The cafeteria

[Konda]

I feel like I'm bumping this, but at the time of writing this post, this thread is 6th in the line of threads with recent posts so I guess it's not too bad.

It's about those religious debates on the internet that always have one side, the atheists (in some cases these atheists hate humans), and the other side, consisted of people who believe in God and every single word that was put in the Bible. It's the kind of debates that go on very oftenly, and all of the time they're not productive at all.

My problem is that these debates are centered around whether God exists or not, or how religion is bad because it causes wars and what not. I haven't really read the holy books, but by knowing a bit about their content and using some logical thinking (what follows is my opinion, so it may not be fact, so please correct me if I'm wrong), I'm pretty sure that the point of the (Christian specifically) religion is to teach you how to:
1. Make life feel better.
2. Live your life as a good man (thus make the world a better place)

I don't know about you guys, but for me, even the thought that there will always be this father who will always love me no matter what wrong I do, makes me feel better (slightly at least), even if deep down I question this person's existence. Also, many people fear death, and to some people life seems pointless if you're just going to die and everything you've done goes away. The thought that there will be this eternal happiness in Heaven after this life is over also makes people feel better. To many people these seem like delusions, and they kind of are, but it still makes life easier for people who choose to believe in this kind of stuff.

The purpose of hell, in my opinion, is to cause fear in those who want to do bad things.

When you want to have something of material value, there are two ways of doing it:
1. The easy way: Steal from others who already have that
2. The hard way: Work to achieve it by yourself

What happens when you steal: You ain't gonna make 'em happy. If you think about it, most if not all wars happened because one country wanted to take something away from the other country (territory, in the past, and nowadays, oil (for 'murica)). In a nutshell, that "something" is centered around getting more money.

What happens when you work to get it by yourself: You're not going to harm anyone. There will be no hate, nor a cycle of revenge.

I'm pretty sure Christian religion tells us not to steal.

Because people are fucking stupid. Many of those who believe in their religion do not see the point of the religion, but abide strictly to whatever was written in their holy book, or the interpretation of that book. I don't think many people want to read their holy book if it has 2000 pages. Instead they want to hear the interpretation of it. The problem with this is that people with power (and not just them) carefully misinterpret what was written in the books in order to manipulate people (which is the case with suicide terrorists in the USA, who do this for Allah, or so they think).

So it's not about whether God exists or not, it's about how to live your life and not be an asshole.

[Cruduxy]

The "don't read their holy book" + care to read about other religions pretty much sums it up.. Religion doesn't cause war its followers -If they even know what their religion is- cause it.. Well usually greed and politics cause those wars and religion is just used as cover.

Read about most religions and pretty much all of them direct against harming others.. And all that "allah akbar" suicidal warcry internet bs spreads.. Its forbidden to suicide in islam.

[Ænima]

See, the problem is how un-Christlike most Christians are. They cherry-pick what they choose to believe. Jesus constantly preached love, peace, and forgiveness of those who are different from you, yet we get this "GOD HATES FAGS" shit from whackos in Kansas. Jesus said to help the poor and needy, yet Republicans in the US (who are 99% Christian) are willing to SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT in protest against a law which provides poor people with a chance to get the healthcare they need. Christians vehemently spout an anti-gay verse from Leviticus, yet ignore the verses right next to it which forbid eating shellfish and wearing two different types of fabric at once (all of which are antiquated Jewish laws).


I'm not saying all Christians are bad. Some are great open-minded and peaceful people. However, the ones that I was exposed to when I was growing up (in a go-to-Church-twice-a-week Christian household) were all idiots. The hypocrisy is unbelievable.

[CloudFlash]

IMO Christians start wars because in the ancient times, they were punished for practicing their religion, which led them to believe they are somehow special because God chose them and they will go to heaven and they are overall best no matter what they do because that's exactly how special they are.
IMO Muslims start wars because their religion is incredibly strict, which gives them impression of being the special master race which will go to heaven because they obey their incredibly strict religion, which is so so so incredibly strict, they will go to heaven just for practicing it and that's exactly why they are so special. I have yet to meet a Muslim in real life, so feel free to call my thought bullshit[/size]

Conclusion:
Humanity is pretty fucked up.

