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If u r a Christian, welcome. Talk about Christian things please. Don't put anything on here if u r not a Christian. Thank you

You want an empty thread? 'cause this is how you get an empty thread.

Edit:: Bible.

thats mean some people do care about god

I think he was referring to a lack of Christians. But either way, that wasn't mean xD

... But there are Christians on this site.

I know :p

And knowing is half the battle! G. I. JOE!

I find it kind of hilarious, Ford, that you actually assumed this thread would be empty ... you haven't been on the internet long enough, apparently.

Oh, sheiza. Segregation. Delightful. 

This should be interesting. But what do you mean about talking about Christian things? And why would you bring something as controversial as religion onto our happy site? And why, Dear Lordy why, would you ask for only Christian replies?

The rest of the world has something to say, too.  I would beg non Christians to post on this thread. 

Sorry, said it wrong

Wait, why not? Does my 'Jewishness' offend your 'christianness'? Don't you guys want to talk to other religions to teach us how you're right? 

I learned Catholicism is actually closer to being a Jew than being a Christian other than opinion on the Messiah.  

No.

Why no?

Why yes? Do you have any clue how many laws and regulations Judaism has?

The Holy Trinity itself is considered idolatry by us haha.

We have many laws and regulations too. While Christian churches have little to none other than praise Jesus. I've studied the same things for 12 years I think and I'm still not a full member cause I have yet to be confirmed. 

Most religions, aside from Protestant Christianity, have a lot of regulations and laws.

Please, find me a religion with an as convoluted and obscenely long book of laws on a book of laws on the bible aka the Talmud.

Challenge accepted. I'll get to it after I prove the "wolves fucking and eating dogs" thing to nmelssx.

Well, Islam is quite restrictive. I know it isn't as long and convoluted as Judaism and the Talmud, but still...

Talmud. Bitch. XD

And then you realize hundreds of rabbis wrote just as convoluted commentaries on the Talmud, and then proceeded to write commentaries on the commentaries of eachother.

Did I spell it incorrectly?

I'm not arguing with you. In fact, I was actually agreeing with you, believe it or not, telling hugs that the existence of rules in Catholicism doesn't really make it that similar to Judaism.

Spell what incorrectly?

Naw, I'm just explaining it haha.

The Holy Trinity, one of the bases of Catholicism, is considered heretical by us. >_< 

I don't see why. Unless its just about Jesus? I don't see why the Holy Spirit would be a problem. 

God, according to Judaism, comes in one and only one form. Stating that he comes in different forms (The father, the son, the Holy Spirit) is akin to stating God is multiple beings.

Yeah. Exactly. 

Thanks. I needed the support.

xD

He's still one being but is three persons. The Trinity is very complicated. Yeah okay I see. 

Hmm...time to go watch some Doctor Who.

That's the crazy thing. We (Jews) realize that, but our doctrines teach that any sort of multiple physical manifestations of god is idolatry. We're strict like that ^_^

Jesus was the only one that was truly physical. As in touch physical. That's one. 

And then you have 2 other manifestations. God only comes in one form(less) for us haha.

God explicitly talked to Jesus, the night before he was executed, if I remember correctly.

We talk to God each time we pray. We are human. Jesus was human. He prayed. Therefore talked to God. 

Hmm...but Jesus and God are two inseparable entities. Well, I mean it's possible for people to talk to themselves, but he was asking God for fortitude. Also, while a difference can be seen between the Father and the Son, it is almost impossible to distinguish the Holy Spirit from the Father. To me, that seems similar to including indigo in the rainbow just so all the colors will spell out ROYGBIV.

How dare you, indigo is totally different from blue and violet!

They see it as a pantheon. Polytheism. Three gods = false gods. 

It's one still one god to us. One god. 

The concept of the Trinity is One God, three personas. Or, like different branches of the same tree, if you prefer an object lesson.
 

Jews, Catholics, and non christians are welcome. Sorry for the first post.

No Muslims or Buddhist? Dam!

Why not just say everyone is allowed haha

Well, from what I hear, they both forbid the rape of seals, right?

Catholic here. What in the world are you talking about, HugsGoodbye? You can name many other denominations closer to Catholicism before you get to the Judaism. The trinity alone makes us stand out.

Oh great, Jesus-Worshipper infighting. *grabs popcorn* 

I'm not looking to start a fight. I just wanted some clarification, especially since HugsGoodbye's early responses were very simplistic. Their later responses are clearer now, even though I still politely disagree with them.

That's true but our masses were based off Judaism ceremonies and is the closest to still probably. 

Doubtful. It's natural that there would be some type of similarity, since we are, essentially Abrahamic religions. However, I had a friend say that we're closer to Greek Orthodox as far as ceremony and mass goes. I have not had the privilege of attending any other such masses, so I cannot speak from first-hand experience. However, you have the burden to show how Judaism is closer to Catholicism than other denominations. All you've done so far is try to show argue a close connection to Judaism without showing claim or proof that Judaism is closer in comparison to other Christian denominations.

I realized my sentence may have been misleading. And a bit backwards. 

Out of the Christian religions, Catholicism is the closest to Judaism. 

If that makes more since. 

Wrong actually, I'd say Seventh Day Adventists. They tend to follow Old Testament teachings fairly closely.

Don't know who that is. 

*goes read*

It says its a branch of Protestant. Other than that the only thing saw that surprised me was the had communion only four times a year. I did see anything on teachings. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church#Health_and_diet

That's the exact thing I read it from. Could you tell me what section?

What do u mean by that is the excact thing u read it from??

He means that the page james linked him, was the same page he read from.

The health and diet section.

