His location is "Staffordshire, England," so I'm going to assume he isn't an American. Remember that England is far more culturally secular than America. Still, even though the pendulum has swung back a bit and non-Christians are a bit louder about their disapproval of Christian ideas, organizations, and individuals, by and large the American Christian Fundamentalist talking point of "persecution" is almost pure hyperbole. The problem is that Christians have enjoyed almost complete cultural dominion in our society for so long that any challenge to that dominion is perceived as persecution. Thus, Christians are being "persecuted" by not being allowed to harass homosexuals as viciously, by having directed prayer taken out of public schools, by being challenged about their beliefs, and so on. With that said, however, I've found that in all but the most devout neighborhoods most people are willing to adopt a 'live and let live' policy concerning atheists. It probably helps that I'm not really angry at Christians as a whole and am well-versed enough in mainstream Protestant theologies and Bible studies to hold interesting conversations with my religious acquaintances. Actually, I'm known as the Bible expert in my family, and I'm also the only non-Christian. To be honest, I've seen more anti-Catholic bigotry than anti-Atheist bigotry.
^ I noticed Poetic's origins halfway through my post, but was too lazy to change what I said. >>; I'm glad you brought that post back so that I can maybe make what I was trying to say clearer, since I was a little heated at the time. I thank you first off for expanding on that point, because I was planning on doing just that, and you've done it perfectly. ^^ My point in simpler terms in the above post is that there is nothing about Christianity that actually offends any non-Christian. When you think about it, there is nothing in the bible that makes it any more offensive than just about any other religion. Face it, there is MUCH more offensive material out there than the bible. The bible is actually pretty mild compared to some of the doctrines of other religion, whether major religions or small unknown hut-people religions. I've no doubt that you've heard lots of people mocking Christianity specifically before, but my point was that just about everybody who does so are not intending to make fun of you or the church. Hell, I kinda like the church. They help people overseas through mission projects and they have a pretty great sense of community as Poetic demonstrated. I think just about everybody is down for that. The thing is, Christianity doesn't offend us, nor do prayers, or communion, or holidays or celebrations. What actually offends us is when politicians cross the line and in the name of God suppress the rights of the immoral, the first amendment be damned. There's nothing wrong with Christians or Christianity. I should have been clearer, and I hope I haven't upset you, Poetic. :I As for that last bit... That live and let live stuff doesn't work here, unfortunately. I live in Florida, not to say everyone here is awful. My parents are professed racists and die-hard Christians, so my opinions on the subject will always be a bit biased because I have had that emotional experience with radical religion and taking the bible a little too seriously.
I love running into people such as your parents Jonin and just laughing at them, if they try to convert me that is, and walking away. That's about all I will do to some Christians, such as your parents, and any others that try to PRESS their religion on me. Its not that I hate these types of people, but just the fact that it is none of their business to interject on my religion, no matter how stupid mine sounds, and try to replace it with theirs. I handle it well though and just make my points and walk on by, I only laugh when I feel like it, leaving them thinking about what I just said. To me some people are just to blinded by their faith to actually see that there are those out there, myself included, that like our religions but that we are not fanatical about it in such ways. Yes we tell others about our religion, but we don't to press it upon them like some people in the world.
A topic on religion, on the internet, on a public forum!? WHAT MADNESS IS THIS!!!???? lol. But yeah, interesting topic. Well I guess i'll be ballzy as well and give my two-cents. Overall I am for the sake of categorizing, a Christian, I believe in God & Satan, and in Heaven & Hell. However i'm (thankfully) not a holy-roller, lol. I know very well that no view point be it political, religious, social, etc is ever 100% right or wrong. I believe God gave us free will for a reason so we could live our life as our hearts & minds dictate, which is one reason why I do not affiliate myself with any church. I also, and pardon if this sounds blunt or rude, cannot stand people who are hard-core atheists or hard core holy-rollers. Because as said, as humans we are naturally imperfect, God may have made the universe, but everything in mans world was mad by man, therefore no Polticial, religious or social ideology is 100% correct or incorrect, no science is absolute or perfect. In the end the only truth is that man is not a creature who knows the truth but merey uses the tools he is given, mind, heart, etc, to create a world around him and fine the closest thing as to what he can accept to the truth, be that through religion, politics, science, etc. If only all the differing viewpoints could at least attempt to live in harmony. So yeah I guess you could say i'm more of a philosophical person, then a religious person. But I personally say the fact that mankind still exists after all the crap we pull is proof enough theres a God in my book.
