RELIGION
Treat it like your penis.
Dont show it off in public and don’t shove it down your children’s throat.
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Well, thats true. Nice one, I loled
Nothing to add
Class act there, internet.
RED NECKS
are opposite
Those few words are profound; if just everyone would listen. . .
Honestly, i think this could go for most opinions, religion, politics, veganism…..
Actually I came out of the closet about my religion several years ago, and would prefer not to be shoved back in thanks.
if someone asks you, you can tell them, but don’t go proclaiming the word of TEH LAWD!
Yes, but the poster here is referring to this:
One thing is saying “Hey! I’m a(n) [insert religion here]” and another thing is saying “I’m a(n) [insert religion here] and so should you”. I’ve seen people like this and it’s annoying as hell. Some prime personal examples.
(From a mormon girl) “well if I find a guy from a different religion he should convert to Mormonism if he really loves me”.
(From an ex-Catholic buddy who converted to “Christianity” [i.e. Protestantism] because he had more fun in the Protestant churches)
“if gays adopt children, then it would become a cycle about gays teaching their children to be gay and repeating that from generation to generation until everybody is gay. This way the human race will dissappear”.
Whew. Until now, I was worried that the robots would rise up and kill us all. Thank God it’s going to be the gays instead.
win
*you have been rewarded 3 internets”
And if youve ever been forced to go to a place of worship, the indoctrination towarrds the kids makes me sick, as well as their hate of anything non that religion
Not true at all! I’m pagan and I’ve always been made welcome at my husband’s church. They even gave us $300 to get back into our home!
Pagan. LOL.
LULZ GODDESS WORSHIP AND RESPECT OF THE EARTH HAHAHA
yep. that’s the one.
Just to clarify, Paganism doesn’t only mean worshiping the earth. it can also mean, as in my case, worshiping the Nordic gods. Please feel free to mock me, because in my head, Ill just be imagining one or several of my gods crushing your skull with a hammer.
Also, totally agree with the picture. Irritating as anything when a person rams their religion down your throat without provocation.
Their god was nailed to a cross. Your god has a hammer. Any questions?
:3
religion is a hoax, there is no magic, no all powerful being, just reality. religion was created so people had an excuse to kill people like back 500 years or even later than that, it was going on for thousands of years. religion was created so people can control what u think and keeps people from actually thinking or even perceiving basic logic. i say religion is a waste of time, u should actually spend your life doing things u love, spend your life doing things that are fun that are considered “sins”. religion is a waste of time, why spend wasted hours on this while u could do something worthwhile. i say religion is for the lazy and retarded who cant or don’t want to think, if u look at things realistically, u might see that there is no god, gods, magic, all powerful being or being. although they hold some morals, they are a waste of time, im not saying to be evil, u can still be good, be human. and holidays like xmas are one good thing because we can take advantage of them i love the holidays because of the exchanging and the excuse to visit friends and family. good day
religion is a hoax, there is no magic, no all powerful being, just reality. religion was created so people had an excuse to kill people like back 500 years or even later than that, it was going on for thousands of years. religion was created so people can control what u think and keeps people from actually thinking or even perceiving basic logic. i say religion is a waste of time, u should actually spend your life doing things u love, spend your life doing things that are fun that are considered “sins”. religion is a waste of time, why spend wasted hours on this while u could do something worthwhile. i say religion is for the lazy and retarded who cant or don’t want to think, if u look at things realistically, u might see that there is no god, gods, magic, all powerful being or being. although they hold some morals, they are a waste of time, im not saying to be evil, u can still be good, be human. and holidays like xmas are one good thing because we can take advantage of them i love the holidays because of the exchanging and the excuse to visit friends and family. im sorry if this offends u, but i like to get my opinion out.
too long. didn’t read.
Our God parted the red sea and munched half of Egypt – their God has a hammer.
Any questions?
Pics or didn’t happn’
U jelly sad person? =D
I know what you mean. I’m atheist, but not very open at all about it. I only ever bring it up in things like this where I can relate and when I’m asked. I can’t tell ya how many times I’ve had people try to convert me. It’s completely disrespectful.
I agree. I don’t have any set idea when pertaining to religion- meaning I don’t care. And then aaaall these people ask me, and when I tell them, what’s the first thing they do?
They try to convert me.
USUALLY Christians and Catholics, no one else has really tried to…
i know the feeling every church in my city has tried to convert me. but now i just say really evil stuff in a deep creepy when they try until they back away make the cross sign and call me the spawn of the devil. then i just laugh and walk away
And that’s a BAD thing?
I applaud you! God speed brother!
Completely true and also made tea come out my nose.
Me too.
And I wasn’t even drinking tea…
That can’t be right…
The same could be said for non-religion.
Non-religion isn’t being shoved down anyone’s throat, it’s just being stated over and over again that no one wants to hear your crap. The difference is, we aren’t trying to make you non-religious, we’re just saying we don’t wanna hear about it.
well that’s good that you don’t, but don’t generalize. I get sought out and made fun of for my religious almost everyday. I don’t shove my beliefs down anyone’s throat, they shove them down mine. But I’m not saying it doesn’t go the other way around too, things aren’t one sided, so don’t act like they are
Obviously, you missed the eleventh commandment:
Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself.
- George Carlin.
Obviously you never read any parables. We are not supposed to keep our religion to ourself, we are SUPPOSED to reach out to others. Think of it like a master giving his 3 servents some coins to take care of when he leaves. two of them went out and made more money with what they were given, but the third burried it and kept it locked up safe, not making more, not doing anything with it. When the master came back the two gave their coins to him saying “look what we have done master, we have spred out and created more” but the third told him what he had done. the master was angry at the man who burried his coin. learn a lesson from this.
ask for more coins to bury…. lesson learnt
lols its just a poster guys… Frankie says RELAX.
that makes you sound spoiled
Nothing in the parable speaks to indoctrination of children before they reach the age of reason. You want to deal with reasoning adults and try to convince them of the reality of your invisible sky-god, fine, bring it on it. But are your arguments so weak that you have to force them onto children, your children, who are too young to know the difference between Santa Claus and Jesus?
If your argument is that we should not teach are children anything until they reach the age of 18, then fine. I’ll make sure mine don’t to go to school or learn any language until they are able to make the choice on their own.
Or is it simply that YOU don’t want MY children to be taught anything that YOU don’t agree with?
Maybe I don’t agree with you teaching your children that they are just machines risen from the dust, that there is no such thing as spirituality, and life is meaningless. Stop pushing that on the poor children who are too young to decide for themselves.
He didn’t say that. He just stated that we should not FORCE religion on children and let them decide for themselves whether they want to be religious or not.
Quote:Nothing in the parable speaks to indoctrination of children before they reach the age of reason.
Okay, 2 things. 1. Define the difference, in your mind, between teaching and indoctrination. 2. Give us a number of the ‘Age of Reason’
Answer 1)
Teaching: Noun: 1. the act or profession of a person who teaches.
2. something that is taught.
3. Often, teachings. doctrines or precepts: the teachings of Lao-tzu.
Indoctrination: Noun: . To imbue with a partisan or ideological point of view
2) The age of reason can be reasonably defined as the age at which a Child starts to question the “Truths” that its parents have given it since childhood, so no exact age, just when they become curious enough to want to question the Bull their parents spew
Happy now?
Wow, your an idiot Average…. Fail and missed the point entirely
Lol bennyboy…learn to spell properly before you call someone an idiot.
I resent being told what to do by obnoxious atheists who think that anyone who believes in God is evil. I also resent this EXTREMELY crass analogy made by the maker of the poster.
“don’t shove your penis down your children’s throat”…what kind of a sick freak comes up with stuff like that anyway?
christians, catholics…. well most of them actually would come up with stuff like that. and wow, critical of my spelling…. im… im stunned… speechless, in fact…. And i dont think people who believe in god are evil, I just believe there is no such thing as a single omnipotent being that “created” everything. I believe in real science and real fact and real proof. Not because some fictional book says a magic man from the sky snapped his fingers because he wanted something to do for a week. But at the same time people can believe what they want to believe i wont stop them, they can spend their time how they want to, but im not wasting my time with something that I personally think is absolute garbage to me. oh and i noticed how you re-wrote the phrase to “don’t shove your penis down your children’s throat” just to suit your argument almost clever…. the poster makes a valid and funny but true point
-comment seconded-
Typical athie.
…what’s a ‘typical’ athiest? There are billions of people out there that don’t believe in a higher power with a similar amount of reasons for that. And no, i’m not one, but….f**k, man…..
religion is a hoax, there is no magic, no all powerful being, just reality. religion was created so people had an excuse to kill people like back 500 years or even later than that, it was going on for thousands of years. religion was created so people can control what u think and keeps people from actually thinking or even perceiving basic logic. i say religion is a waste of time, u should actually spend your life doing things u love, spend your life doing things that are fun that are considered “sins”. religion is a waste of time, why spend wasted hours on this while u could do something worthwhile. i say religion is for the lazy and retarded who cant or don’t want to think, if u look at things realistically, u might see that there is no god, gods, magic, all powerful being or being. although they hold some morals, they are a waste of time, im not saying to be evil, u can still be good, be human. and holidays like xmas are one good thing because we can take advantage of them i love the holidays because of the exchanging and the excuse to visit friends and family. im sorry if this offends u, but i like to get my opinion out. kk…
^ education fail.
Everyone knows that calling out someone’s spelling on the internet is just fancy for I have nothing on topic and relevant to say.
As a catholic, you don’t need to shove YOUR penis down your children’s throats, apparently thats what your priests are for…
you sir have won the game
@YouFail… to answer “what kind of a sick freak comes up with stuff like that anyway?” I can give you two answers:
1. Priests&Co. that put scary bogus stuff inside children’s mind, who – as excellent said Mr. Harold Shuckhart above – cannot tell the difference between Santa and God, and yeah…
2. Priests&Co. who actually abuse kids and literally… Geee… What more proof do you need that there is no god, mate? You don’t know much about real world, huh?
tell me the difference between god and an imaginary friend:
god can’t be proven. my imaginary friend can’t be proven.
god keeps you company. my imaginary friend keeps me company.
god has a book written about him. I’ll write a book about an imaginary friend if you so desire.
gods book has several authors. I’ll ask several people to compile what people have written about their imaginary friends.
Everyone, please read Carl Sagan’s “the dragon in my garage” story. you can find it easily on google. it is a brilliant example of why you should not take god as a fact.
If you want to teach religionto your children do it:
a. When they are mature enough.
or
b. Show them both signs of the coin..ie the buddhist way, catholic, protestant, muslim..and whatever other religions people have invented.
what, there is a difference between Jesus and Santa Claus?! since when? i thought they were both made up lies
The difference:
Santa: If you’re good and do what your parents tell you, you’ll be rewarded at the end of the year.
God: If you’re good and do what the Bible tells you, you’ll be rewarded at the end of your life.
And only the first one is sure to happen, at least in a symbolic way…
and both are a sack of bulls**t
and so are you.
What about baptism? Gotta cleanse that newborns sinful soul! All it does is lay around all day and eat and poop itself… talk about sloth.
I recall in that parable, the master was so angry at that “worthless” unprofitable servant for merely protecting and giving back what he was given, he ordered the servant thrown out into the darkness with all the “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Isn’t that overreacting a bit? Is the master so greedy and brutal that he feels entitled to threaten his loyal servants into increasing his wealth for him? Maybe if the master had stuck around and proved his worth in a land that needed him, he’d make a far greater fortune on his own merits than any number of his powerless servants could do.
The parable was about sharing the word of God, similar to ‘not hiding your light under a bushel’. A more modern example would be hiding the sign that said ‘Warning, bridge out.’ You’d definitely want someone to say something to you about that, if you were headed down that road.
…eyah.. statistically its far more likely they would have just ended up losing the coins with their schemes.
There was a master with 3 servants. He kept them uneducated and gave them promises of a beter life if they would just not learn to read, shut up, do and listen to everything the master said and let fate deal with their problems.
On of them decided to take his destiny into his own hands instead of relying on an idea and took some medication, went out there in the real world, toward it’s light and it’s life, learned to read, started a business, made some money to care for his family and finally found a cure for a lethal disease, saving thousands of lives.
Meanwhile one of the other servants died praying his master would cure him, while the other lived as a faithful dog all his life only to die in darkness while he realized he truly was schizophrenic and that there only were then 3 servants alone all along. Learn from that parable, which is a totally made up story that doesn’t really have anything to do with anything but can still be used as a fallacy to prove just about anything.
+100 internets
“if they would just not learn to read”
What religion preaches this? Cite Catholicism all you want, but only a cult would do that in modern days.
It’s a metaphor, meathead. Sort of like how the parables are not to be taken literally, that story he told was not to be taken literally.
Actually, this is the exact OPPOSITE of what I was taught as a kid. My parents always told me that free will and thinking was a gift from God, and that not using it and blind faith is an insult. So what those priests or other religious teachers teach, if this is what they say, they’re wrong. I even heard a joke about that:
“A priest is in a church when it floods. A boat comes and the person asks ‘do you need help?’ The priest says ‘no, God will save me.’ Another boat comes, and the exact same situation happens. Finally, a helicopter comes and asks ‘Do you need help?!’ ‘No, God will save me.’ He soon drowns and goes to Heaven. He asks God ‘Why didn’t you save me?’ And God says ‘I sent you two boats and a helicopter!’
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:5-6
im sorry.. oh wait no im not.. YOU FAIL!?
im not even religious and I know the story… one of them loses all his talents (name of the currency) another one earns more and the last one saves it.. the moral of the story is completely screwed up if both guys who invested earn more money.. its not that if you gamble you win.. its that, win or lose you should do *something* with your life instead of just standing still.. or in the short version: “Awaken, Arise or be forever fallen.” -John Milton
obviously you think parables actually provide relevent information for the real world.
(hint: they don’t)
Believing in what you want is your right. But pushing it on someone else is disrespectful of their own beliefs and just plain arrogant. “My way is right, I must show everyone the error of their ways!” That’s not right.
How would you like it if a Satanist came up and started preaching to you in his/her own way? You probably wouldn’t. So don’t do it to others. It’s annoying and pointless.
So, what if people thought this way about STDs. ‘I have AIDs, I should reach out and share my new found glory with other people, whether they want it or not!’
Which is what’s so bloody annoying about evangelism. Most people people don’t want to hear about your religion. If someone comes to you with questions, by all means, answer them, but putting yourself in the position of the master providing the 3 talents as an evangelist is the same arrogance and self-centered view most folks find so offensive about loudly religious people.
Jesus also said not to build an organized religion out of his teachings. The guy’s dead (or ascended the heaven-elevator or what-now) a couple years and what do they do?
Anyone can use the bible to justify anything. Haven’t you read of when Jesus was tempted in the desert by the devil those forty days?
I was raised by the kind of Catholics that want to bury everything that doesn’t conform to their idea of a perfect world (and by bury I don’t mean hide either), which includes gays. AKA, me. So you can understand why I’m a little annoyed by this discussion.
Screw thee verily upon a burning alter where thal shalt die in the fire.
Your boss sucks and doesnt trust you, lesson learned.
A late response; but “spreading out and creating more” with inanimate objects such as coins, and comparing that to pushing people into believing something they rather wouldn’t seems like a terrible metaphorical train of thought…
wow, if you’re going to make a mockery of the arguement, STFU.
Twelfth Commandment:
He who hath smelt it, hath delt it
Thirteenth Commandment:
Thou shalt honor the day prior to the sabbath with captioned pictures of cats
Fourteenth Commandment:
Thou shalt regard the Fifteenth Commandment as true
Fifteenth Commandment:
Thou shalt regard the Fourteenth Commandment as false
Sixteenth Commandment:
Thou shalt not use me to justify your own bigotry (what part of “god loves everyone” dost thou not understand?)
Surely “being stated over and over again” is at least as annoying as shoving down anyone’s throat…I mean, if atheists/agnostics don’t care about religion, maybe people belonging to a religion don’t care too much for the opinions of atheists/agnostics.
I personally agree to that and don’t care what people say about my beliefs. I just don’t think that things should be one sided. We are made fun of probably even more then atheists. And the “Christians” that shove their beliefs down others throats and are rude to others who are not Christians are not acting like Christians themselves. Nowhere in the Bible does it say to be a jerk like that.
you are all fools.
The purpose of religion is NOT a belief in god, it’s leading a moral and beneficial life. Religion is a method to achieve that. I pity the fool who does what is right simply because god tells him to, and respect the man that does what is right anyways.
I am an atheist, but lead a moral life based on Jewish values. Does this make me Jewish?
My answer is yes.
no it’s believe in god
“@idiots… you are all fools”… those values must be strong with this Jedi…
George Carlin was a god.
There’s a difference between making fun of someone because of that persons beliefs and forcing your beliefs on someone.
You miss the point, and I don’t feel like arguing the point after this. We just don’t want to hear about religion. If we have to hear about it, we don’t want to have people trying to “change” us.
We’re not trying to change anyone, we’re not trying to make you think “our way”, or anything of the like. We just don’t want to hear about it anymore.