That's still hard to believe. It's a bold statement. You better prove it. In a way, that implies that Catholicism branches off from other forms of Christianity in a way that's closer to Judaism. In reality, one our biggest difference, the Holy Trinity, actually goes farther aware from Judaism belief and other Christian belief.

I'm trying to get references though a lot of what I know about my religion is from catechism. 

And I don't see why you think the others would be closer. Catholicism was the first branch of Christianity and stemmed straight off Judaism while the other Christianities broke from the church. 

And no hugsgoodbye, After Judaism, Christianity came then Catholosism came.

Facepalm

Catholicism is a Christian religion. It was the first Christian religion. 

Not!! Read the Bible!!

What xD Catholicism is a denomination of Christianity, and was the first I think. In fact, Catholicism is the largest denomination.

• Judaism
  • Christianity
    • Orthodox
    • Catholic
      • Lutheranism
      • Calvinism

If I can remember correctly.

    

Thanks Jamescoker1226. You are absolutely right.

I didn't think of Orthodox. I forget about it so that very well may be. 

There are some I didn't mention, but Christianity can essentially be broken into Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism. I believe Orthodoxy is much closer to Catholicism than it used to be, though. I think I read somewhere that they even acknowledge the Pope as a  intermediary between God and the people.

True

Do you know how Orthodox was started? Because I can find is it was because of the Great Commission or something. Which happened after Jesus' resurrection. Which may have been before he told Peter to start the church. I don't have a bible so I can't check anything. 

Nope, didn't happen till a little later.

Could you elaborate on which one didn't happen til later?

11th century. Great Schism. Seperation of Orthodox and Catholic Churches. There were some offshoots before then, though.

I think it was something to do with a disagreement with the pope. Not sure though.

(Sorry, I leave the computer for a moment and see all these quick responses I didn't expect. Took me a while to figure out where to respond.)

Anyways, I highly suggest you don't use a bible to see where the origins of certain current denominations come from. Even in my high school World Religions lecturer did not use the Bible as reference for that. You might want to look at this link to get a visual idea on how things branched out with time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_denomination#Taxonomy

Think about it.

Jesus is baptized according to God's will. When Jesus comes up out of the water, the Father says 'this is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.' The Holy spirit comes down out of the sky in the form of a dove as the Father says that. The Father spoke to Jesus at least twice.

"Out of the Christian religions" - xD They are called denominations. There are also branches, and I think cults.

"I learned Catholicism is actually closer to being a Jew than being a Christian"

Catholics are Christians.

Elaine, not to be rude, but the majority of this site is irreligious. Putting a post like asking non-Christians to stay off is rather rude and will not make you a very popular (at least, in a good way) person.

My work here is done. 

You can talk about Christianity without being Christian. I'm Catholic and went to a Catholic school with many non-Christian or Catholic students. A more open forum of discussion tends to lead to better discussion.

AIELALALALALALALALALA JIHAD!

Boom.

You just made me wake my cat with laughter. Thanks. 

Well...there was my laugh for the day.

Ah. Another asshole Christian, I see.

Coins, please don't start this.

I didn't say Christian are assholes, I said this one is.

Great another atheist asshole

and not saying all atheists are assholes, just this one

(see what I did there?)

Mainly it's funny how the OP was possibly misguided in asking non Christians not to post here and from the other posts clearly didn't mean it in an offensive manner, probably simply wanted a thread where they wouldn't have constant crap or spam simply due to the fact they hold a religious belief and wanted to talk about it.

its the internet so I expected the jokes and spam and questions as to why no non-Christians.

But as well and very sadly the immediate response from several people was an childish derogatory attack and trying to call the OP an asshole for no other reason I can see but the fact they are a Christian who wanted to discuss their beliefs with like minded people. Jokes are funny, talking about why they didn't want non Christian Input here cool, discussing religion is great but the auto insult spam simply makes certain people look like childish uneducated bigots and I'm just not in the mood tonight to deal with idiots who think attacking Christianity despite their complete lack of knowledge of either religion or the scientific theories they uphold in its place makes then seem smart. 

Seriously, I don't know why but I had grown to expect more from this site, and shouldn't be disappointed in our members but I am, guess I'll go back to ignoring the lounge threads.

Sorry, but you're getting this upset because of coins? That is a very low level of tolerance you have there, though I haven't read through this whole thread.

Just a bad day dealing with some very ignorant people today, I know coins is just an attention seeker and wannabe troll but just not in the mood today.

At the risk of sounding like a smart ass; Do you mean ignorant as in they just don't know (textbook definition), or ignorant as in they are stupid?

Ignorant as in if I questioned them on their actual beliefs and scientific theory they would come up so lacking as to appear stupid, they usually rely on immediate insults and attacking every little thing the person says to cover their own lack of knowledge and or intelligence, see Coins post below for a prime example.

The OP was clearly wanting a thread to discuss Christian things without have crap flung at them by a childish idiot as sadly happens a lot on the internet due to the high number of very young people with little to no actual scientific or religious knowledge trying to be funny or trying to look smart by 'Christian bashing'. Now unless Coins has an IQ under 50 then Coins knows this but they leapt at the opportunity to be said childish idiot and leap straight to derogatory comments. Ignorant atheists are the worst people to discuss anything with, much much worse than the ignorant religious people I have argued with many times in the past. Coins is simply a prime example.

Why the hell would she say that in the first place?

Because she probably didn't want to debate anything.

Believe it or not, coins, some people post things about their personal beliefs without looking for a fight. xD

The fact that she does not possess the tact to try to stop a fight from occurring instead of starting one  with her attempts can be attributed to two things: One, she's a kid. Two ... this is the internet. We can fight about pudding and sporks, of course someone is going to freak over religion.

