Religion vs 'Religion'

[Dan L]

I can see it now- hundreds of otakuites coming to see this thread on religion just to say 'this thread will probably get closed'..

Before I continue, I just want to make one thing clear- this is NOT a religion vs science thread, or indeed any thread which questions the validity of religion (but then again... we all saw what happened to the 'what would you ask god' thread)

You see... this last week has been a bit strange for me.. my mum's boss, also a dear friend, has been dying for a few weeks now.. last june he was diagnosed with cancer and given 2 months to live. A lot of strange things have happened recently... but that's not the point here. The point is that as a result of these strange things, and of my mum's boss/friend's beliefs, my parents have now turned christian.. in fact, they turned christian months ago, and I never realised. They told me yesterday, to be honest I don't think it's quite set in yet. My parents have always been anti-church, because, like most people against it, they see it as a form of control, and they generally don't like the church because it is very anti-anything other than what is considered 'normal'. However, they never were anti-christian, and respected christians' beliefs as anyone elses.

Now- the real purpose of this thread. My parents told me that there are essentially two types of christians (this may go for other religions too, but I won't comment because I don't know ;)).
Please note: as with all generalisations, these are two extreme examples, and there are bound to be countless people between the two extremes ;) , so don't think that I'm saying 'there's only two kinds of christians' ;)

Firstly, there's those who wear their beliefs on the outside, they spread their beliefs, go around convincing people to join their religion, but inside they are incredibly shallow, against everything not considered to be normal, or against their own beliefs. For example: My grandfather fought in the war, and one of his friends was shot. He needed to phone an ambulance for his friend. He came to a house, knocked on the door, and it was a catholic household. He asked if he could used the phone, and the owner asked if his friend was catholic. He said no, so the owner of the house did not let him use the phone and his friend died. This put my grandfather, a religious man, off the church for life.

Secondly, there's those that actually believe fully in their faith. They go through their lives, aiming, as my mum put it 'to try and hurt as least people as possible'. They never advertise their beliefs, only talking about them if asked. Most of these people are not even known to be christian. My mum's boss/friend, now deceased, is one of these people.. I could go on for hours about his kindness and so on, but it's the sort of thing you have to see to believe, and fully understand. My mum worked for him for 6 years and never once knew he believed in his religion so much until a few months ago.

I think you can probably tell that this is the main reason why in some cases, there is such hatred towards christianity. Not hatred as in not wanting to believe in the religion, but hatred as in hatred towards the church and it's ideals. Those who truly do not judge people never advertise their faith, so although there is a lot of negative feelings towards those that are extremely prejudiced, there may be a great deal of positve feelings towards those that aren't, but that isn't associated with the religion....

I hope that some part of this post made sense... My opinion at the moment is: Anti-church, Pro-christianity, though I still do not have a religion I believe in ;) .

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]Good insight...I'll try to keep this short.

I agree with your mum's opinion and I can strongly relate to one of them. I think it's great when Christians (or other religions) spread their faith quietly, and in sweet, subtle ways. Little things such as putting others before yourself, not lying, giving back to the community, and doing all of these things sincerely and whole-heartedly. THAT'S what makes a good Christian in my opinion :)(note: my opinion...::cough:: <--- damn j00 Ken)

One thing that bothers me is when people claim that they believe something is wrong because of their religion. Take homosexuality for example. There's a girl on my cheer team that is very close-minded and has been brought up in a sheltered (yet out spoken) home. When a girl on the JV cheer team revealed that she was bi-sexual, the girl on my team freaked out and started making fun of her. She believes homosexuality is wrong because "the Bible says so".

Well...she's a very big hypocrite. She uses religion to hide herself from what she doesn't understand, or CARE to understand. I think that's sad. She does other things her Bible says are wrong...such as lying and swearing...but does she think these are wrong too? Apparently not...

So that's my view on things, I'm afraid I couldn't keep things short...I would type more, but I'd just confuse myself :toothy:[/color]

[mornigndew]

[color=blue][size=1]Honestly, I don't got most of what you wrote.
I know it's not about science vs. religion thread. Religion vs. Religion happened mostly everywhere. Like you said, there're two type, one who advertise on the outside, but shallow on the inside; second is the type with faith. To me, if you really believed in something, you don't have to let other know that you're very faithful or very religious. Those are just fake. [/color][/size]

[boris]

well, i dont belive in any religon. i think it was a great propganda tool like 2000 years ago. it was a time whean ther was little to no control over the people. it also gave hope to many of the lower classes of people, that you would be the same as every one else and not have to work or anything like that.

in morden day time, i feel that i dont belive in religon, there are to many things that scince can explain, like early man. now if you want me to say something that is always on my mind latley, when the dinosaurs died out, when new life came back, way was it small, like why are we 6' tall, and not 60' tall???