Warp theory? (That gods and demons are created and manifested by emotion and belief in what can only be described as a shadow/mirror realm) Yes, I do believe that too. Whoever came up with that idea is a genius in my opinion as that would explain so much. This would also necessitate all gods that has at least one person believing in them does exist. I would want to know more about your religion Rashall, sounds intresting. I know this is a risky subject, but I have faith the bronies of this site can handle it. By the way, you are a genius, this is exactly my own thoughts. There seems to exist christians who are like me in this world after all. .
I don't see why we can't have a mature conversation about religion on here. We're all well-behaved. Anyway, the way I see it, a religion isn't essential but the basic moral values that they teach are. And ponies teach us all about friendship and kindness. So ponies are good.
@Prince Darkmoon: I don't know about genius, but I do try my best to be level headed. @B-Dog: You know I may be completely off but in ways i've often associated the Brony life-style to that of certain elements of Buddhism & Christianity. But again that may just be me being crazy.
I was raised as a Christian, but I have recently lost my faith. This is due to several problems that, in my opinion, exist in Christianity, and the fundamental concept of religion in general. Due to my recent lack of spiritual solidity due to the fact that I have lost faith in Christianity, I sometimes find myself feeling stressed and not really knowing what to believe. I don't believe in religion, but I also think there are problems with atheism. My main issue with atheism (please note that when I say "atheism" I am also referring to lack of belief in anything spiritual, I know that some atheists have spiritual beliefs) is that I can't bear the notion of ceasing to exist one day. That horrifies me. However, while I try to figure out what I truly believe, I do find one source of moral solidity: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In my opinion, that show teaches transcendent truths that everyone could believe in, regardless of your religion or lack thereof. These transcendent truths are things such as love one another, forgive others, be patient, tolerant, and accepting, be kind, have compassion for everyone, and more. I may have trouble figuring out what I believe, but I do find comfort in my belief in the importance of having love and compassion for everyone. Whether or not there is an afterlife, or a God, I hope to spend the rest of my life helping others to be happy as much as I can.
Yeah, I got the impression your folks were probably extremists. Of course, I have racist fundamentalist Christians in my family, too, but I'm blessed to count them as distant relatives. They also live in Florida, actually. I can't really say anything about that except that I'm sorry you got such a raw deal. Nobody should have to grow up in that sort of environment. There is quite a bit of offensive material in the Bible, actually. The Old Testament in particular is full of murder and genocide either performed by or commanded by Yahweh. Of course, the thing to remember is that none of this vicious tribalism and legalism was particularly shocking by the standards of these ancient societies. It does make the claim that the scriptures are perfect moral documents seem rather absurd, though. As to the issue of the law, indeed, society, to be fair to all its members, should govern according to an entirely secular set of principles. I think most Americans, putting aside their knee-jerk reactions to contentious wedge issues, would probably agree on this point. I'm glad you were able to clarify your thoughts on the matter. ^^ Given your personal circumstances, I admire your restraint and reasonableness when discussing the subject. It obviously hits very close for you.
Religion... what has it accomplished but war and strife? What good is a religion when all you can think of doing with it is use it to control others, justify murder, start wars, and cause genocide? Religion is the bane of humanity, even though I am a Christian, myself. There is a reason that Church is separated from State now in America and a lot of other places.