Your argument is as flimsy as,
“It’s annoying when you flick my ear.”
“Well, it’s annoying listening to you complain about me flicking you in the ear.”
To say “we” is a pretty huge generalization. I have had pagan and atheist friends/acquaintances who were shocked to learn I’m Christian because I didn’t preach to them…but they preached to me *all the time.* You can’t claim that an entire group of people don’t ever try to change another person’s mind just because you don’t.
The only way to say this fairly would be to say that no one should ever express an opinion concerning religions of any kind, whether for or against.
“The only way to say this fairly would be to say that no one should ever express an opinion concerning religions of any kind, whether for or against.”
I’ve said that 5 times in this very thread.
“The only way to say this fairly would be to say that no one should ever express an opinion concerning religions of any kind, whether for or against.”
That is an argument for censorship which many here would not condone. Fact of the matter is, if you are going to have an idea, be prepared to have that idea criticized. No exception to religion. It’s the only way for progress.
The way I see this whole topic is about generalizing. No one is talking about your personal experiences. If you’re respectful of others views then good for you. If the people you know are preachy and arrogant then they are jerks.
However, the fact of the matter is that the majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Christianity is also the only major religion that is mandated to convert others. Additionally Atheist are probably the most disrespected group of people when it comes to their “religious views”(or lack there of) [http://www.asanet.org/press/20060503.cfm].
With the culture we have in America it’s no great surprise that Atheists want Christians to leave them alone. Just because you may be a good person that doesn’t mean the rest of the group you associate yourself with are.
Personally, I’m bored with Christians playing the victim. Christians control the US government, they make the rules and frequently force their agenda’s down everyone else’s throats. The whole “I get made fun of for my religion” line is a joke. I’ve met people who have more respect for Wiccans than Atheists(with the line, “At least they believe in *something*”).
Besides we all know the Poster is talking about American Christianity, not religion in general. And if you’re a Christian in America ask yourself this: Are you a Christian because it’s easy, your family are all Christians and you have people in your church who are nice to you. Or are you a Christian because you honestly believe in the bible’s teachings? I’d bet that for more than half of the Christians in America the former is true.
Actually, we don’t all know that is poster is aimed at American Christianity. Most may recognize this as one of the MOST POPULAR works by a very well known British artist (Simon Dewey) who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (AKA Mormons), which is a worldwide organization.
In America we are given the Constitutional right to free speech, meaning we have the right to voice our opinions. That doesn’t mean that all opinions should be voiced, however. Because some opinions are genuinely hurtful and offensive toward others.
Another Constitutional right granted to Americans is the right to freedom of religion. Meaning I have the right to teach my children whichever religious views I see fit, just as every other American is free to teach their children. Just because I may choose to teach my children differently than someone else teaches their children doesn’t mean one of us is wrong. We are simply exercising our religious freedom.
I will openly admit that I am LDS (Mormon). But I don’t force my religion on anyone. Religious views are a choice that each person, including my children, have to make for themselves. Teaching someone ABOUT my religion is different than forcing someone to be PART OF my religion.
Actually the very religion is concerning. I lived in communist era (romania) and I know 1st hand how indoctrination works. So I can tell you there is no difference. And now I’m a bit scared about my kid having to face different (so f..g many!) religulous(sic) men and women thru/out his life who will try the brainwash him… Then again, I’ll teach him about stupidity and mental illnesses and hopefully he will get by…
easy… lol, calm down. its just a game rofl
~stabs you in the chest~ You just lost your last life.
Hey… I’m calm now… this is a pretty fun game!
well then stab you!
=={XXXXXXXXXXXXX> stab
PS what Rebecca said FTW!
She’s only telling me my entire argument from her lips. :S
Don’t listen to him, he’s mindless and uses ‘ftw’ too much.
I lost the game… Jerk.
well, like anything with opinions, there are fanatics in all faiths, even the faith of no faith. I have christian/muslim/jewish friends that don’t say a word about it to anyone, they just live and let live. i also have atheist friends that just love tearing them down and send them emails of why their God doesn’t exist, asking them not to wear their holy symbols around them, and complain when they see a bumper sticker proclaiming faith (but never seem to complain about the pro-atheist bumper stickers). as if a bumper sticker will convert them… hahaha…
i think that was the wes’s original point Loki. you act as if none of the atheist camp has any die hard convertors in it, and that is simply not true. i’ve seen them, heard them, read them, i know they exist. every viewpoint has the crazies, yours and mine included.
Ahh, yes! The ‘faith of no faith’. Like the ‘sport’ of not playing tennis! Why right now, I’m engaged in not playing football, not playing soccer, not playing tennis, not playing golf, not playing hockey, not ‘curling’….
It’s a real time-saver, and I’m sure to get lots of exercise, since I can do all of my ‘not sports’ all at once, including sports I’ve never even heard of!
Well phrased! I always get tired of defeating that argument.
Cheers!
He didn’t defeat anything. That was a bunch of ranting that pretended to make a point. ‘Faith of no faith’ is basically not letting yourself be labeled by any religion. Accepting the label Atheist or Agnostic is still letting the church have power over you. Being wholly unreligious is not an active thing like a sport. That was, at it’s basest level, absolutely irrelevant.
There is a difference between atheist and non-religious, atheists are the ones who are anti religion and non-religious just don’t want to be bothered with it one way or the other.
^this.
”Atheists”? I’m sure you are aware that ATHEISM isn’t a religion, its justy a name you religious people seem to need to give non-believers. So, anything that doesn’t have god in it, is, tecnically, atheist. So stop saying atheists…its like the romans calling people barbarian just because they weren’t roman. ”Pro-Atheist Bumper Stickers” are ANYTHING that desn’t have god in it. ”Anti-religious” stickers are a different thing. Don’t confuse Atheists with antitheists, seriously.
Religion is around to save your soul. Science provides a means to save your life. Historically and presently, religion slows the progression of science and to this day leads to murder, wars, genocide, etc… How many people have atheists killed trying to enlighten people? Now to those of us who don’t believe in a “soul”, myself included, your religion may be considered a threat to my life and even your own, hence the burning need to convert you.
As a med student I have seen religious beliefs lead patients to turn down routine treatments, ultimately leading to their death. I can’t express my views on theology, but explain the likely consequences of their actions, and let the make their own decision from there. Many who refuse treatment, die.
“How many people have atheists killed trying to enlighten people?”
Hmm, let’s see. Perhaps you could ask Joseph Stalin, or Chairman Mao? Both confirmed atheists. Both responsible for millions of deaths. As for your med student status, perhaps you’d care to enlighten us on the studies that show that people of faith recover faster than those without. I’m also certain you could tell us about the number of people that turned down treatment, unwisely, for more secular reasons.
Congratulations though, you are well on your way to showing the arrogance of your profession.
What he meant was genocide for the sole reason of religion sort of like the crusades and stuff. These people killed millions of people not for the sake of spreading atheism but for the reason of improving their country, albeit in a bad way.
Also there’s something called the placebo effect. It’s one of the reasons why steroids work so well.
I’m so proud of you for having an opinion.
No, he wasn’t talking about Genocide. Genocide is rarely even loosely religiously based. It’s about ‘improving’ your country, albeit in a bad way.
The studies took the placebo effect into account.
Course, that said, there are plenty of people that think that God is going to come down with all his angels to heal them miraculously. This can be a problem when one of His angels is there in the form of a doctor. (nope, not saying all doctor’s are angels, just saying to take the gift when it’s offered)
what if your friend belief is pedophillia? but he’s not showing off, does nothing to draw you in. would you be so relaxed and “don’t ask/don’t tell”? what if they are nazis?
If I can’t openly discuss or argue with a friend about such big (mis)conception, surely ain’t a friend.
NOT talking – not a good sign. Never.
Usually, people who are agnostic/atheist don’t run around shouting “GOD DOESN’T EXIST!”. We don’t knock on your door, shoving pamphlets and flyers at you convincing you to join our religious services, asking questions that are none of your business
and then having the nerve to stop back a week later to try it all over again. Also, we don’t prevent other people from making their own choices in personal matters such as marriage or abortion. Last but not least, we tend to be much less judgmental. Maybe if religious nuts could stfu for more than five minutes, we wouldn’t have to state “I DON’T CARE/WANT TO HEAR THIS/LEAVE ME THE F**K ALONE” over and over again.
When was the last time you literally had a pamphlet shoved at you. If you want to, you can slam the door and their face (or not even answer it), and they’ll be off. I’ve never encountered a person THAT fanatic about anything.
I don’t even want to get into how wrong this is: “we don’t prevent other people from making their own choices in personal matters such as marriage or abortion.” How many times have there been “demonstrations” and the like on the property of various churches? Who does the vandalizing, and who does the yelling. It’s generally the Atheists and the none-Christian Christians, both of which are bad.
You are so ‘out there’ with your examples that you must be a troll. No one in their right mind is going to believe that you, and you alone, are bombarded with all this ‘religious persecution’.
Why must I be harassed by all you religion haters? Why must I hide my personal beliefs because you are so ‘religionphobic’ that you go postal when you perceive any religious reference?
Believe what you want and go to he11 for believing it should you be wrong. Just remember, there may be a few people out there who still actually care about you and, (yes – dare a I say it?), your soul. Only God knows why…however, Christ-like love is still alive and well in this world.
I will live my religion and my faith. If that means making reference to my beliefs and my God, then I suggest you just build a bridge and get over it. Faith is an action verb, not a noun. Get used to it…we are not leaving or embracing a vow of silence. I have to live with people like you on a daily basis. It just makes me a bit sad.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith
i think you’ll find that more reliable dictionaries also disagree with you.
Mate, chill. more than 2/3 of the world does not share your religion anyway.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm#wce.
However. My strong, but friendly advice to anyone is: teach you kids or friends history and science.
http://www.humanreligions.info/violence_and_crime.html
Am I the only one whose realized that this argument is cyclical and will go nowhere? In that One will always accuse the other of stuffing.
123: Point is, we’ve been FORCED to “care” about religion since the dawn of time until finally, FINALLY people could really “come out” as atheists and not be an outcast in the ’60′s. I’d say the damage done on one “side”, if your thinking is as black and white as that, is much more intolerable than on the atheist’s side.
Trent: Vandalizing and the yelling (and much, much more) has been done by Christians for a very long time (I won’t even start about persecution of non-believers for almost 1,500 years), so you’re using a flimsy argument. The thing about atheists (and I’d have thought that’d be clear because of the name) is that we do /not/ believe in a supreme deity. We are not a homogeneous group aspects other than the non-believer variety – except if you believe that people who think that their round coffee table is secretly rectangle-shaped would be a homogeneous group. There are ignorant folks who claim to do things in the name of “atheism” (which is a ridiculous notion on its own, atheism has no goal), but there are a heck of a lot more crazy religious bigoted idiots who go so far as to endanger the lives of innocent citizens (people working at abortion clinics, gays, etc.) in the name of their religion. Demonstrating in front of a building, the one thing that you mentioned in your post, is nothing compared to that. I’ve never even heard of an “atheistic” protest in front of church property before either, so either you’re mixing things up or there were some other elements into play when it escalated in a demonstration.
The thing about groups that start with “a-” is that they generally don’t want anything to do with what comes after that first letter. That’s something a lot of butthurt Christians – it seems to be all the rage to think you’re being singled out if you’re Christian – fail to grasp. We do not get subsidized by the government, most of us do not attend “ATHEIST AND PROUD” meetings (although a lot of ex-[insert religion]) do have to go to talk groups to try to overcome the psychological damage inflicted on them), we do not have a plethora extreme/violent groups (in contrast to most religions), we do not want our views to be imposed on innocent children in supposedly neutral educational facilities – just fyi, evolution is as much of a theory as Einstein’s theory of relativity is a theory. Evolution itself is not debatable in professional circles.
In short: clean up your own mess before shouting how the whole mean outside world is against you.
There was this great line from a Jewish carpenter that went something like, “Remove the plank from your eye before removing the speck from your brother’s eye…”
Atheism IS a religion, judging by how athies froth at the mouth and evangelize about something they cannot prove. And shove their beliefs down EVERYBODY’S throats. And as for agnostics…
Greek = agnostic
Latin = ignoramus
Yes, like not collecting stamps is a hobby…
And if you make the claim, YOU have the burden of proof. If you claim there’s a god, prove it. Well?
theist-
the belief in one god as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation
atheist-
a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.
deism-
belief in the existence of a god on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation
(distinguished from theism).
agnostic-
a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as god, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.
do some research before you open your mouth a make a fool of yourself, but then again if you had the brains for that you wouldn’t be hiding from the true power of light and love that comes from WITHIN
Athies are fanatics.
And Christf**kies are either televangelists or child molesters (or both). See I can stereotype too.
LOL way to prove his point bro.
No, Wes’ point was not proved.
I didn’t prove anyone’s point. I never stated that it was non-religion that’s being pushed down anyone’s throat. I personally want everyone, non religious AND religious to shut the hell up. That clearer?
I’m a woman, I’m not your bro.
Observe or don’t observe in silence and among friends that are like minded. Personally, my brother is a minister, yet he doesn’t ram it down my throat. When we talk about those subjects, we have logical discussions and then after a bit, it’s over. We both accept that we won’t change each other. I respect him more because he doesn’t try to change me.
I know this might be a bit… touchy… But you DO realize you say that you belong to no religion, don’t show it down anyone’s throat etc. Using the name of major Norse god as your nickname?
Personaly, I was atheist prior to some events a few years back and I can’t stand devout Christians and fanatics and talk-goodes of ANY kind.
But I find your comments a bit amusing thanks to your nikcname.
Why do you find it funny?
Oh my God…the Norse Gods are atheists…
It can’t just be a person’s name or anything, or a shortened version of someone’s name…
Yes, and someone who names himself Santa on the internet obviously believes in Santa right?
HO HO HO
In these PC days, that should read “Escort escort escort”.
no….bear bear bear
Who the hell are YOU to tell people to shut up?
No, trust me, Glad you’re not shoving it. you’re the 2% of atheists and non religious folk who have actual intelligence then. the the 98% is full of jackasses who don’t shut the f**k up.
Proving once again that 98% of all statistics are made up on the spot…
Well yes and no, some people DO shove atheism down mildly-believing people’s throat… there are these symbolical believers (my grandparents, or even some of my friends for example) who just take some of the stories and interpret them according to a more modern train of thought, in this case, they just take some of the things that inspire them and make them say “this is actually full of good sense” without heeding the more extreme things (hate vs. gays etc.). In this case i would find it just as bad when atheists start harassing these people to abandon these books and “lessons” (as they take it) alltogether… and there are plenty of those people to go around…
People should be allowed to come to their own conclusion and opinions, and while it may take longer for some, and some may come to what others find wrong and offensive, it’s your basic right to believe in whatever you wish… if someone was to believe in a talking pair of trousers claming that divine cleasing comes through farting 4 times a day, let him, it’s when we start threatening others’ basic rights, such as freedom of ideological thought, that we truly go wrong.
(All hail the great flying keg of beer that shall cleanse me of worries!!! ^^)
or any belief system.
WIN!!
You seem to miss the point. There’s only non-religion if there is religion. You have no right to blame us for a problem that you created.
True, true.
So does that mean all females should be atheist?
Point taken. XD
There is a headline article in the papers in the UK today about how the Pope thinks it is bad that some people have been fired in this country for pressuring people at work to believe in their religion.
He reckons it is a ‘freedom’ to try and badger others into your beliefs and is campaigning for it to be allowed.
I don’t care what religion (or none) someone is, I judge people by their actions, not their faith.
Ironically, that is EXACTLY the way Christ has showed the world to judge. More people should try it because it works, not just because Christ said to.
Agreed
That too is the only way a true Christian will gain respect. And that exactly is the reason why Christianity has flourished in times of persecution.
This is so true
Huh – that’s actually kind of profound. In as much as anything with cock can be.
But what am I to do? I’m a woman!
Apart from make sandwiches and iron…..apparently…
Uhm, suck your husband’s religion?
this comment made this post for me XDDD
I lol’ed so hard…
Well like Real and Straight said, it doesn’t say he can’t shove his “religion” down YOUR throat does it?
Treat it like your p—y. Not everyone wants to have one rubbed in their face.
I have been waiting for someone to do a poster on this for ages.
It’s a shame this poster is only going to reach us trolls… It should be plastered on at least one building in every major city and three buildings every 150ft in the bible belt.
Hey, I am not a troll. And not a religious person either.
Religion is a ignorance that people accept.
faith is not ignorance.
faith is not a religion
Faith is part of religion. it is what you believe.
faith is belief without proof, by that logic i also belief in ghosts,demons, magic and everything else someone has ever thought up
Faith is belief. I believe in love, it is part of my faith, but I believe in no god or creator as well. Your faith means you system of beliefs (i.e. religion) but it can also mean your personal moral codes. A few of mine:
I believe in science, evolution, liberalism, and Daft Punk. That is my faith.
Smegma is dead skin cells covering penises.
exactly! only a PART. and not exclusive to religion!
But sometimes faithful people will be ignorant
PROVE it.
DISPROVE it.