[DeathKnight]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by BabyGirl [/i]
[B][color=deeppink](::cough:: <--- damn j00 Ken)[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]
[color=crimson]*coughs*... er... -.-'...
--~!~--

Mmmms...

This is one of the topics where you have a million things to say, but you cant write any of them... :drunk:

Since I recently became more anti government, I was kicked out of my religon. Heh. So, I dont know what to believe.

My opinon at the moment: Anti Church, Anti Authority, Pro Christianity.

If I can form my thoughts into words i'll post again....[/color] :whoops:

[Angelus_Necare]

I agree with boris, I too am atheist. I don't beleive in god not because there is no fact, but that i see religion as an outlet for some people to vent in and it gives them soething to do.

and please don't harass me because I don't beleive in your god. It's nothing personal.

[Dragonballzman]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Angelus_Necare [/i]
[B]I agree with boris, I too am atheist. I don't beleive in god not because there is no fact, but that i see religion as an outlet for some people to vent in and it gives them soething to do.

and please don't harass me because I don't beleive in your god. It's nothing personal. [/B][/QUOTE]

Thats exactly how I feel about it too. I don't really believe there is a God, but I don't think that ppl that DO believe in it are stupid...Uhhh...I'm not very good in religious topics as I hardly know a thing about religion, so I'll shut up now before I go rambling on about stuff which is unknown to me becuase-Damn. I'm doing it. I'll shut up now. -_-;;;;;;;;;;;;;

[Guest Matt]

well, i'm a christian. i beleive fully in it, but i don't show it. my dose of religion is going to church once a week, every week. and on religious holidays. i don't jump around yelling "believe in God!". so i guess i'm what u said was teh second type of christian. i don't talk about God unless someone else brings it up.

[Lady Macaiodh]

i used to have enormous hostility toward the church & christians, b/c of the way i was treated, but i'm over it now. i realized that not all christians are hypocrites.

[boris]

i see i am not alone being an atheist, wow, no body try to take me down or any thing, but i just dont belive in some "grater"power

[Char!]

I concur to Son Goten. I'm christian but I don't usually go around preaching to everyone. Perhaps I will when I'm much older, I don't know. I won't go harassing people if they say they aren't christian. But it's when they start insulting christianity that i lose respect for that person. The least they could do is keep quiet, y'know?

And boris, not to get on you or anything, just asking: If you don't believe in a greater power, what do you believe in? What do you think happens after death?

[boris]

well, i think, well nothing, who says there is a after life. well it would be nice, but, well its not me. it probly has to be the fact that when my mom was little she was a johova wintess, no i am not like that, but i think that is one of the reasons i am an atheist.
i do not attack people on religon, heack, i could care less what people are, just as long as they dont push it on me, then i go for the throat.:demon: :shifty: :demon: :shifty: :demon:

[conpiracymonki]

[b]
I'm a Muslim, and I go mosque almost everyday, the prayers and everything. The full-deal, and I don't carry a gun around with me...

[i]Just remember that...[/i][/b]

[Char!]

Well, even if I weren't christian I'd believe in something out there... Maybe reincarnation, I dunno...

[Delian]

My religion believes in God and reincarnation. We believe that we get reincarnated into the same religion and the cycle goes on. We can convert out but noone can convert in. However, the reading of the bible is sacred and is restricted to our religion's priests and nuns. I believe in the beliefs but i'm not religious. We can adapt.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo] Well, I think I'll steal a phrase from Kevin Smith's [b]Dogma[/b] "I don't believe, but I have a good idea" I feel that line to be appropriate in this circumstance. Having a strong morals and ethics helps out in making a decision of choosing your beliefs wisely.[/color]

[mornigndew]

[color=blue][size=1]Whether you believe in religion or not, it's your choice, as long as you don't show other how faithful you are or disrespect to other. I'm Catholic, it doesn't mean I believed in everything the church taught. I do have my own opinion and way of thinking. [/color][/size]

[Pastbyer]

[color=indigo]I'm not really religious or anything but I'm sort of in what my English teacher would "confusiousm". But if I go into that I'd kill myself halfway through.

Religion is something to help guide you, or at least it's supposed too... I've seen the movie [i]Dogma[/i] (quoted above). And I think it's quite right. You should always have full faith or none at all. Don't half believe it. Have a good idea...

