I Wonder (Religion)

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
1

I Wonder…

If the whole world was required to get on a ‘read the BIBLE in one year’ program and actually stick with it & take it serious, would the world be a better place?..

Would crime go down? Would people love one another more, regardless of race? Would people try to better themselves and the ones around them? Would they know there thoughts & actions are always being watched & logged, so they would be more careful about actions & thoughts? Would drug use & obesity be a thing of the past? Would pollution stop? Would species that are endangered flourish? Would wars be less often and maybe even not happen? …etc

Iron Life

2

No.

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[quote]Dragon wrote:
I Wonder…

If the whole world was required to get on a ‘read the BIBLE in one year’ program and actually stick with it & take it serious, would the world be a better place?..

[/quote]

Some guys are sitting around a cave on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border having the same discussion about the Koran.

4

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Dragon wrote:
I Wonder…

If the whole world was required to get on a ‘read the BIBLE in one year’ program and actually stick with it & take it serious, would the world be a better place?..

Some guys are sitting around a cave on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border having the same discussion about the Koran.[/quote]

It’s not just about reading it, but the heart, Jesus put it better in a parable:

Gospel of Matthew 13, verses 19-23:

19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

and Gospel of Mark, chapter 4:

14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop–thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

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Parables aren’t important. What is important is that 1)hypotheticals are pointless, and 2)the Bible isn’t magic. It is only as powerful as the reader wants it to be. And if you send me $349.99, I can show you the age-old secrets of unlocking the true power of your desire to follow Christ. Amen.

6

I we’re going to convert the whole planet to a single religion, I think we’d do much better with Buddhism.

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What about scientology? If we all read Dianetics by L Ron Hubbard then maybe the world would be a better place.
Or what about buying the world a coke? According to one TV commercial, that would make the world a better place.

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I second Pookie’s idea. Buddhists tend to keep their noses out of other people’s business, and on those rare occasions they’ve decided to end their own life, I don’t think any of them felt obliged to take anyone else with them.

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[quote]Cunnivore wrote:
I second Pookie’s idea. Buddhists tend to keep their noses out of other people’s business, and on those rare occasions they’ve decided to end their own life, I don’t think any of them felt obliged to take anyone else with them.[/quote]

For the sake of argument, Aum Shinrikyo, the cult responsible for the 1995 Tokyo subway attacks, borrowed heavily from Buddhist scriptures, although they certainly used used other traditions as well.

10

If we were all agnostic we could agree on confusion :slight_smile:

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[quote]Dragon wrote:
I Wonder…

If the whole world was required to get on a ‘read the BIBLE in one year’ program and actually stick with it & take it serious, would the world be a better place?..

Would crime go down? Would people love one another more, regardless of race? Would people try to better themselves and the ones around them? Would they know there thoughts & actions are always being watched & logged, so they would be more careful about actions & thoughts? Would drug use & obesity be a thing of the past? Would pollution stop? Would species that are endangered flourish? Would wars be less often and maybe even not happen? …etc

Iron Life [/quote]

Between 1618 and 1648 the Lutherans, Catholics and Calvinists (all people who undoubtedly had read the Bible and took it quite seriously), slaughtered one another across Western Europe, in order to settle the question of whose interpretation of the Bible was the correct one. The Thirty Years War, in addition to thirty years of bloodshed on the battlefield, also caused heavy civilian casualties due to famine and disease.

So no, wars would probably not disappear. As for your environmental concerns, there is nothing in the Bible commanding man to take care of the earth. Quite the opposite, in fact. How could mankind have any choice but to wreak environmental havoc after reading Genesis 1:28 (Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.)?

And then in Genesis 2:5 we find the preposterous notion that the earth needs Man to plow the soil in order for the plants to grow. Plowing the soil has, of course, caused more environmental devastation (through erosion and deforestation) than probably even the automobile.

The rest of the Old Testament is a litany of rape, incest, torture, homicide, fratricide, patricide, regicide, genocide, and pesticide (old bald man sending bears off to maul little children).

Have YOU read the entire Bible, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21? Are you a better person because of it? If so, then good for you. But I think you might be disappointed if you expect the same results from the people of the entire world, especially when most of them already have their own holy books (such as the Upanishads and the Qur’an), which they likely read more extensively, know more intimately, and take more seriously, than you do your Bible.

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No.

The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights?

Maybe…

Mufasa

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no. things would get much worse. particularly if it was required if everyone had to read the bible. bibles, religions, they have destroyed humanity for centuries, or i should say, enslaved. wars, discrimination, division, etc have been because of religion.

i think if we got rid of all that shit and let people think for themselves, create paradise on earth instead of waiting to see if its there in death. Bibles, priests, popes, whatever, don’t know the secret of life, god, and the solution to our problems no better than everyone else.

14

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
No.

The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights?

Maybe…

Mufasa[/quote]

Seconded. It’s quite scary how few Americans have actually READ the constitution and it’s amendments.

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[quote]BH6 wrote:
What about scientology? If we all read Dianetics by L Ron Hubbard then maybe the world would be a better place.[/quote]

Don’t forget the lawyers.

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[quote]mundele wrote:

For the sake of argument, Aum Shinrikyo, the cult responsible for the 1995 Tokyo subway attacks, borrowed heavily from Buddhist scriptures, although they certainly used used other traditions as well.[/quote]

For the sake of counter-argument, Asahara Shoko is about as Buddhist as David Koresh and Jim Jones were Christian.

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[quote]Dragon wrote:
I Wonder…

If the whole world was required to get on a ‘read the BIBLE in one year’ program and actually stick with it & take it serious, would the world be a better place?..

Would crime go down? Would people love one another more, regardless of race? Would people try to better themselves and the ones around them? Would they know there thoughts & actions are always being watched & logged, so they would be more careful about actions & thoughts? Would drug use & obesity be a thing of the past? Would pollution stop? Would species that are endangered flourish? Would wars be less often and maybe even not happen? …etc

Iron Life [/quote]

Not everyone’s religious book is the Bible. I’m Muslim, so I read the Quran. Making 1.7 billion Muslims read the Bible isn’t happening, along with making Jews and other religions read a holy book which they don’t follow.

But lets go back to your question. Lets say everyone read their own holy book in a years time. I think some people will act better, some will stay the same. I don’t think it would change every single person in the world, but the more it changes, the better. It’s upon the individual on whether they want to accept the change and can apply it in their everyday life.

18

[quote]Varqanir wrote:
mundele wrote:

For the sake of argument, Aum Shinrikyo, the cult responsible for the 1995 Tokyo subway attacks, borrowed heavily from Buddhist scriptures, although they certainly used used other traditions as well.

For the sake of counter-argument, Asahara Shoko is about as Buddhist as David Koresh and Jim Jones were Christian.[/quote]

That’s fair. My point wasn’t so much that Buddhism was dangerous, but that anything can be turned into a tool for violence. People will keep killing each other no matter what philosophy they claim to follow.

19

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
No.

The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights?

Maybe…[/quote]

How about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

As a bonus, it can be read in about 10 minutes.

20

[quote]mundele wrote:
That’s fair. My point wasn’t so much that Buddhism was dangerous, but that anything can be turned into a tool for violence. People will keep killing each other no matter what philosophy they claim to follow.[/quote]

It’s a lot harder to find examples of violent Buddhists than it is to find examples of violent anyone else.

Some of the core teachings of Buddhism are non-violence and refraining from causing harm (to anyone or anything). There is no equivalent to the Bible’s Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Exodus, Revelation, etc. which are filled with atrocious laws and violent retribution for “sinners.”