Post by m on Jul 28, 2003 9:07:27 GMT -5
Okay, I disagree with all of that. If all there was to human nature was greed, we wouldn't have accepted religion at all. As humans, we want what is best for ourselves, but we also have a lot of good traits. We DO need to teach ethics from one generation to the next, we just don't need religion to help us do it.
Then several tens of billions of people who have been alive during Earth’s history are wrong?
Been there, tried that, and while I'm still working out what I need, I know now that I'm happier without religion than with it. Every time I try to believe in a higher power, I've ended up disenchanted and disappointed. It's taken me a while, but I've realized that the things I do believe in give me all the strength I need.
Depends on what you are expecting, and why, from the higher power you believe in, in which you are not an atheist is you keep that door open.
<<Humans don't have those values, we really don't. Look at a child, we tell them not to do something and they do it anyway.>>
Not always true.
Yes it is. Children are like empty jars, they don’t know right from wrong, as well as some adults now, until they realized that some actions result in unfavorable consequences.
So, our society needs outlets for its greed and brutality. Maybe we'd be better off if we accepted that there is a certain level of immorality in each of us, instead of squishing ourselves with restrictive religion.
I find religion to be quite liberating, it’s man’s own sinfulness that leads many to believe that religion is bad and restrictive. But then what difference does it make if one has no morals or beliefs?
I wonder how you can believe that any one religion is the true one, when there are so many that so many people believe is true, and when so many have risen and fallen.
Now think about that one for a moment. How long has Christianity been around? You have these fake religions and cults that come up, professing to be the true way. A bunch of people sign up and they die some horrible death. Other religions are aggressive to non believers and tell its followers to kill all non-believers. Now you take Christianity, which can be backed up with historical and archeological facts. Show me another religion that has facts behind it. Can you name another religion that grows because of persecution? Second, relativism, the idea that everything matters and everything is valid is false! All it does is make people accept and fall for everything under the guise of being “open minded.” Except that one’s mind is so “open” everything falls out.
Then several tens of billions of people who have been alive during Earth’s history are wrong?
Been there, tried that, and while I'm still working out what I need, I know now that I'm happier without religion than with it. Every time I try to believe in a higher power, I've ended up disenchanted and disappointed. It's taken me a while, but I've realized that the things I do believe in give me all the strength I need.
Depends on what you are expecting, and why, from the higher power you believe in, in which you are not an atheist is you keep that door open.
<<Humans don't have those values, we really don't. Look at a child, we tell them not to do something and they do it anyway.>>
Not always true.
Yes it is. Children are like empty jars, they don’t know right from wrong, as well as some adults now, until they realized that some actions result in unfavorable consequences.
So, our society needs outlets for its greed and brutality. Maybe we'd be better off if we accepted that there is a certain level of immorality in each of us, instead of squishing ourselves with restrictive religion.
I find religion to be quite liberating, it’s man’s own sinfulness that leads many to believe that religion is bad and restrictive. But then what difference does it make if one has no morals or beliefs?
I wonder how you can believe that any one religion is the true one, when there are so many that so many people believe is true, and when so many have risen and fallen.
Now think about that one for a moment. How long has Christianity been around? You have these fake religions and cults that come up, professing to be the true way. A bunch of people sign up and they die some horrible death. Other religions are aggressive to non believers and tell its followers to kill all non-believers. Now you take Christianity, which can be backed up with historical and archeological facts. Show me another religion that has facts behind it. Can you name another religion that grows because of persecution? Second, relativism, the idea that everything matters and everything is valid is false! All it does is make people accept and fall for everything under the guise of being “open minded.” Except that one’s mind is so “open” everything falls out.