Ok... So now do you know why I would kill myself if you get me talking about religion???

So... Choose what you think is right... And uh... Be nice...[/color]

[asar]

I went to a catholic primary school for 6 years, and what it instilled in me value-wise i will retain for the rest of my life. Religion has been good to me in that way, that is it has given a set of morals and values by which to live my life. As for belief, i find that topic very hard to talk about.

I find it hard to think rationally about the concept of an omnipotent being, all mighty and all powerful. Science had taught me that the needs to be facts, evidence, whilst my creative side tends towards the vivid and unbelievable. Further, history has taught me that ancient peoples were not only superstitious, but as there wasn't our concept of reporting history as it happened, events became stories for entertainment. Herodotus, the creator of history but paradoxically not a historian, taught us this.
Therefore, when the majority of our proof comes from a 2,000 year old manuscript we call the bible, the logical side of me tends to disbelief.
Christ DID exist. Tacitus tells us this in a brief excerpt from his writings. That he performed his miracles...stories become distorted over time. (again the example of herodotus). Ancient people were unreliable. But does this mean we shouldn't believe?

I can't answer that question right now. I'm still a teenager, still developing a belief system. I detest the modern day fanatics (yes, they still exist, y'know, the whole fire and brimstone thing) People who tell homosexuals they'll burn in hell, and rant on endlessly about abortion, and who are SO BLIND to life in the 20th century completely turn me off religion. But i see it's value too. It grounds us in a world which could quickly descend into anarchy. It gives us a set of values which are brilliant- don't kill, don't steal etc. It gives us something to believe of in this increasingly cynical world. For that i appreciate it. As for the rest....give me time to figure it out. Then i'll tell you too!

[Guest contradiction]

Okay, for starters, I think you said a lot of good things in your post. I'm Christian. Maybe I'm not the most devot when it comes to attending services, but I sincerly believe in a higher power. I try to live my life a christianly manner - but by that, I mean I try to live it out by being a good human being. NOT by discriminating. Being a good christian, or being a good person period comes from loving everyone Despite their flaws.

The people of my congregation are wonderful. They do not scorn people for stupid things like their sexuality. In fact, I believe that right now they are trying to update their "belief system" so that a homosexual could become a minister if they so desired. I truley hope that this law is passed by the assembly and I am sad that it is not already passed. If it is not passed, I will be thoroughly let down by the people of this world. But, I will not lose my faith. Instead, I will just try to encourage others to see that judging is not the way and I will encourage people to vote differently on the law the next time it is tried.

So, I'm just wondering, But, by telling people about my religion and church in an excited manner when I hear them talking bad about other churches or God, then, does this mean I am acutally a judgemental person? You said that people who advertise their faith are actually the judgemental ones. So, I'm just wondering, does this make me judgemental?

Actually, who I think you were meaning by that are the people who advertise their faith in a "Don't do that, it's unchristianly" way when instead they should be spreading love and yeah, I got your back on that one because when people spend so much time focusing on What Not To Do they really end up forgetting the true reason God is remembered... For his kind heart and his abliity to love anyone and everyone.

I'm excited about my faith. It has helped me through many things in the past. I didn't even know I had faith till recently and when it hit me it hit me hard. I just wish that others could have their eyes opened like that too.

Whatever religion you are or aren't I guess the point of this message is just: live life spreading love instead of making up reasons why not to love others. and if you do make up those reasons, then don't blame the bible. you have a brain. use it.

[asar]

Ummm, contradiction..was your post referring to mine? I'm not quite sure, and i don't want to comment if it isn't. Just let me know. Thanks!:)

[QUOTE]live life spreading love instead of making up reasons why not to love others. and if you do make up those reasons, then don't blame the bible. you have a brain. use it.[/QUOTE]

Especially this part. I would be concerned if it were.

[Duo Maxwell]

I'm a christian, and I've never been to a church in my life (cept for when I was chrisined)
I pray at times when I feel so utterly depressed or tired... not alot... sometimes I prey before going to bed...

the one thing I hate is how my friend's mum is full on into religeion and she sortof pays her out for it... its just mean

[D. Dark]

Heh, I'm atheist, so I don't need to worry about religion, just need to worry about other people's religions...

Although I have links to three different religions through my family, but both my parents were atheist as their parents were of seperate religions, and probably couldn't be bothered to influence them...

[Ryanmc225]

i am a christian and believe strongly in Jesus and if anyone doesn't like it i don't care