Ban religion

Does anyone read other peoples posts with open eyes or minds??

Those who agree religion should be banned because of all the evil perpetrated in its name are missing the point of many supporting posters - that evil/war etc would still occur just under a different guise. people just use religion as an excuse. It would be over something else if religion didn't exist.

Those who disagree, and I am assuming most of them are religious seem to try and answer those above in a more reasoned fashion either from a spreading the gospel point of view which is paramount in any religion or just a general look what happens when you do ban it - communism etc.

I have been seeking god for years in my own ways and have delved into many religions followed across the world seeking 'THE TRUTH' I have lurked and posted on many different forums and sites some being more interesting, useful or dangerous than others.

I have recently come to believe in the Christian GOD and now pray most days. I am therefore a very immature Christian and by no means can I claim to know all the answers but at least I feel within myself I am finally back on track.

Its funny but it's not till we grow up and start trying to stock of our lives that we seem to realise that we're not as happy as we were when we were kids - (yes I know plenty of people are probably the exact opposite)

I now put this down to having lost touch with GOD and his purpose for us - that's why we all have different talents and strengths. I now pray/talk to GOD most if not every day, often while I'm sitting in traffic asking him to let me know his purpose and give me a nudge in the right direction. I have had 3 completely separate nudges that suggest I should be buying a lorry and setting myself up as a haulier - not quite sure how that will fit with GOD's plan but the point is I don't need to understand, I just NEED to get on with it.

Funny but as I find out more and start looking into costings, risks and all the regulatory requirements and licences required (which would have immediately stopped me previously - well it did the last two times) I have begun to feel happier about doing what I am supposed to be doing.

I might even finally make it back to Church which I have not attended since I was a boy.

Sorry if I've got a bit off topic but basically NO, I don't think religion should be banned although I'm sure I started a similiar topic a few years ago - my how times change

Problem with religion is brainwashing and making people believe holy book as the actual word of God and when holy book tells them to expand religion by converting people and that violence is justified, well, then we have a problem, big one. Thanks to that nonsense we have Middle East today, WW3 tomorrow. And millions upon millions of dead.

Other reasons were just a tiny % of all wars and it was for resources, food, sometimes women and revenge. But problems like that are thing of the past, while religion still fuels wars and fundamental groups.

Originally posted by johnb
Does anyone read other peoples posts with open eyes or minds??

Those who agree religion should be banned because of all the evil perpetrated in its name are missing the point of many supporting posters - that evil/war etc would still occur just under a different guise. people just use religion as an excuse. It would be over something else if religion didn't exist.

yeah, i read the posts.

ok so if religion was gone people would fight about something else....possibly right....that said, they wouldn't be fighting in the name of god. they wouldn't commit jihad in the name of allah. there would be no standing in the way of homosexual marriages cause of what some fantasy book tells us.
there would be far, far fewer moral 'dilemas' imo....you know, the whole moral code of the bible and how everyone is expected to follow it...

i say be gone with it

Originally posted by sb2012
It is conspiracy, religions are full of conspiracies in order to enslave people...

Are you listening to yourself? That is a huge insult to actual slaves.

I don't know about you, but people in my church do not wear shackles.

Religion is a ancient belief in something they could not explain. Now that we have all these sciences at our disposal should we not just abandon this ancient way of thinking and maybe just try to move ahead into the future.
I believe that we will not get any further in life due to religious beliefs that hold the human race back.

So that science becomes the new religion?

Because that's what will happen.
People have an innate need to worship, they have a need for control which manifests itself in the form of religious worship.

If you take away the organised religions of today, then they will find something else that fulfills this need - it's been this way throughout recorded history, and even before (I would guess).

Don't confuse how the average person feels about their faith, with how that faith has been abused by religious hierarchies for their own ends.

Our societies have become more secular in the last century or so, at least in the sense of organised religion - this is why we have seen a return to other forms of belief, such as paganism, alternative religions (scientology) and the rise of the site you are reading this on - conspiracy theory is a type of belief system.

