[omloflump]

Discuss.

[tabacco]

I'm against it

[Sage]

I'll second that, tabacco.

[Damara]

Ah hey, life is short and often scary. If a belief in an all knowing God looking down, judging and protecting you makes you feel better the go for it
As long as you don't use it to hurt others or try to drag me into it

Personally though I'm not into it, I'm open minded but blind faith is a little too open for me

Hey is that Zapp? Cooool

[SakSquash]

I'm not into it, but I'm not against. Some people need it, and in moderate doses it's probably good for you, but too much results in bad things.

[Jazhara7]

To quote someone from some kind of message board.

Originally Posted by severedtoe from another message board

Religion is like a salad bar. You take what you want and you leave the rest, and under no circumstances are you allowed to mess with anyone else's plate.

That last bit is important.

I think he sums it up pretty well.

-

[Wormsie]

"Ah, religion. Can't live with it, can't live with it." - Kingzjester

Originally Posted by Yufster

I believe in the power of the Force, but moreso in the power of TuTu the Sun God, and Spike the Vampire, and then you sort of have my religion. It's called Fosusp. See, it's like FO from Force, SU from Sun and SP from Spike. I believe I can pick stuff up without actually picking it up, and I also believe in Skittles. Taste the Rainbow. I have never actually tasted the Rainbow, but presumably I will when I die. When I die, I will be able to taste the Rainbow and eat as many skittles as I want without getting an aching jaw from chewing. I always get a sore jaw when I try to eat skittles. I tried sucking them but it's not the same.

I would like to say that anybody that believes in Mars Bars will spend an eternity chewing skittles and getting a sore jaw when they die.


And if you don't agree with my beliefs, well then; how do you explain the Taste of the Rainbow? If you can't come up with a solid scientific theory against my religion, then I say that's proof that it's true.

Taste the Rainbow, people!

[RLacey]

I'm in favour of religion, but I'm also in favour of allowing people to make their own choices in life.

Mind you, I'm not in favour of the use of violent methods or discrimination on ANY parts as a result of religion.

I also tend to dislike people who try to ram religion down my throat every twenty seconds. I go to church already, thank you very much.

[Ninja Dodo]

I'm walking back from town with some shopping and this random guy stops me and asks if he can talk to me. I notice he's wearing a badge that says something or other of god.

My response of course is "No."

"No?"

"Yeah. There is no god," I kindly point out as I turn the corner.


Jehovas Witnesses


You know I think there is a difference between religion and faith. People can believe what they want as far as I'm concerned, but as soon as they get organized in the arbitrary system that is "religion" it gets annoying. You can't harrass someone with your faith, but you can with a neatly packaged religion.

A friend of mine is a devout christian and believes strongly in the bible, yet he doesn't consider himself a religious person and he's certainly never tried to convert me. We disagree about a great many things, but we respect each other's opinions.

I hate people who are so convinced that their beliefs are The One Truth (TM) that they feel it is necessary to 'enlighten' the rest of us and correct our silly misconceptions.

"Aren't you afraid of going to hell?" they ask.

Well **** you, I say. **** you and your patronizing religion.

[Crunchy in milk]

I've always been far too cynical to accept structured religion.

Between the ages of 4 and 9 I went to a catholic primary school. Being listed as a member of the 'church of england' and not a practicing catholic I didn't have to attend mass but it was always something I wanted to do. Mostly it was the bread and wine between meals. Occasionally I'd get to go as I was a keen singer back then and they'd have me sing Hymns in my pre 'broken' voice. Voice of an angel I swear! My best friend lived two doors down, and went to a different school than me, so we'd only play on weekends. His family was devoutly catholic and church was always just something that interrupted our play time on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. The nerve of it!

During my early university years I met a hot chick who was a member of a campus christian discussion group. What harm was there in attending a few discussion groups with religious history majors just to spend a little time with a curly, red-haired beauty with a great rack who also liked Star Trek as well as Jesus? Boy I miss not making more of that now, how often does beauty, star trek and salvation come along in one package?. Thanks to an overactive imagination she looks more and more like Laura Prepon every time I try to recall her. Obviously my mind was never on the topic of discussion so when I found myself going to meetings with the hope of meeting her rather than participating in the group I dropped any hope of anything coming from it.

I can never rule out the possibility of there being a higher power or some other mystery to the origins of the universe. Maybe partly due to drummed in fear from my childhood or the hope of meeting that Laura Prepon look alike on the other side of the pearly gates. I can live without the rules and regulations of structured religion but I can't live without mystery. If I take that completely away my cynical nature too readily boils life down to mere sensation. Shouldn't there be more to life than experiencing things, sensations, purely so we can get together on weekends and tell each other what we've done since the last time we got together? Is the meaning of life small talk?

I also avoid embracing atheism because there's no support group. There should be a 'Quit Line' for people ditching religion like there is for reformed smokers. The modern english language is still very much filled with religious references and I always imagine it must be hard for atheists with temptation popping up everywhere. What do atheists say in the throws of passion without 'Oh My God!'? How do they deal with frustration without "God Damnit!". Surprise without "I'll be damned". Insecurity without "Jesus Christ". So much of my native language revolves around taking the lords name in vain and I need a better nicorette than the ever versatile "fuc#!".