The Bible Belt?
The Bible Belt (note: click on my name).
I envy your ignorance.
[is located in the Bible Belt]
hey no one twisted your arm to look at the picture! go back to school because you need to learn the definitions of words before you can use them! open your eyes and close your mouth for once and you might actually learn something.
Erm.. I don’t know if you trust science as much as most Atheists do that I know, but scientifically he’s got a point. If people do not tolerate intolerance, they are intolerant themselves.
Maybe I’m just stupid, but I don’t see what words you mean; which ones he should go back to school for.
Which doesn’t mean I think forcing religion on people is a good idea.
oh so what you’re saying is that every religion is bad? that just because some ahem very large churches are full of scandal, they all are? you aresuch an idiot… i guess everyone should just become immoral and just do whatever they want without and consideration of the consequences… you really nailed it there you douche-bag.
Ah. The old “if you’re an atheist you have no moral compass” argument.
I know more religious people lacking a moral compass than I do atheists.
I don’t need an intangible father figure shaking a finger at me from thousands of years ago to tell me that it’s not nice to rape and pillage.
No, it’s saying don’t try and run around trying to convert everyone, and to allow your children a chance to choose their beliefs. This is not anti-religion it’s anti-fanatical religion.
“Religion” is mankind’s attempt to reach God on mankind’s terms. It is doomed to fail.
Yeshua is anti-religion.
who said every religion was bad…i haven’t read that once yet? they all have evil in them, yes, they all have evil people that do bad things in the name of unsaid religion, yes, they all have good in them too….even satanism! ha, but really one of the satanic “codes” or whatever you want to call them say’s: i walk down the street, i bother no one. some one bothers me, i politely ask them to stop. if they do not stop, destroy them.
now if that isn’t perfectly reasonable and fair, i don’t know what is.
so you do your thing and i’ll stick to my immorality of loving everyone despite our differences, giving everyone an honest chance, empathy and not doing hurtful things to people for personal gain….you SO missed the point, but then again you’ve been training all your life to be intolerant of understanding others, like, if i don’t believe explicitly in what you believe i am obviously an immoral idiot douche-bag who doesn’t consider consequences…….your words.
I’m sorry, I thought this was verydemotivational.com, and not punditkitchen where this type of slander is posted daily.
I laugh at your pain.
I join you in your heartfelt laughter.
I agree with your sentiments and enjoy a chuckle.
internets to all of you
What slander? I’m sorry, but I simply do not see any untruthful and malicious comment in this particular poster. Please, enlighten me.
Cheers
It’s no business of anyone else what we teach our children. we aren’t shoving anything down the throats of anyone.
Maybe not you specifically, but the idiots who stand on my campus every week with a “Satan’s Children sign” (followed by a long list of ‘offenders’) beg to differ. May your respective God (or not) help you if they manage to wrangle you into a conversation.
yes you are
It is actually a social business what you teach to your kids. Why? Because what you teach will reflect on your kid’s life. I don’t care whether you teach them religious stuff or not. What is important is that you teach good virtues to them. And you can do it whether you are religious or not. Teaching religion is not automatically shoving something down the throat. But any teaching can be a shoving, whatever it is.
People are teaching their kids to be violent, to be racist, etc. Should we let them do that because it’s none of our business?
this is not slander at all since though the author intends to construe teaching religion as malicious (true or not) it is generally not considered such and since slander really only occurs when it harms the reputation it doesn’t apply here.
It also doesn’t imply that anyone is orally raping their children (true or not) so that is not slander.
That is all besides the point that this is aimed at no one person or group which also means it is not slander.
Oh and also slander is verbal not written which also means it is not slander.
welcome to the COMMENTS section of verydemotivational.com, you know, where other people COMMENT on the poster.
I wish I could print this off and hang it up at work.
I don’t try and convert my coworkers to my pagan beliefs, I’m at a loss why they feel the need to leave bible verses in my inbox…
“Shove it down your children’s throat”? Are you kidding? So.. we are not to teach our children about God and just ignore any spirituality whatsoever? What?
There’s a difference between going door to door and driving your neighbors insane (or lingering in airports and singing wordless songs that make strangers wonder what was passed around in the offering plate) and just teaching your children about the Ten Commandments (which are ten good rules of thumb about living, you know).
How would you like it if, while growing up, your parents demanded you followed a belief system you didn’t believe in? It’s one thing to teach your children about your choice of religion, and to encourage them to practice it, but it’s another thing to force them against their will to follow the tenets of that religion.
EVERYBODY believes in something. Don’t even begin to think that you arrived at your own personal convictions out of some sort of vacuum. Parents are a primarily influential force on their children for good or bad whether they intend it or not. Shouldn’t they do the best they can to try and make that a good influence? If so, then a religious parent would naturally want to hand down their faith to their children because they believe that 1. Their religion is good and helpful.
2. They want to give good and helpful things to their children.
To insist that such a parent raise their children to be atheists is more logically inconsistent than any form of deism.
But I love how you put it: Teach them about it and encourage them to practice. If your child at some point feels like you are “cramming it down their throat”, then you’re doing it wrong.
Just wanting to point this out, but you are wrong. Not everyone believes in something. Such as me. I don’t believe exist, yet I don’t say god doesn’t exist, because there is a possibility he does, so in turn I believe god exist. But yes, I do see what you mean.
if you chose not to decide you still have made a choice. if you believe in nothing……you believe in “some thing” or at least a lack of some thing, but a belief none the less.
The point is that children cannot decide for they own so parents tell them those good things you mentioned.
BUT theres a difference between KNOWING something is good (brushing your teeth for example helps to prevend Karies) and BELIEVING something is good.
And why should it matter that its logically inconsistent? If it is, it is the right thing to do or what? Its also logically inconsistent that Nazis wouldnt teach their children theri ideology so it has to be a good thing????
(and no im not comparing Nazis with religious people)
S/He’s not saying s/he’s forcing them, s/he is only saying that there’s nothing wrong with teaching your kids religion, and if they grow up following the religion they will most likely believe it. This is also affected say by country, in the US there are many atheists…they might believe what they say and become atheists themselves…or they could grow up say…here in Colombia, where 90% is Catholic and 4% is Protestant and Jewish and Muslim, and 1% is atheist…this all depends on the environment and the parents
What are you, some kind of communist? That s/he crap went out 15 minutes after the first idiotarian uttered it.
It’s just as bad to leave no example for your children. The most accurate way to not “shove anything down their throats” is to put them in an isolated room, and have no interaction.
A worse thing to do is teach them to be social deviants that piss off the rest of the world with their loud opinions that amount to nothing.
for f**ks sake you guys are missing the point.. there is no harm in teaching your kids a moral code.. but a moral code does not nescessarily include teaching them about your personal invisible man..
The point is when the time comes let them choose
There is a difference between ‘teaching’ and ‘ramming it down their throats’.
I would define the second as those people who even when their kids choose to not follow their beliefs, punish them for it. Or teach their kids that anyone who doesn’t follow their religion is evil.
‘Here’s what we believe in, others believe in different stuff’ is fine parenting. ‘Believe in this OR ELSE’ or ‘You don’t believe? Get out of my house’ is not.
Stories of that happening are overly exaggerated. You only hear about them because they are the most shocking and sensational. You never hear about the millions of cases where Christian parents accept that their children don’t share their beliefs.
It’s like a news story. Which story will make it through to the top story? “Thirty-seven children die a terrible death in a school bus collision with a propane tanker.” or “Thirty-seven children make it to school safely today.”?
Real Christians accept that people have to choose what they believe in for themselves. You cannot force anyone to believe anything and they will resist any “conversion” efforts.
^Exactly. While weird, and sometimes creepy, even Jehovah’s Witness’s aren’t nearly as bad as the news stories. I still avoid them when possible, but I’m just saying they’re better than they’re made out to be. I feel sorry for anyone that has to deal with a real fanatic though.
I’ve always had a great deal of respect for them (Witnesses). It takes a special kind of toughness to be able to go door to door and get abused at 90% of them. While I don’t want what they are selling, I always greet them respectfully.
It’s not THAT uncommon, one of my friends got kicked out of her house because she was bisexual, a lot of people react badly to people who don’t believe similar to them, doesn’t just go for religion either, apart from their religion often tells them to be harsh to anyone who doesn’t follow their beliefs.
My partner’s grandmother told us that we should take our adoptive son to church. He was 6 months at the time and we didn’t really want to (we aren’t religious). We told her he was too young and she responded with, “Well you have to start them out really early so they will follow god when they grow up.”
I’m sorry, but that’s ramming it down a kid’s throat because you’re too afraid they may not choose the way you want them to. Personally, we aren’t teaching him anything right now, not our way or anyone else’s and letting him have a childhood. When he grows up we plan to introduce all religions in an objective manner and let him decide on his own.
learning morals and discipline in sunday school is ramming it down their throats?
I am sorry, but I don’t see any atheist teaching their children good life lessons straight from the book of their beliefs. If you reject the bible completely, then I suppose you ignore ‘though shall not murder’ and all those other tidbit’s of wisdom.
Way to over-exaggerate it. All Loki is saying is that was their view for their children. I was allowed to choose by my parents, never went to church, and you’re implying i’m going to murder, steal and commit adultery? Just because someone rejects the Bible as truth?
Firstly, how many athiests do you actually know? Secondly, the “thou shalt not kill thing” kind of transfers over to what we call the Law now, that is the major rule book, and sure it may have taken it’s cue from the bible.. but now we understand that if we Kill someone that it is breaking the law “sinning” and that we will go to hell “prison”.
but if you follow the bible completely, as you seem to suggest that you do, then you believe
Deuteronomy 25:11-12
If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.
You would also believe that it’s fair for children to be punished for their parents transgressions?
Deuteronomy is hilarious.
1. It’s old hebrew law, not christian law. Jesus didn’t set laws and he only affirmed the 10 commandments and affirmed that you had to ‘render unto Caesar’ follow man’s law as well.
2. Not even orthodox Jews follow the majority of Deuteronomy. (Though I can understand wanting to retaliate if someone crushed my nuts)
(besides, there are much more screwed up things in Psalms.)
“(besides, there are much more screwed up things in Psalms.)”
Lol great moral teachings for kids their eh?
Actually yes. Moral, Ethical, and Practical.
Old Testament: Remembering that this is primarily a oral and written history of the Jewish people. You see the first combination of religious and secular law. You see the first recorded use of special forces. You see that people haven’t changed all that much in the last few thousand years. We just have more toys.
Throughout the old testament you’ll find some interesting tidbits worth taking a look at. Proverbs is my favorite, but I love re-reading the old stories of the old testament.
Now for actual christian teachings, and some really good insight into human behavior, check out the new testament. It’s pretty awesome to see how wildly the disciples varied in their opinions on ‘where we should go from here’. Even just seeing what they recorded as relevant from Jesus is fascinating. What really puts this in perspective is how long ago most of it was written. I’m alternately amused and saddened by how little things have changed.
Back to the topic of the poster. I don’t advocate blind faith. Faith with eyes wide open is a better route. I wouldn’t advocate the sterotype of the person that verbally identifies themselves as, ‘Well, I’m a christian man.’ Personally, I’d recommend running rapidly the first time someone says that.
I agree with the poster. I disagree with all the idiots that whine about parents teaching their children. Do I teach my son that God loves him. Absolutely. Do I teach him that Jesus was the son of God and the amazing sacrifice that was made for our sins. Yep. Do I also teach him big bang theory, evolution, etc. Yep. I don’t, and a large number of scientists don’t, see them as mutually incompatible.
I primarily teach him to not believe a word I say. Don’t ever take ANYTHING at face value. Study it for yourself.
And btw, to all those out there that scream about inconsistencies in the bible and that the bible is a lie.
I’ll pray for you. God Bless. (Side note: Sincerely praying for an Atheist really irritates them.)
Or you can just teach your child not to do those things, like most people do anyway. You don’t have to have a book, story, or anything of the like to reference.
Everyone teaches their child morals, and you act as if your religion created those morals. No, they are common sense and instinctual. They were around long before your bible was written and compiled, and they will exist long after we have all died. If you think you have to be religious to hold a high moral code and to have discipline, you are sadly mistaken.
You don’t have to be christian or go to church or sunday school to have good morals. People seem to think that being religious is the only way to learn great life lessons when really, you will learn them anyway if you have a good upbringing and parents who are understanding, caring and guiding.
Not that you don’t learn good morals and discipline from religion, my point is that there are other ways
yeah, totally. because you absolutely have to have a poorly-translated fairy tale at your side, or you have no way ov teaching your kids that it’s not a good idea to go around murdering people.
ehw, the answer is yes, learning anything in sunday school is ramming down the throat. sunday is for playing and staying with friends and family, not brainwashing. Anyways, we had no “sunday school” in romania and I feel just fine, not killed anyone so far.
And, yeah, anyway, most of the mass-killings in this world were made in the name of a religion or a faith. Do your lessons mate when you’re supposed to, and not only on sundays. It’s called The History book.
so you need a book to teach morals? and what part of it say’s anything about sunday school? open your eye’s and close your mouth and you might actually learn something some day. by the way every thing you do teaches your children you don’t need to tell them STORIES to teach good morals, simply DO them and explain why. but when you teach these stories and then do things differently(which you will, that’s life sometimes) your child will think your full of it and resent you and your BOOK…..it’s called understanding and it will help us all evolve and get the f*#k off this planet and explore space forever in peace and harmony.
See that’s totally cool personally I intend not to choose my religion until I’m ready
Well if it’s Catholicism, you should baptize him, later maybe at 8, give him his First Communion, later, at 14 or 15, when he gets his Confirmation you’ll know if he wants to or not, which is why it’s called CONFIRMATION and not OBLIGATION…i got mine at 15 and i had a pretty mature mind about religion and other religions and views and i chose to Confirm my acceptance into the church…any other child should too
wait…I made it sound like every other child should be a part of the church…i meant every other child should be able to decide at that age…
You also make it seem like confirmation is a choice… I was an athiest probably since before my first communion, but I had to follow the herd as it was unspeakable to not be Catholic where I lived. That is, my confirmation was a complete lie.
It wasn’t enforced, but it was a social rule that you were Catholic.
I think the OP had a great idea about objective teaching, and that it would most benifit a child to know they have a choice; rather than feeling segregated for even asking questions.
How are the 10 commandments good “rules of thumb?” And do you have any idea where that term came from?
Most people have no idea “where that term came from”…some of us do
DX Nobody knows where that phrase comes from, but we know for a fact that it’s NOT the beating your wife thing (note: link).
Also, basically all commandments are rules of thumb, just some of them (such as idol worship and God-worshiping) are less applicable for some than others (such as not murdering, which is applicable no matter who you are.)
It came from an English Law that said that the limit of the object you could beat your wife with was the thickness of your thumb.
And how are these bad rules?:
“Thou shalt not kill”
“Thou shalt not steal”
“Thou shalt honor thy mother and they father”
The entirety of Western Civil and Criminal Law is based off of Early Hebrew Law. Whether you like it or not, Judaism and Christianity are the basis of Western Civilization.
Hmmm… don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t cheat, don’t kill, don’t sleep around on your partner, don’t be jelous or envious of someone else’s stuff/situation/partner (because that can lead to the aforementioned)… seems good to me.
By the way, rule of thumb came from the measurement for the inch. The Imperial measuring system used the width of some English king (Edward I ?? Can’t remember) for the inch, which neatly worked as 12 of them made the length of his foot, three of those a yard, etc. etc. Rule of Thumb, therefore, meaning a ‘good way to go’.
I’ve decided not to teach my children that fairies and unicorns are real. It’s about the same, except there’s no guilt involved.
teaching and shoving it down their throat is completely different. if you really wanted to just teach your children about your religion then you would also teach them about numerous different religions and let them make up their own mind.
maybe there’s a joke about catholic priests in there somewhere…….
How appropo… Considering a great many religious (read Christians in my experience, your mileage may vary) ARE penises….
I love the message, but wouldn’t this count as more of a motivational poster rather than a demotivational?
Two things.
1) It highlights the Church force-feeding religion to children.
2) It causes mass amounts of flame wars on this page.
Perhaps demotivational is more suitable here.
Here’s some facts for you that you have ignored.
93% of wars have NOTHING to do with religion.
A non-believer is more likely to abuse their children then a believer.
A believer recovers from illnesses faster then a non-believer.
A believer is more likely to recycle then a non-believer.
A non-believer is more likely to commit suicide then a believer.
All in all – belief, no matter if you believe in one God or many gods and goddesses, actually makes the world a BETTER place. Whereas non-belief leads to things like the Holocaust.
Belief is a GOOD thing. And if you picked up a few books like Why Faith Matters by David Wolpe you’d understand that instead of living in ignorance.
Care to back up any of those claims with facts?
The idea that you cannot have any morality without religion is outdated, archaic and complete nonsense. I don’t care what you believe in, but trying to make out that you are better than I because of it is plain arrogant stupidity.
@jamisings
first of all, do you have any proof? if you have, show me, and I’ll shut up about this. Because I don’t believe anything I haven’t seen with my own pair of eyes, and when I am drunk, not even that.
