Thread: Christmas poll

Originally Posted by Seraphim

Please cite the incidents you are refering to?

yes! List the most horrible crimes in history and then highlight those which religions are responsible for, color-coding them by particular religion

this could prove very useful in upcoming conversation threads

Almost all historians agree that there was a man named Jesus who was born around the time of 0BC. They also agree that he had a reputation of miracles, healings, taught publicly, and was considered a good man. On the statement that He was the Son of God is where they disagree.

I have been telling people Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas..... I have heard this is a pretty heinous crime

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

yes! List the most horrible crimes in history and then highlight those which religions are responsible for, color-coding them by particular religion

this could prove very useful in upcoming conversation threads

I have been telling people Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas..... I have heard this is a pretty heinous crime


Quote:

Originally Posted by hoglahoo yes! List the most horrible crimes in history and then highlight those which religions are responsible for, color-coding them by particular religion this could prove very useful in upcoming conversation threads

I will therefore append all of my future references of Hitler, Stalin, Chairman Mao, to also include Slartibartfast!



Although I'm pretty sure that in actuality it only ranks you amongst the likes of the Grinch, Ebineezer Scrooge, and Old Man Potter of "It's a Wonderful Life" fame....

Regarding the statement that Christianity has committed some hanous crimes (which I do not disagree with). What I would say is that the people who did those things took what they believed Christianity to say and did something about it, however, that does not necessarily mean that is what Christianity stands for. I could be a married Christian man and then go cheat on my wife and say it is ok because I love the new woman (I know people who have done this), this doesn't mean that this is what Christianity says is a good decision, it is only based on what I believe Christianity to be not necessarily what it actually states.

I also think almost every religion has made some really pour decisions, and I think that Christianity gets the blunt of these comments. I was just watching ABC (or NBC) and every single TV show on Thursday night after 8:00pm ripped apart Christianity quite thoroughly during the show, and not subtly, however, you never see comments publicly about other religions. Kind of like how people use the phrase Jesus Christ as a cuss word, no other country or religion uses any religious symbol, whether they agree with it or not, as a cuss word.

Not trying to sound defensive on this subject, as I am not, more so just trying to make a point that Christianity seems to be the one that gets picked on at school but all the other kids aren't...

JT

Originally Posted by Seraphim

The flaw in your argument is in the highlighted part. If Jesus is real, and is really God incarnate then that renders all of the other religions false.

Your second sentence also points out a difference. Many believe in a god, not necessarily in the one, true God.

And this points to the huge amount of being unbelievably conceded on the part of Christianity (and most other religions too)....

Again like Most, not all religions, it all comes down to "My God is better than your God"... I can't believe that most of you that I consider to be very intelligent, rational, people, don't see the basic flaw in that thinking....

But Faith is blind, as we have been pointing out as non-believers since the start of this thread....Which means that no matter how we slice and dice the "Proof" believers still believe and non -believers still don't...

I wish everyone involved a "Very Merry Christmas" !!!!

Originally Posted by ZMKA

Christianity is also responsible for some of the most horrible crimes in history.

Whoa whoa whoa.....it is not. Evil men are responsible for that. Jusst because horrible things have been done in the name of Christianity doesn't mean that Christianity was responsible. I could call myself a Muslim and go blow up a building right now in the name of Allah or whatever. Does that mean that Islam is responsible for that crime?

Just because a religion may become hijacked by a bunch of fools doesn't mean that the religion is to blame for said fools crimes. In fact if you look to the teachings of Christ, it is likely he teaches the opposite of those crimes.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

And this points to the huge amount of being unbelievably conceded on the part of Christianity (and most other religions too)....

Again like Most, not all religions, it all comes down to "My God is better than your God"... I can't believe that most of you that I consider to be very intelligent, rational, people, don't see the basic flaw in that thinking....

But Faith is blind, as we have been pointing out as non-believers since the start of this thread....Which means that no matter how we slice and dice the "Proof" believers still believe and non -believers still don't...

I wish everyone involved a "Very Merry Christmas" !!!!

It is my belief that only one belief is "right". As the believers of other faiths believe that their faith is "right".

I don't see any flaw in that. They cannot all be right in varrying degrees.

Although, logically speaking, you could argue that they are all wrong.

But if any one of them is "right" it can only be one of them.

Originally Posted by ZMKA

Christianity is also responsible for some of the most horrible crimes in history.
It doesn't necessarily take a belief in Jesus to turn your life around.

Christianity is not responsible for some of the most horrible crimes in history.
There are those "False prophets" who will lead others away from the Truth :
Love your neighbor,
Love your enemy,
Turn the other cheek,
go the extra mile,
consider others better than yourselves,
I could go on but this will do. As a follower of Christ I am commanded to test the spirits and if it does not match up to Gods standard to resist evil and flee from temptation. Never did Jesus command us to physically harm another.The problem is not Christians but the fact that most are poorly trained at best. When bombarded with false doctrine that sounds good is not checked out it becomes easy to be lead astray.

Many things have been done in the name of religion but we are commanded to defend our faith in love not violence, we are commanded to help those in need not turn away, we are commanded to share our faith even when those who are hostile to it are near. Jesus is our God and King. Think of ot this : Jesus, Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!Phil 2:6-8

When we come to know Christ as savior and Lord we come humbly and it is He where we find how we are suppose to be.It may not take Jesus to turn your life around but without Him it just remains your life and you will still need out side influences to keep it that way. That's what 12 step addition programs are about.

Really, I'm not sure how you can not agree with it...

Spanish Inquisition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crusades - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and some more where they just killed each other over God-knows-what (pun intended)...

French Wars of Religion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thirty Years' War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taiping Rebellion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


But that's neither important nor germane to the topic at hand. There were enough wars fought over plenty of stupid stuff throughout history to single out one cause and point fingers.

Just had to counter the fact that some people appear to be overlooking the aforementioned.


And, not to throw my own atheist hat into the mix (as I've been (in)famous for doing before), but a word of advice to the pro-Christianity movement (and I've said this before): if you are trying to convince a population of non-believers to understand your position using a dated reference as your only talking point, you are consistently, and 100% of the time going to come up short.

The Bible is not a reference document. It is not historically accurate in terms of events or chronology (especially dating back past the New Testament). It is merely a book of stories and fables which were designed to be lessons rather than to be accepted as truths. In fact, within Christianity as a whole, there are varying interpretations of the book. Along those lines, these "varying opinions" only contribute to the unreliability of the Bible as a historical document.

Example: Catholicism teaches that the creation story is a fable. According to the Vatican, there was no Adam or Eve, no surgical removal of ribs, etc. However, Bible grinders (Christians, not Catholics) take the whole book literally, even down to placing the creation at somewhere around around 11,000 BC (which has been proven false).

So, would those who take the Bible literally say that Catholicism is wrong? Or vice versa?