Religious Freedom: Only for Christians? - Comments
Posted by
Steve Gentry, Syracuse on April 9, 2007:
What bothers me about most religions is that they insist that theirs is the only "true" way and all others are going to Hell. No, I'm not Atheist, far from it. But even members of my own religion insist I'm damned for Eternity since I don't belong to one particular church. I agree with you about the Hypocrites. When one of them quotes from the Bible as justification, I can usually find another quote to refute them. Their defense? Shut my dirty mouth because I "obviously" don't understand the Bible as well as they do.
Just sign me as a member of the Church of the Holy Moly Are Some of You Really From Planet Earth?
Posted by
Laura, Columbus OH on April 10, 2007:
I strongly believe that almost every religion goes down the tubes when it gets 'organized'. Once a religion has a set of rules that you have to follow, it starts getting messy and you start having problems. Why do you think that there are so many sects in Judaism, Islam and Christianity? (I don't know enough about Taoism, Buddism, Shitoism, Paganism and the other religions to say whether or not they have sects.) Someone didn't agree with the rules or the way the religion was interpreted, so they went off to form their own branch. And then the branches start fighting with each other and you have feuds and different interpretations of the holy book or books and then things get even messier...
That's why these people who write you feel that they have the right to tell you that you're anti-Christian or anti-whatever; you're not adhering to the rules that they feel are 'correct', so you're wrong and going to hell or wherever for it.
It's really upsetting that this is the only way that these people can communicate; especially since, at the core, most of the religions hold the same belief, regardless of how they say it. 'An it harm none, do what thou wilt' in Pagan terms; in Christian ones: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. (www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm is a cool website that shows this for a whole slew of religions.)
It seems to me that religion was meant to help people behave their best towards others by promising either a reward now or a reward after death. Unfortunately, people who don't want to acknowledge the worth of others twist religion to exclude those they don't like and to justify their poor treatment of others, sometimes to the point of glorifying and justifying murder. And for something that says you should treat everyone else as if they were you, which basically promotes the intention of helping us to be better people, that's a pretty sad result.
Posted by
Ron, East Moline, IL on April 11, 2007:
I decided about ten years ago that every religion I ever studied was ludicrous in one way or another. So, in keeping with that thought, I created my own religion. My deity is Evelyn, a 300 foot tall ebony woman with six breasts. It works out great when proselytizers accost me with that old saw "Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord...etc." I just answer, "Nope, I worship Evelyn, and since she is 300 foot tall, she can kick Jesus' butt!"
The fact is, I am an atheist, but 'being' an Evelynist makes for some great conversation, and you'd be surprised the number of fundamentalist Christians who will just walk away with no argument. Which is exactly how I want it.
Posted by
Jo, Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 13, 2007:
It is absolutely extraordinary how frightened people of all religions are of beings they have never heard and never seen. It is also amazing that religious adherents believe that the leaders of the sects know more about the diety than they themselves do, not unless they've personally discussed things with the diety they don't!
Believe in a diety or not, we all think, in one way or another, that there is something more powerful than we who is responsible for life and the Universe and what not. I severely doubt that anyone has ever seen it/him/her - at least not since before the coming of the redeemer, whatever the name/sex/religion of said redeemer.
Posted by
Mike from Dallas on April 16, 2007:
When I was a teenager, some old biddy was telling me that all non-Christians were going to Hell. And most Christians, too, really.
In fact, as I pursued it, she informed me that the only people who were going to Heaven were members of the Church of the Nazarene. And not even all of them. They had to belong to the CORRECT Church of the Nazarene.
Finally, it boiled down that the ONLY way to get to Heaven was to belong to the Church of the Nazarene on Altama Avenue. If you had the bad luck to be born anywhere else, well, I guess God says it sucks to be them.
Posted by
Barbara in Utah on May 9, 2007:
It amazes me that people who accept the Bible as God's Word can then ignore the verses of God's word that command us to refrain from judging, because He reserves that right exclusively to Himself. Usurping God's authority as the ultimate Judge of all mankind is a sin, right?
Seems to me that the person who claims to know the Will and Word of God should honor it in all respects, especially where it pertains to post-mortal destinations for other people. I really think God's smart enough to make those judgments for himself.
