If you’re asking me to defend the actions of a millennias-old institution that at one point governed most of Europe, I can’t, and I have no interest in doing so.
I’m only saying that religious (and mythological) stories contain a plethora of extremely useful, actionable wisdom about the human experience that remains true across vast stretches of time, and that we shouldn’t just dismiss them because they’re empirically correct in the way that modern humans view the world.
We’re leaving money on the table when we do that.
Which is why religious texts, in my view, should not be treated any different that any book on moral philosophy. Pick out any useful nuggets, and discard the nonsense. To treat them as divine, means you kind of have to accept the nonsense too.
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Trust the snake.
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The saddest and craziest relationship I've ever seen from devout catholics was a driver from work. He seemed troubled a lot, and eventually he mentioned his family. He came out as gay and his dad who had loved him until that point said he was going to hell and wouldn't talk to him anymore until he "changed".
After a few years of no contact his dad started to pass away from cancer, so he showed up to say goodbye to his father that loved him his whole life until he came out and his father looked at him and said "I think you need to leave", so he walked away from his dad who had weeks to live and that was it.
I can't believe what religion can do to some people, it's crazy.
It's an absolutely disgusting religion. I was raised a Catholic and the brainwashing I saw is despicable. It's barely above Scientology in my view.
Any religion that is built on fear (of sins/sinning) to keep people in line can pound sand. That's coming from someone that grew up a non-catholic Christian.
We don't live in the year 32 AD anymore. Time to get a long needed update of your religion and ways. Its a very different world today.
You're not speaking from a place of love if you're condemning anything that people are doing that brings them happiness, unless its kicking puppies off of bridges.
If it makes you happy, it can't be wrong. If we were created in gods image then why would we have inherently faulty programming?
Im absolutely a believer of higher powers/some sort of divinity to this universe, but life's too short and fleeting to live such under such rigid, confining and outdated beliefs.
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If it makes you happy, it can't be wrong. If we were created in gods image then why would we have inherently faulty programming?
This is a rather poor philosophy and is inherently wrong. I would say that religion in many ways is the anti thesis to this statement as it tries to impose a set of rules to push people against their internal desires and instead to act for the good of the community. Acting by a Maxim of if it makes you happy it can’t be wrong leads to your aforementioned kicking puppies off bridges but also putting short term happiness over long term consequences.
Many religious rules likely evolved from ways to protect and enhance community before being abused by those with power. Look at the rules around being Kosher. A lot of what they prohibit are foods that would have high risks of disease at the time like Pork and Shellfish
Last edited by GGG; 09-22-2020 at 08:08 AM.
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The saddest and craziest relationship I've ever seen from devout catholics was a driver from work. He seemed troubled a lot, and eventually he mentioned his family. He came out as gay and his dad who had loved him until that point said he was going to hell and wouldn't talk to him anymore until he "changed".
After a few years of no contact his dad started to pass away from cancer, so he showed up to say goodbye to his father that loved him his whole life until he came out and his father looked at him and said "I think you need to leave", so he walked away from his dad who had weeks to live and that was it.
I can't believe what religion can do to some people, it's crazy.
What I don't get about conservative Catholics and many evangelical Christians is how they pick and choose which sins are so heinous that they disown their children/family/friends over them. The seven deadly sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.
So the son was gay, call it the "lust" sin. Why disown him over that? Why not disown him over the gluttony sin when he drank too much, the sloth sin when he failed to clean up his room, or the wrath sin when he lost his #### after the refs blew a call? Most people commit several deadly sins daily. Here's the kicker too: you don't choose to be gay, but you can choose to do any of the other deadly sins. So which is worse for the soul?
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The saddest and craziest relationship I've ever seen from devout catholics was a driver from work. He seemed troubled a lot, and eventually he mentioned his family. He came out as gay and his dad who had loved him until that point said he was going to hell and wouldn't talk to him anymore until he "changed".
After a few years of no contact his dad started to pass away from cancer, so he showed up to say goodbye to his father that loved him his whole life until he came out and his father looked at him and said "I think you need to leave", so he walked away from his dad who had weeks to live and that was it.
I can't believe what religion can do to some people, it's crazy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by btimbit
It's an absolutely disgusting religion. I was raised a Catholic and the brainwashing I saw is despicable. It's barely above Scientology in my view.
It’s the people who are disgusting, not the religion. Assigning human traits to an organization is fruitless. People are hateful, people are hypocritical, people are gullible, people are stupid.
I guarantee Catholicism has no thoughts on the subject. Religion is the justification/excuse to act like a POS and not feel guilty about it.
Also, paging undercoverbrother. Shouldn't he be calling you guys ####ing morons for generalizing about an entire group of people?
It’s the people who are disgusting, not the religion. Assigning human traits to an organization is fruitless. People are hateful, people are hypocritical, people are gullible, people are stupid.
I guarantee Catholicism has no thoughts on the subject. Religion is the justification/excuse to act like a POS and not feel guilty about it.
Also, paging undercoverbrother. Shouldn't he be calling you guys ####ing morons for generalizing about an entire group of people?
Shouldn't he be calling you out for that since your entire post was to insist it's the people and not the underlying belief system?
It’s the people who are disgusting, not the religion. Assigning human traits to an organization is fruitless. People are hateful, people are hypocritical, people are gullible, people are stupid.
I guarantee Catholicism has no thoughts on the subject. Religion is the justification/excuse to act like a POS and not feel guilty about it.
Also, paging undercoverbrother. Shouldn't he be calling you guys ####ing morons for generalizing about an entire group of people?
What is religion without the people? It would cease to exist.
