i am a pacifist, and if anyone has a problem with that, they can meet me outside

[ivy_chan]

  Shocking news, folks. Christians are NOT the only perpetrators in the homophobia epidemic. No, seriously. I know, I was shocked, too. They are also not the source of every kind of right-winged zealous insanity.

Christians are not the source of all evil. Christianity is not the only religion used as a weapon and a reason to remain willfully and

Comments

[pimpypantsmcgee]

I get annoyed when people generalize about religious groups, as well. The Hezbollah and Al Qaeda have the support they do now because they came in and took care of people when no one else would.

However, I think all religion is ridiculous. Not the practitioners (a lot of them, in many cases), but the religions themselves. I'd like to think we've moved beyond peoples' need for them. You get nutjob retards that come in, take it too seriously, make shit up, and lead groups of like-minded, hate-filled assholes to battle against regular, normal folks.

And sometimes you get people who take things too literally when it serves them, like Fred Phelps. Fred, the bible also says that if your daughter is disobedient, you can sell her into slavery, and it even says what price you should get for her. But I don't see you out sellin' your kids when they might go against your wishes. I'm only seeing you out toting your God Hates Fags agenda.

Religions are fucking obsolete. What we need now are ideas and solutions.

[ivy_chan]

I wouldn't say religions are obsolete. Religious rule, certainly, but saying religions are obsolete is like saying morality and spirituality of any kind is obsolete. Morality doesn't necessarily govern, and it's not objective, but I think it's necessary for people to live happily with each other. Religion is just a person's point of view on how the spiritual side of life works and defines a good part of their moral code. It does serve a purpose, even today. The misuse of religion is something else altogether.

Religion is not inherently ridiculous, either: it's like any other human social structure. Any kind of group is open to corruption just by virtue of being made up by human beings. Government, schools systems, religion, professions...it's the nutjobs we should focus on hating, not whatever group they use as tools to further their ambitions and insanity.

[pimpypantsmcgee]

I must disagree with you, especially with your statement that saying that religions are obsolete is like saying morality and spirituality of any kind is obsolete. I believe that someone can have spirituality independent from a religion, and I absolutely believe that morality can and should exist independently from religion

[ivy_chan]

Okay, you're not understanding the comparison. Morality and spirituality exist outside of religion, but their intangibility allows me to make a comparison. I'm saying that stating religion is obsolete is LIKE saying morality is obsolete, not that morality and religion are inseparable. Religion is always up to interpretation? So is the very basis of human morality. Good and evil, right and wrong, are nearly always subjective ideas. These ideas exist OUTSIDE of religion, but they are just as illogical as the morality and spirituality of a religion

[pimpypantsmcgee]

Holy crap, I just typed in my rebuttal and pressed the wrong button and lost it D: I'm gonna cry

[pimpypantsmcgee]

What a mess. My first post was so much better :(

[ivy_chan]

True, more primitive societies may benefit from having some laws to follow that can't be questioned, and a religion will help achieve that goal, but within a modern society, and especially with the globalization of society via technology, all religion has become is a barrier to us understanding and accepting our fellow man.

Your idea of religion seems to be mainly monotheism-based, first of all. You could decide to say that about Islam or strict Christianity, but Buddhism? Shamanism? Paganism? A person who practices Buddhism hardly has the same ideas about people as a person who practices hard-core Islam.

Religion is only a barrier if the individual inteprets it that way, and that is the nature of that individual. A person who uses religion to excuse their ignorance is a person who will use anything else to excuse their ignorance. My father uses warped historical anecdotes to excuse his racism, sexism, and hatred of anything liberal. The atheist I know uses scientific studies to explain away any emotion in love and friendship, to

[pimpypantsmcgee]

Surely you don't think that I am excluding animists, Buddhists, and Pagans in my blanket statement of "religion is obsolete", or that I don't think of these as religions. That would be silly. Much like these religions.

Religion is only a barrier if the individual inteprets it that way

That's very true. But you know as well as I do that when people embrace a set of religious beliefs it colors everything they do, see, and say. And many religions are not built to harmoniously coexist with others.

