The -I Really don't see the appeal of..... Thread

[Bubonic]

On the subject of this thread, I'm about to burst out the most controversial opinion in this thread:

I don't understand the appeal of religion. I don't need it to tell me how to havegood morals or be a good person and I don't see any believable benefits from it that you can prove, beyond you'll see once you pass on or the end of world comes upon us which ever happens first.

Amen to that!

 

[Duke]

Thanks a lot and um...Yo Joe!t:

 

[Aesop Rocks]

I believe in second chances, but if you're going strictly by the Christian Bible, it is very confusing to try to figure out what goes and what doesn't. For example, as you know, I genuinely accepted Christ into my heart many years ago, was baptized, super active in church, yada yada. But now I disagree with most organized religion and am not sure what I believe. Am I still "covered" by the fact that I was genuine so long ago? Or is it even worse for me because God will say I had the knowledge but chose to scorn it?

Part of why I stopped going to church is because I didn't want to be a hypocrite like the majority of the people I saw attending. I feel the same way about this whole "waiting until it's best for ME to cash in on Jesus" thing.

Hm...Pickles pretty much just summed up my religious beliefs.

Personally, I think a reason religion works is because they get you while you're young and impressionable, you won't question your beliefs and stuff like that. I wouldn't call it brainwashing, I never meant it that way, but they know children are easily impressed and can accept a (probably) fictional being like God as much as he or she can Santa.

My thing with religion is that I've lost my faith in it after being tested too many times. Why should I have to keep faith in something that has always let me down when I needed it?

 

[Synekal]

Like in Peter Pan when the dog Nana wanted to fly away to Neverland with the kids for the first time.

Wait, was that movie about Jesus?

Alot of popular literature uses the story of Jesus in some form or fashion (Superman) so who knows what the author was referencing.

 

[Synekal]

How long does it take to convert? You can accept Heyzeus into your heart in like 4 seconds

As long as it takes you to say Jesus i am a sinner and I need you to save me. Five seconds tops.

 

[AndThePickles]

Hm...Pickles pretty much just summed up my religious beliefs.

Personally, I think a reason religion works is because they get you while you're young and impressionable, you won't question your beliefs and stuff like that. I wouldn't call it brainwashing, I never meant it that way, but they know children are easily impressed and can accept a (probably) fictional being like God as much as he or she can Santa.

My thing with religion is that I've lost my faith in it after being tested too many times. Why should I have to keep faith in something that has always let me down when I needed it?

Speaking from my own life experience, I don't think it's right to introduce your child to one religion, push it on them as absolute truth, and not expose them to other things so they can make their own choice. To an extent, I think one could easily call it a form of brainwashing.

I clung to religion/God during some of the worst times in my life because I didn't know what else to rely on and I was insecure. I find it interesting that my life only started to improve in terms of my own emotional/mental health AFTER I stopped clinging to it and wanted to be happy, etc. based on my own determination. One could also argue that God helped me when I needed him most and gave me the strength to get happy, but where do you draw the line with that sort of thing? Because in that sort of thinking, that would rule out free will in many ways.

 

[Aesop Rocks]

I started losing my faith back when my grandma died, but it was expected, you know? She was in her 70s, suffered a massive heart attack, all that jazz. I cursed God and stuff, but Brain, our family pastor told me and reassured me and stuff, so I was okay for a while.

And then my dad died. Literally what feels like for no reason. Random heart attack in his sleep. Brain didn't say **** to me.

And frankly I find it B/S too, because my dad wasn't about religion at all. So if that was God's plan...

 

[Synekal]

How long does it take to convert? You can accept Heyzeus into your heart in like 4 seconds

As long as it takes to say Jesus I am a sinner and I need you to save me.

 

[Synekal]

Your thinking one dimensional per say, because Jesus is the giver of life, so it won't matter if you die of shock.

It does if you die without having accepted him as your savior. "For it is appointed unto once to die. After that comes the judgement."

 

[Synekal]

Sorry about that. There should be a "man" between unto and once.

 

[AndThePickles]

I started losing my faith back when my grandma died, but it was expected, you know? She was in her 70s, suffered a massive heart attack, all that jazz. I cursed God and stuff, but Brain, our family pastor told me and reassured me and stuff, so I was okay for a while.

