IndyDDR.com

malictus wrote:The notions of 'God' and 'Satan' changed over the course of the writing of the Bible. In much of the Old Testament, God was a vengeful, spiteful being who had no problem with smiting people, killing first born sons, and all that. Who needs Satan when God is like that?

In the New Testament we see the notion of God as a loving, generous, 'good' entity; but if God is completely good, how do we explain all the sadness and cruelty in the world? That's where the devil comes in.

Which brings us to the old 'problem of evil' --- if God is all-seeing, all-knowing, and perfect, where did the devil and all the evil in the world come from? And how could this perfect being send a human to a place of eternal punishment? Christians have a very hard time with those questions.

It's important to remember that Christianity as it is practiced today is based on a very selective reading of the Bible. The Bible-thumping preachers who claim that every word of the Bible is the sacred word of God have no answers for the huge contradictions that exist between various parts of the Bible, in notions of God, the devil, the trinity, etc. Even the four Gospels themselves contain glaring contradictions.

First of all, I love you.

Secondly, you hit the nail on the head as to why I don't follow organized religion.
With Christianity in particular, many of the practices and holidays they claim are there's were taken from old pagan religions. That, for one, makes me wonder about the 'truth' of the bible.
Christmas is a perfect example. Christ wasn't born in winter at all. The actual holiday is Yule, a big celebration for pagans at the time. The church found it convenient to add their own religious beliefs to a holiday that was already widely celebrated and loved...and over time, their beliefs replaced the original purpose of the holiday.
Easter is another example. It's Ostara, if I remember correctly...once more, nothing to do with Christ.

I believe in many of the principles laid out in the bible, but not all of them. I don't take it as a work of history or theology, but I uphold some of it's teachings because I believe they make sense. Not because I fear going to hell, but because I feel they are right.
At the same time, I also follow bits of paganism, buddhism, and native american teachings. I wear a Thor's Hammer around my neck not because I believe word for word in Asatru (viking religion), but because it proclaims strength, and I follow many of their teachings.

I do believe in god(s), I believe in spirituality, but I don't believe any one culture or religion has all the answers. The world is such a vast place, with many mysteries and many strange occurances...why would one small group of people be granted ALL the answers, and the rest of the world be wrong?
I look for common practices in religions around the world, and go from there. The details are usually built around cultural or historical events from the time they were written, and often have little to no relivence in the overall picture.

Personally, I would like to believe that our modern concept of religion (in general) is a horrible distorted, skewed version of what was originally intended. I don't believe that the Bible was ever meant to be taken literally, and that the whole purpose of it was to present metaphors that represent how one should live one's life. But most definitely not to believe in all sorts of supernatural phenomena and proclaim them acts of God, or to look at one's own religion as superior and argue over insignificant details of the stories which are metaphors anyway.

So, I can see that their were some good intentions in writing a book like the Bible; namely, trying to create a "code of conduct," if you will, that will lead to true happiness (what I believe heaven is a metaphor for). I certainly don't believe in there being an actual GOD, or that even if there was a Jesus, that he was nothing more than simply a preacher of this code of conduct. But what this religion (and many others) has evolved into in today's world literally scares me.

there are extremes for every issue

dance1005 wrote:Personally, I would like to believe that our modern concept of religion (in general) is a horrible distorted, skewed version of what was originally intended. I don't believe that the Bible was ever meant to be taken literally, and that the whole purpose of it was to present metaphors that represent how one should live one's life. But most definitely not to believe in all sorts of supernatural phenomena and proclaim them acts of God, or to look at one's own religion as superior and argue over insignificant details of the stories which are metaphors anyway.

*contributes his first post to this excellent topic*
I agree. kinda-sorta. I feel that religion is what humans developed in fear of death. Pretty much.. And that the bible / religious texts is simply an old-school story book.

GUYS I AM 14 YEARS OLD AND HAVE EVERYTHING FIGURED OUT FOR SURE GOD IS JUST THE MAN TRYING TO KEEP US DOWN I WEAR BLACK

Do you have even an ounce of maturity in your body?

