[quote]ephrem wrote:
<<< …obviously you have far more important things on your mind at the moment, and it’s a pity that wishing you all the best is all i can do from here, but still; i hope things will work out for you…
[/quote]
I didn’t see this before. That’s very decent of you. Thanks.
Make no mistake. I may not know at this moment what precisely it means, but I cannot be defeated while I live and move and have my being in the God who knows the exact number of atoms in all His creation and upholds them constantly by the Word of His power. These circumstances I’m in, far from surprising Him, are in fact designed by Him to nurture and discipline His stubborn child. I do know that much. That oughta give you n Mike some hearty chuckles.
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…and you continue to deflect any and all responsability for your beliefs to the great unseen skyfairy. You also continue to fail to understand my point: as long as you, by proxy through your beliefs, divide people into those who believe like you and those who do not believe like you, you’re following the same principles of thought a racist follows…
…you no longer judge people based on the colour of their skin, but you judge them [by proxy through your beliefs] based on the difference in beliefs or lack thereof. And as long as you do that, nothing will change…[/quote]
So as long as you judge people as different in any manner it is the same as being racist?
So if you judge your own family differently than you would a stranger that is as bad as hating a man for the colour of his skin?
You are basically stating any sort of group association is evil. Weird.
[quote]phaethon wrote:
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…and you continue to deflect any and all responsability for your beliefs to the great unseen skyfairy. You also continue to fail to understand my point: as long as you, by proxy through your beliefs, divide people into those who believe like you and those who do not believe like you, you’re following the same principles of thought a racist follows…
…you no longer judge people based on the colour of their skin, but you judge them [by proxy through your beliefs] based on the difference in beliefs or lack thereof. And as long as you do that, nothing will change…[/quote]
So as long as you judge people as different in any manner it is the same as being racist?
So if you judge your own family differently than you would a stranger that is as bad as hating a man for the colour of his skin?
You are basically stating any sort of group association is evil. Weird.[/quote]
…not exactly; only when the distinction that you make turns the other in to a lesser man it becomes a bad thing. Hope this helps…
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
[quote]ephrem wrote:
<<< …obviously you have far more important things on your mind at the moment, and it’s a pity that wishing you all the best is all i can do from here, but still; i hope things will work out for you…
[/quote]
I didn’t see this before. That’s very decent of you. Thanks.
Make no mistake. I may not know at this moment what precisely it means, but I cannot be defeated while I live and move and have my being in the God who knows the exact number of atoms in all His creation and upholds them constantly by the Word of His power. These circumstances I’m in, far from surprising Him, are in fact designed by Him to nurture and discipline His stubborn child. I do know that much. That oughta give you n Mike some hearty chuckles.[/quote]
…i don’t relish at the misfortune of someone i happen to disagree with, T. I’m just happy for you you have a community to support you. That there are people who look out for you…
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…not exactly; only when the distinction that you make turns the other in to a lesser man it becomes a bad thing. Hope this helps…
[/quote]
Well since when has the Catholic church said that non-believers were lesser men? In fact I’m quite certain that one of the core tenants is that all men are equal before God.
…didn’t you hear? When you don’t believe in God or Jesus Christ you’re going to hell, but if you do you’ll spend eternity in heaven…
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…didn’t you hear? When you don’t believe in God or Jesus Christ you’re going to hell, but if you do you’ll spend eternity in heaven…[/quote]
Actually I don’t believe it is so simple.
Nor would such a belief indicate that non-believers were lesser men. If I think you are making the wrong business decision and it will end with you in the poorhouse do I think you are a lesser man? No.
In the same way if you have beliefs that I believe will result in untold levels of misery for you does that indicate I believe you are a lessor man? No.
You really are stretching things and it is becoming clear that you are intent on causing division instead of unity.
…i’ve been met with condescending behaviour countless of times because a christian felt s/he was a better person than me for having beliefs that allowed them acces to heaven. I’ve been called spiritually dead, immoral and leading a pointless life for not believing…
…why do i need to be saved? Why do i need to be absolved from sin if i’m just like you? Why are christians warned against godless, immoral atheists if they’re just like you? It’s because those who don’t believe like the herd are different in a negative way…
…religion fulfills a psychological need that makes a person want to be special [over others]. A specialness that is shared by members of the same tribe. A shared bond that makes the tribe stronger in the face of adversity. Which, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing per se, but as a result positions those outside of the tribe on a lower rung…
…well anyway, that’s like, just my opinion man, for what it’s worth…
[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Funny how right wingers are typically both religious and racist. Arent they technically called the “Christian White Knights of the KKK”?
This whole “Well the whole world would be a better place if everyone were Christian” nonsense is nonsense.[/quote]
Hitler claimed to be a Christian, too. Because both groups are really Christian like.
[quote]ephrem wrote:
[/quote]
You get your philosophy from Playboy?
[quote]orion wrote:
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
When you actually believe that all men (and women) are created in the image and likeness of God, and, that said image and likeness has nothing whatever to do with physical characteristics, racism is defined out of existence before as a defining presupposition. That is the Christian doctrine and anything else is a perversion of biblical truth.[/quote]
It does however explain a lot, because if we are just like Him, He is just like us.
Thats bad.