I'm a Christian! I...

rest my case. xD 

I thought you were a devotee to Capy.

Oh yeah. Right. 

Bows before giant statue of Capy. 

What I hate about the site:

1) coins

2) coins

3) coins

4) coins

5) coins

Great, it's the stupid kind of Christian.

ABACK, BEAST! THE POWER OF CHR-... Oh, that won't work...

THE POWER OF SATAN COMPELS YOU!

This thread is more painful than having hundreds of nails hammered into you and then being shoved into a barrel and pushed off of a cliff. Religion is confusing. 

Then why r u on this thread

Well, if she wasn't on it, how would she know if it was painful to read or not xD

I'd say world religion and religion in general is actually pretty fascinating. It's the real life application, history, and politics behind it that makes the real mess.

I'm a Christian...*wink* *wink*

Though I have to ask, why did you spell "you" as 'u' and 'you'?

U know the answer to that already, Danaos :P

I feel that I do but I have no idea what you mean. I'm thinking of so many answers right now that's it's hard to pick one.

People txt-spk all the time. It's a fad because word limits on texts. I think?

I just know I can't stand it unless done in satire.

I am making a new one of these so if you are a Christian please respond on there. If you are not then please, please don't respond on the new one. Keep responding on this one ONLY!! Jews, Catholics and other variations welcome.

I have a right to respond, you can't deny anyone the right to post on a thread.

Sadly as much as I think your honestly just trying to start a thread to discuss Christian things, this isn't really the way to do it as asking non-Christians to stay away simply inflames some of them to ensure they post in it to try and attack you. There have been many interesting religious discussion on this site I've seen and been a part of in threads and pms but the moment to try to exclude a group, you will be attacked for that and the thread will railroad.

Thanks for the info

I do it on my phone because typing on a phone is a pain in the ass.

Catholism comes off a bit like polytheism not so much due to God being "three entities" but more for the fact you've got Catholics praying to saints for guidance/favors.

Which if you're familiar with the bible you're really not supposed to be doing.

The interesting thing happened around the time of the gnostic heresy. When a group began worshiping angels too as a form of intercession. It all went bad after that and it was purged to ensure it didn't carry on happening but it was interesting that the saint intercession still carried on. 

Of course, and a Catholic may well correct me here, the intercession is not actually worship, but simply asking a saint to speak to God on your behalf and therefore is different to worship but it's an awkward line when put into practice

Judaism has a similarish thing, though even that (asking for intercession) is kinda taboo for us. The idea is that when you pray near a grave of a great Rabbi, you're not praying to the Rabbi to speak on your behalf, you're just more or less hoping his merit will make God consider your prayers more.

Something like that.

We have a Catholic Church near my house and there's some statue (Saint Jerome?) that has a pot filled with dirt and it's just kinda standing there in front, watching cars and Jews wanting to buy falafels pass by.

I was raised a Catholic so divine intercession isn't weird to me. But your description fits 

I don't see it as weird, and I know why it's done in many cases, the weird line for me is practicing it in a way that fully follows biblical teaching without it changing into somthing else as sadly I've met many people who have taken it past intercession and into a twisted form of saint-worship with defiantly isn't biblical

I see what you mean now. I guess that's the reason I don't pray to saints very often. I feel it takes away from the close connection though sometimes it is useful. 

Yeah, you definitely got it right. It is supposed to be intercession (not taboo to my knowledge), but the line does get very fuzzy. How fuzzy tends to depend on where you come from. Depending on where you go, there are some places that would directly pray to saints or Mary even if you are not supposed to do that. You are asking essentially requesting the saint to pray on your behalf. Do not forget that it is not only saints but the Virgin Mary we do this towards .If you look at the words of Hail Mary, you'll notice that we do not directly pray or worship Mary. We are asking her to pray for us. This is also what we do at the end of the rosary.

We do consider ours a monotheistic religion, though. Technically, all you need to do is look at our prayers to see it. Nicene Creed is probably the clearest example of this, but there are other occasions in mass where we declare that we believe in one God.

The reason it's taboo (for us) is because we're supposed to talk to God directly, without any sort of intermediary doing it for us (which is odd, since the Kohanim sort of do that for anyway), but yeah.

Yeah, that makes sense. (even if you do think of the Kohanim thing) Considering how the Saint and Mary gets used in certain forms of prayer, I can understand. It's one of the reasons why I get that why some of the stricter groups of worshipers want to ban any type of holy imagery and symbols and consider it a form of idolatry, even if I disagree with that.

Isn't Christianity really just an altered form of Dualism anyway?

Seems like if it was truly monotheistic, God would be doing all the evil stuff along with all the good stuff. One God does it all.

Instead, you've got another entity, The Devil, who granted isn't considered "a god" but is for all intents and purposes the embodiment of evil to counter balance God's good.

Like I said, sounds more like an altered form of Dualism just with the cards stacked in the good guys favor.

 

Not exactly. I'd say it's a little more complicated than that. Remember that you can still be a monotheistic religion that still has dualism elements within it. (and vice versa) A more clearer version of Dualism would be Zoroastrianism, in my opinion. We're different in that the Satan is not the equal of God. He is a creation of God just like all else. While he works against God, he is not the true and equal opposite.

Look at it like this. The entire infrastructure of the religion is not choosing the side of God against Satan. It is choosing to worship God. If you look at the Bible, you will not see Satan as the sole opposition of God. In fact, more conflict comes from different forms of rejecting God, worshiping false, lack of faith, etc.

Oddly enough, most historians claim zorastrianism was/is monotheistic. I have no idea why or how they claim that though.

Never heard that one before. I usually just hear about it being an influence on the three major monotheistic religions.