If you don't like the topic, then go somewhere else. There's no reason to make fun of it.

the rating system works really well if you cant tell

Original Sin wrote:Do you have even an ounce of maturity in your body?

If you don't like the topic, then go somewhere else. There's no reason to make fun of it.

I have 8 fluid ounces.

And I do like the topic, and I contributed to it in a honest manner. If you do not believe that I have indeed figured everything out, then perhaps you need more ounces!

And yes, the rating system does work, the more totally rad the poster, the more totally rad the amount of AAAs. It's a correlation!

Also cocks.

well my mother does in fact tell me that I am " totally rad " as they say

Original Sin wrote:First of all, I love you.

Shhh that's supposed to be our secret

On the topic of the pic Katy posted...that was probably made my athiest to get the agnostics to be more dumbfounded on what to believe in. Being as I was a Christian from the 8th grade...til July of last year, more than likely those #s are totally inaccurate. If you are reading out of the bible to pull that up, all the deaths were by God, even the 10 by Satan, because only God can take the life away and even if the Devil were to do so, the Devil is actually still a servant of God just outcasted into hell, like at the begining of the book of Job, the Devil goes to God and tells him of a man who actually will curse God and die if he were to lose everything, and God gave permission to the Devil to take the lives of his children, servants and all. And I clearly do not recall hearing or reading about the 10 that Satan personally killed without God's permission, if he were to do so God would have just brought them back to life...cause he is God.

Now my views:
Like I said I used to be a Christian, for 6 years of my life I never missed a service, I would help out in my church in any way possible. They say the #1 reason people are atheists is because of Christians. That through acts of supposedly children of God they turn there backs on God. That is what happened to me. I went to church with Christina and her family, and her Grandmother is a "Prophet of God" and God speaks to her supposedly. And I took witness to some of her things coming to pass and I believe that that He does speak to her and I believed that till she saw a vision about me. She pretty much said God told her that I would turn gay...which is just extremely fucking retarded. Why would I believe in a God who would tell one of his own that this guy is a homo.... I don't think he would but still this Woman of God says it is so. IF God would say a thing like that to his Prophet....I don't want anything to do with him. I don't go to church or read my bible or anything of that manner anymore. I block Religion in general out of my mind.

They think that Nana is a Prophet?

That family sounds really stable. Oh wait, this is the same girl that said God healed her knee instead of the body's naturally occurring repairs...

Oh, I shouldn't disrespect them but I just think that's crazy. And it's extremely rude for Grammy to pass off her deluded assumptions of your sexuality as words of God. If there was a God, I'd hope he'd smite her.

And isn't supposedly the highest choir of Angels supposed to deliver the message of God to Earthly people? So really, she's talking to the Metatron. Oh, but wait, that all depends on if you read that far back into Judaic scripture. BOO RELIGION FOR ALL YOUR TEXTS THAT RELIGIOUS PEOPLE PICK AND CHOOSE TO IGNORE OR ACCEPT.

SoDeepPolaris wrote:Oh wait, this is the same girl that said God healed her knee instead of the body's naturally occurring repairs...

yes that is her

SoDeepPolaris wrote: And isn't supposedly the highest choir of Angels supposed to deliver the message of God to Earthly people?

supposedly but he also had prophets for which they saw visions (the entire book of Revelations is all visions) where they see things that don't exist....like seeing me turn into a guy she knew who turned gay....stuff like that....oh yes and seeing that my boss was supposed to die like a month or so ago...and now it has changed to he is living but his mother is dying...... Sorry I will stop ranting about my exs family now, even though I guess it was her family that encouraged/pushed me to give up on Christianity

There's going to be a "Pure-Fun" rally at my school on Thursday, led by a Christian organization that is manditory for everyone to go to. They're trying to make it based on no religious views, but of ways to live your life. (cough...straightedge)

I'll have to go and see how "neutral" it is for myself.

Your thoughts?