I hope I don't hurt your feelings, my friend, but by reading your remarks about religion you sort of sound to me as intolerant as my parents were to me when I tried and tried to convince them that there could be other alternatives to their faith, other ways of seeing or perceiving life. Well, all I got from them as a response was always that radical and rather self-centered way of interpreting life and their own faith.
Whether we like or not, we must be careful with our comments and the way we express our oppinions on any 'sensible' matter. First we must not forget that millions of people have chosen to follow this or that other faith because they feel the urge or spiritual need to do so. It's our right to believe in whatever we want, whether we are right or wrong, and we all should show some respect and a tolerant spirit towards our brothers and sisters, regardless of their convictions or way of thinking. I'm absolutely convinced that we do not contribute at all with anything positive when so proudly we make remarks of the kind 'burn the Church, the Mosque, etc.'
Look, I was brought up under strict Catholic rules. Later on I've even had a long teenage taste of the OPus Dei's idiosyncratic way of living. And you know what? I soon realised that the best way to deal with what we think is harmful or bad to ourselves, to any possible humankind cause, its evolution or universal progression was to ignore those I so much disagreed with, and carry on with the practice of my own beliefs and way of life.
Please, we must refrain from making that kind of comment, for in so doing we are just acting alike, and let alone playing the game which suits those same intolerant, radical or single-minded people best.
Let there be peace and real tolerance.
Best wishes for peace profound.

"Hey everybody! Its 1984! Yipee!"

Seriously though, religion should not be banned. You are not forced to listen to the bible-thumpers. They are free to their opinion.

And as for your pathetically ignorant reason that "religion is the cause of war, therefore we should ban it", do you really honestly think the wolrd would be all honkey-dorey without religion? I can guarantee you, Humanity would find another reason to destroy itself.

You cannot ban religion, it is everyone's right to chose to believe or chose not to believe..everyone wants to be accommodated until they have to give something up. its about being free to do whatever we want.

Personally am a Christian..not the typical Christian you would meet, very liberal. im sick of people who don't believe in god (which is fine) saying that we are weak...and Christianity is our pacifier, I have heard that argument again and again and just like I don't condemn atheists to hell, I don't deserve to be treated like im some weaker life form that cant handle the fact that after we die we just die.

In all honesty I would rather believe that because it would let me be free to do whatever I want with no consequence. also my views on Christianity are somewhat different that most Christians, so don't be too quick to judge, I take everything as common sense..the bible is a guideline..it gives you the basics...you will have a better life if you try to follow some of the common sense suggestions in the bible. and by all means I don't follow it how I should, as with anyone.

My point is you cannot ban religion, it is up to the person to chose and others to deal. Believe me, there are a lot of Christians who are scared to even speak with an atheist for fear they will be attacked and the other way around im sure. and yes people in "religion" have done bad things but everyone has taken something meant for good and made it bad, damaging its reputation.

Take every person as they are, people follow their faith different ways and some distort it ridiculously. I personally wouldn't believe in god if I hadn't felt him around me...I have felt the presence...and for that I have to always stay loyal, sure I smoke and drink and have sex but I cant deny what I felt just as someone couldn't see an old friend after a long time and look away. its about respect for me. So please stop calling Christians, Muslims, Catholics, Buddhists weak we all just found something that makes sense to us.

[edit on 8-8-2007 by time4chg07]

You cannot ban religion, it is everyone's right to chose to believe or chose not to believe..everyone wants to be accommodated until they have to give something up. its about being free to do whatever we want.

Personally I am a Christian..not the typical Christian you would meet, very liberal. im sick of people who don't believe in god (which is fine) saying that we are weak...and Christianity is our pacifier, I have heard that argument again and again and just like I don't condemn atheists to hell, I don't deserve to be treated like im some weaker life form that cant handle the fact that after we die we just die.

In all honesty I would rather believe that because it would let me be free to do whatever I want with no consequence. also my views on Christianity are somewhat different that most Christians, so don't be too quick to judge, I take everything as common sense..the bible is a guideline..it gives you the basics...you will have a better life if you try to follow some of the common sense suggestions in the bible. and by all means I don't follow it how I should, as with anyone.

My point is you cannot ban religion, it is up to the person to chose and others to deal. Believe me, there are a lot of Christians who are scared to even speak with an atheist for fear they will be attacked and the other way around im sure. and yes people in "religion" have done bad things but everyone has taken something meant for good and made it bad, damaging its reputation.

Take every person as they are, people follow their faith different ways and some distort it ridiculously. I personally wouldn't believe in god if I hadn't felt him around me...I have felt the presence...and for that I have to always stay loyal, sure I smoke and drink and have sex but I cant deny what I felt just as someone couldn't see an old friend after a long time and look away. its about respect for me. So please stop calling Christians, Muslims, Catholics, Buddhists weak we all just found something that makes sense to us.

Originally posted by Ironside
I'm sorry you must suffer such ignorance. Every man has the right to believe as they wish. To take this away is to take away the hope in their lives. Don't get me wrong, I believe that no one should be pressuerd into a religon, but is that not what you are doing now? You want people to believe as you, so you try to take away their rights? You, my friend, are no better than the Christian and Muslim extremists.

I don't think he's saying people can't believe what they want to - he's simply suggesting that we outlaw organised religion, churches, mosques etc. and simply worship at home in private if that's what turns one on. I see nothing wrong with that statement - makes perfect sense really...

