BF2S Forums A pillar of her local community

religion on a small scale is good as it gives the people hope in desperation. Religion on a big scale forces corruption, genocide, and "purgery". Its like a baby bear... cute as hell when thier cubs but when they grow they aint so cute anymore.

Bertster7 wrote:

Stingray24 wrote:

Seems like I read somewhere that He did come down . . .

I've read books where a lot of whacky stuff happened. It's hardly the same thing.

So you choose to reject the Bible and the idea that God came to earth.  Yet in order to give up your agnostic view, you require God to appear personally to you.  Isn't that a bit ironic?

Stingray24 wrote:

Bertster7 wrote:

Stingray24 wrote:

Seems like I read somewhere that He did come down . . .

I've read books where a lot of whacky stuff happened. It's hardly the same thing.

So you choose to reject the Bible and the idea that God came to earth.  Yet in order to give up your agnostic view, you require God to appear personally to you.  Isn't that a bit ironic?

How so?  He rejects the idea that God came to Earth until he has physical prove that God has come to Earth.

Havok wrote:

Braddock wrote:

Agnostic is what I would consider myself. I don't think God exists but if, on the off chance, he happened to descend from on high and tell me he did exist I wouldn't be so ignorant as to say 'No, I don't believe in you' ...that's as ignorant as blindly following a faith and denying everything else.

Unless my definition of Agnosticism is incorrect, I think it means that you believe in a God, just not in the specific form of any modern religion (e.g. Christianity, Islam, etc.)  Your belief is more of an Atheist belief because you said you don't think God exists.  Like me, you would believe if he/she were to come down to Earth and prove it to you personally, but not just by reading ancient, scientifically contradicting text.

Actually, you're both wrong.  Agnosticism means you aren't willing to say whether or not you think God exists.

Yeah, that's basically a variation of what I said.  They have no definite stance on the existence or lack thereof of a god.

the really really strictly devoutly religious do tend to be more likely to commit crimes, its nothing to do with the religion, merely the upringing
people like her would have been brought up in horribly strict conditions and it would not suprise me if she was subjected to the same things she did to those kids when she was little
I personally think it is the worst thing in the world to have parents like that simply because you can't escape them, you cannot get away from them, unless you are lucky, you have no where to run and no where to hide, though thankfully that is slowly changing now...
imagine it being beaten if you are even a little bit out of line (or sometimes maybe not) every single day of every single week for what has been your entire life, so that pain is all you have ever known.
and it is a repeating cycle that goes on for generations, you beat your kids 'cos thats what your parents did to you, and since your parents were that religious so are you and it just goes on and on and on...
and of course the psychological impact is monumental, which is why that sort of person tends to be off kilter in terms of reality and morality.
But like i said people like her are becoming rarer (in this country anyway) because of things like the NSPCC so its a tragedy but hopefully one that will not last

doctastrangelove1964 wrote:

ATG wrote:

Examine the Catholic church and its proven track record of sheltering and protecting child molesters.
Consider the Muslim fanatics that saw peoples heads off, or the rabid Jewish extremist who assassinate peace minded leaders.

Per capita, less Catholic preist molest childern than public school teachers; kids are actually less likely to be molested by a priest than by their teacher, the media just exaggerated it so that it seemed like a national scandal when the instances are actually quite rare and sporadic. Crazy mideastern people who blow up stuff are likely influenced to do so more by the violent traditions of their ethenic group than by the teachings of Islam. Jewish extremists are also not extremists because of their ethincity more than their religion, when Jewish terrorists began bombing campaigns in Palestine/Israel/Judea, they were trying to start a nation for the Jewish ethenicty, not the Jewish religion.

Also how does one instance of a Jehovah's Witness torturing allow for an argument against religion in general?

I'm just doing my job pointing out the overall negativity and lack of progress in society that is the direct result of religious practice.

Little by little, I'll win people over. Enough of us will see the light and we'll institute a world wide outlawing of it.

Again, I have no beef with God, can't really claim to be a hardcore agnostic because sometimes I pray, most of us do.

All in all, more death, abuse and corruption flows from religion than anything else and now we face a scenario where religious fanatices in India, Pakistan, and America, and secular fanatics in China and russia all have nuclear weapons. The balance has tipped and religion has become a threat to the survival of our species.

It is time we move on from this.

So I take it that every 50 years or so you want God to do a miracle for you? Because otherwise God can't ever provide enough proof for the masses.

I see where you are coming from but if God were to show himself then most would play it off, and there isn't any debate about that.

ATG wrote:

Or, " When a Jehovah's Witness goes bad "
http://i14.tinypic.com/2cr3u5l.jpg
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/arti … article.do

Spry, a pillar of her local community in Gloucestershire, staunchly denied all the claims made against her and insisted the only physical punishment she ever used was "a smack on the bottom".

Is it just me or is it routinely devoutly religious people whom commit the most heinous crimes?

Examine the Catholic church and its proven track record of sheltering and protecting child molesters.
Consider the Muslim fanatics that saw peoples heads off, or the rabid Jewish extremist who assasinate peace minded leaders.

Clearly the repressive nature of these religions is causing mental problems. Or it could be that evidence is mounting that religion is more of a catalist for evil than a force for good.
I often wonder if we would be bothering with the Middle East if our president and many others in America didn't view this conflict as Biblical.

No religion, know peace.

Or, maybe she's just crazy. I don't think it has anything to do with religion. Religion is the excuse, not the cause. And by our talking about it, we are ignoring the underlying causes of insanity.

Not to mention, sometimes folks are just, good old fashioned crazy.

Major_Spittle wrote:

Could it just be that evil uses religion due to its inherent tollerance and gullibility?  Is she REALLY a Jahova's witness just because she says so?  Maybe if you are evil but wish to find acceptance, religious people are the easiest to get it from?

If a person is going against what a religion stands for, are they really religious?

Maybe insane people are drawn to religion?

Maybe since 90% of the people on the planet belong to some religion, odds are that a religious person will do the bad things?

I personally think that only about 2% of the people that claim to believe in God actually believe in God.  And these are the ones that are dangerous and insane.  50% just claim to believe for acceptance and hold up a good act to the end.  48% have no idea what it means to BELIEVE something and are weak minded.

But on the otherhand most nonbelievers are no better, they just have different circumstances and don't feel a need to be part of the 50% and have never had religion shoved down their throat to become part of the 48%.

See people?

Spit is actually a genius.
You just didn't know that.

Yes Spit. Me too.

CoronadoSEAL wrote:

literally, without religion we would have no sense of right and wrong, and no people cannot live without such a sense.  this is why i suggest our sense of right and wrong will be derived from some unknown

We've had a long long debate on this already - please just accept that people that have no religion do also have a sense of right and wrong.

'Bad' people are just 'bad' people, religion doesn't come into it.

And to answer ATGs question about why it seems that so many 'bad' people are religious - most of these types of 'bad' people are not 'evil' they're mentally ill.

And so, to answer one of Major_Spittles questions - yes, the mentally ill are drawn towards religion - religion is a refuge where their illness is accepted - particularly if the symptoms can be explained as 'religious' or 'spiritual' - and many of the symptoms of a wide range of mental illnesses can be 'explained' that way...

You know what, people need to stop blaming things like religion.  Religion is just an excuse.  Abolishing wouldn't end violence, people would just find a new excuse.  I'm sick and tired of hearing about how evil religion is.