Well, then, people should be more open-minded towards other faith systems.

Should, but aren't, for the most part.

...And so you pretty much believe exactly the same thing I've been saying all along: religious rule and religious belief put before the rights of the individual is BAD. My response was that religion was not obsolete, but that it should not come before personal responsibility, social responsibility, and should not impose on the freedom of others. Religion should not be used to justify cruelty, it should be kept as a personal

[brownie_utonium]

Repeating over and over again that religion is obsolete is like saying any other part of culture is obsolete. Personally, I think the Ninja turtles are obsolete (I mean, I'm saying this mostly based on April's horrific 80's character design) but that's all beside the point, isn't it? Is my opinion going to matter to anyone who likes that show, no matter how silly it is? Of course not. And what's the point in making generalized, insulting statements about it? Sounding more intelligent or something?

I say this as an atheist: calling people silly for believing in something you don't agree with or have any way of proving otherwise is not only rude, it's closeminded, too.

[pimpypantsmcgee]

Repeating over and over again that religion is obsolete is like saying any other part of culture is obsolete.
I disagree.
Personally, I think the Ninja turtles are obsolete (I mean, I'm saying this mostly based on April's horrific 80's character design) but that's all beside the point, isn't it?
I wonder why you'd bring that up. Are you trying to hurt my feelings or something? >;)

I say this as an atheist: calling people silly for believing in something you don't agree with or have any way of proving otherwise is not only rude, it's closeminded, too.
I agree, which is why I said no such thing :)

[brownie_utonium]

wonder why you'd bring that up. Are you trying to hurt my feelings or something? >;)Uh, no, I was trying to make a point, which went over your head entirely. Point being: It doesn't matter what I think of someone's religion/favorite tv show/choice of underwear/whatever, they will still like it. "Obsolete" is a completely subjective term. Literally, it means "no longer in general use; fallen into disuse, eg: an obsolete expression." It also means "of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date, eg: an obsolete battleship." Religions are definitely not falling out of general use. They're also not out of date, because they are constantly changing to suit the needs of modern people... as you said yourself, new ones are being invented all the time (Like, ugh.... Scientology

[pimpypantsmcgee]

Calling the religion silly is not calling the practitioners silly, silly:)

I don't recall ever saying that everyone should/would stop trying to adhere to a religion immediately. So I'm not sure why you felt the need to draw your bizarre parallel, thus my confusion.

[ivy_chan]

Calling a religion silly is indirectly calling the people who follow it silly for believing in it. Simple logic. ^_~

Anyway, it looks like this could go on for days with everyone turning circles. I'm locking replies to the entry.

[pimpypantsmcgee]

That's very true. But you know as well as I do that when people embrace a set of religious beliefs it colors everything they do, see, and say. And many religions are not built to harmoniously coexist with others.Ah, as a practitioner of religion, I feel I must take exception. There is one issue where my religion 'taints' my opinion: abortion. I am pro-life. I figure what's the difference between your starting coordinates of (0,0,0) and a translation of 2 feet in any direction? I also, as fully admitted, go with the 'killing an innocent soul' reason

[ivy_chan]

Surely you don't think that I am excluding animists, Buddhists, and Pagans in my blanket statement of "religion is obsolete", or that I don't think of these as religions. That would be silly. Much like these religions.

Is there any reason you decided to get deliberately insulting there? I mean, opinions will be opinions, but calling another person's religion 'silly' or 'stupid' is pretty much bad play on all accounts.

That's very true. But you know as well as I do that when people embrace a set of religious beliefs it colors everything they do, see, and say. And many religions are not built to harmoniously coexist with others.

When people embrace a set of beliefs, any set of beliefs, religious or otherwise, it influences them to some degree. The degree it influences them depends entirely on the individual and to some extent, their environment. Some religions don't seem like they can coexist. Christianity started out as particularly intolerant, but has made great leaps. Hence why all the Christians I know fully accept other

[pimpypantsmcgee]

I don't think you can insult a religion