing, and that it is simply that - a belief that cannot be proven like a scientific problem.

 

I get on the science community for stating theories of how something happened as concrete fact. SS likes to remind me that it's understood, if not clearly stated, that it's still a theory. I think religion operates the same way.

Religion and science do not operate in the same way.

There are a hell of a lot more religious people in this country than atheists. Atheists are still widely distrusted.

 

Being religious in mass media is nearly unheard of these days. Yeah, most Americans might identify themselves as being religious or believers, but the portrayal of our society, and the acceptance of that in our society, is not comparable to those numbers.