Yeah, I remember discussing it with my history teacher in 9th grade. Apparently, Zorastrianism was the first monotheistic religion or something nonesensical like that. 

It's a pretty fascinating religion, actually. Last I checked it's one of the oldest world religions today. It was actually the first religion we covered in a World Religions class I took.

As for why it's considered monotheism by historians, I think it's also a case where it's a little more complicated than being either monotheistic or dualistic. There is clearly a belief and worship towards one god, but there is also the belief that there is an opposing force, which is inherently evil, but no worship. I've seen more than one description on Zorastrianism, and I think that's one of the problems that have it defined as one of the other. It also doesn't help that when people think the word monotheism, some interpret as worship towards one god, not just the belief that there is solely one god. Then there was something I read that said something like Zorastrianism was not necessarily a static religion and moved from dualism to monotheism with time. Not so sure about that last one, but is sounds like the problem just boils down to semantics.

Not really, Satan yields to God. While one represents good and one evil, the good one clearly overpowers the evil one. So, I don't think dualism is appropriate. Plus, I thought we discussed this before, the implication that God created evil, as well as good.

"Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am also." -Matthew 18:20

Hello @elaine. Nice to see another fellow Christian here. ^_^ Sorry about all the flak you're taking on this thread. I totally understand your desire to fellowship with other Christians.

Sadly that's the way of the internet but there are actually quite a few Christians on the site as well as many of other faiths. They are just usually less outspoken I believe due to response they standardly get online.

That, coupled with the fact that we're generally a tolerant bunch and don't feel the need to "enlighten" everybody with our own take on religion.

 

More than likely, Forge.

Thank you @Thinslayer. I can't figure out who is a Christian and who isn't. Why can't they just state their religion and we can then talk about the religion.

Why does what religion they are matter?

I could give you a list, but I'd probably get chewed out. As far as the stating their religion thing, that's not always easy to do. Some religions are more...esoteric...than others, and, as such, the members aren't necessarily at liberty to talk about their faith. Others don't want to bring up their beliefs because they fear it will end in argument (which it has, several times). And even more just don't feel that their beliefs are that big of a deal and that, while they are a part of who they are, there is really no point in discussing them.

Izlam is the shizlam

Booyah 

Speaking of Islam, I need to find the time to read up on the Queran sometime.

It has a lot of beautiful language in it, it's actually very saddening what it is twisted into in many places.

I don't like organized religion, at all. Spirituality is a personal thing, and I view an omnipotent being as powerful as God more than capable of taking everybody on as a case-by-case basis. My personal belief is that we're put on Earth to live a good life by morals only known to God, and once we achieve Nirvana we are granted access to the afterlife. If we live a life of sin, or die before earning entrance to the afterlife, we are reincarnated back onto Earth and granted another chance to lead a good life, until we finally get it right.

Or we end up as nothing more than worm food. You never know.

I understand your view and I am not going to argue with you right now but I personally don't believe that.

And I don't think any lesser of you for doing so. :)

:)

I always find it Ironic that people say "we end up as worm food" to describe a total cessation of consciousness, since even the people who believe in an afterlife will acknowledge that. I usually feel that they only use that as a nasty jab to the religious, but then again, I can be pretty sardonic too when talking about the metaphysical...or, well, anything.

I'm an atheist, we atheists can post in this thread, right? It was the other one that was exclusive to christians (or was it just all religions?)

I guess I'm a little bit at the agnostic side, since I am open to any evidence of a god's existence, but I still consider myself an atheist because until god's existence has been proven to me, I consider him to be as real as Darth Vader or Superman, as in I don't consider it even a remote possibility that he exists.

Yes you can reply on this one. Don't reply on the other one please. Don't listen to anyone except me and Thinslayer please. It is up to you though

...Why not listen to anyone except you and Thinslayer?

Because everybody else is obviously wrong, silly :)

Including you apparantly...which means what you just said is wrong...which means everyone else is not wrong...which means you're right...which means everyone else is wrong...which means you're wrong...which means everyone else is not wrong...which means you're right...which means everyone else is wrong...which means you're wrong...

"This statement is false! Don't think about it, don't think about it..."

Because I everyone else is Not on the same page as us. In other words. I can't tell whether anybody else believes the exact same thing as Thinslayer and I.

So why should he listen to you and not everyone else?

So, what you're saying is that since their beliefs don't agree with your own, they should be disregarded?

I don't think that's what she means. I think she's just talking about people that flat out stated their religious beliefs or (like in my case) lack thereof.

Out of curiosity, what is it that causes you to believe there isn't a remote possibility he exists? I'm speaking out of ignorance, because I'm of a different viewpoint. What's the rational thought behind it, or is it just a gut feeling?

Well, like with the examples I mentioned, how would you answer "do you think Superman is real", you would find that kind of ridiculous, right? I mean, you know of him as a fictional character, possibly know some of the stuff he has done in his fictional adventures and the things he is capable of doing, but the idea that he is real just wouldn't be possible. That is pretty much my exact stance on god.

Ah, I see. You're a man of evidence. No shame in that, considering my own reasoning is nothing more than a gut feeling brought on by various psychedelic drugs.

How does nothing come from nothing?

I think you mean "something come from nothing".

Anyway, I don't know, but I think nothing coming from something is more believable than an omnipotent being did it.

Also, maybe there is no such thing as nothing.

Erm, I think you mean, 'I think something coming from nothing is...'. Haha.

Right, my bad.

Yes, something come from nothing. Okay. Gtg will be on tomorrow or Thursday

The Big Bang didn't come from nothing.

According to some people, atheism is a religion, by that logic I am apprarently religious. So I shall spread the word of my disbelief. Seriously though, does anyone else find it annoying when people say that atheism is a religion?