And then my dad died. Literally what feels like for no reason. Random heart attack in his sleep. Brain didn't say **** to me.

One thing that I never believed even while religious is that God was obligated to line up everyone's deaths in a manner that was pleasing to everyone. We can't ask him for freedom but then curse him when something happens that we don't like. People tend to blame God when things go wrong but never give credit when things go right. I don't say that to downplay your loss...it's something that happens very frequently, in general.

It is unfortunate that people such as your pastor, who does claim to be religious, don't offer true words of wisdom when people actually need them. That's just plain cowardly...sounds like he wasn't willing to face tough questions/a bad situation.

 

[Aesop Rocks]

Yeah, I don't talk to him anymore. I have no desire to.

 

[Synekal]

One thing that I never believed even while religious is that God was obligated to line up everyone's deaths in a manner that was pleasing to everyone. We can't ask him for freedom but then curse him when something happens that we don't like. People tend to blame God when things go wrong but never give credit when things go right. I don't say that to downplay your loss...it's something that happens very frequently, in general.

It is unfortunate that people such as your pastor, who does claim to be religious, don't offer true words of wisdom when people actually need them. That's just plain cowardly...sounds like he wasn't willing to face tough questions/a bad situation.

This right here. We do everything good and God only does horrible wraths. Yeah,whatever.

 

[Synekal]

Cheating. If you aren't happy with someone or if you start sniffing up another tree you should be honest with yourself and your partner and break up. Why put someone through unnecessary hurt and pain that they don't deserve?

 

[Quasimod0]

Gotta praise Him during the good times and the bad. We arent God. We dont know how certain things affect other things.

 

[Quasimod0]

Cheating. If you aren't happy with someone or if you start sniffing up another tree you should be honest with yourself and your partner and break up. Why put someone through unnecessary hurt and pain that they don't deserve?

this. Or when you're married and things arent going well, make them go well. Do everything in your power to stay together. Whether you want to or not it has such a profound effect on your kids. They need a mom and a dad

 

[Hound55]

Glee
Smallville
Lady Gaga
The Hills
Laguna Beach
Anything Kardashian related
Mischa Barton (who the f*** are you and how can people claim that you're famous???)
The majority of pop music today
Joel Anthony...

 

[Kane52630]

Glee
Smallville
Lady Gaga
The Hills
Laguna Beach
Anything Kardashian related
Mischa Barton (who the f*** are you and how can people claim that you're famous???)
The majority of pop music today
Joel Anthony...

And this is why I like Hound

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Mischa at least acted before she became a socialite.

 

[Duke]

Glee
Smallville
Lady Gaga
The Hills
Laguna Beach
Anything Kardashian related
Mischa Barton (who the f*** are you and how can people claim that you're famous???)
The majority of pop music today
Joel Anthony...

I agree with everything except Smallville. I can't judge it since I've never bothered seeing it.

 

[rodhulk]

While we all have our free choices to the best we see or want to see things, each individual must make up their own mind on whether to believe in God or not. The reaons are multiple on both sides, I'm sure, the question I would ask both an unbeliever and a believer are: "Do you really believe what you believe? If you don't, then why do you have a belief in something at all?"

As per not introducing your child to a religion which was mentioned by a poster above, I believe one should if you have a faith you believe in (I'm speaking from a christian perspective here personally), this introduces your child to something you, the believer, obviously believe in and as far as you are concerned, this is an act of love. When your child grows up, this will be a part of them but they will still have the opportunity to search other things if they so desire.

 

[rodhulk]

Glee
Smallville
Lady Gaga
The Hills
Laguna Beach
Anything Kardashian related
Mischa Barton (who the f*** are you and how can people claim that you're famous???)
The majority of pop music today
Joel Anthony...

Agree with almost all!

 

[Aesop Rocks]

I don't understand the appeal of people ending their sentences in an ellipsis...

 

[Hound55]

If you accept that God gave me free will, then what right do you feel you have to preach to me to try and convince me to do something dfferent than what I'm already doing (theologiclly speaking)?

Do you feel you know better than God?

 

[Hound55]

I don't understand the appeal of people ending their sentences in an ellipsis...

I do it to give my posts a different sense of pace or to accentuate a joke.