Why do people always think God = religion?

Haven't read all the posts here but I'd like to mention that this topic has been discussed by:

Montolio DeBrouchee and Drizzt Do'Urden in the novel: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Sojourn

I forgot most of it but Montolio, the blind ranger said that People create a lot representation for God.

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I want to understand.

Read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, in this book Christianity is explained in logical terms, unlike the usual jargon you'd hear from a christian. C.S. Lewis is a WW veteran who was an atheist, but was converted and went on to write these great books, including Narnia.

Faith acknowledges dependency, while society in it's current state heavily dictates independence.

Independence is a fools errant, one people are more then happy to chase since it creates distinctions and as such enables dominance and superiority over others.

As long as everybody happily contributes to this notion, in the belief he himself will at one point in time be allowed to dominate, the circle remains, like a dog chasing it's own tail.

Religion at it's core is a vessel, a means to an end, one that has to be discarded once the goal is attained.

Peace,

-Boem-

I am an atheist because beleiving in god did not make sense to me. It seemed irrational. I came from an atheist family as well, but they never ever talked to me about god, neither mentioned that are atheists themselves. For me the phrase "You cannot prove that God does NOT exist", has pretty much on the same intellectual value with "You cannot prove that flying elves do not exist", which is pretty much zero.

That being said, i have no issues with anyone beleiving whatever he wants, within the context of organized religion or not. I myself have had great interest and studied many religions, due to my interest in philosophy, literatre, history, sociology, anthropology etc.

what people do with their personal time is up to them. Christopher Hitchens said it like this (paraphrasing):


"We are not taking your toys away. You could keep it, play with it, bring it to someone that likes to play with it too. The problem comes when you force your toy on us who don't want to play."



Like both sides, there are people who are just hijacking the "idea" or "group" just so they could hate.

Haters gonna hate.

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Raycheetah wrote:

Everyone else in either camp is just a tribal troll, seeking a false sense of moral or intellectual superiority. ='[.]'=

Little bit of a mean generalisation there, Ray. Some people don't get a lot of choice in the beliefs they are allowed to have, either through family or culture - or sometimes even peer groups.

Anyways - what makes a Christian, or a Jew, or a Muslim more sincere than another? For the most part, they are required by their particular faith/denomination to believe a specific set of things. Depending on circumstances, those things may be ones that you (or I, or Vibe) disagree with. Does your judgement that those beliefs are wrong make them insincere?

I quite like Vibe's idea. He is choosing to believe and put his faith in his God without the annoying need to subscribe to a whole bunch of other things that may go along with it.

It's a little confusing for others, sure, but I don't envisage a lot of situations where you'd have to explain it.

What I said is quite simple.

By "sincere" I mean living up to the tenets to which they claim adherence. For a Christian, that means following the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you), and not using that faith as an excuse to hate others for any reason. I'm not gonna get into the tenets of other faiths, as I don't believe it is germane to my point in this context.

Anyone else who claims to be a Christian, yet does not behave as commanded to by the Bible, has other, dishonest motives for making that claim. They may have been raised to live contrary to those tenets (cf the Westboro Baptist Church), but their "faith" is in their sense of superiority to others, and not in service to God.

Snarky internet atheists are the flip side of SJWs. They feel ennobled by their stance, but only at the expense of others for whom they can express contempt.

So long as your faith/beliefs/philosophy in no way harms another, nor promotes harm or hatred, you should be left in peace to practice it. I strongly believe in the individual's right to freedom of worship under those terms. Proselytize, if you like, but also accept rejection of your beliefs. You can always pray for the other fellow afterward, if you like. It shouldn't bother him, and it should make you feel better. =^[.]^=

I just hate the hypocrisy. I know a lot of proud Muslims who drink, gamble and fuck around and then when it's Friday they go to the mosque and everything is fine. Fuck that.

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Xavderion wrote:

I just hate the hypocrisy. I know a lot of proud Muslims who drink, gamble and fuck around and then when it's Friday they go to the mosque and everything is fine. Fuck that.

I only consider that flawed if they proclaim on thursday that nobody should be drinking and gambling.

Peace,

-Boem-

There are a lot of people that can think of God outside of religion (for example, philosophers).

I'll agree partially with Raycheetah: follow the Golden Rule and I won't be against you if you are religious. That being said, muslims hardly have a free pass (do you read the news?).

I never liked Dawkins because he completely diminishes spirituality in his campaign against religion, and he usually neglects the value that alot of religious text have outside the supernatural. He is there to provoke beleivers and sell books. His books are totally useless to actual atheists. From the little i have read of his books, it seems to just copy/paste arguments that have been around forever. Atheism can be traced back to Aristotle, with his opinion that human should be a "political being" and not a religious one, an idea that influenced the hell out of Karl Marx.