• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Shooting at an Orlando Gay Night Club

Lots of people get something positive out of being Christians. I say good for them. Life is tough. Whatever helps them get through it. Can religion be used as a tool of oppression? Of course, and when it morphs into that I think it's deserving of criticism. But when it helps people cope with the difficulties of living and provides meaning, I say good for those folks. I'm not gonna automatically dismiss their beliefs as fairy tales. Especially since I don't know what exactly their beliefs are. Christians are so varied.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
Indeed, that doesn't necessarily validate their beliefs.

I think we all believe that Scientology is a bunch of fairy tales, right?
Click to expand...

Scientology is a moneymaking scam, a cult, that seriously harms people. Christianity CAN harm people, any religion can, but I think overall it is now more of a positive force for most people. Scientology, with the exception of a few minor positive effects, almost always damages people.
 
Deacsfan27 said:
Replace it with Muslims and we are good to go here.
Click to expand...

Most Muslims are, in the main, good people. But in Muslim countries Islam is used as a tool of oppression, as a justification for denying women and gays the most basic of rights. I'm sure you'll bring up the religious right, but I don't consider it a valid comparison. Just look at how gays and women are treated here as opposed to a Muslim country. Most Americans are Christians, but the overwhelming majority of Christians aren't calling for gays to be executed or imprisoned.
 
Deacsfan27 said:
Are the overwhelming majority of Muslims in America calling for gays to be executed?
Click to expand...
I'm sure most Muslims in the United States are more moderate than those in Muslim countries. In general, we tend to take the more well educated, more affluent members from their countries. Not sure what that has to do with Islam being used as a tool of oppression in Muslim countries though. There are Christian countries in Africa that are equally backwards. But at least there are many Christian countries where that's not the case. I can't think of a single Muslim country where gays are not under threat. Not even in "moderate" Indonesia.
 
Deacsfan27 said:
Yeah I got that, but I stopped believing in fairy tales when I was 5 or so. I would prefer more people operated under the parameters of things that we can actually control.
Click to expand...

Reject Christianity or not, but to reject it because it is a "fairy tale" belies the fact that you haven't made even the most superficial attempt to grapple with modern and post-modern Christian theology, and particularly the efforts at demythologization of the early 1900s. Calling Christianity a "fairy tale" reveals that you are precisely as unsophisticated - no more, no less - in your thinking as the lowly Christians living in the shadow of your nose.
 
Last edited:
it's a bunch of fables just like every other religion that has ever existed
 
BobStackFan4Life said:
No one says ISIS speaks for all Muslims, though they have far greater worldwide Sunni support than the loons at Westboro have Christian support. That's basically a church made up of family members. Do you know a single person who supports Westboro? It's probably not more than a hundred people. Anyway, look at the attitudes toward women and gays in the Muslim world. It's incredibly backwards. That's just the reality of what's going on. It's not comparable to the situation for gays and women in this country. It's world's apart. Yet we keep seeing these posts about the lunatic fringe of Christianity, as if they're indicative of Christian attitudes in this country. In country after country in the Muslim world, gays live in fear of being arrested and executed. Women get arrested for refusing to wear the hajib and face other forms of state-sanctioned abuse. It's just not comparable, yet you and other anti-Christian/pro-immigration types keep bringing up this stuff.
Click to expand...

Dude, the attitude towards gays and women in one of our major political parties isn't really that far away from the Muslim view
 
Shorty said:
Speaking from a Christian perspective, if you don't believe the author of the Book of Jonah had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he wrote the book, you're so dumb.
Click to expand...

Regardless of the mindset of the author, who was of an entirely pre-scientific age, there is certainly no requirement that Christians believe there actually was a Jonah, much less that he was actually in the belly of a whale. I go to church, and I don't know a single person who believes that literally happened. Again, to posit things like the Jonah story as an objection to Christianity reveals a remarkably child-like understanding of Christianity, which is ironic, because it is precisely that trait in certain Christians that they are objecting to.
 
DeaconSig said:
Says the guy a few steps away from needing depends.
Click to expand...

I don't know how BKF's urination habits are relevant to the discussion, but he's right that someone who thinks republicans' views on the gays and women are similar to those of the Muslim world isn't worth taking seriously on the subject.
 
Junebug said:
Regardless of the mindset of the author, who was of an entirely pre-scientific age, there is certainly no requirement that Christians believe there actually was a Jonah, much less that he was actually in the belly of a whale. I go to church, and I don't know a single person who believes that literally happened. Again, to posit things like the Jonah story as an objection to Christianity reveals a remarkably child-like understanding of Christianity, which is ironic, because it is precisely that trait in certain Christians that they are objecting to.
Click to expand...

Believe me, there is a lot more to object to. Like the total lack of evidence supporting Christianity. I'm not saying there isn't more to life, but I am saying every organized religion the world has seen is false. And that's based on a lot more than the vacation inside a whale. Jonah is just a fun example.
 
Junebug said:
Regardless of the mindset of the author, who was of an entirely pre-scientific age, there is certainly no requirement that Christians believe there actually was a Jonah, much less that he was actually in the belly of a whale. I go to church, and I don't know a single person who believes that literally happened. Again, to posit things like the Jonah story as an objection to Christianity reveals a remarkably child-like understanding of Christianity, which is ironic, because it is precisely that trait in certain Christians that they are objecting to.
Click to expand...

Your understanding of Christianity seems to be more nuanced than the understanding of most mainstream Christians. Basically in that you don't actually believe most of the bible as some sort of factual historical account.
 
wakelaw13 said:
Believe me, there is a lot more to object to. Like the total lack of evidence supporting Christianity. I'm not saying there isn't more to life, but I am saying every organized religion the world has seen is false. And that's based on a lot more than the vacation inside a whale. Jonah is just a fun example.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "the total lack of evidence supporting Christianity?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top