[Luke]

Premise: I don't understand if you used the present form of the verb "to start" by mistake, but if you didn't has to be said that nowdays nobody would start a war if not someone which mind is totally fucked up.

IMO Christians start wars because in the ancient times, they were punished for practicing their religion, which led them to believe they are somehow special because God chose them and they will go to heaven and they are overall best no matter what they do because that's exactly how special they are.

Christians did not start wars, ever. The Vatican did it; it did it because it was become a state, it wasn't just a simple diocese where religious people lived, but a piece of land owned and ruled by the pope (forgive me if I don't remember, hence I can't tell you, the details of how the Vatican pretended that some roman emperor gifted them a piece of land and how some centuries later the lie was exposed but everyone went like "whatever, we'll get back the most of it but we'll leave you a tissue of land as cookie because your white dress is very shiny and our citizens love it ♥ ♥ ♥ xoxoxo.").
However yes: the Vatican started wars, christians have never done it.

IMO Muslims start wars because their religion is incredibly strict, which gives them impression of being the special master race which will go to heaven because they obey their incredibly strict religion, which is so so so incredibly strict, they will go to heaven just for practicing it and that's exactly why they are so special. I have yet to meet a Muslim in real life, so feel free to call my thought bullshit[/size]

Here I'll be honest: I don't know much. I've never studied the history of the islamic religion and so I don't know whether or not they've ever started a war, but I believe that if they've ever done it, it was some muslim institution with mania of grandeur who decided to fight someone, not the shepherd who was in love with his wife AND his sheeps.
I met muslims in real life and are one of the most kind, educated and respectful people I've ever met. As much as the old sweet granny who used to give you a candy everytime you passed in front of her house when you were a kid. That the muslims are anyhow fucked up is a terrible misconception spread by the George W. Bush administration to invade and rape the middle east. Don't get me wrong: I know that there are some crazy muslims but same can be said for the christians; those people aren't really religious people, both religions forbid the suicide, they're just... possessed by some anti-[insterwhoyouhatehere] propaganda. Real muslims are very respectful, just think about how they force the women to cover their body. While they should let the woman free to don't do it, it's something done in sign of respect for body of the woman, so sacre that none can benefit of even a fast glance of her holy skin if not her family and her husband.
Now pick some 15 years old s**t who dances half naked on youtube or MTV and... I shouldn't reply to this kind of stuff. I get emotional and I end up making no sense.

Conclusion:
Humanity is pretty fucked up.

Undoubtedly, and my post should give you all a nice remark of how your statement is true.
I mean, did I even make a point?

[CloudFlash]

Flame wars, my dear, flame wars

[Luke]

Flame wars, my dear, flame wars

huh

I don't get this, but I apologise if my post looked flamy, it wasn't my intention. I only wanted to say a couple of things you made me think.

[CloudFlash]

I said that to point out that I referred to flame wars under yt videos and overall online flame wars.
Duh.

[Luke]

Aha... so that's it!

[someoneelse]

Addressing the first post on the topic:
Isn't it a bit sad, that the people need crutch to be a good person? That they need lies to believe that something terrible won't happen to them?
I know die-hard atheists, who are really pissed off at this thing. I think, that all people more or less bullshit themselves to make their live easier to endure, the point is to keep it minimal. And IMHO it's much better to have some faith in God as your drug of choice, than doing stuff that harms other and/or you (IF your faith is not used to harm others and/or you), but I guess it's the problem of personal morality.
And the question you asked is very valid and I dislike when atheists avoid it, putting their "I'm right in one thing about which most people are wrong" stance on pedestal, ignoring that many of them can be stupid and harmful in thousands of different things.
The scary thing in basing your morality on a fixed code, is that you don't exercise it, don't challenge yourself, you let your heart harden every time you dismiss your own conscience telling you you're doing something wrong to take relief in religion, telling you it's OK. And every time you allow yourself to hate someone, or yourself, for what feel right.
I'm not an idealist though, I am aware that one's conscience is shaped by their environment, and that people are flawed and will always fuck up- but I yet am to find a religion, that would ask their followers to make their own moral choices, to do research about their moral choices, one that would ask about what is okay and what is harmful other people besides privileged old dudes...