[Ninja Dodo]

Yeah that annoys me actually. How come there is no adequate way to express great awe or frustration without referring to religion?

I say "oh my god" and that all the time though. I just ignore the religious implications.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by Wormsie

"Ah, religion. Can't live with it, can't live with it." - Kingzjester

I love it.

I dislike religions, but still they fascinate me.

[Sage]

Brilliant quote, Jazhara. Unfortunately, people keep trying to mess with my plate. Example:
Many years ago I worked as a bartender and shared a house with three other guys. I would usually get home at around three am, and since my housemates all had more-or-less normal 9-to-5 jobs, I was the only person at home during the day.
Somehow, our house became a target-household for the local coven (?) of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Around 9 am every day, the doorbell would ring. My rooms were above the front porch, so seeing who was at the door involved finding pants and a shirt, and going from my bedroom down the upstairs hall, down the stairs, through the kitchen, through the dining room, and through the living room to the front door.
I started off by telling the JWs politely that I was not interested, and that I worked nights and slept during the day, and asking them not to ring my doorbell before 5 pm. They apologized for waking me, and left.
The next day at 9 am, the doorbell rang. Same scenario, different JWs. I was less polite this time.
I put a flourescent "Day Sleeper-Do Not Disturb" sign in the front window. Next day, same scenario, different JWs.
A friend of mine, upon hearing of my sleep deprived plight, told me that if you told JWs that you were Jewish they'd leave you alone. I tried this once, and it didn't work. Next day, same scenario, different JWs.
At this point, I had given up all pretence of politeness and would just say "I'm not interested!" and slam the door in their faces. Each day, same scenario, different JWs.
Finally, as the doorbell rang one morning at 9 am, I had had enough. I got up, did not put on pants or a shirt, went down the upstairs hall, down the stairs, through the kitchen, through the dining room, and through the living room room to the front door stark naked. I threw the door open wide and said "Good morning! What can I do for you today?". The surprised JWs blushed and mumbled "Uh, nothing, sir. We'll...uh...come back some other time,". "Nonsense!" I replied. "Come on in! I'll put on a pot of coffee! Have a seat!" I stepped back, gave them a profile view, and gestured toward the couch invitingly. Without another word, the blushing JWs turned and left at a brisk pace.
We never got visited by JWs after that, and I finally got some sleep.

Thrifty

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo

I'm walking back from town with some shopping and this random guy stops me and asks if he can talk to me. I notice he's wearing a badge that says something or other of god.

My response of course is "No."

"No?"

"Yeah. There is no god," I kindly point out as I turn the corner.


Jehovas Witnesses


You know I think there is a difference between religion and faith. People can believe what they want as far as I'm concerned, but as soon as they get organized in the arbitrary system that is "religion" it gets annoying. You can't harrass someone with your faith, but you can with a neatly packaged religion.

A friend of mine is a devout christian and believes strongly in the bible, yet he doesn't consider himself a religious person and he's certainly never tried to convert me. We disagree about a great many things, but we respect each other's opinions.

I hate people who are so convinced that their beliefs are The One Truth (TM) that they feel it is necessary to 'enlighten' the rest of us and correct our silly misconceptions.

"Aren't you afraid of going to hell?" they ask.

Well **** you, I say. **** you and your patronizing religion.

But why be a dick? A "no thank you" would have done. You don't have to be snide to people just because they want to tell you about what they believe.

[Wormsie]

Usually not tell, but convert.

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by Wormsie

Usually not tell, but convert.

Nobody can make you do anything. They might try, but you don't have to let them. Religious people are pretty much treated like shit by everyone else these days and I don't think it's right. Yes, they are annoying and they try to convert, but that doesn't mean you have to be a prick to them. Just ignore them.

[Fop]

Religion is fine, but I don't believe in anything. Some of the organizations behind organised religions suck, though.

[Ninja Dodo]

Temp, what if I walked into church and started handing out leaflets saying that god doesn't exist, explaining how they are all deluded fools that will be damned for eternity if they don't convert to atheism?

If I were them, I would resent my boundless arrogance and tell me to get out.

As Jazhara's quote put it, you leave other people's beliefs alone. It's a matter of respect. Something these people clearly don't have.

Please note by the way, that I don't actually think religious people are 'deluded fools' as stated above, I'm just hypothetically taking the jehovas witness approach from the atheism angle. Also, I've never actually literally told any of these people to "**** off"... beyond "There is no god" I basically just ignore them. If any of them ever starts going on about hell again though I will definitely recommend they go there themselves.

[Ninja Dodo]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

Religious people are pretty much treated like shit by everyone else these days and I don't think it's right.

It's not even about religion. It's about the fundamental respect people should have for the thoughts and views of others. This can be faith, politics, anything...

If they respected other people's opinions, others would respect theirs.

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo

Temp, what if I walked into church and started handing out leaflets saying that god doesn't exist, explaining how they are all deluded fools that will be damned for eternity if they don't convert to atheism?

If I were them, I would resent my boundless arrogance and tell me to get out.

That's such a bad example. They didn't walk into your house or your work, then talked to you on the street. If you're going into their church, then they have every right to tell you to leave, but if you do it on the street, they can't tell you to leave. It's as simple as that. Using that example of you going into their church has nothing to do with the guy talking to you on the street (unless you happen to OWN the street.)