It's never really annoyed me. I mean, I don't think they're right, but people also say black is a color and zero is a number etc.

Atheism isn't a "religion" it's more of a "belief system" ... :P you're believing there is no god, no deities of any kind. (You also believe the world was not created by anything other than occurring via scientifically explain phenomena and that there is no afterlife. You probably do not believe in Satan, angels, demons, or any substantial supernatural forces.) That, my friend, is a system of beliefs! Is it silly to call it a religion? Yeah, kinda. People just seem get the two confused--why? Beats me.

Imo, calling atheism a religion is akin to saying, "My religion is that I don't have a religion."

Which is obviously stupid.

 

Which is why I said it's silly to call it one. :P

Silly goose

... *sigh* Did you miss the fact that I am not calling it a religion? Because that would mean you literally ignoring the first sentence of my post. >.>

Haha I only replied to your post in the first place because it was closest to the bottom. Chill out man, I got what you were saying, I was only making a joke :p

Ok ... :P So, why not do what logical people do and reply to the post you're actually replying to?

And I am chill. I'm tired as f*ck, but I'm chill. xD
 

Cause I'm tired as f*ck, same reason as you haha.

Fair 'nuff.

It's funny, people say that Atheism is the "un-religion", free from biases, group think, etc. In my humble opinion, I think agnostics fill that role better. Atheists believe in the non-existence of a God, so, in a sense, they are still allowing him to control their lives. Most agnostics don't even care one way or another and pay little attention to the question of God's existence.

Again, I'm not wanting to start a war, but that's what I think.

Ditto

What? Atheist are not controlled in any way. I doubt most of them even think about religion, the same as agnostics.

Technically, being an agnostic has nothing to do with whether you believe in a God or not. It's more so about the fact that they're open to the idea that there MIGHT be a God, but not necessarily, which is why I view myself as an agnostic theist. That's why there are agnostic atheists, who believe in the possibility of a God, but don't necessarily believe in one, and also agnostic atheists, who believe the idea of a God in general is either ridiculous or untrue. 

The same goes for gnostic theists, who believe the idea of life without there being a God is ridiculous.

Definition FTW!!

"A person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God"

So yes, being Agnostic has a lot to do with (dis)belief in God.

"being Agnostic has a lot to do with (dis)belief in God."

"A person who claims neither faith NOR DISBELIEF in God"

So no, it doesn't haha.

Hence the (). lol You can add or remove the Dis part.

Everyone else seems to be stating their beliefs, so I'll chunk mine in as well. I'm agnostic. I used to be a practicing Christian. I used to be something similar to Deist. Now, I'm stuck in the middle of the road with no particular beliefs of my own. I like reading about and studying various religions, though, I really don't throw my lot in with any of them.

Anyone believe in the war to end all wars...Armageddon?, told in Revalations.

Only when humans are apathetic enough to not care if a sociopathic narcissist knows how to create bio-weapons and his goonies monopolize just about everything.

Revelations is weird. To bad it likely got altered a bunch of times and we don't really know what it says.

I don't think it got altered too much; it's meant to be hard to understand and told in parables, kind of. 

"Kind of" lol

True, but even a word change could change the meaning of a parable. 

God would not allow anyone to change his words to mean something else. I DO believe he would allow one to change them to make them more understandable, i.e. the King James Version.

Yes, but as an open minded Christian i believe it would be beneficial to keep in mind human error is very possible and if it wasn't why would Moses write this?>

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)

 

Yes, i believe the people who translate the word do so to the best of their ability, but some things may have been lost in translation, one thing spoken in one language can have a different effect in another. It isn't uncommon for a licensed and schooled pastor to know several languages so that he may compare the texts in those languages as well receiving different insight and enlightenment as opposed to that of only one.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. (Revelations 22:18)

"John" wrote this^ as he became overwhelmed with emotion from the vision and visitation of an angel. This most likely is a curse placed on the scroll of Revelations and all who translate its words i'm sure broke out in a cold sweat after reading this.

 

To me it is more important to meditate on God's Word rather than debate whether it's contents are credible. Receive enlightenment through your own connection to God. Allow him to teach you, and if you believe my previous statement is correct then somewhere in yourself you believe in the spiritual power of God and your connection to him aka 'The Holy Spirit'. As it was explained before the different names of God are one and the same. Just like how your mind can tell you it is time to study, your body tells you you need a snack, and your heart tells you studying sucks. These are not different people telling you what to do, but different aspects of yourself.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)

 

Anyways,

Im a Christian by todays terminology (though i hate what stereotypes it implies), and its nice to see others of similar faith. Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox, etc...

Key word "Similar"

 

One thing, Muslims believe in Allah. Islam is NOT a "similar" religion.

Allah is just Arabic for "God"'; it is not his personal name.

Well then, what r the wars In the middle east all about?

It's complex and, to be honest, everybody seems to say something different.

I'm not the best person to ask.

Holy War (Jihad) and getting 'back' their land which was taken from them after they attacked the Jews/Israellis and lost.

Kinda irrelevent religious-wise though. Islam is Abrahamic, starting from Abraham and just diverting with Ishmael.

Yeah so...

Okay, no offense, but you are starting to really seem rude. Please, try to be a little more considerate.

I am sorry its just...

Islam is related to Christianity and Judaism lol. It's just that simple.

>.>

Really? You could try researching these things before acting superior.

What differentiates Christianity from every other religion in the world is the Biblical doctrine of salvation by faith alone. Roman Catholics, Islamists, Jews, everyone else believes some kind of good works are required for salvation. But the Bible teaches the opposite: works play no part whatsoever in your salvation, but they are the fruits of salvation.