Originally posted by TheB1ueSoldier

Originally posted by sb2012
It is conspiracy, religions are full of conspiracies in order to enslave people...

Are you listening to yourself? That is a huge insult to actual slaves.

I don't know about you, but people in my church do not wear shackles.

The mind can be shackled too.... Ask any Mooney...or any number of different religious crazies.

'Those who disagree, and I am assuming most of them are religious seem to try and answer those above in a more reasoned fashion either from a spreading the gospel point of view which is paramount in any religion or just a general look what happens when you do ban it - communism etc.'

You seem to think that communism came about because someone banned religeon? Errmm...not according to any history books I ever read.

Far from it actually. In fact people were free to attend Russian Orthodox Churches in Moscow when I visited during the 'communist' era - although it was frowned upon by the authorities officially. Sort of like hippies or rock n roll were frowned upon in the US not too long ago - they were all viewed by the authorities of both countries as the strange, anti-social behaviour patterns of reprobates.

It should also be noted that Spanish priests opened fire on people peacfully demonstrating on the streets of Spain in the 1930's - if that wouldn't make revolutionaries try to ban religion - I don't know what would!!

J.

Originally posted by soulstealer2099
What's really sad is that people take the bible as fact and not fiction. Maybe jesus existed maybe he WAS a great man...but there is no proof he did the miracles he did.

you dont need proof to believe in something! you people say that others shove their religion into your faces and you want to believe in freedom!first you must understand freedom as it cant be cut off at religion because then it would be no longer freedom but would be communism (not calling anyone a communist) and also december is one of the most religious months of the year as one of the previous posters stated just ignore it if you want to because that is the beauty of freedom you are your boss, not religion. even christianity promotes free will other wise there wouldnt be the ten commandments. if anything you are forcing your beliefs on the people in this thread. Also saying we should get rid of religious places is saying we should get rid of isreal or any other country from which the belief came from and i hope you open your mind a little more

at the risk of being chastized for being a repeat, i have this to say - religion can be considered a necessary evil from a certain perspective. how many people have thought twice about commiting a crime because it would "make god angry"? probably a significant number, maybe not. i have had that train of thought a few times in my lifeadn i think i came out a better person because of it. it gave me boundaries that i believed at the time were not worth crossing. looking back i can't help but wonder why i ever bought into it, but i do appreciate what i took away from it.

Originally posted by 67daniel
Please, we must refrain from making that kind of comment, for in so doing we are just acting alike, and let alone playing the game which suits those same intolerant, radical or single-minded people best.
Let there be peace and real tolerance.
Best wishes for peace profound.

Tolerance is over rated.... how tolerant are you of KKK members? Nazis? Racists?

Originally posted by Ironside
I'm sorry you must suffer such ignorance. Every man has the right to believe as they wish. To take this away is to take away the hope in their lives. Don't get me wrong, I believe that no one should be pressuerd into a religon, but is that not what you are doing now? You want people to believe as you, so you try to take away their rights? You, my friend, are no better than the Christian and Muslim extremists.

Good word.

I'm praying for a lady to have "Hope in God" because my friend who knows this lady is about to go and kill her child in her womb. Boy oh boy, do we need Hope in God at all time, and especially in times of crisis.

God bless you Ironside.
Iron sure can sharpen Iron.

Peace,
Connie

Originally posted by Ironside
I'm sorry you must suffer such ignorance. Every man has the right to believe as they wish. To take this away is to take away the hope in their lives. Don't get me wrong, I believe that no one should be pressuerd into a religon, but is that not what you are doing now? You want people to believe as you, so you try to take away their rights? You, my friend, are no better than the Christian and Muslim extremists.

Good word.

I'm praying for a lady to have "Hope in God" because my friend who knows this lady is about to go and kill her child in her womb. Boy oh boy, do we need Hope in God at all time, and especially in times of crisis.

God bless you Ironside.
Iron sure can sharpen Iron.

Peace,
Connie

Originally posted by Ironside
I'm sorry you must suffer such ignorance. Every man has the right to believe as they wish. To take this away is to take away the hope in their lives. Don't get me wrong, I believe that no one should be pressuerd into a religon, but is that not what you are doing now? You want people to believe as you, so you try to take away their rights? You, my friend, are no better than the Christian and Muslim extremists.

Good word.

I'm praying for a lady to have "Hope in God" because my friend who knows this lady is about to go and kill her child in her womb. Boy oh boy, do we need Hope in God at all time, and especially in times of crisis.

God bless you Ironside.
Iron sure can sharpen Iron.

Peace,
Connie