Second, are you sure those aren’t the other way around? I mean, c’mon you must have heard about the child abuse by the church and all in europe…?
and this pic is totally true…
well, healing by faith is legit, thats what the placebo effect is in a nutshell
As part of that, and attached to the suicide bit, I think it’s because of a generally positive outlook. The good attitude, or placebo, helps the ill to recover.
seconded,
plus, people fight, we can’t help it, but (considering you have facts to back up your first claim I’m not gonna look it up for you) you’re saying that without religion 7% of the world’s wars will never have happened.
besides, it’s not the number of wars, it’s their magnitude- I’m pretty sure sure many of the non-religious wars are nothing to the Christian crusades or the Islamic war against, well, whatever isn’t Islam.
and you know what, forget that- I’m pretty sure you haven’t included the abuse one gets in a religious family for being gay or somehow not like the rest of the family.
and how dare you even say the holocaust wasn’t of religious background? people have died in the most gruesome and soulless ways imaginable all because they (or their dads) worshiped the same god differently, and your statement trying to shift fault on the Holocaust away from religion is nearly as bad as saying it didn’t happen!
defend your belief in religion all you can but have the decency to amount to what it has caused!
that’s my moral framework, go to the dumpster and find yours!
So you’re saying that the Holocaust was the fault of the jews, just for being Jewish, and not Hitlers or the Nazi’s fault, for being ignorant gun-toters who were ready to blame their nation’s political and economical problems on any possible scapegoat? Hitler also used the Jews as a way to fuel his POLITICAL regime, not religious. The holocaust was fueled by politics, not religion. The fact that a religious group was the target is nothing short of a sad and unfortunate coincidence.
With regards to wars.
Religion is the excuse for many wars but it is seldom the true reason. Nearly all wars (the crusades included) are about power, land or wealth. I understand that ‘holy wars’ are sanctioned by churches but that is simply a ruse to get people fighting.
Think about it, if someone says “We are going to fight them so that us rich folk can take their land and their money.” You are going to get a poorer response than “We shall defeat the vile enemies of our God for it is His will.”
However in most other points complete agreement.
The holocaust was caused by a “need” the Germans had to exterminate the Jews (and all religion eventually). The holocaust was quite literally caused by atheists.
no, the holocause was caused by scapegoatism (is that a word? if not, i still think my meaning is clear). germany was in quite dire financial straits at that point, and needed some group ov people to blame. it was quite fashionable in europe at that time (not just germany) to blame jews for whatever happened to be handy–many ov the most virulent antisemites in germany, the rest ov europe, and even the US were and are christian.
arent these reasons more likely then an apocalyptic scheme to exterminate all religious people?
1. he needed a scape goat and the ones who signed the versailles treaty just so happened to be jews.
2. jews have generally been prosecuted throughout history making them easier targets then say, protestants or catholics…
3: Jews were extremly wealthy and confiscation of theyre property could therefore effectively fuel the war effort.
And
Hitler was a baptised christian.. on severeal occasions he reffered to god in his speeches and he was against atheism.. second of all, even if he was an atheist that is only one of a number in tags you could put on him.. like he was short, he was from austria, he was a painter, he was a vegetarian.. are you against the groups as well?
you fail you religious nutcase
so now you are ramming down your beliefs into my throat.
I believe in Jesus and God, but I dont try to convert others, but a lot of aethiests try to convert me, like you obviously, hypocrite.
I’m not an athiest.
And I think you replied to the wrong person.
I think i did, sorry.
I’ve never seen an atheist or agnostic try to convert someone. Doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but I’ve yet to see anyone here try to convert anyone to atheism. I believe the general consensus isn’t about “change them into an atheist” but more, “Shut the f*** up!”.
I have to ask…how? We’re on the internet, they’re EVERYWHERE.
They don’t try to convert, but they are ruthless and will do everything they had to ruin your reputation and make you seem like a disgusting human being…when really you are the better one, if you deal with it with patiance.
I said it before and I said it again
Don’t f**king breed
Your argument is invalid.
That book is made of lies, the bible…
tl;dr
Look, you have no real sources for those statistics except a bunch of biased websites most likely.
Also, if you knew anything about statistics, you’d know that there are hundreds of factors that come into play. It’s usually not something like “belief” that made them do those things.
Hitler had a Catholic upbringing and there is no way to know if he still “had faith” or not, but many of his speeches led people to believe that he was still a believer. Non-belief had nothing to do with the holocaust.
Peddle your junk science somewhere else.
k, facts.
Roman wars of expansion: Non-Religious.
Civil Wars, Non-Religious.
WW1 and 2, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq’s 1 and 2, Grenada, Panama, etc. Non-Religious.
More Facts:
Multiple studies have proven that people that believe they will get better, get better more often than those that don’t. If they feel like they’ll get better due to faith, it’s still belief.
EVERYONE has had an encounter with the ‘That Guy’ of Christianity. “I’m a christian man/woman” will send me running hard and fast in the opposite direction.
Most Christians have also had an encounter with the “THAT GUY” of Atheists. Those that aren’t content to simply ignore religion/faith, but get really angry about it for some reason.
I personally find it amusing when non-believers feel the need to comment about things they don’t believe in. Or don’t follow the first commandment of the internet. “If thou don’t like it, change the web page.”
Bush called iraq for the new crusade..
Hmm, so I guess Iraq invading Kuwait had nothing to do with Desert Storm.
The most recent unpleasantries were a wonderful example of what happens when world leaders get into a pissing contest. Would have been nice if we could have just sniped the psycho (saddam, not bush), but you just don’t want to open that can of worms.
You see, the facts get screwed up when you look at how many people say that so and so war was ordered by God, even if they went to war for another purpose.
fact-
the thirty years war, the holocost, the inqusition, the crusades, jihad, etc……..and how would you know how many “non-believers” you interact with daily that don’t ever utter a word even if you do?
I personally find it amusing when “believers” feel the need to comment about things and then don’t give the full story, it’s called deceit and you just broke one of the commandments….your going to hell! HAHAHAHA, face reality or not but don’t come to the party unless you bring beer.
Well, War is still war to the 7% counts.
you’re aware that you’re basically doing what this poster says, right?
How is sharing some facts ramming it down your throat?
I hate these dumb atheists everywhere. At least we have a reason to share our beliefs. And what created everything, if not God? answer, please?
And what gives you the idea that the mass and energy there is today had to have an origin and god didn’t?
Yes… Because the concept that light can exist without a source and that the entire universe and millions of species can be created in a few days isn’t stupid at all…
Second, facts are only facts if they are supported by hard evidence. Which, you’ll notice, neither her statements nor your bible have. Without said facts, you are not sharing them, you are in fact, ramming your own opinion and religious ideals (in this situation, at least) down another person’s throat.
Actually, anyone with common sense realizes that it wasn’t actually a few days.
I’m not a cosmologist so I’m not sure. But in my opinion “a big magical space wizard did it” is only a logical hypothesis if you have the mind of a 5 year old.
Christians always do a little victory dance when they can finally get an atheist to admit he or she doesn’t know about the ultimate origin of our universe. I continually have to explain why “I don’t know” is a far better answer than “it was magic” just because you have an explanation (if you can call it that) where atheists/agnostics don’t, doesn’t mean it’s the right answer.
Almost every one of those points is wrong, or at best inaccurate.
O RLY?!?!?!
93% of all wars are started because of religion.
A believer is more likely to judge others without cause despite their religion saying not to than a non-believer
A healthy person is more likely to recover from illnesses than a non healthy person
A believer is more likely to blame a higher power for their actions, be it murder, rape, stealing, being rude and “holier than thou” to fellow humans than a non believer.
A non believer is more likely to commit suicide because of believers.
All in all – I can spout opinions and refer to them as facts too. Non believers are believers too…they believe they are in control of their own lives rather than go off a book that has undergone many revisions over the years to suit the needs of those in that era and refer to a god that no one has ever seen (except on a piece of toast).
I have never seen you, either, so by your logic you aren’t real either.
oh yes, and FIRESTORM!!!!!!!!
Please grow up. You need to work on your maturity if you’re going to argue with the big kids.
“Whereas non-belief leads to things like the Holocaust.” You do realize that Alolph Hitler was “a believer”, and believed he was doing gods work by cleansing the world of impurities
He never said that at all.
Yeah… You do know Hitler was a devout Christian who despised the Jews because they were Jewish, right? He regularly said so in letters, as well as in Mein Kampf; he even protested that his greatest desire as a boy was to be a priest. The church even HELPED him instigate his anti-Semitic reign in Germany.
As for “93% of wars having nothing to do with religion”, um, what the f**k universe are you living in? The Crusades, World War II, the Spanish Inquisition (a war against paganism), Manifest Destiny (the belief that early American settlers were entitled to the entire North American continent because of god, something that led to the massacres and wars against all Native American peoples), the War in Iraq (brought on because America goes against Islam), every war ever to happen in the Middle East, the constant fighting between Palestine and Israel, the Salem Witch Trials and other medieval witch hunts, and if that ain’t enough for you, how about every god-damned conflict in the f**king bible? Every instance of violence in that ignorant book was because god got his panties in a bunch over people who refused to worship him.
And if that STILL isn’t enough, how about all the sexism, murder, rape, enslavement, and cannibalism that is not only condoned, but encouraged in that piece of s**t book. Your facts, such as they are, are reversed. Societies where religion is next to non-existent are happier, more crime free, and healthier than anywhere those who practice willful ignorance live.
Wow, your post is just… ignorant.
Honestly? To bring Germany back on its feet, Hitler needed a scapegoat. Since Jews usually handled money (something that actually came about because of some link to Christianity, though I don’t remember what exactly), they were the perfect scapegoat. Economy in the toilet? Why, it’s the fault of the money-lenders! Also, Hitler targeted not only Jews, but Poles, homosexuals, gypsies, and anyone he didn’t like or think was perfect. He seemed more focused on the supposed German superiority than a crusade against anything not Christian.
Can I see a source for the church giving Hitler a hand? A legit source, preferably.
As for your war paragraph, can I make a few comments here as well? Some of the wars you listed were because of religion, but religion wasn’t the main point in all. The War in Iraq being about religion? Really? Have you ever heard of Saddam Hussein? He was “president” of Iraq, and did such wonderful things like, oh, Mustard Gas his own citizens and approve of the genocide of the same citizens. If not that, if not the rumors of WMDs (rumors which, SHOCK, Hussein himself started to appear tough), we invaded for oil.
Salem Witch Trials, a war? I concede that it was bloody and terribly, terribly stupid, but it was by no means a war. And what about all the other wars brought about because of Political reasons? The French and Indian War, The Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, the Civil War, the French Revolution, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and several other wars that I cannot name off the top of my head. Politics, politics, politics were the main point of these wars.
Have you researched past the Old Testament? While the God from the Old Testament is vengeful, The New Testament shows a much more peaceful God.
And, lastly, shall we name some mostly non-religious societies? The Republic of China, North Korea, and, until a few decades ago, the USSR are some of the largest. And guess what? Religion and other human rights are either monitored or restricted in these societies. Happier, healthier, and more crime free? I guess, if you don’t care too much about human rights. I mean, they’re so full of freedom and knowledge, right? Granted, not all societies that are mostly non-religious are like these, but your generalizations irked me.
tl;dr? Your points are just slightly less ridiculous than the OP’s. Religion is the cause of many terrible events, but to say that religion is the sole cause of everything bad is wrong. Religion isn’t infallible, but neither is non-religion.
PS if I have any points that are obscenely wrong, feel free to correct me.
Quote:
Have you researched past the Old Testament? While the God from the Old Testament is vengeful, The New Testament shows a much more peaceful God.
—
Personally, I’m waiting for the trilogy to be complete, I am looking forward to God V3, which brings you nothing, craves nothing, but still loves you, because his being is the sum of all souls and your individual experience brings him impulses he would never have without you.
They already released the trailer for God – 3D!!
It’s called Revelations and everyone is invited!
This is hilarious. I mean, you have to be a very special kind of stupid to believe that any one of those claims is true. Jamisings, you are a horrible person for trying to make people who don’t share your beliefs feel like they are wrong and that they will abuse their children and then commit suicide.
This is laughable.
First off how often do we hear about clergy molesting little children. That one priest from the Documentary “Deliver us from Evil” claimed to have molested over 200 children as young as 9 months old; and then the church covered it up and continued to let him preach!
Second off Hitler was religious and believed that he was purging the earth of evil- as in DOING “god’s” work.
Thirdly to say the 93% of wars have nothing to do with religion is actually funny. You must just really not understand the world. I would venture to say the 93% of wars have EVERYTHING to do with religion.
No one mentioning the crusades or other holy wars? Even if the statistic of 93% was correct… 7% of wars or events like THAT is enough to tip the scales in the other direction.
Just because the people running it claim religion, doesn’t mean it’s actually about that.
I find it ironic how many who make this argument conveniently forget the fact that almost none of those wars (and similar atrocities) committed in the name of religion would even be possible without the willing participation of those fervently believing what they are being told by “the people running it.”
Hitler went to church every sunday. second to last mark- complete bull. Personally I am a non-believer, I recycle. I have a remarkable recovery rate. it’s complete bull, sadly. all of it but the wars.
Yes, but if he HAD become a priest (as he apparently tried to do but was turned away) would WWII have happened?
You’ve convinced me. Tomorrow I’m going to start a revival of the old Norse religion. I’ve always thought Odin, Thor, Freya and Loki were way cooler than the losers they call gods nowadays. One loser got himself nailed to a cross while another one’s followers have absolutely no sense of humour.
Thank you.
Meh, the Norse pantheon is OK but personally I’ve always gravitated towards the Greek pantheon.
The Greek gods make crappy soaps like Days of Our Lives, Home and Away etc seem sane, well adjusted and normal by comparison.
Also some of the old Middle Eastern, Egyptian and other African pantheons are pretty cool, but I’m currently Jewish myself. We just have the ‘Old Testament’ G-d (same dude as Allah) and He/She’s pretty righteous when it comes to f**kin’ with people, only difference is we have a wicked sense of humour about it
I lol’d hard to this one, thanks for making my night. XD
Did you know that 93% of facts are made-up on the spot?
O RLY??? It’s actually 84.965%
Gold.
Though i have seen the stats for wars and religion accounts for 3%
Source for 3 to 7% of wars being specifically religious, the rest being territorial or economic in nature.
http://correlatesofwar.org/COW2%20Data/WarData_NEW/WarList_NEW.pdf
Correlates of war is raw data. The sums are left to the exercise of the reader.
Cool,
No wars before 1816, must have been peaceful back then.
Ding ding ding! We have a winner of today’s Ignorance award.
Way to troll, bro.
Sorry, but that’s rubbish. I’m a non-believer, I love life, I’d never abuse kids, I recycle, recovering from illness has NOTHING to do with beliefs, for crying out loud SCIENCE has proven that much…
Also, just because we don’t believe in God doesn’t mean we’re ignorant, it just means we DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD!
Being ignorant is like saying if we saw proof of God before our eyes, we’d fail to acknowledge that, and that’s impossible!
Seeing is believing, we haven’t seen, we don’t believe!
I’m wondering if that guy is the same one who posted to me ages ago saying that I wouldn’t have arthritis if I believed in the ‘right god’.
I think it was Sinatra (?) who said ‘I’m for whatever gets you through the night, be it prayer, pills or whisky’ I generally stick to the middle one :p
I would prefer the whisky myself
She said “more likely to” not “is going to”.
Besides, some of you “seeing is believing” people probably wouldn’t consider there is a God even if He sat on your face with His ass.
‘She said “more likely to” not “is going to”.’
Which is still absolute rubbish. Until we see actual scientific PROOF of these claims we’re going to treat them with the contempt they deserve.
Most social science research tentatively supports the claim that religious people are less likely to be abusive, are happier, healthier, etc. BUT when they control for social integration, the correlation disappears. This means that it’s not religion per se that is leading to these outcomes, just that people who are religious are more likely ON AVERAGE to have a wider social support network at their disposal, mainly because they attend church and meet people who are connected in that way. The same end result can be achieved by volunteering, taking a class, or just getting out and making friends with neighbors. It’s the social network, not religion specifically, that makes the difference.
Or going to “non believer conventions.
Actually no. Atheists don’t believe because there is no evidence. God or the Gods sitting on my face would constitute evidence. However I would still question the point of worshiping him or her or them.
Yeah, even if God WAS real, why would I have to worship him?
He sounds like a complete douche to me…
Many agnostics don’t care if there is a god or not, they refuse to worship ANYTHING because if there was a god and they were the most enlightened being in existence, then they would be above the need to be worshiped anyway.
If a god came and sat on my face, I’d acknowledge the existence, then keep living my life the exact same way after trying to get the imprint off my face.
That’s your belief, my belief is that if you pray, God will hear it and help you recover…BTW I’m doing not anything to change minds I’m just stating MY opinion
So why did he let you get ill in the first place if he will help you recover? also being the almighty god you should be cured instantly and why doesn’t he heal paraplegics or amputees?