This is so wrong it's funny! I'm a christian and i think these men & women are pretty much retarded. Where did they get this stuff?! I looked at the site a bit and this is what i found http://www.godhatessinners.com/content.php?182-Obama-and-Obama-hate-America! Really? They say she said “All This Just For a Flag?" i don't believe anything this site says. >:/
It's even better, there was a picture on that site from some stupid rally. Anyway it should a person standing on the american flag. So they claim obama hate america and then they themselves stand on the flag. -- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums
This is interesting, I was thinking about starting a thread like this, but decided against it because of the conflict it might have created. Now that that's pretty much unavoidable, I'll just post my post. I really don't think there's anything religious in the show other than what you read into it. The morals taught are great, which is unusual on modern television, but otherwise I really don't think it's a "Christian" show, or "anti-Christian", either. I think it's just a good kids' show that you guys are reading too much into. Some Christians are numbers one and two, but I'd say far more are number 3: Go to church, say they're a Christian, and don't really do much else. Especially in America. Also. The whackjobs that think pokemon is evil. Wut. My mom thought that (still thinks that) and I still think she got sucked into it unknowingly. She didn't realize how crazy they were. The people in that last link...I don't even know. Why you think that anyone would...that that would be RIGHT...I just...don't know. What the heck. And finally...? Who the hay is Santa Christ?? Sadly, I think this is true. It's what happens when you don't step back and re-evaluate your life once in a while. The scariest thing is that it can really happen to anyone. They just get too caught up in the "doing" to do any "thinking". Humanity? Humanity really, really doesn't deserve any faith. As a whole, I mean. We're all a bunch of hopeless sinners, even the best of us. And Prince Darkmoon, I really don't beleive what you seem to beleive, based on your original post. But, I don't want to start something that will almost certainly end badly for us. I just wanted to say that. Exactly. I don't see why people think God would have to be evil for people to go to Hell. Because he doesn't send them. He just...lets them go there themselves; they make the choice, not him. Because they didn't want to beleive in God, and that was the only other option available. Our job as Christians is to make sure that that happens as little as possible. Better than one person who tried to convince me that there's proof that God does not exist. Then they tried to tell me I was wrong, because of "burden of proof", except...burden of proof works both ways. Why? Why would aliens be better? Scientifically, neither have been proven to exist. Please explain? Just because I want to know your reasoning. Man, I would love to talk to you if you need any support. Or even if you don't. If you just wanna talk, I would be more than happy to have a conversation with you and...well, I'd love to help you get your faith back, to be perfectly frank. But if that's not what you want, then I'm not forcing you to talk to me or anything. Just letting you know, I'm here if you wanna have a chat about it.
Let me ask you this: If there is a God He existed before everything else right? Nothing was ever intended to come between us and Him. The entire Hebrew religious system came into play because people could not understand God and demanded ritual and so on to know how to worship. There were others though (Melchizedek, the fellow that was healing and raising the dead that wasn't walking with the apostles and Jesus) who simply "got it" and weren't part of any organized religion or set of rituals. God constantly laments those who are "stiff necked" and disobedient. Jesus was frustrated many times with the apostles. None of man's institutions are needed for someone who "gets it" or at least knows enough to trust only God and never man. Does that make sense?
Are you saying that Religion and Christianity are totally different things? If so, I agree. Not that "religion" does not encompass Christianity as an accurate adjective, but that Christianity should not follow the strict rituals that are Religion's trademark. Yes? No?
Honestly (IMO anywho) Humanity is a bane on itself, sure religion is the scapegoat throughout history for which most bloodshed has been caused, cause hey, the masses are stupid, if you tell them your king was told by God/insert deity here to go out and conquer a nation kill a certain type of person, they'll most likely say OK, and go out and do their duty, well back in the olden days they did any who. And quite frankly say if the whole world had become secular, the bloodshed wouldn't have stopped, they would have just use Politics (even more then they do now) to justify their wars. Man is sadly by nature a fairly juvenile and violent creature, and some men will use anything religion/Politics/etc as an excuse to wage war and cause blood shed. Which personally I find rather sad. Sometimes I can't help but think we were actually made by the Devil, and were merely adopted by God.
One of the kinds of Christians I dislike the most are the "religious" parents who disagree with everything and annoy their children. I personally believe that this is one of the main reasons why many young people are becoming atheist. Their bad childhoods prevent them from even considering religion when they grow up (which is fair enough, as they don't want their child to suffer like they did).