[Luke]

Forgive me if I reply only with a video, but I can't keep my mouth shut when it comes to religious topics and yet I don't want to have anything to do it. Anyone is free to believe whatever he/she want; after all, every single person HAS to believe in something. Even if it's just him/herself.
So this song, to tell you everything else I want to add on the topic before calling myself out. But for good this time.

phpBB [video]

The [video] tag is deprecated, please use the [media] tag

[Luke]

I just came across this tool, I thought about sharing it with all the last.fm users over here so... that's it.

[CloudFlash]

I like it when video games have to 'cheat' on me with stuff like instant kill railguns and infinite hordes of enemies. No, really. I mean it. It really boosts my confidence, when game has to use such shmicks against me. Makes me wonder how badass the game developers must think I am, if they resort to such tricks.

[Luke]

Found this on imgur

[Luke]

... and Facebook bought Oculus Rift for $2.000.000.000!
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014 ... e/6915611/

So now Carmack works at Facebook.

[CloudFlash]

what is oculus rift
is that edible

[Luke]

If you like the taste of 3D-Vision Glasses Technology, it's very edible.

[Luke]

Do you know the difference between mosquitos and women?
[spoiler]You don't have to pet the mosquitos' head when they suck.[/spoiler]
Sorry women! Italian jokes. :-)

edit:
also,

In a bar: there are a british, a french, a german and an italian arguing about whos the bravest one.
Suddenly, the britsh asks: "Waiter, a hammer!". The waiter brings it and the british hammers a finger.
So the french asks: "Garcon, a knife!". The waiter brings it and the french cuts away a finger.
Then it's the german's turn who asks: "Kellner, an axe!". The waiter brings it and the germans chops off a hand.
Finally, it's the italian's turn, who hesitates a while, then stands up, puts his weener on the table and yells "Cameriere! A saw(wank)!"

[spoiler]because in italian sega = saw = wank[/spoiler]

[DoomAndWWEFan]

n/a

[Konda]

I've been doing some research on the religion thing ever since I posted that, and in summary it's just Americans being dumb and following every single word of the bible and their conservative politicians, and CNN.

If you ask anyone from my country if they're religious, they'll answer with a "Yes", but that goes as far as believeing that there is a God who started the big bang. I'm unsure if they even believe in the concept of heaven/hell, and celebrating some christian holidays is as far as they go in practicing religion. I didn't even know who Jesus was until the age of like 13 because nobody in my family nor in my surroundings ever mentions his name. It's just a fairy tail that gives us an excuse to go on some holidays.

Meanwhile, in 'murica:

"Worship Jesus or you'll go to hell!" - you're supposed to have this "relationship" with a fictional character who supposedly died for your sins or something. I'd rather pray to Itachi Uchiha (a fictional character from the Naruto series), he's way more awesome. Also, I get the feeling that selling these religious stories works on many people because they fear the concept of hell. I wouldn't want to get tortured in hell for all eternity, so I'll just buy this shit. I guess this works for muslims too. There's also the poor children who get raised in religious households who get fed this shit on a daily basis... It's horrible...

The Bible itself is full of contradictions. You're not supposed to kill or rape anyone, God says. Then God says you can slaughter your enemies and their sons, and rape their wives and their little daughters.
Among that there are many misinterpretations. I read somewhere that hell isn't even eternal - it's supposed to torture you for as long as it's needed for you to pay for your sins. It wouldn't be fair if you were tortured for eternity, and fairness is supposed to be one of God's laws or something. Which makes sense.

There's also that "the only source of moral is religion"... These guys need to have some Psychology 101 - When we're infants, if we do something wrong/immoral (swearing, stealing, hitting girls, etc), we get beat up/shouted at by our parents (or friends, surrounding people), so we stop that behavior in order to avoid all that criticism. When we're adolescents, we start to form this concept of moral and consider all those things we used to be treated badly for, immoral.

But of course, the religious folks treat science as a religion itself - something you can choose to believe in or not, not something that represents the actual truth.

There's also the homophobic stuff, no sex before marriage, etc. The list just goes on.
And I couldn't believe that something like the Westboro Baptist Church actually exists. This is just.... :myam:

I know there are other parts of the world where religion is followed like this, but I like to hop on the 'murica bandwagon so yeah, 'murica it is.