Correlation does not equal causation. Statistics also state that the number of churches in a city correlates to the number of liquor stores and drug dealers. That doesn’t mean anything either.
Non-belief lead to Holocaust? Pardon me when I go snicker over your ignorance of history. Or rather, feel saddened by it.
1. Hey, nice number. Did you make it up? Even if not all the wars is CAUSED by religion, a LOT of the hate comes BECAUSE of religion.
All that s**t about “Non-believer” and “believer.”: Yeah. As soon as something bad happens, the person is no longer seen as a believer.
And btw. The poster didn’t mention any of this, so why bring it up? What are you argumenting against? Just read the poster again, it has a lot of truth in it. You shouldn’t force your religion on others. What is so hard to understand about that?
hmmm… wars… i can only think of The Crusades (religious), Napoleon wars (religious, political), WWI (political w/ religious influence), WW2(very religious), Gulf War(religious w/politcal influence), Iraq & Afghanistan wars (very religious), Hitlers massacre of Jews (religious), Hussein massacre of Kurds (religious).
Maybe 93% of wars are not religious, but the most remembered and where most genocide was committed where definitely religious wars. As for rapist, hmm, let me think cough*priests*cough. For suicide, religious extremist from islam ring a bell???.. They would do it happily as well. I could go on and on. Te difference between and non-believer and a believer is the capacity to listen and put into a capacity to understand all points of views, not just make all your decisions based on one source such as the bible or quran
Please prove one of the “facts” you stated. I think a believer is less likely to recycle because I’ve had religious people tell me that it doesn’t matter what people do because god made the earth and only he can make it better or worse. The one about abusing children is an out and out lie. Religion is used as a reason or excuse for alot of the wars if not most of them
Did you know that the majority of Atheists are more accepting to ideas not their own than the religious? Most devout religious people will not sway on their religion, but also don’t sway on nearly any subject… even when proven wrong over and over.
There are a lot more people that do heinous acts in the name of a religion than those who do them in the name of anti-religion.
This is just one “religion”, and I’m sure that the millions killed in the name of this religion would disagree with you…
http://www.atheistnexus.org/profiles/blogs/religious-atrocities-history
Source, please? If you can’t link us to the reputable site which conducted the research, or give us raw data about the war comment… Shut up.
Not to trigger Godwin, but Hitler was a devout Christian.
To the illnesses comment- have you heard of the placebo effect?
This is starting to tick me off, so I’m going to stop before I resort to Ad hominens.
Cheers
Riiight, lets see the facts. Where are your sources?
I’ve found most of my religious friends have had worse lives than my non religious ones. A few devout people killed themselves and have gotten in trouble with the law too. Not saying that my nonbelieving nonChristian friends haven’t gotten into trouble, but they aren’t in as much trouble/suicidal as my believing friends are.
So where are your sources?
Here’s a fact for you that you have ignored.
100% of these arguments are unrelated to the demotivational.
Actually 99% ARE related… just not closely related.
Think cousin’s uncle’s aunt.
…how is this at all relevant to the poster? the poster wasn’t arguing any of these things, but since you mentioned it, you’ve been horribly misinformed. let me guess, you got these “facts” at church? oh and its a complete myth that believers recover from illness faster. It was actually found that they cancer patients that had faith died quicker because they weren’t looking at their treatments objectively and believed they would be magically cured. not that im saying to take some random person from the internets word for it, but you might benefit from actually doing some research now and again instead of blinding believing everything youre told.
Someone has a subscription to the “Weekly journal of rectally derived facts.”
And 97% of statistics are made up on the spot.
In regards to non-belief leading to the Holocaust – surely it was the German people’s belief in Hitler – worship of Hitler if you will – that lead to the Holocaust.
They believed the propaganda blindly without questioning and had faith that Hitler would lead them to a better place.
So even if it wasn’t to do with religion per se, it was very much to do with belief.
Logical people who require facts to shape their world view and make decisions would have told Hitler to f**k off.
I would strongly disagree with that. I would put it down to first the utterly desperate situation that Germany was in at the time. People were grasping at straws and looking for someone to blame.
Jews were regarded in Hitler’s view as being a subspecies, not due to religion, due to race. The ‘logical’ people were unable to persuade the mob that they were being crazy. Once the mob was large enough, the ‘Logical’ people either ran for the hills or were thrown into the camps along with Jews, Gypsy’s and anyone else deemed ‘undesirable’.
The Holocaust wasn’t just about Jews, the Jews were just the largest of the groups. Look up the numbers of Russians killed because they were russian.
I don’t know where you for your information, but you are just wrong on all levels.
you have lost the game.
[citation needed]
I’m beginning to believe jami is a very very VERY clever troll, she gets the most insanely long comment trains out of anyone on this site.
I wonder why the creator used a picture of Jesus instead of Mohammed? Seems pretty gutless to me.
…….Because there are no pictures of Mohammed. It’s against Islam. (and by the way, thanks to Christian extremists, many Muslims are afraid to state their opinion, let alone “shove it down people’s throats”) all of this coming from an atheist (myself).
There are plenty of pictures of Muhammad…
http://www.fullissue.com/wp-content/uploads/Muhammad-Ali.jpg
Boom goes the dynamite.
Sorry, Sunnis don’t allow depictions of Muhammad, Sunnis being the majority (90%) of Muslims in the world. Other denominations do allow it however. I apologize for my mistake.
oh, wait, I didn’t see the link, that Muhammad Ali *Facepalm*
Lol, I know right? C’mon! that was funny and you know it!
No one specified the “prophet Muhammad”!
You’re lucky you stated this on dp, and not pundit kitchen, because all the stupid people who back you up normally wouldn’t be there. And the loophole in your arguement? yes, muslims don’t shove anything down your throats because they believe that killing non believers is better than converting them.
You do perhaps realize that Judaism (which your faith is based on, accept it or not) believes that their Messiah will not appear before either everybody is converted into their belief, or “washed in blood”.
For me, this constitutes “believe in what we do or die”. My country, BTW, was “Christianized”, and people had the choice of converting to Christianity or get killed. I come from Norway, our gods and many of our people were killed by people like you. Keep your ignorance and hate up, and someone will probably return the favor some day.
I do not think I can find a religion which does not denounce all other faiths. Most of them just disguise their opinion as “our god has room for your faith as well, it’s just a small part of what our god is”
Religion is crowd control, nothing more or nothing less. You are lucky to be a sheep on a leash from your master, in stead of facing the responsibility it is having to make your own moral and ethical choices.
You realize how hateful and racist you sound? There are over a billion people in the world that follow the Koran, not every single one of them wants to kill you. Shut up and go to your imaginary hell.
Dude. Islamic terrorists. Muslim extremists do the same thing.
CHALLENGE: If you can find it and post the link, we will use it.
Because christianity is the worlds biggest religion…? And why would is be gutless to use a picture of Jesus instead of Mohammed? Same s**t, diffrent name.
US poster, where the people give lip service to the Bible and shove it in people’s faces are the more prominant faction, I’d think. I’ve yet to see the ‘Praise Allah’ television ministry, after all…granted, too many people in the US seem to think the followers of Mohammed just Say It With Explosives. :-/
Maybe because the maker was probably a Christian? Or that Jesus is far more recognisable than Mohammed?
That’s not Jesus, it’s Kenny Loggins.
i just lol’d myself.
aw come on, you know the only easy, acceptable, and safe religion to bash is christianity. once islam becomes the dominant religion (in the western world), everyone will start bashing it too. oh wait, you can’t bash islam, or they kill you…
Because Islam (like Judaism) does what it can do prevent the worship of anything or anyone but G-d. Most of Islam believes that any physical representation of the Prophet would divert attention away from G-d and lead to worship of Mohammed instead. Christians on the other hand have no problem with this even going so far as physically representing G-d as a man (a technical breach of the 2nd Commandment by the way) and as a Son of G-d (a technical breach of the 1st Commandment as well as the 2nd)
Judaism doesn’t go out of it’s way to prevent the worship of anything or anyone but god. We have an atheist rabbi in my city that is spoken highly of. (reform)
It’s about teaching they say.
Well, in reform Judaism they don’t do that anyway… can’t speak for conservative, orthodox or or hassidic.
Actually, it’s a representation of Jesus, who was indeed a man.
ahh yes…
1) one pretend god only plz…. or you will burn in hell for all eternity
2) again no fake gods plz…. or you will burn in hell for all eternity
3) take time every week to pointlessly beg forgiveness from imaginary entity for being born…. or you will burn in hell for all eternity
4) dont say god…. or you will burn in hell for all eternity
those are 4 important things to teach kids
btw, there is no shred of evidence for “spirituality” what you are experiencing is just chemical interactions in your brain.
Not to mention that the widely believe “Don’t take the lord’s name in vain.” doesn’t mean don’t say the Christian or Jewish gods’ names. It actually means don’t pray for things you don’t truly need. Don’t call upon his name in vain. (Think about that the next time you pray to win the lottery.) Considering “God” and “Adonai” aren’t the actual names for either of them, it’s unknown how saying “God” o the hebrew word for “Lord” would have been a bad thing. Yeshua and Yahweh. Also, Yeshua is closer to Joshua than Jesus and I’ve always wondered about that.
Moral: It’s not a sin in your religion to use the GD bomb, or say god or Jesus in general.
Hmm, I’ll skip the first 2, the arguments are way too broad for this media.
3. Try, you WILL take a day off from work. You will take that time to think about the things you’ve done wrong and sincerely apologize for them, first to God, and then to the person you wronged. You will take the time to plan out the upcoming week and get some rest.
4. points to Loki’s post as being pretty close. Dropping the GD bomb, if meant literally, would be taking his name in vain. You’d basically be declaring that you wanted god to ‘Damn’ the offending person/object/cat, etc. Expressed as a simple expletive is debatable.
Interesting associated point. Psycho’s that carry signs saying ‘You will go to hell because of [fill in the blank]‘ are actually taking the Lord’s name in vain.
“Childrens” isn’t correct
@nic- Morality does not require religion or spirituality, the Ten Commandments is a fancy title for the basic morals of all humanity, not just Judeo-Christian believers. I was raised without religion and I knew the difference between right and wrong. When I did learn the Ten Commandments, all I saw was a formal listing of things I already knew with a different title. Children should be taught morals without saying that those beliefs come from a specific sect of a religion. I know that I am more accepting of all faiths and people because I have a broad mindset. If people behave in a way I disagree with morally, I leave them be and try to ignore them. @jamisings- A non-believer has just as good a chance being of strong moral fiber as a believer, it is entirely up to the individual to choose a path that would bring good to themselves and the world. I have seen faults on both sides, I have seen good on both sides. You cannot group people or rely on statistics. No fact could ever measure a person’s thoughts on this topic, you would have to know their entire life’s experience to know how they feel and how they reached that choice.
Why is Jesus an Anglo here?
didn’t you know: jesus was white! i learned that in catholic school.
Jesus was white…r u kidding me…?
This is one of the first Very Demotivational posters I find extremely offensive.
What’s your point?
Be offended then. Nobody cares.
Everyone will be offended by something or another. It really doesn’t change anything in the long run.
I echo the others- faith often offends me. But, why are you offended?
Please explain, I would be interested in knowing why.
Cheers
Because comparing religion to a penis is just wrong. I don’t care what religion (or lack thereof) you associate with. Mentioning sticking a penis down a child’s throat is sick.
Click on the ‘incorrect source or offensive?’ button and send your regards. That’s what I did.
Bawww.
Sooo First Amendment is for everyone! Except, of course, people with an opinion which isn’t anti-religion.
Please, please, read and understand something before citing it. The First Amendment refers only to the actions of a government official, not private individuals.
To answer your underlying concern, however, I ask you this: is it ethical to teach someone something of crucial importance to their life when they are incapable of challenging it? If your religion cannot stand on its own in the marketplace of ideas, which the First Amendment was created to safeguard, let it be cast aside.
Cheers
well, exercising your first amendment rights would be to ignore this poster and go on business as usual. the first amendment allows you to say what you want in response to whatever some jackass you disagree with says.
I agree whole heartedly with this. I personally am pagan but I NEVER ask my “christian” friends to join me at a circle or anything. Yet, every Saturday I get a email from a “friend” asking me to go to church to challenge MY beliefs.
Slap your friends for me.
*is Christian and would never do that.*
It’s hard when one professes to be a Christian and sees their friends, good people and loved ones deny God. It twists you inside when you think about their afterlife. So I can see why there are some people bugging you.
On the other hand once the invitation has been made, constant nagging is just nagging and who wants that?? Nobody. Jesus didn’t nag, He just pointed out truths (and alot of social hypocrisies) and left it for people to follow or not.
I’m not religious myself, but do pagans ACTUALLY believe in the pagan beliefs? Because i’m wondering why someone says ‘im christian’ and gets pummeled into oblivion for their beliefs, but someone says ‘im pagan’ and everyone kind of just mentally nods to them.
The problem with religion is that most every religious person thinks others have to believe in their religion. They feel they need to cram it down everyones throats
The problem with people with non religious views is that they have this unprecidented hatred towards religion. They get severely offended any time religion is mentioned.
Its really sad that nobody can take another person not believing the same thing as them in a more mature way. They want to take it as a personal affront.
I’m with you on this one. I’m Christian and open to other beliefs, hell I like learning about them, it’s interesting.
Atheism bothers me the most, mainly on the internet, because 98% of them are douchebags.
Of course they are roughly only 2% of atheists in total. Just like the Islamic terrorists give the millions of peaceful Muslims a bad name, it’s the same with atheists and Christians
The first comment that comes to mind on this is, appropriately enough, ‘Amen!’
Uggg i dont even know why i read these things… anyway people seem to not understand that Christians try to “convert” people because we love others and want others to be saved and experience true joy.
P.S. i disagree with “shoving down people’s throats” practice that people do
I experience true joy in my life well enough. Common decency says that when someone has told you ‘no’ once you should back off.
I have NO problem with the people who realise that. None.
I second this. Also common decency is to let others live their own lives.
Wow so I guess I’m not actually happy even though I love my life, hmmm.
THAT’S F**KIN TRUE
The Church of Atheism are always showing at my door trying to convert me.
The Church of Atheism? That’s kind of like the Mosque of Judaism, or the Synagogue of Christianity. Idiot.
Not really, there isn’t really sufficient evidence to categorically deny the possibility of a creator of some sort. Certainly it would be naive or foolish to assume that the Universe and everything in it was created in exactly the method and timeframe set out in the Bible but a certain amount of belief is required to deny the existence of a G-d of some sort outright.
Also how should you define the word ‘existence’ in this case? The creation of an idea, shared by enough people may in fact (philosophically speaking) lend to the idea that G-d exists even if it is only in the heads and imaginations of those that believe such a thing because the ‘idea of G-d’ exists.
You can’t prove a negative and expecting people to do so isn’t fair.
Can’t disprove it either, Loki, and expecting people to not discuss it is also unfair.
Besides, science tries to prove negatives all the time. A lot of modern advances have been made by investigating what ‘Should’ be there, by noting where things aren’t.
My scientific outlook on pure evolution vs creationism is to question how genesis came so close to getting it right. Most people get caught up in the number of days reference, but I’m sure you are too intelligent to take that at face value.
this is genius xD
this joke was from a movie. can’t remember what movie it was but this dude just took the joke from somewhere else. lame.
But… Don’t treat your penis like religion. That “Take ye this and eat it…” line doesn’t apply beyond the wafer in church!
So, I’m pregnant and my mother-in-law said that she was going to “raise” my child to love Jesus and know that “Jesus is love” and if my child doesn’t believe she will do whatever it takes to “change” him. Yeah, THAT’S shoving it down a child’s throat. I don’t necessarily believe in organized religion, I do believe in God, but I believe in my own way. There are things I don’t agree with in the Bible and things I do. When my child gets here, we plan on INTRODUCING him to religion; the church, God, Jesus, etc. But, I refuse to FORCE him to believe a certain way. And when he reaches the age where he can make his own decisions, if he decides religion is not for him, I will love him anyways. It’s called unconditional love. I’m pretty sure it says that in the Bible, God has unconditional love. Which means, He loves people no matter what they believe or who they are. So to say that people who believe heal from illnesses faster, is pure ignorance. It’s like saying that God only helps those who believe and says screw everyone else. I’m a type 1 diabetic for 18 years, and I’ve been close to death several times. I thought of myself as an agnostic for many years, yet every time I was close to death, I pulled through. Without going to church, without praying, without all that. And I’m sorry, but I’ve seen people in the news who actually beat their children “in the name of God”. I’m not saying either party is more likely to do it, I’m simply saying that God, or lack thereof, has nothing to do with people’s actions. It’s called free will. I truly believe that if everyone could agree to disagree on religion, it wouldn’t necessarily rid the world of all it’s problems, but I think it would take care of a pretty large amount. Let me believe what I want, and you do the same. We are ALL aware of God, the Bible, Christianity, and all the other religions. Which means, we can make our OWN decisions on what we want to believe, we don’t need someone trying to force us or guilt us into a certain religion.
I love this poster. I humorous way of stating the truth.:D
Too long. Didn’t read.