Religious Freedom: Only for Christians? - Comments
Posted by Steve Gentry, Syracuse on April 9, 2007:
What bothers me about most religions is that they insist that theirs is the only "true" way and all others are going to Hell. No, I'm not Atheist, far from it. But even members of my own religion insist I'm damned for Eternity since I don't belong to one particular church. I agree with you about the Hypocrites. When one of them quotes from the Bible as justification, I can usually find another quote to refute them. Their defense? Shut my dirty mouth because I "obviously" don't understand the Bible as well as they do.
Just sign me as a member of the Church of the Holy Moly Are Some of You Really From Planet Earth?
Posted by Laura, Columbus OH on April 10, 2007:
I strongly believe that almost every religion goes down the tubes when it gets 'organized'. Once a religion has a set of rules that you have to follow, it starts getting messy and you start having problems. Why do you think that there are so many sects in Judaism, Islam and Christianity? (I don't know enough about Taoism, Buddism, Shitoism, Paganism and the other religions to say whether or not they have sects.) Someone didn't agree with the rules or the way the religion was interpreted, so they went off to form their own branch. And then the branches start fighting with each other and you have feuds and different interpretations of the holy book or books and then things get even messier...
That's why these people who write you feel that they have the right to tell you that you're anti-Christian or anti-whatever; you're not adhering to the rules that they feel are 'correct', so you're wrong and going to hell or wherever for it.
It's really upsetting that this is the only way that these people can communicate; especially since, at the core, most of the religions hold the same belief, regardless of how they say it. 'An it harm none, do what thou wilt' in Pagan terms; in Christian ones: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. (www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm is a cool website that shows this for a whole slew of religions.)
It seems to me that religion was meant to help people behave their best towards others by promising either a reward now or a reward after death. Unfortunately, people who don't want to acknowledge the worth of others twist religion to exclude those they don't like and to justify their poor treatment of others, sometimes to the point of glorifying and justifying murder. And for something that says you should treat everyone else as if they were you, which basically promotes the intention of helping us to be better people, that's a pretty sad result.
Posted by Ron, East Moline, IL on April 11, 2007:
I decided about ten years ago that every religion I ever studied was ludicrous in one way or another. So, in keeping with that thought, I created my own religion. My deity is Evelyn, a 300 foot tall ebony woman with six breasts. It works out great when proselytizers accost me with that old saw "Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord...etc." I just answer, "Nope, I worship Evelyn, and since she is 300 foot tall, she can kick Jesus' butt!"
The fact is, I am an atheist, but 'being' an Evelynist makes for some great conversation, and you'd be surprised the number of fundamentalist Christians who will just walk away with no argument. Which is exactly how I want it.
Posted by Jo, Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 13, 2007:
It is absolutely extraordinary how frightened people of all religions are of beings they have never heard and never seen. It is also amazing that religious adherents believe that the leaders of the sects know more about the diety than they themselves do, not unless they've personally discussed things with the diety they don't!
Believe in a diety or not, we all think, in one way or another, that there is something more powerful than we who is responsible for life and the Universe and what not. I severely doubt that anyone has ever seen it/him/her - at least not since before the coming of the redeemer, whatever the name/sex/religion of said redeemer.
Posted by Mike from Dallas on April 16, 2007:
When I was a teenager, some old biddy was telling me that all non-Christians were going to Hell. And most Christians, too, really.
In fact, as I pursued it, she informed me that the only people who were going to Heaven were members of the Church of the Nazarene. And not even all of them. They had to belong to the CORRECT Church of the Nazarene.
Finally, it boiled down that the ONLY way to get to Heaven was to belong to the Church of the Nazarene on Altama Avenue. If you had the bad luck to be born anywhere else, well, I guess God says it sucks to be them.
Posted by Barbara in Utah on May 9, 2007:
It amazes me that people who accept the Bible as God's Word can then ignore the verses of God's word that command us to refrain from judging, because He reserves that right exclusively to Himself. Usurping God's authority as the ultimate Judge of all mankind is a sin, right?
Seems to me that the person who claims to know the Will and Word of God should honor it in all respects, especially where it pertains to post-mortal destinations for other people. I really think God's smart enough to make those judgments for himself.
Read the article that everyone's commenting on, or post a comment about it.