So no. Christianity is not just dissimilar; it is the polar opposite of every other known religion.

Christianity refers to all Christian Faiths and no, not all Christian churches believe that faith alone will save you.

If I know anything then Catholics believe that works will sace you. Thinslayer, u r right about everything else.

^Again, note that not all Christian denominations require faith alone either.  Some are more draconic than Catholicism in what must be done (The Scarlet Letter, for example)

Catholicism < Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic?

You really need to note which 'Bible' you're talking about haha.

I wouldn't say Christianity is the 'polar opposite' of every religion either.

Many call themselves Christian, but few are they which heed the words of Him who founded it. Scripture defines what Christianity is, and Scripture clearly and unequivocally teaches salvation by faith alone.

Completely true

james already answered this well, but I just want to add. Allah has around ninety nine names. Most Arabic speakers of the Abrahamic religions, refer to there god as Allah. So in essence, your argument is invalid.

Didn't Moses also write that he tied his ass to a tree and walked (20 or 30?) miles?  I couldn't find it in my bible, but a catholic I used to work with told me it was in another book, that wasn't in my bible...

@grasshopper

May I point something out? I'm not trying to be rude, but this is a writing site. A little effort in trying to spell things out wouldn't hurt. :)

I will try better. And Roman Catholics believe in works rather than faith.

Thank you. :) 

What does that have to do with the price of tea in china? It doesn't really change anything. People will believe what they want to. 

I'm starting to believe that Elaine is just trolling everybody haha.

Christianity is not the "polar opposite of every other known religion" because it believes in "salvation through faith alone."

For one thing, it's squarely on the side of the group of religions which believe in the concept of salvation.  

I get the impression you don't know much about most other religions, let alone "every other known religion."  Correction- I think you might know a lot about what your religion says about why it's better/ more correct than a few other religions.

Christianity also shares with some but not all religions: a belief in a supreme deity, an afterlife divided into heaven and hell, lack of reincarnation, the existence of a distinct and separate soul, the date December 25 as one of religious significance, the insistence upon evangelism (preaching your beliefs to others with the intent of converting them to your religion,)  gender roles which are specifically mandated by the deity, and of course, a religious text which claims to be the infallible word of the deity.

#religiousbeatdown

xD

Dammit I came back to this tread purely to arge religion with you but this was just a put down of a person :(

Who are you talking to?

You ;)

its ok, I half got you too on BHB lol

In Christianity's defense, it doesn't believe that 25th of December is a date of religious significance. Nobody knows when Jesus was born, Christians just stole the date from some Roman festival or other and said. "This is Jesus birthday now... Be happy!" 

The Catholic Church in general was great at hijacking pagan holy days and assimilating them to gain more converts.

We're also very good at hijacking other things, such as seats of power, land, wealth, etc...

...well, until we agreed we couldn't be violating human rights however we so pleased.

Stealing holidays is fun! ^_^

Yes, I just stole Boxing Day and renamed it Foxing Day.

Don't put anything on here if you aren't a Christian... I think you are mistaking CYS for a bible study support group. There's a huge variety of religions represented here, I'm Wiccan for example.

Honestly, I find it kinda sad that you only want to hear from one single religion. There are a lot of really fascinating and beautiful religions from all over the world and throughout history. It's kind of sad to limit yourself to only hearing about one. 

That and posting a "Christians only" thread on a public forum on a website that has nothing to do with religion is kind of asking for your thread to be hijacked. *eats popcorn and watches the thread* Can't say I'm not entertained. :P

You're a Wiccan? That's cool.

Yes, but just to be clear... it's not anything like all the strange gothic people seem to think it is... 

The media always likes to portray wiccans as weird people out of tune with reality. The worst offender I ever saw was the movie "Baby Mama" where one of the surrogates was wiccan and demanded she and the family eat the placenta after the birth(disgusting).

 We don't believe in elves, fairies, or cursing people. Just because someone is a wiccan doesn't mean they practice witchcraft and vice versa. We also don't believe in a "right or wrong" religion. I mean, anyone that worships an all powerful deity of any kind would be kind of close minded to think that their god couldn't take on any form and name they pleased. The main difference is how people worship, but everything would be awfully boring if we were all the same :) 

We also believe is "karma" if you want to call it that. We call it the Rule of Three. Everything you do in life will eventually come back to you three fold, good or bad. It ties in with our belief in reincarnation. The idea is to be reborn however many times it takes for your soul to be ready to join in with the creator (sort of like nirvana). If you collect bad karma, then you might be born into a difficult situation or one best suited to teach you a lesson, you'll either overcome it and cancel out the bad karma, or not learn it and just collect more before repeating the process. 

Some Wiccans also practice ancestor worship, and the some choose to worship in groups and others choose to be "solitary". I've always been solitary except for a short while several years ago when I met another Wiccan, we often worshipped together back then. I've read that the larger groups often have orders like the catholic church, priests and priestess of various ranks for example, I prefer not to rely on anyone else to guide how I worship. 

Its a diverse religion and sadly a misunderstood one. I am not as vocal about my beliefs in person because of the discrimination and prejudice that some people hold towards Wicca. They assume we ride broomsticks and cast curses and worship a "devil" that we don't even in believe in. 

 

I don't have any malice towards Wiccans. In fact, I don't really know much about them, besides what you told me. Plus, I know how people act towards that sort of thing. When I was in Middle School, I took a book about Paganism (or Neopaganism) to school. The principal saw me reading it, accused me of practicing witchcraft, and threatened to call my parents.