Heh, my MIL is saying that she can’t wait to bring her grandkid to church with her because it’ll “open him up to all religions”. Last time I checked, the way they “open him up” is to say “the only right religion is **insert this churches faith** all the others are wrong, if you don’t believe our way, you are going to hell”. She said about letting him choose. I haven’t brought it up again but I’m wondering what age she’d like to do this, how often, and what she will say about other religions to him/her. I just have to hope that our kid will understand not everyone thinks that way, and talk to him about the many other beliefs (and non beliefs) out there.
Had a nightmare that our kid came home from church crying saying “mommy and daddy you are going to hell if you don’t beleive” and me laying into my MIL for letting him think that on the way home, another dream had me saying to my husband “talk to your mom about this nonsense NOW, he’s not going with her again”… Ugh.
And that is what I agree with COMPLETELY <3 thank you. I don't believe persee. I do try to live my life with karma though. Even though I don't believe in it it's very good for the mind to live your life positively.
I do know different religions, and well.. I did know God believes unconditionally (or so the bible says) So really actually the whole religion can be stripped down to the core: Live a good life and life after death will be good too. Or all together.. Just live a good life. You don't need to worship anyone or anything to be a good person.
Why do people people believe they have to believe to be a good person anyway?
I agree but still smaller are appreciated.
Oh and my Grandma Has diabetes so good luck and stuff!
Amen sis
Amen.
Amen!
ZOMFG RELIGION FLAMEWAR
You believe in tolerance. You’re trying to shove that belief down my throat.
Tolerance doesn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with religion, though, which is what they’re talking about in the poster. If it was just beliefs, they would have written beliefs in the poster, instead of religion.
So it’s ok to shove non-religious beliefs, but not religious ones? That doesn’t seem fair.
Well, you know, kids go to school and get all kinds of ‘crap’ shoves down their throats. Science, math, etc.
But not in Kansas.
Nicely worded- the cheap shot at Kansas might have been uncalled for, though.
Nevertheless, I concur.
Cheers
Because you can’t separate “beliefs” from “religious beliefs” is the main reason you won’t win an argument here. Non-religion isn’t a religion and isn’t a belief. It’s the lack of a belief. We don’t sit alone at night and “believe” there is nothing. It doesn’t come up in the slightest and we don’t think about it at all UNTIL religious people start with their stuff.
It may be intangible, but we don’t even think about it, there isn’t anything there to believe in, so there is no “belief” to force upon anyone.
OK, fine. Then I don’t believe in my religion (or lack thereof); I know it’s true. So now I can shove it down throats, right?
That’s still a belief. What you are calling a belief that we hold is actually an anti-belief. It is a “negative”, there is no believing anything, there is no thought given to it, there is no explaining it, there is nothing of that nature. It does not classify as a belief in the slightest. You “knowing something to be true” doesn’t stop it from being a “positive”. Something you think about, have to explain to people, have to teach people, etc. It’s simple common sense. You are missing the point. I’m done here as you seem to dense to actually absorb anything. This isn’t a hard concept to follow. ~headdesk~
Except it is. You’re saying not to shove my beliefs down my children’s throats. You must have some idea or concept or principle behind saying that or you wouldn’t say it. If “don’t do something” is not a belief, then don’t argue with me.
simplified:
Belief = praying to an entity, taking time out of your day for said entity(be it reading scriptures from the book of said entity, going to a building of worship to said entity, excetera).
non-belief = going on with your life, making the best of what you have, bettering yourself without needing to care what any entity thinks about it.
Great, so I as an atheist can shove that non-belief down the throats of my children, yes?
No.. as that usually doesn’t happen.. and if it does.. said person usually gets the crap beat out of them.
No.
It’s been stated by many people that most Atheists allow their children to decide on their own, and many even expose them specifically to religions and show them all points of view before they make a decision.
Non belief is just the default.
Again, you fail to see the point.
I’m against ALL people who shove ANYTHING down ANYONE’s throat.
Yes, but THAT’S A POSITION, and YOU’RE A PERSON and you’re trying to SHOVE IT DOWN MY THROAT. So you’re not against all people.
Obviously I wouldn’t be against myself now would I? You fail at psychology 101.
Wow… seriously… You have some skewed logic on most of this… no one’s even talking about half of this stuff you spout, and then you run it in a circle… You’re stubbornly sticking to flawed logic and grasping at straws so you don’t lose, even if those straws are flimsy and unsupported. You are also being the MOST literal person in the world, when everyone knows that in many debates, and views PERIOD, literalism fails when someone is speaking in figurative terms. Literalism the way you use it is the quickest way to obfuscate that you don’t really know what you’re talking about, you are desperate to win at any cost, even if that’s a stalemate, and that you just like to run in circles. Most of the things you are arguing with have been explained several times, but you can’t let go because you have to use the literal terms of a flawed language against your opponent, instead of arguing about something YOU BOTH AGREE WITH.
Loki stated several times that they just want everyone to shut up and stop shoving anything down anyone’s throats that could be controversial. Loki’s statements don’t count because he or she is talking about if a person asks you to stop, you should stop.
I don’t know how he/she could have made it clearer. They even AGREED with you on how it would be solved.
Loki: That’s why I’m saying your position is self-contradictory. Since you’re not against yourself, you’re ok with pushing your ideas. Well, so am I, even if my ideas are religious.
Wrongwaysailor:
Again, you’re short-circuiting the argument because Loki’s ideas are conventional and mine aren’t. I don’t think that “my religion is right” is a controversial statement; I think it’s a true statement. I do think that “don’t shove your ideas down people’s throats” is a controversial statement. You don’t get to have your position be the default.
Non-believers usually do not mention any kind of belief systems to their offspring unless said offspring mentions said belief.
Once asked, the non-believing parental units will explain the basics of the belief system in question, and usually any other belief systems of the local area.
Upon this time, the non-believing parental units tell their offspring that it is ultimately the offspring’s choice weather to follows said belief system or not.
If said offspring chooses to believe in a belief system, the non-believing parental units will usually allow their offspring to follow that decision.
It doesn’t always happen like this.. but that is my experience in my local area.
All of your arguments are built on a fallacy.
“Prove to me this chair doesn’t exist.”
“What chair?”
The “what chair” is an Atheist’s mindset at all times. The table will still be there though. The table is the idea of the chair/ the argument over the chair.
Anyway… I’m done arguing here. You can run in circles all day, you can use circular logic and your fallacies all you want. The fact of the matter is that half of your statements are as if you were rooting for anarchy.
You are not worth my time.
And yet, they do. In college, there were a number of people who informed me, without knowing my own religious background, that people who believe in any religion are ignorant and incapable of independent thought. I admit to finding this amusing after a time, because when I wore a cross my mother gave me one day, one man informed me, “I thought you were intelligent, but I see you’re not. You’re no longer welcome to converse with us on intellectual issues.”
I had said nothing whatsoever about religion to them, and had discussed the concept of deity in both literature and philosophy classes with mixed groups quite peacefully.
Is this an example of how people with no belief never attempt to force their beliefs on others?
atheism is a belief; a belief is a religion; then GASP the Atheists have formed a beliefs that says you can’t believe! What a bunch of hopeless losers Atheists must be.
Belief ≠ Religion. As you may or may not have noticed, there is no Church of The-Sky-is-Blue, however much people believe it.
Religion, however, IS a type of belief.
Atheism is the anti belief. It’s a negative space, and is not an actual thing or belief. We don’t “believe” that god doesn’t exist. We don’t “believe” anything of a religious nature.
Understanding fail.
No you are wrong, you are making the mistake of the fallacy, ‘All men are mortal, Socrates is mortal, therefore he is a man’ which is not true, my cat is mortal, but it’s not a man. Atheism is a belief, religion is a belief, but not all beliefs are religion.
Did I say it was okay? No. I just pointed out that tolerance wasn’t necessarily a religious belief. Thanks for acting like a jerk, though.
So we agree then that it’s not ok for anyone here, including the maker of the poster, to shove his belief of tolerance down my throat?
You’re the only one that is really saying beliefs here. You started the whole thing about beliefs when we were all talking about religion.
All you seem to do is create logic, from false assumptions, out of a fallacy, of opinions you hold. That’s not an argument, and you keep going round in circles because you have no real argument.
Dude… from most of us… just shut the hell up. This will never go anywhere when you fail at logic and life.
Done with you.
Added before the last line, but didn’t re enter it.*
Also, for the most part, you are arguing about things no one was arguing about and created a distraction from the point. That’s cheap debate and doesn’t actually solve anything in the slightest when you have missed the point 20 times, misunderstood 20 times, come up with things that don’t make sense 20 times because no one knows where some of it came from, and then contradicted yourself 20 times.
Now I’m done.
^^^This^^^
Yes because there’s no strict logical way to classify beliefs so that I can’t blur the line between religious ones and non-religious ones. My logic is sound; you just don’t want to deal with it because it doesn’t use your assumptions. So I will not shut the hell up. You should be the one who goes away.
Don’t reply to ^ and the troll will starve. They might even get bored enough to get out a dictionary and look up the terms “belief” and “Religion” (and notice the differences between the two.
As I said to a guy at work who complained that his beliefs were being violated by us having a gay member of staff working alongside him: Get over it.
OK. When that guy gets fired for being gay, he should get over it.
So, I should have just accepted a member of staff who kept vocally expressing his belief that gay people had no rights and shouldn’t be working there? To the guy’s FACE?
That would be harrassment. Your right to your own beliefs stops at my nose.
I’ve even had to report somenoe to HR for a formal warning because she took umbrage against the fact I never want children. To her, I was ‘abusing’ the institution of marriage by being married without having offspring because her religion didn’t agree with that stance.
She kept on at me, harrasing me every day in the office until I had had enough and filed a report against her for harrassment.
She got sent to some training course about how to keep your gob shut when at wrk. She’s free to spout off her beliefs anywhere else, but she has no right to harrass me into converting in the office.
So the other guy should have just accepted a member of staff who was gay and working there? His right to his sexuality stops at the guy’s nose.
You see my point? Stop trying to short-circuit the argument by slipping in your beliefs in sideways and assuming them to be true. If we want a fair system, we can do it one of two ways:
1. Every belief and position is fine to express, preach, argue, and discuss.
2. No belief or position is allowed to be expressed, preached, argued, or discussed.
Option 3 is not on the table: It’s fine to discuss being gay, or being non-religious, or being tolerant, or being of some minority feel-good religion but not ok to discuss being religiously self-righteous or intolerant.
You really don’t make any sense. Regardless of what religion (or even lack of) someone is, it does NOT give them the right to harrass others.
Especially not in my office.
I don’t have any issue with people with different beliefs to my own, but the instant they start using it as a justification to harrass others then I DO have a problem with it.
You can have arguments and debates about your religion all you like, but not unsolicited and not in my office.
FYI, before you get het up, I’d do the same if an athiest in the office was giving someone s**t for believing in something.
‘So the other guy should have just accepted a member of staff who was gay and working there? ‘
Yes.
No religion, no belief, no lack of religion for that matter gives you the right to harrass others.
DIcuss it all you like with people if they want to – but not unsolicited, and not in my office.
Else you’ll find yourself in the same boots as that woman in the office who thought she had a right to continually berate me for the whole no-kids thing.
If you cannot act like a professional then you shouldn’t have a job in a professional environment.
(oh and before you scream about how you are being oppressed by people like me, let me remind you that I have NO tolerance for any kind of bigot – be they catholic, protestant or athiest)
But there’s a difference between harassing and violating beliefs. Expressing a belief that gays have no rights is not inherently harassing, any more than expressing the belief that gays do have rights, because both are just beliefs.
The fact is, you do have tolerance for one kind of bigot–the anti-bigotry bigot. You’ll tolerate a homosexual, but not a homophobe. You’ll tolerate a christian and an atheist, but not anyone who believes that all christians are credulous morons or that all atheists are amoral heathens who are going to burn in hell. And that’s not right.
You try to stay in the middle too much.
“My belief is that murder is right. I have murdered hundreds and I will never stop.”
Some beliefs should not be expected to be tolerated. Especially ones that impede on other’s rights. Athiests don’t have a right to tell someone they cannot practice a religion. They do have a right to dictate if they want to listen to it all the time, even after telling someone no.
When you continuously go on and on about something and don’t care if someone has told you to stop, it becomes a form of rape.
Then stop arguing with me. You think that the beliefs that should be tolerated are yours and the ones that shouldn’t are mine. That’s cheating.
Woops. Replied to the wrong person, so here goes again.
Paul, I’ve been reading through this thread and have seen a clear pattern emerge: You are deliberately confrontational and argumentative with anyone and everyone whose opinion differs from your own simply for the sake of being confrontational and argumentative. Furthermore, you have this unhealthy need to feel in control by having the last word in every single conversation. Not once – no, not once – have you left any part of the thread in which you were interacting with someone (often instigated by you) where you did not have to have the absolute last word. Rather, you defiantly demand everyone else be the ones to shut up and go away because you will not. This says volumes about you and your irrational need for power and control for the simple fact that you feel so very powerless and not at all in control in real life. How incredibly sad and pathetic to be unable to simply walk away, to be so unwilling to let go of that which you ultimately have no control. And unless and until you reach that point you will never know real peace nor have a genuine understanding of forgiveness, much less have any real power over anything in this life, including yourself.
Now I fully expect a pretzel logic laden response denying the validity of any of this (as would be typical for you). And you know what? That’s perfectly fine with me because, unlike you, I have no desperate need to grasp onto the illusion of power and control by responding back and having the last word. So keep floundering in your own neuroses and have at it – the only one you’ll be talking to will be yourself.
Paul, I’ve been reading through this thread and have seen a clear pattern emerge: You are deliberately confrontational and argumentative with anyone and everyone whose opinion differs from your own simply for the sake of being confrontational and argumentative. Furthermore, you have this unhealthy need to feel in control by having the last word in every single conversation. Not once – no, not once – have you left any part of the thread in which you were interacting with someone (often instigated by you) where you did not have to have the absolute last word. Rather, you defiantly demand everyone else be the ones to shut up and go away because you will not. This says volumes about you and your irrational need for power and control for the simple fact that you feel so very powerless and not at all in control in real life. How incredibly sad and pathetic to be unable to simply walk away, to be so unwilling to let go of that which you ultimately have no control. And unless and until you reach that point you will never know real peace nor have a genuine understanding of forgiveness, much less have any real power over anything in this life, including yourself.
Now I fully expect a pretzel logic laden response denying the validity of any of this (as would be typical for you). And you know what? That’s perfectly fine with me because, unlike you, I have no desperate need to grasp onto the illusion of power and control by responding back and having the last word. So keep floundering in your own neuroses and have at it – the only one you’ll be talking to will be yourself.
You don’t see the whole picture. The religious guy wants the gay guy out. The gay guy has no problem with a peaceful coexistence between two people who can tolerate each other. Therein lies the problem. Toleration is a major key to success in life, as without it, you will have quite a hard time communicating with others: you seem to have the same issue here. Peaceful coexistence. Try it.
The religious guy is not at peace when the gay guy is around. How is that peaceful co-existence? It’s more realistic to accept that the two are antagonistic toward each other and that they need to coexist non-peacefully.
To me…that made sense…
It makes sense, but that’s not what’s being argued here. It was specifically stated that the gay guy wasn’t flaunting his homosexuality, but the other guy was blatantly harassing the gay guy. He wasn’t just “expressing views” he was harassing him and attacking him. There is a difference, and if you can’t see that then you should be tied down sitting on your hands so you can’t do any harm to anyone else.
What about the gays right togo to work WITHOUT having some prat continually telling him that he is wrong and ‘damaged’?
Or my right to work without that woman in the office continually harrassing me for not having kids?
And in both cases we have told these people to shut up, we are not interested, and they keep doing it.
Sorry, but the right of a person to work WITHOUT harrassment trumps any so-called ‘right to preach’ in the office. And that isn’t belief, that’s the law in these parts.
First off, don’t argue from the law. The law is the end result of what’s right, not the cause. And no, you don’t have the right to anything in the office unless you own it. But that wasn’t the point. CDThe didn’t bring up harassment until after she talked about one person “complaining” who she told to “get over it.” As a purely personal preference, I don’t think that harassment is productive or useful, but the implication that the complainer should get over it while the complainee doesn’t have to change was the point of the argument, and it’s one with which I don’t agree.
As a personal preference I would take great pleasure in firing someone like you who thinks discrimination is totally okay.
If karma has anything to do with it, one day you’ll be refused medical treatment by someone who doesn’t agree with your way of life – but hey, you agree with that don’t you?
Sure. No one has the obligation to provide service for me. I think I can convince them to do so with the perfectly good inducer called money. But I don’t think that’s karmic. Karma would be when someone who wants everything for himself gets everything for himself.
Being gay and being a complete d**k who thinks the sun shines out of his own a** is a very different thing. I doubt the gay person was trying to shove his sexuality down the religious guy’s throught so why should his sexuality bother him? Oh, yeah because it’s against what HE ‘believes’. I think we can come to the conclusion that not everyone thinks the same thing, so as a solution, maybe everyone should just shut the jug up when it comes to what they believe.
