Touchy subject matter.
il.coDid you guys know that
potterpuffs started posting again with DH material? :D Well, if you didn't, she is, so go encourage her to never leave us again.
A few of my friends asked me where I stand when it comes to religion, so I'll tell those who are interested, because it is in fact a little different.
I believe in God. And I believe in the words of the prophets. All of them. No matter whether it's Jesus or Mohammed or whatever. They all said the same thing about love and forgiveness and blah and blah. I believe that God is up there, and I believe that you can follow the Holy Book word by word and not love him, yet never read any Holy Books and sincerely love him. So the whole discussion between the Christians and the Jews, for example, whether Jesus was a vagabond or a son of God seems silly to me, because I think people should stop concentrating on who he was, and start concentrating on what he said.
One thing I have a problem with when it comes to religion is the Old Testament, because God is really portrayed like an ass there: "You've done wrong, and now you all die." ... Which is in complete contradiction with the New Testament. ... Which proves that the books were written by people, and should be taken as such.
I think a lot of things in the Holy Books make sense, but not literally. For example, I don't believe Moses parted the sea and then closed it on the Egyptians. That's ridiculous. I believe Moses was an emperor of his people, and killed the Egyptians in battle and threw them into the sea, perhaps. Forgetting the fact that history suggests that Israelites worked for the Egyptians as opposed to being enslaved by them.
I don't believe in division of religion and constrictions of it. Every religion has very harsh and very silly restrictions. Jews don't eat pig, a lot of other religions don't eat meat at all etc. It's said that God told his people to not do it to prove to him that they loved him. No. First of all, God, if he is all he is supposed to be, lacks all vanity, and wouldn't ask for something like this. There are a lot of people out there who follow the rules and still don't love him and vise versa. I think he "forbid" the eating of pig because back in the day pig didn't keep and went bad in a day. So that's gross.
I don't dislike God, but I dislike religion. It blinds people, much like patriotism. A lot of religious people I know have ceased to think and question what the hell they are doing and why. "It says so in my Holy Book, so I have to do it." And this stupid blind faith is why Hitler was able to take Germany. Why a lot of suicide bombers do what they do. While a lot of people fight and kill and judge. We were given brains for a reason, and by that same God. People who refuse to use them, but follow the books blindly and believe they will find "the way" in it have my scorn. That's right. I said it. Because I can dissect a Bible or Torah peice by peice, and if you really believe in it blindly, you better understand it and be able to make sense of all I may ask.
Anyway, that's it. That's where I stand. It may sound rash, and a lot of my religios friends have fought me on this, but don't bother. I believe in God. God is not a book to me. There is no proof he had anything to do with any of the Holy Books. You choose to stick with them, I choose to evolve with an open mind. Is all.
potterpuffs started posting again with DH material? :D Well, if you didn't, she is, so go encourage her to never leave us again.
A few of my friends asked me where I stand when it comes to religion, so I'll tell those who are interested, because it is in fact a little different.
I believe in God. And I believe in the words of the prophets. All of them. No matter whether it's Jesus or Mohammed or whatever. They all said the same thing about love and forgiveness and blah and blah. I believe that God is up there, and I believe that you can follow the Holy Book word by word and not love him, yet never read any Holy Books and sincerely love him. So the whole discussion between the Christians and the Jews, for example, whether Jesus was a vagabond or a son of God seems silly to me, because I think people should stop concentrating on who he was, and start concentrating on what he said.
One thing I have a problem with when it comes to religion is the Old Testament, because God is really portrayed like an ass there: "You've done wrong, and now you all die." ... Which is in complete contradiction with the New Testament. ... Which proves that the books were written by people, and should be taken as such.
I think a lot of things in the Holy Books make sense, but not literally. For example, I don't believe Moses parted the sea and then closed it on the Egyptians. That's ridiculous. I believe Moses was an emperor of his people, and killed the Egyptians in battle and threw them into the sea, perhaps. Forgetting the fact that history suggests that Israelites worked for the Egyptians as opposed to being enslaved by them.
I don't believe in division of religion and constrictions of it. Every religion has very harsh and very silly restrictions. Jews don't eat pig, a lot of other religions don't eat meat at all etc. It's said that God told his people to not do it to prove to him that they loved him. No. First of all, God, if he is all he is supposed to be, lacks all vanity, and wouldn't ask for something like this. There are a lot of people out there who follow the rules and still don't love him and vise versa. I think he "forbid" the eating of pig because back in the day pig didn't keep and went bad in a day. So that's gross.
I don't dislike God, but I dislike religion. It blinds people, much like patriotism. A lot of religious people I know have ceased to think and question what the hell they are doing and why. "It says so in my Holy Book, so I have to do it." And this stupid blind faith is why Hitler was able to take Germany. Why a lot of suicide bombers do what they do. While a lot of people fight and kill and judge. We were given brains for a reason, and by that same God. People who refuse to use them, but follow the books blindly and believe they will find "the way" in it have my scorn. That's right. I said it. Because I can dissect a Bible or Torah peice by peice, and if you really believe in it blindly, you better understand it and be able to make sense of all I may ask.
Anyway, that's it. That's where I stand. It may sound rash, and a lot of my religios friends have fought me on this, but don't bother. I believe in God. God is not a book to me. There is no proof he had anything to do with any of the Holy Books. You choose to stick with them, I choose to evolve with an open mind. Is all.