I had similar problems in high school. I had a teacher that turned out to be a preacher's wife and I'm from an area with a lot of Baptists(actually my family is Southern Baptist). She accused me of devil worship and trying to... curse her. But, when it turned up that I was never disruptive in her class other than reading books that were probably like you were reading during breaks or before class let out after the lesson was done, she ended up being the one to get a warning.

I also had a chemistry teacher that was fascinated by the witchcraft aspect of it. At the time I was studying (not practicing mind you) different types of the craft and how it factored into my religion. In all honest, casting a spell for most Wiccans isn't much different from a Christian reciting the Lord's Prayer. It's a written set words to speak out loud as a means to worship and ask our god for help or wisdom. At least that's the sort I studied. I wasn't interested in any actual "magic" so I only really studied what was relevant to my interests. 

I did get really interested in what some people call green or garden witchcraft, which is basically a mix of learning about different herbs/aromas and how they effect the human body. Sometimes its mixed with ritual and spells(though honestly they feel just the prayers I used to recite at the dinner table with my parents). The biggest thing I miss from back home before I joined the military is my herb garden and the journals I kept about them. Never needed to buy hardly any medicine. I had everything I need to cure anything from a headache to the stomach bug. Now I gotta rely on Goody powder and storebought herbal tea.(used to make my own teas).

Hmm, I also had Oral Comm with a woman claiming to be a witch. She had an uber-extensive knowledge of herbs and stuff and would tell people what herbs to use when they had a problem. She was really nice, but she often picked at me and once told me that my Sean Connery impressions were interfering with her James Bond fantasies.

Hmmm, it's a little odd to hear about a witch that doesn't have a religion closely related to her craft. Even if it isn't wicca, usually witchcraft is deeply spiritual. But, I have heard of garden witches who only follow the craft without religion being involved with their craft. I prefer to honor the earth and plants that the gods give us as I practice, but it isn't required to do so :). I do hope that she didn't pick at you too much though.

Hmm...I didn't say she wasn't religious. She actually gave a presentation on her beliefs. I don't know if they were Wiccan. I think she mentioned a Goddess, though. She described her craft as being a sort of priesthood.

Oh I see. Sorry, that's what I get for assuming. It sounds like she was Wiccan, though not solitary. She was probably part of a coven in the area, which is a nice support group for school aged kids to have. I just had my mentor at that age, which makes things feel a bit secretive even if they aren't. Wiccans that practice in groups are, regrettably, a bit out of my knowledge. I've never been around one and other than what I've read about them, I'm a bit ignorant of how they work. :/

She wasn't a kid. She was 24. This was college Oral Comm. Sorry for not specifying; I know I just got through talking about Middle School. She did mention a few get-togethers with other witches, though, she never stated whether she worshipped alone or in solitude.

Ah okay. Sorry it's been a long work day for me. My brain isn't wanting to keep up with the time frame changes xD

Okay, that makes a lot of sense. Some covens are extremely secretive and rightfully so. Likely she took an oath and part of it keeps her from speaking in specifics about it. When I was first initiated, part of my oath also involved a bit of secrecy about certain aspects of the religion. Other than those parts, I'm very open about it obviously. But, I'm also solitary, so it doesn't really effect anyone besides myself. 

Yeah, Wicca actually sounds very interesting. Better than any of the other things I've read about.

Christianity: I'm really familiar with it, so it bores me somewhat. Still, neat concepts.

Judaism: Kinda scary.

Islam: Really scary. JK.

Hinduism: Meh.

Buddhism: Pretty cool, but I don't really agree with the idea that plants are capable of achieving enlightenment.

Jainism: So nice that you don't even realize one of their main symbols is a swastika.

Satanism: Eh...I'm agnostic, but I was raised with the belief that Satanism is the epitome of evil, so I still have trouble with that one.

Deism: Good points, but rather boring.

Masonry: I don't think the whole "oath of secrecy under fear of death" thing does much to help them recruit.

I absolutely love reading about other religions! They're all beautiful in their own way. 

I think Judaism is really fascinating. Most of what I know is from conversations with Aman and a few book suggestions he's given me in the past few years, but very interesting. I have a lot of respect for it.

Hinduism and Buddism are the most similar to Wicca that I've studied, mainly it's the belief in reincarnation. But, the dedication of the monks is beyond anything I could do personally. Though I kind of draw the line with worshipping a human being that was recorded to exist in history... I believe in respect and admiration, but I reserve my worship for actual deities.

Masonry isn't really a religion. They follow Christianity, but their order is borderline cultish. I dated a Free Mason a few years ago (keep in mind I live in the deep south) and I didn't find out about it until I found his "Free Mason Bible". After that I asked him about it and he told me that his father and grandfather had been members as well. And that all the times he was going "hunting" he was actually going to their meetings. I hadn't talked to him about my religion yet and after that I was too afraid to do so. In my town the Free Masons were fairly active and had done enough to make me way to scared to tell him I was anything besides Christian and stay in the relationship. I cut it off and stayed away from him. That was the only relationship I ever ended over personal beliefs. I still have a healthy fear of them to be completely honest.

 

Hmm...I was just kidding about Judaism. I do have a lot of respect for the Jewish. Still, some of their beliefs...I can't really agree with.

If you were to just go off the Quran, Islam would seem like a very peaceful, progressive religion (especially in regards to the equal treatment of members of both sexes, ironically)

Hinduism is pretty cool, but I don't have much interest in its teachings. The caste system seems a little backwards to me.

Buddhists, don't really worship Buddha, or so they say. I saw something in the Shambhala Sun, saying that meditating in the presence of the Buddha's likeness can help you achieve enlightenment more quickly.

I'm glad you cleared up the Masonry thing. Everybody else says that "while the Freemasons are monotheistic, the god they worship is distinct from the god of the Abrahamic religions".