[/quote]
Don’t mince your words, “made in his image” is not “we are just like Him.” Just because he became human doesn’t mean he did bad either.
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…didn’t you hear? When you don’t believe in God or Jesus Christ you’re going to hell, but if you do you’ll spend eternity in heaven…[/quote]
It takes more than just believing in God to go to Heaven, you should really learn about Catholicism for instance if you’re going to talk about it.
…thank you Chris, for proving my point [chapeau]…
[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Funny how right wingers are typically both religious and racist. Arent they technically called the “Christian White Knights of the KKK”?
This whole “Well the whole world would be a better place if everyone were Christian” nonsense is nonsense.[/quote]
Hitler claimed to be a Christian, too. Because both groups are really Christian like.[/quote]
Hitler has his salad tossed by the Catholic Church on a daily basis. He was a Christian, as devoted as the rest, at least in the earlier days of his atrocities before he started incorporating tribal religions and merging them to make his own. Pretty much all the antisemitism was inherited from Christianity.
Without religion, you lose a lot of the markers that cause division, plain and simple.
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…didn’t you hear? When you don’t believe in God or Jesus Christ you’re going to hell, but if you do you’ll spend eternity in heaven…[/quote]
Are your feelings really hurt so easily? You care that much about a non-existant (to you) destination of your non-existant eternal soul? I’ve never once fretted over what other religions might think on such a matter. I’ve never cared that atheists think we cease to exist entirely. I just disagree. That’s it. No hand-wringing needed.
[quote]Makavali wrote:
Without religion, you lose a lot of the markers that cause division, plain and simple.[/quote]
Yeah, Stalin thought the same.
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…i’ve been met with condescending behaviour countless of times because a christian felt s/he was a better person than me for having beliefs that allowed them acces to heaven. I’ve been called spiritually dead, immoral and leading a pointless life for not believing…
[/quote]
I’ve been met with condescending behaviour countless of times because a socialist felt s/he was a better person than me for having beliefs that “proved” they cared more about the human race than I do. I have been called a Nazi, an idiot, immoral, and leading a pointless life for not believing.
The above paragraph is true. I am certain many other members on this board have been attacked in the same manner for not believing in socialist fairy tales and treated as lesser people because of it. In fact I would say you are judged on political belief to a greater extent than you are on religious belief.
So by your reasoning socialism is a plague on mankind.
Or once again I know many Christians who have been treated horribly by Atheists because they do not believing in the same things as an Atheist. Hence Atheism too must be a plague on mankind.
So first lets remove the divisiveness that atheism and socialism cause by getting rid of them. This seems like the more practical first steps in the United States where there are many more religious than atheists, and more conservatives, moderates, and liberals, than socialists.
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…why do i need to be saved? Why do i need to be absolved from sin if i’m just like you?
[/quote]
Ummm everybody needs to be saved. We all need to be absolved from sin.
"…abominable scourge of racism. "
“racism” Trotsky’s invented term was perfect for itz intent, lol!
which is uber-cool anyway,
only the most primitive types “believe” in Race
when everyone is the same anyway,
just individuals who are different, but still the same.
[quote]Sloth wrote:
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…didn’t you hear? When you don’t believe in God or Jesus Christ you’re going to hell, but if you do you’ll spend eternity in heaven…[/quote]
Are your feelings really hurt so easily? You care that much about a non-existant (to you) destination of your non-existant eternal soul? I’ve never once fretted over what other religions might think on such a matter. I’ve never cared that atheists think we cease to exist entirely. I just disagree. That’s it. No hand-wringing needed.[/quote]
…within the context of this thread, none of my feelings were hurt at all…
[quote]phaethon wrote:
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…i’ve been met with condescending behaviour countless of times because a christian felt s/he was a better person than me for having beliefs that allowed them acces to heaven. I’ve been called spiritually dead, immoral and leading a pointless life for not believing…
[/quote]
I’ve been met with condescending behaviour countless of times because a socialist felt s/he was a better person than me for having beliefs that “proved” they cared more about the human race than I do. I have been called a Nazi, an idiot, immoral, and leading a pointless life for not believing.
The above paragraph is true. I am certain many other members on this board have been attacked in the same manner for not believing in socialist fairy tales and treated as lesser people because of it. In fact I would say you are judged on political belief to a greater extent than you are on religious belief.
So by your reasoning socialism is a plague on mankind.
Or once again I know many Christians who have been treated horribly by Atheists because they do not believing in the same things as an Atheist. Hence Atheism too must be a plague on mankind.
So first lets remove the divisiveness that atheism and socialism cause by getting rid of them. This seems like the more practical first steps in the United States where there are many more religious than atheists, and more conservatives, moderates, and liberals, than socialists.
[quote]ephrem wrote:
…why do i need to be saved? Why do i need to be absolved from sin if i’m just like you?
[/quote]
Ummm everybody needs to be saved. We all need to be absolved from sin.[/quote]
…no one said anything about anyone being a plague to humankind, so i don’t know what that’s about. But you’re right in one respect: maintaining an ideology that places a certain value on ones-self over someone who does not share that ideology is divisive and shares the same principles racism has…
…no one needs to be saved and no one needs to be absolved from sin. You are fine as you are. People don’t need to be born again; they just need to grow up…