OK so the only people in bible who said homosexuality is wrong are i think paul and the guy who thinks that slavery is ok and that wearing clothes made of two different threads is punishable by death. Jesus was confronted with a man who was gay with his master and Jesus had nothing bad to say about it. I’m just saying that Jesus trumps paul and anyone else, any day.
^truth
I’m shooting for the latter of those two options.
Also, gay people generally don’t discuss being gay because its a private matter. Somehow someone finds out through the grapevine and it slips through to someone that doesn’t wanna hear it. It’s the same thing as if someone was straight… they don’t talk about their sex life to every random stranger that passes them.
You missed the point, she was saying that he was harassing the guy because he was gay. The gay guy was not flaunting his homosexuality, nor was he bending over nude and waving his ass around.
The guy didn’t get fired because he didn’t like gays, he got fired for harassment.
Then you, and she, are missing my point. I’m not talking about what gets you fired. I’m talking about what’s right and wrong. And if it’s wrong to shove your religion down someone’s throat, and wrong to shove your atheism down someone’s throat, then it’s wrong to shove any opinion down, even the opinion that one shouldn’t shove religion or atheism down someone’s throat.
It’s a good thing the world doesn’t work that way.
I’m sorry, but you aren’t using all of the rules of logic. By YOUR logic, everything that exists is wrong and it becomes anarchy.
“It’s wrong to shove the belief that murder and rape are wrong down my throat.”
I’m glad I don’t work for you then – you’d probably be the twittelling me that I just have to ‘deal’ with people harrassing mefor being different.
Also, go read up on the law – especially bits about workplace harrassment and discrimination.
Don’t like the law? Tough.
You’re doing the same thing to your co-worker, so I’m glad I don’t work for you either. And I look forward to the day I can railroad through a law saying that only people of my race, religion, orientation, etc., have workplace rights, because I’m sure you’ll say, “Well, I don’t like this law, so I guess that’s tough for me.”
I don’t personally care if a person is gay, straight, religious, non-religious, etc. If I get harassed, it’s a problem.
I don’t care if a person tells me they are Christian. I don’t care if they ask me if I want to talk about it. I don’t care if they are happy about it and wanna talk about it. If I say that I don’t want to talk about it, it should be over. That’s my problem here.
I grow tired of every time I talk to a Christian person they talk about it, or find some reason to bring it up and go into a one sided discussion about it. I don’t talk about being Atheist. I don’t try to convince others it’s the right way. That’s what I expect from others. If I say I don’t want to hear about it and I try my best to separate from that person, then they keep coming back with it and won’t let it drop… that’s shoving it down my throat. That’s also harassment.
then they keep coming back KNOWING I don’t want to discuss it**
I am a rightwing conservative Christian. I am also a hairstylist and work with gay people, which I don’t have a problem with. IMO – live and let live. Same with the woman berating you for choosing not to have children. She needs to mind her own business.
I am not an “in your face” kind of person, and will talk about my faith and beliefs but in a sharing, informative way, not as a “believe it or you’re going to hell” thing. But despite that, I was likewise harrassed by a gay co-worker, who once got in my face and said “we don’t want your Mormon-assed attitude here”, and he was defended time and again by our boss. Lucky for him and our boss that he walked out before I had the chance to find an attorney to sue the business owner for allowing a hostile work environment.
However – on the subject of teaching faith and beliefs to children – you have to lay some sort of a foundation when children are young, and give them the tools for critical thinking so that they can decide for themselves if they want to embrace the faith of their parents or explore other options. You wouldn’t let a child eat with his hands and grab stuff from other people’s plates and throw food… then expect that when he turns 16 he is suddenly going to decide to have good table manners. I think it’s the same with faith and religion.
It’s not the same. Children’s brains learn through conditioning at young ages and if you lead them to believe one thing is the only way (only expose them to one thing) then it’s a stacked deck.
The opposite isn’t true however. If you don’t teach them anything and then later in life they are exposed to it, they have a higher chance of actually making an informed decision as they learn about different things, rather than going back to instincts that were created via conditioning. They also have a lower chance of going one way “just to rebel” against you.
Anyway… do you “talk about it in a sharing and informative way” even when a person has asked you to stop? If not then I have no problem with you. That’s all I’m really asking is that people take a social queue or two and learn to shut up when he other person doesn’t want to hear it and you know it.
Note I said “give them the tools for critical thinking.” It is possible to teach children the foundation of faith and also instill in them the curiousity to explore other options. Only those who are militantly anti-religion would believe that any religous training to a child is tantamount to indoctrination.
And I rarely have people tell me they don’t want to hear any more about my church. Most are curious and willing to get a member’s perspective, since there is a lot of misinformation and misconceptions about my church. As long as they ask questions, I will answer them. But if someone were to say no thanks, I would respect that and drop the subject.
What if I were to fire one of my employee for being a Christian or for being straight?
What if you teach your child to accept gay couples, but don’t tell them, “There are people out there who really hate gay people, so you should keep your mind open and make your own decisions”? Is this jamming a personal belief down your child’s throat?
Personally I’m ok with that, because I think that property rights ought to be absolute.
It’s not okay to fire someone because you’re prejudiced and it never will be. If I fired someone because they were Christian, or straight, it’d still be wrong.
No it wouldn’t, if you’re the business owner. If you’re an HR official, then you have a duty to the owner, but the owner should have absolute power over all aspects of the business.
A person should never have the right to step on the rights of others.
And you don’t have a right to a job, or to the property of the owner of a business.
But we do have the right not to be discriminated on the basis of our sexuality, race or religion (or lack thereof).
No you don’t. You have the right to not be discriminated by the government on those bases, but the problems with trying to enforce that on private citizens, well, here’s 2:
1. I’m going to choose which store I go to based on the race of the owner. How are you going to stop me and make me buy from the other.
2. My religion says that I have the right to lie, cheat, and steal whenever I want to. Discriminating against me on that basis violates my rights.
The right is ended when you impede on another’s rights.
You do not have a right to lie, cheat, or steal from people, even if it is because of your religion because it violates others’ rights.
1. You are not violating the rights of anyone else in choosing to go to one store over another.
2. Your religious beliefs conflict with the law. End of story.
1. Then neither am I violating the rights of anyone, if I own a store, by employing one person over another on the same basis, or in restricting my customers on the same basis.
2. Then the law is wrong. It should say that no one may tell the truth, play fair, or prevent theft. So it’s still discrimination. Doesn’t that sound silly? So do the discrimination laws in place now.
So you want a return to signs like ‘no blacks’ and ‘for white people only’ do you?
Anti-discrimination laws are there for a reason. They are there to protect against the hardships that some people wantto impose on others in the name of bigotry.
AndI say that as a disabled female who has encountered plenty of discrimination in her career – up to and including one manager saying ‘I don’t hirewomen because they go off and have babies’
I want a return to absolute property rights. Whatever effect that has on the races, I don’t care.
I’m glad that bigots like you are in the minority then.
That’s the very nature of rights… no one technically has a right to anything. All you’re doing is twisting words around and purposefully using circular logic.
Circular logic isn’t difficult, and it’s probably the most childish versions of logic.
“half of your statements are as if you were rooting for anarchy.”
“no one technically has a right to anything.”
Hail irony!
That’s not irony. Anarchy isn’t people not having a right to anything.
I just think this ‘paul’ guy got his knickers in a knot one day because he was told to stop being a racist at work and got all uptight about it.
Seen it before..
Thanks for being a moron Paul. You aren’t helping the religious at all here.
Whoever said I was religious?
The gay guy’s beliefs were probably being violated by having an inconsiderate douche working alongside him.
Aye, I was the one who had to explain to HR why the gay guy was off work due to stress for a long while. KNowing that when you walk into work some complete dipstick is going to start harrassing you for being gay again would make anyone reluctant to return to work.
(I’ve got a manager at the moment who is anti-disabled people being in the workforce. WHich is fun since I have 2 disabilities..)
Thing is, if you truly believe, you’ll see it as your duty to educate your offspring, just as much as with grammar, algebra, or manners. For the faithful it’s a matter of fact, not a matter of “cramming down the throat”. Have you ever complained of algebra being crammed down your throat? Now, I’ve encountered any number of atheists that start shrieking about “cramming down their throats” at the very first mention of anything of faith. It just seems to me a lot of atheists are such merely out of resentment, whether of being made to dress up and sit in a pew for an hour on Sunday or what, and they feed that resentment at every opportunity. Now, having said all that, I would let you guess, but you wouldn’t get it. I’m a total infidel, an unbeliever. I’m not the faithful, and I don’t teach faith to my son. I just comprehend viewpoints other than my own. Just chill the f**k out.
Actually, yes, I would say algebra was ‘crammed down my throat’ since I was subjected to it unwillingly. XD
Feel free to substitute ‘algebra’ with the name of any religion, and the statement will still be true. At least, from my personal experience, anyway. And for those who think atheists are pushy, they seem to forget that there has yet to be a war waged in the name of atheism (I’m not talking about a war that just so happened to NOT be about religion, but that the specific reason for it was atheism).
You’re mostly correct about the atheist war part, except you forget that the Nazis were extremist atheist. They wanted to get rid of religion, and the Jews. Of course, the Jews, they felt, were also the reason that many Germans were destitute.
This is my last post here and I have no intention on arguing anymore. Especially when I’m not really arguing either and people are taking half of what everyone says wrong and then running with a false assumption.
I am non-religious. The entire point of religion, from beginning to end, was to take away fear, to give hope, to let people rest easy, and not fear the end but rather to enjoy their life.
Wrong reply, this is meant for the bottom.
I just love how these posters bring out all of the “Defenders of the Faith” (or Nonfaith, as it were). All the angry griping and complaining is just hilarious. Since no one can prove or disprove God beyond all doubt, unless they somehow manage to die, then come back and tell everyone else about it, it really is a pointless argument. :\
You can’t prove a negative anyway, so the burden of proof isn’t on non believers.
Maybe so, but that doesn’t stop the argument from being pointless.
Plus, I don’t think anyone here is really trying to prove or disprove it, us atheist/agnostics are just tired of hearing about it, and being ridiculed/ having it forced down our throats at all times. That’s what Loki’s been trying to say this entire time.
I didn’t say anyone here on this page was trying to prove or disprove it. I was just saying that it’s a pointless argument that no one will ever really have the answer to, until they die, and then they can’t really tell anyone anything.
Actually, God was already disproven… many times, too.
How? How do you run an experiment to disprove something like that? How do you even know it worked? And please don’t give me the whole “If God is real, he/she will strike me down for whatever” shtick.
It’s all very simple, actually, just like the minds of the believers.
Yes, i just called you simple.
Anywho, the point. Just about the most important, the very core, the very essence of a religion (nearly every religion there is) is the claim that they are: 1.Always right. 2. Never wrong. 3. Messengers of God, divinely inspired, etc. as such #1 and #2.
Following that… “logic”, a religion is only “valid” as long as it’s claims are correct. Disprove but one claim, you disprove the entire religion, since that means they are not 100% right, thus not divinely inspired, liars, etc.. Should they (The religion; by order of their Guy In Charge (Pope, etc.)) change their stance on something – anything – they’re all going to hell, and they’re all heretics, since they strayed from the One True Path that can never be wrong (I guess every christian is going to hell then, eh?). Or, they were just all liars/scammers/cultists in the first place.
And many, many claims made by various religions have been disproved. Since we seem to be talking christians here…
“Earth is flat.” – Nope, sorry, it’s not. You’re wrong. Also, there is no God. Just like that.
Not good enough for your zealous mind? Okay, here’s another one.
“God lives in Heaven with a bunch of angels and dead people, all of wich is in the sky.”
No. There is no heaven in the sky. Just atmosphere, and then – empty space.
And there you have it. A specific example where the existence of God was undeniably disproven.
Looks like some mods don’t want me posting the proof. Ok, here goes try #2.
It’s all very simple, actually, just like the minds of the believers.
Yes, i just called you simple.
Anywho, the point. Just about the most important, the very core, the very essence of a religion (nearly every religion there is) is the claim that they are: 1.Always right. 2. Never wrong. 3. Messengers of God, divinely inspired, etc. as such #1 and #2.
Following that… “logic”, a religion is only “valid” as long as it’s claims are correct. Disprove but one claim, you disprove the entire religion, since that means they are not 100% right, thus not divinely inspired, liars, etc.. Should they (The religion; by order of their Guy In Charge (Pope, etc.)) change their stance on something – anything – they’re all going to hell, and they’re all heretics, since they strayed from the One True Path that can never be wrong (I guess every christian is going to hell then, eh?). Or, they were just all liars/scammers/cultists in the first place.
And many, many claims made by various religions have been disproved. Since we seem to be talking christians here…
“Earth is flat.” – Nope, sorry, it’s not. You’re wrong. Also, there is no God. Just like that.
Not good enough for your zealous mind? Okay, here’s another one.
“God lives in Heaven with a bunch of angels and dead people, all of wich is in the sky.”
No. There is no heaven in the sky. Just atmosphere, and then – empty space.
And there you have it. A specific example where the existence of God was undeniably disproven.
Way to make assumptions about me being a believer, religious, or even a Christian, Pie. Good job of looking like an ass.
I never said anything about all the stuff that religious zealots come up with, did I? No. I just referred to God. I didn’t say anything about Heaven, Angels, or the Earth only being 3,000 years old, or anything like that. You, however, seemed to take my response as a cue to start screaming about how fake it all is, though, which, in my mind, makes you as bad as all the religious zealots out there…you know, the ones you wrongfully accused me of being with?
Any idiot with half a brain knows that there isn’t a Paradise floating around up in the sky like that, so please, don’t try to pull that argument on me.
Also, there’s a tiny flaw with your “Earth is flat. – Nope, sorry, it’s not. You’re wrong. Also, there is no God. Just like that.” line. You see, it’s actually possible to go out and see that the Earth is round. You can’t really do the same thing with God.
Anyway, no one will ever know for sure until they die, and by then, the whole subject is moot, as they can’t come back and tell everyone else. Instead of letting someone else do my thinking for me, I prefer to wait and find out for myself.
Have a nice life.
Too Long *
Didn’t read either***
Oh s**-
wrongful accusations! O_O
Hahahahah. First of all, screaming? No. This is screaming:
OH GOD STOP OFFENDING MY BELIEFS YOU BASTARD HOW FRIKING DARE YOU ACTUALLY ANSWER MY QUESTION THAT I ASKED YOU MYSELF IN A CALM, WELL-STRUCTURED AND COMPOSED MANNER, WITHOUT ANY EXCLAMATION POINTS OR ANY INDICATIONS THAT YOU WERE SCREAMING YOU ASS STOP SCREAMING AT ME!!!
That’s screaming.
“Any idiot with half a brain knows that there isn’t a Paradise floating around up in the sky like that, so please, don’t try to pull that argument on me.”
Way to look like an ass and not even read my comment, or try to look smart and not even understand what i’m saying. That’s my /point/. Any idiot with half a brain knows, and yet both Heaven and God were made up by the same people… therefore, any idiot with half a brain knows that there is no God.
“You see, it’s actually possible to go out and see that the Earth is round. You can’t really do the same thing with God.”
Once again… exactly. You can go out and see that there >isn’t< a god.
You can’t prove God isn’t real…he isnt a giant old man sitting on a cloud! He’s a SPIRIT!
Actually, when people refer to Heaven, they don’t refer to a giant city or whatever in the sky, Heaven is like God and the rest of us when we die, its like…spiritual…we can’t see God because he is a spirit, we can’t see Heaven because it’s a spiritual feeling we get after we die…that’s my opinion
How was he disproven? There’s no way to disprove God…the only solution would be to prove him…God gave us the universe and all its wonders so we can use the minds he gave us to decipher all the questions we might have…thats what I think…
Ellie Arroway: So what’s more likely? That an all-powerful, mysterious God created the Universe, and decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that He simply doesn’t exist at all, and that we created Him, so that we wouldn’t have to feel so small and alone?
[Ellie challenges Palmer to prove the existence of God]
Palmer Joss: Did you love your father?
Ellie Arroway: What?
Palmer Joss: Your dad. Did you love him?
Ellie Arroway: Yes, very much.
Palmer Joss: Prove it.
see i think “god” IS the universe and all its wonders. even us. we are all “one” experiencing ourselves objectively, there is no such thing as death, life is just a ride and we are the imaginations of our self…for the most part, not trying to argue just pointing out that despite the differences we all think upon the same basic lines; light, love and doing good for our fellow (wo)man. and i’m considered an atheist just because i don’t identify(whole-heartedly and unequivocally) with ANY known religion, though they ALL have GOOD points to bring to the table none of them are 100% without evil, for they come from us and we have evil in us….this is not a competition, there are no brownie points. if you are a bad person bad stuff will happen to you because that is the realm you inhabit, if you are a good person bad things will still happen because that’s life BUT you will know in your heart and “soul” you did your best and you didn’t bring it upon yourself. life is hard and disastrous enough without compounding it by being an evil person.