Hmm...Masonry...I built my own incinerator, and I sharpen masonry bits to drill hardened steel.  Maybe I should look into that one...

While I get your humor, I believe they mean The Free Masons. It's a secret society dating back to(and before) The American Revolution

"Machinery's Handbook is the Bible of the mechanical industries."

Yeah... My brain decided to shut down after the first diagram xD

 

It is pretty dry reading, but after 20+ years in this business, I've read it all, but I still have to refer back to it when I need to know something specific about something that I haven't done before...

Has there ever been a bad portrayal of Buddhists?

I mean I can think of "evil" stereotypes for just about every religion or belief system, but I'm genuinely trying to think of any form of media that has portrayed Buddhists in a bad light (real or fake). I'm sure they exist I'm probably just not familiar with them.

The closest I can think of is when you're playing civilization 4 and a civ attacks you because they're Buddhists fundamentalists and consider you a bunch of infidels that need to be destroyed.

Which is really funny when you think about it.

Well, there is that one guy in anger management. Also, in Hangover 2, they are portrayed as extremely austere (but not really evil).

Well, maybe you can make a group of Buddhist villains in your next story.

I guess they could be so indifferent to suffering to such a degree that it comes off as evil, but I'd rather have it more proactive evil rather than just cold apathy.

Stepping it up a notch I suppose they could twist the idea of the "Four Nobel Truths"

Suffering: "Life is suffering" so they inflict torture on folks AND themselves in some warped way to move on up to nirvana or whatever.

Arising: Only through the torture do you see that life is ultimately meaningless and you long for death. Naturally they'd be torturing the people so much that they would be begging for death which to them means they had succeeded in converting them!

Cessation: Now that the believer has seen the light now their cycle may end and can be killed.

Path: Not sure about this one, I'm guessing this could be reserved for those that want to genuinely join this group ("The Path"). Maybe they have to realize they have to continue to live out their cycle of suffering so that they may "help" others end their own. By doing so, they are actually suffering greater than anyone and will eventually experience the greatest reward when it finally all comes to an end.

Well that's the best I got with my quick half assed knowledge of Buddhism. (and attempt to make it evil)

Here are my recommended changes.

1.They believe by inflicting suffering on others they are helping those others to achieve Nirvana.

2. Buddhist aren't nearly as evangelical as other religions, so I'm not sure that one would fit.

3. They kill others at times they deem opportune, so that their chances of escaping Samsara are greater.

4. I don't know what you're getting at.

Like I said, I just briefly scanned through a quick page about buddhism, so I didn't really sit and really analyze everything in attempt to synch everything up with the belief system.

Besides, I figure if they're evil sadomasochistic buddhists, they're already twisting everything anyway so it doesn't really need to match up. Besides all that, I mentioned in the other religious thread that writing about any religion isn't something I get very enthusiastic about anyway. Ha ha.

It's like Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom. The followers of Kali in that were about as far as you could get from real Hindu practices, but it hardly mattered since it could be all explained away due to they were a fanatical cult offshoot rather than followers of the true religion.

Hmm...I guess all religious fanatics are the same, regardless of what they are claiming to follow. Well, carry on.

@EndMaster - Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee novels.  The hero is a Confucianist.  Buddhist monks are the main villains at least once, and every time they show up, they're portrayed extremely unflatteringly.

Ah I see.

And with this new found knowledge I have achieved enlightenment.

I think Buddhist tend to go killing the Muslim minority in Burma.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/17/myanmar-mob-killsmorethanadozenmuslims.html

Kinda disappointed they didn't note the Muslim men were dying.  Seeing how Islam is a male-lead religion, killing the men would've made it known that Muslims were losing their religious leaders.

I'm an Orthodox Pagan, and we share all the same holidays.  So, am I welcome or not?

Wait, you said you were agnostic.

I'm a recent convert.  XD

Umm...okay. I've heard worse lies.

I could be an Agnostic Pagan.  ;)

Well, most Buddhists are Atheist, so I guess it's possible.

I also follow a pagan religion. But, I have to admit I've never heard of... Orthodox Pagan. I'm curious, maybe tell us some more about it? :)

Edit: nevermind, looks like you were joking. Should have read the replies first xD

I've heard of Reform Druidism...no, wait, that only exists in Spaceballs. XD

Joking aside, wouldn't orthodox paganism be true to the "old ways" as opposed to neo-paganism which seems to incorporate "modern adjustments?"

I suppose so, there is a huge difference between modern pagan religions and their ancient counterparts. Alot of it just factors into if you follow the path set down by whatever modern person decided the religion should be(like a revival if you will) or to stick to the way things were before. I'm not really sure if I would fall under neo-pagan or... "orthodox" pagan. I couldn't care less about any of what Gerald Gardner has to say. I'm sure some of what I believe and practice falls under what he says, but I've never paid much attention to him. I prefer to study what I can of the older aspects of it. There's actually records of cave drawings depicting the god and goddess of Wicca that date back to the cavemen. Traditionally, the god is a man with deer antlers and the goddess is represented by the triple moon or the maiden/crone. 

I may be wrong, but I believe Gardner(considered neo-pagan) follows the temple and priests/priestess form of wicca. I don't know how old the teachings are that I follow, but I believe in a mentor and apprentice mindset. An elder, more experience wiccan brings the younger, newly converted or ready to commit wiccan into the group. It takes a long period of mentoring and teaching, including rituals and meditations. When the mentor believes the apprentice is ready, they there is a long ritual where the apprentice gives themselves to the Goddess' service. Sometimes, in larger groups there is also a blood oath to bind together the group as blood siblings. I went through both the blood oath and the commitment rituals. It was a really beautiful experience and very meaningful/personal for me.