You show me a true religious man and I'll show you a heretic. A very bold statement, but true nonetheless. As both a society and as individuals, Western culture is nowhere near as religious as we think we are.
The truly religious among us are more like Muslims than men of the West, to be honest. After all, who among you so-called Western religious people can deny that God's law is absolute and yet here in the West we follow religious laws about as faithfully as most Americans follow laws on jay walking. We simply don't care. In fact, we've removed them from our government altogether - at least in theory. (And thank goodness for that!)
By the way, I'm not saying that we should care about religious laws or religion. In fact, I'm saying quite the opposite. One must only look eastward to see what powerful religious influence does to society in general. The more prevalent religion in society becomes, so too grows the influence that religion has on that society and the daily lives of those who live in it.
The old adage that power corrupts is alive and well in the halls of the holy. This is true whether it be the Imams of the East inciting hatred and anger at a Western culture they wish to destroy, or the ultra-conservative Jews that sometimes, although far less dangerous, terrorize Jerusalem with strong arm tactics of their own. This group of corrupt religious leaders also includes prominent figures of the West like the Pope who refuses to allow women to use birth control to prevent the spread of disease or Pat Robertson who has publicly called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez.
The simple fact of the matter is that the message of God, if there ever was one, has been lost too the passage of time. All we have left is hearsay, conjecture and a plethora of mixed up messages from so many sources over the ages that choosing any one of them to believe is akin to picking a pebble off a beach and choosing to think it's the 'one true pebble' where all others are false. Frankly, it's silly.
So if none of us really know what God has told us to do (or not do) and it's led to such confusion and hatred in the world, then why bother at all? Surely God would understand our rejection of a system of laws that are so contradictory and confusing that today's inhabitants of Earth can't peacefully agree on them?
The East calls the West arrogant because we doesn't follow the laws of their God. Meanwhile the West looks at the East as uncivilized because they allow their strict religious fervor to preempt reason and tolerance. Personally, I think everyone is wrong. Religion itself is the only true enemy of free peoples on Earth, for as long as religion persists, there will always be someone holier-than-thou peering in your windows with a plan on you can better run your life.
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Posted by Caeda on Mar. 01, 2006 |
That's an awfully bold statement A-Man... ;) I think it would behoove you to clarify, if this is your opinion -- and it's *my* opinion, so dear god, I cant imagine why it wouldnt be YOUR opinion -- that there is a distinct difference between a religious man and a faithful man. I'll buy that *religious* men are likely heretics, but there are some faithful men I have met in my life who might make you wonder if the it's possible to be religious minus the heretic. There are people in this world who hold their belief in God just as closely as you hold your disbelief, who aren't extremists in any fashion. There are faithful men, who even you might feel are intelligent and articulate, who could sit, listen to and discuss all of your arguments and turn out not to be heretics or fanatics. *They* know they have heard God speak. I know, i know... how can *you* know God has spoken to *them*, especially if you deny he/it exists anyway? How can you know he didnt speak to them and doesnt exist? Even if you want to take the presumption that humans just made up the idea of God as a coping mechanism for an all too short and generally suck-ass quality of life, you *can't* determine they are wrong just because it's what you feel if you aren't providing the same priviledge to them. They know, believe, live, all based on what they feel about God's existence. This blog post makes me wonder, are you railing against faith, religion or both? There's a difference, imo. I do, however, like that you left women out of your bold, little statement. It's good to know that you feel women are far more superior than men and would never succumb to something as foolish as heresy. hehe...
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Posted by Doctor_Coup on Mar. 09, 2006 |
Personnaly I side with A-man on this one. All the relegions are binded together but the people who are killing and condemning people for their beliefs are to blind to see it. For example in every relegion and mythology ever made their is a flood of the world that coresponds with their gods anger. The problem with relegion is it causes so much sadness and hatred over something we have no information on. To further my statment, in Norse Mythology, the end of the world was supposed to Ragnarok. It is said that only 2 humans survive (Adam and Eve) and 1 god. Even simple connections like that are overlooked by people who are so close minded to other relegions. The violence is tearing the world apart and it's all because people are arguing over who's right and who's wrong. To me, I prefer to believe that god will act as the way the egyptian gods did and well measure a man, or woman by the weight of their heart. Surley one would not be so cruel as to condemn man to hell for not choosing the right branch of relegion among the thousand. I don't think God would condemn a baby to hell for his parents not baptizing it, I don't think god rewards his followers for killing dozens of women and children in his name with a suicide bombing. Many of these beliefs are outragous and if were to just be more accepting it wouldn't happen as much. That's my scoop on relegion and quite frankly that's the reason I have not chosen a relegion yet.
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Posted by BigBlue on May. 30, 2006 |
I'm not really into religion but it's always a hot topic for debate on any board you go to. The Catholic church is the wealthiest organization in the world, but isn't greed frowned upon by god? All that money and I don't see them giving it to charity to do "gods work" and help the needy. Suicide missions to appease other religious gods. If you read the bible, all though it, God dispearsed punishment for not doing his bidding, but yet Satan did nothing to earn his moniker of the devil. He didn't hold Eve down and make her eat the apple, he just suggested she eat. Why would god give you food then tell you, you can look at it but you can never have it. What kind of God does that. Myself I think the bible is more story based than fact. I don't think religion has a place in government either. Religion is a belief and a way of life to a handfull of people, it should not be involved in the way the world is run.
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