Now I know that not all religious and nonreligious people act this way, but this is what seems to be cropping up everywhere…
Religious Fanatics: ZOMG! ur goin 2 hel_l_ 4 bein a siner n nut beleevin in god!!1one!one
Anti-religious Fanatics: Orly? wel u shud dye 4 bein ritraded n beleevin in ur imejinery bff!1!oneone!
The verdict? Both are complete morons. They may believe different things, but they both scream loud and long about how only they are right and everyone else is wrong. I guess we see these types of arguments the most because of the fact that the idiots tend to scream the loudest.
THIS
O shut up and get off of your high horse. I’m a weak atheist and i hate religion and people arguing about it, but seriously, you are acting just like those lunatics. You are calling them stupid because you think that your religion is better than everyone elses. I couldn’t care less about religion, that’s why i became a weak atheist because we follow logic, not our egos (strong atheists) and not man-made literature (religious nuts)
Clearly, you didn’t read all of what I wrote, because if you had, you would have seen that the very first thing I wrote is “Now I know that not all religious and nonreligious people act this way…”
Maybe you should get off of your high horse and learn to read before judging other people.
And for the record, one actually has to have a religion in order to think that one’s religion is better than everyone else’s. I do not have one, therefore, you fail again.
And why has Nintendo stopped producing GBA games?
LMAO! STEFAN FTW!
the only reason i read these posters is to look at the comments :] sometimes they’re funnier than the actual posters themselves.
well I’m not wasting anymore time here arguing with idiots, plus this comment is wayyyyyy too long to care about, good bye
Hmm… I read a line in a book once. I don’t remember it exactly, but I think it was something like…
“Since when did stating your opinion become synonymous with shoving it down peoples throats?”
…There’s been a lot of finger pointing here, and honestly I think this poster does, in fact, fit quite well with how the public feels about religion. However, this poster is somewhat hypocritical. If, according to you, I can’t even publicly state that I’m a Christian, who are you to tell me how to raise my kids? Why tell me you don’t want to hear anything from me and then expect me to listen to your sob story about how my poor kids growing up in a Christian household are getting religion forced upon them?
” The Babel fish is small, yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy recieved not from its own carrier but from those around it, It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. the practical upshot of this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any language.
Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes like this : “I refuse to prove that I exist”, says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”
“But”, says Man, “the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn’t it? it could not have evolved by chance. it proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.”
“Oh dear”, says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. ”
…Proof
I read that in a book too, so it must be true. Just like the Bible.
Haha… it’s funny how you say that like it’s a counter argument. The line I used from a book is a question. I don’t believe I tried to present this line as fact, and it doesn’t have much to do at all with the rest of my post. Interesting flame though.
Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy rules. Thanks!
Jesus Camp (Watch religion crammed down childrens’ throats)
topdocumentaryfilms.com/jesus-camp
The Power of Nightmares (Watch religion WRECK THE WORLD)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk1WkmioQvA
Watch ‘The Power of Nightmares (2008, BBC)’. You can find it on youtube. It’s all about ‘harmless’ religion.
Watch ‘Jesus Camp (2006)’. It can be found on Youtube and various documentary sites. It’s all about ramming christian extremism down chidren’s throats.
….I knew it! the minute I saw Religion in the text I knew there would be a “discussion” that spanned forever–
Religion, Politics, and Apple set the internet alive. I skimmed the comments. So fast I probably missed a few good flamewars. Bookmarked for later.
P0rn, you left out p0rn.
The ‘net would not and could not exist without it
http://cheezburger.com/felbladex/lolz/View/3918414592
Found this earlier and posted it on the internet page, but like I said there…
The intarwebz have frozen over.
Great poster.
And if anyone actually thought about it, it is actually ridiculous to assume some magic man created us just because most likely your parents told you so and/or you’re afraid to die.
I have no problems with the religious other than I think it’s really stupid, to believe in something that has no proof, but oh well. The part that gets me is that some try to control how others live with this nonsense.
Why are Agnostics so misunderstood?We don’t say there is no God,we are just humble enough to say that we don’t know and smart enough to know that nobody really knows either.
dont you think it might be afencive to people
Not to those who can spell
Personally I’ve more respect for believers who try to proselytise and convert others to their beliefs. ‘Tolerance’ makes no sense. How can Muslims and Christians and Jews and others coexist when each is convinced their God is the real one and the others heretical? Western Christianity had it’s balls cut out a long time ago. South American and African Christianity have far more credibility. Similarly Wahabi Islam and Orthodox Judaism have far more credibility than their liberal variants.
I’m pagan and have never felt the slightest need to convince others about the existence of Athena or Artemis. Most pagans recognise that there is more than one path to divinity or enlightenment and ours is *not* the only way.
THIS is why I love the pagan religion.
Islam, Christianity, and Judaism all have the same god
love this one.
thread tl;dr
Why? Religion isn’t a penis
No, but it is a d**k.
LOVE this one. Totally true. I hope my kid will learn about all religions and beliefs before any relatives try to teach him their religion is the “only” one.
Personally, with respect to religion, I side with Marcus Aurelius:
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
I think it sums up belief and non-belief rather well, and also explains my agnostic-atheism.
Cheers
Bravado!
I think that I’m in love with that quote…
Wow, Feather! That is probably the most intelligent comment I’ve seen in this whole thread! (I’m serious, not being sarcastic at all!)
I really like that quote and I think it is very smart & makes a good point.
People just want to be left alone, I think is the main point of the poster. Whatever belief (or non-belief) drives you, just keep it to yourself. It’s not because it’s bad or wrong, it’s just very personal and should be kept among yourself & others who share your beliefs.
There is enough information available out there that if someone is curious about a different belief system, they can go find out about it and then decide for themselves if that is what fits for them. No one needs to be running around preaching. And you’re certainly not going to make willing converts by treating people badly and telling them they are going to hell. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar…
*applause*
As a Christian, I think this is one of the best things I’ve ever heard.
I regret being notified of follow-up comments now. My email had over 100 settings of “RELIGION”
thanks for the warning
Loki….you’re acting like a rational human being with your baby, I applaud you. And…come on, a religious argument over this poster? Can no one really just shut up and appreciate how god damn hilarious this is?
Is it just me or are some of these arguments very confusing
especially the ones by paul
Anyone else find it annoying when Jehovas Witnesses knock on your front door and ask you to join their religion?? If I was interested, I would have asked.
I’m a Christian and I find it annoying.
Once is enough. No additional amount of “witnessing” will change someone’s mind. I believe that God doesn’t want anyone to be forced to believe in/love him (nor do I think it’s possible to do so).
last time they came to my place, my brother and I told them they were just in time: we needed a virgin to sacrifice in order to summon Satan. they never came back.
What is even worse is when you open the door to them and they have two or three of their children with them. Presumably they do this so you wont be rude to them…it’s creepy.
Aye, I had some turn up to my house once with their sprogs in tow, I answered the door wearing my ‘Protected by witchcraft’ t-shirt with the giant pentagram on it and they swiftly went away…
Well, you’re doing it wrong…offer them some pizza: http://bash.org/?58743
And don’t go round bragging how much bigger yours is than everyone else’s.
Your comment made me LOL
When the Jehovah’s Witnesses last knocked at my door, I answered with a .45 in my hand. Not that they knew.
yeaaaaahhh, nice, and some time later you ran out to the streets saying religious peoples where violent and ignorant people right?
Not funny. I’d loled if instead religion it said Richard Dawkins.
ha! now every idiot can do demotivational posters
I admire your way of thinking Loki..I was thinking the same about my children,I shall not introduce them to any religion/belief unless they are old enough and have a clear view of the world with its true colors
loved this sent to me by friend I want one to post in the streets i am catholic but dont shove it down peoples throats but boy howdy do the baptists an penicostals in springfield Mo sure want to shove theres down mine and i am sick of it if you beleva great if you ask i will answer an pass the word butwhen you use it to judge and say one form of religions is better or wrong becauseits difrent than yours thats where this poster hits home
i could NOT have been more offended by this comic. but shoving it down their throats is an overstatement.
Watch ‘Jesus Camp’ to see religion being crammed down chidrens’ throats. Do a web search for it.
Oh, please, you know they’ll keep witnessing and witnessing, because someday they might catch you while depressed, after someone has died, or while you’re in bad health. In fact, the sickening religious creatures are allowed to lurk in hospitals and make delirious people who are circling the drain repeat words for a ‘death bed conversion’.
Hey! that’s what I think about the 98% of atheist’s you’re apart of. Sickening creatures with no intelligence!!!
May as well do a web search for ‘The Power Of Nightmares’, a nice BBC documentary from 2008, while you’re at it.
and consider religion has (somehow) been around up to now, shouldn´t it be fitting to think of it as a old mans penis?
Old, wrinkled and not really of much use any more
Was that written by a pedophile? Agree about not shoving religion down children’s throats. The mental picture was created by a pervert who needs a kick in the nuts for that one.
Jesus is laughing his ass off reading this. I know because he’s one of the many voices in my head.
My two cents worth: when we tell our kids about the tooth fairy…santa claus…easter bunny we are fully aware that they’re going to see through these stories when they get old enough to. They will also understand, once they approach adulthood, why we tell children comforting stories to explain things they’re too young to understand or even just to enterttain them a little…to put a little fun in their lives.
Religion shouldn’t be like that in my opinion. In other words we shouldn’t make fairy stories out of religion and feed them to small children….ever..it’s not fair. Relkigion should come to people…if it comes at all…as a mature revelation.
Gotta agree with that. We baptize BABIES and bring further them into religion like it’s a super cool thing when they are like 8 or 10. I think it should be an adult decision. After all Jesus himself was an adult when he was baptized.
Well actually, we baptize babies because they are too young to decide, later at around 15+ they are given the choice of Confirmation…which is practically you saying that you agree with your parents baptizing you…If not you don’t receive it.
As I recall catholics are confirmed at about the age of 11…so roughly equivalent to a bar mitzvah for jews. I equally recall that it isn’t a voluntary process…not too many 11 year old kids are going to stand up against parental expectations IMO.
my whole extended family is catholic and im pretty sure they get confirmed when they are a senior in high school
No idea about your family…I was raised catholic ( ditto for my whole extended family too) and in those admittedly far distant days the confirmations took place last year of elementary school…age 11.
Yes, Jesus was baptized as an adult. Of course they were no Christians around when he was born…..
Jesus had a 7ft schlong.
The point of what I’m saying is that religion AKA spirituality shouldn’t lead you to a point of realising that what you have been told so far is bull. either the truth or nothing is the way to go IMO.
i’m sorry, but “religion” and “spirituality” are not interchangeable. religion is an organized set of rules that is often used to control the way large groups of people think. spirituality is something that comes from personal conviction about what you have been told. holding on to what you were told when you were a kid is not spirituality. spirituality is something one achieves as they discover where they fit into the universe. religion is mind control.
well all I have to say to that is “sez you”. Your purely arbitrary distinction between religion and spirituality seems to me to be unnecessary and combative hair-splitting. It’s quite possible and also I would suggest quite common for people to come to one of the mainstream religions as a result of personal revelation through life events and not due to cynical ‘mind-control’ as you call it. The only caveat I would insist on is that children should be spared the indoctrination they are presently subjected to,.
i agree. children should never be subjected to organized religion in the way adults engage in such behaviors. however, i don’t think i am splitting hairs when i differentiate between “religion” and “spirituality.” there are no rules to spirituality, but religion is by definition a set of rules organized from whatever holy book or source of divine inspiration someone comes up with. and yes, i am being cynical when i call religion “mind control,” but i don’t give a crap. sez me.
OMG! I can’t believe Cheezburger actually posted this one up! That’s more hilarious than the caption itself!
Oh lol! A religion related demo.
already 284 comments. Wasn’t expecting any less.
it’t the same thing that happens with youtube videos about religion or politics.
Seriously people, why so butthurt?
The truth of it is that religion has been opressing, forcing and eveb killing people for centuries. Now the “obligation” of religion is gone. After centuries of it’s shadow, you can’t but expect people to be negative towards it.
I’m atheist and I think of religion as stupid. I like arguing with those who start to, but I won’t shun people who believe. I think they are stupid for believing as I think it is stupid to take drugs, but everyone is retarded in some aspect or other and it’s just fine. In the end, we’re just people.
Seems to me, believers are scared to death over the risk of losing their faith. That is the only possible explanation for all their hate as well as their need of parttaking in religious rallies week after week after week.
Why is it always about Christanity? Why not Musliums?
*Muslims, or Moslems.
Why? Because Christians are always saying how ‘evil’ Muslims are, but we seem to ignore the fact that any religion or non-religion can be as hateful as the other.
I personally see it as both sides have extremists(atheists and christians on the internet) and both are filled with crazy retards.
I know, thats what I said.
Exactly. Christians can hate just as much as Muslims. Plus Jesus is more recognized.
troll was trolling
±300 peepl liek.
If you’re being an ass about your private life, stop. If you aren’t, high five.
And we like to use pics of Jesus because Christianity is so rampant and vocal in the English-speaking world. And because he has a kid on his lap. If you were going to post this on your door, you might put all the symbols of the major religions in it. But for the intertoobs, this is perfect. (If your faith is threatened, I recommend a vision quest to find a new one.)
The Constitution clearly states we are allowed freedom of Religion. This means we can do whatever we want. Including, praying in public, and teaching it to our kids. Whomever wrote this poster seriously fails.
Why does everything have to get into a debate on the internet, just laugh, or don’t.
im NOT supposed to do that with my penis? D:
I think the true point that should come out of this long thread of comments is this. Why do we hate each other?
Telling someone you don’t wan to here about their beliefs is like telling a black guy to where a mask so you don’t have to look at his skin. Its just as intolerant and hateful. Its the kind of hate that leads to students not be able to put up Christmas decorations on their dorm room door, but there are posters everywhere ironically promoting understanding of different lifestyles. If you want to tell me you don’t believe in god, great. If you want to tell me all about your beliefs as a Muslim, I’d be happy to listen.
Frankly, if anything I believe in offends you, then I must offend you. If you hate me for my religious beliefs then you are no better than any other racist bigot or Nazi.
The joke in the poster would actually be funny for me if it didn’t bring out so much hate.
You miss the point entirely. No one is saying they are offended just by hearing it. People are saying that if a person specifically says they don’t want to talk about it, then you should respect their request and not force it upon them. That’s harassment.
You may think you’ll be able to shed some new light on the subject for them, but 99% of the time you won’t be able to. You may think you’re the first person to come up to them and preach, but 99% of us get it 3-4 times a week. Some of us don’t want to be preached to.
If I walk up to you and tell you I love a music type you don’t like, then play you a song that you aren’t a fan of, then when you tell me you don’t really enjoy it and I keep it on a loop for two hours… yeah, you’ll get annoyed.
Personally I don’t have time for a religious discussion with every person I meet. I don’t mind having them to a degree with close friends or family, but we’re not talking about that here. We’re talking about anything less than that to you.
I don’t want to hear a lecture on why you think Lady Gaga is so great for two hours. I’ve listened, I don’t like, if you like it that’s great, but I don’t need to have 3 conversations a week with people all about them telling me how much they like Lady Gaga and trying to convince me to like it. You should respect my tastes, beliefs, and anything of the like, and if I say I don’t want to talk to you about something, then you should respect it. Otherwise it’s shoving it down my throat.
I think some people are getting really offended because they are not fully understanding the comment on the poster.
Don’t Show It Off in public, note ‘Show Off’. If it happens to slip out here and there oh well. You might be offended if someone had a ‘wardrobe’ malfunction and their penis somehow slipped out but most of us would politly ignore it or point out what happened and they will probably put it away, now if they left it out knowing it offends you or waved it around yelling look at this look at this Thats showing off.
Holy hell that made me laugh so hard when i imagined it, especially the last part.
Agreed.
Though really, I don’t have one…
Ok, I am an atheist. I firmly believe in that, but if I were to have kids, and they told me one day they believed in god, I would accept them. The poster tells you to keep an open mind, to learn about other religions and beliefs, and to let others follow their beliefs. I have people trying to convert me, but I just tell them ‘no thanks’ and let them believe in their religion. Respect each other.
SOOOO soooo true!!! Ill try to remember that one!
Yay! I has no penis!
Last comment. Why WOULDN’T you teach your child what you believe? You’d teach them appropriate behavior, teach them that it’s not okay to hurt people, etc. Why wouldn’t you also say, this is my view of the universe? Kids want to know a lot when they hit the ‘Why’ stage of things.
Unfortunately, we have reached the point where the extreme stereotypes are all we see. Thanks Media! We don’t see the ‘quiet christians/moslems,etc’ that just believe and share that belief with other’s WHEN APPROPRIATE.
Instead, we see the radicals of all sides of the equation. The atheists that go out of their way to angrily insult people of faith. The christians that want to beat you in the head with the bible. The muslims that get a kick out of blowing themselves up.
Whether you believe or not, remember that there is a line between a reasonable, rational discussion and frantic, frustrated, angry ranting.
true true, but what you state in the beginning are ethics not beliefs/religion. You must understand that you CAN say this is how i see the universe, and let them find there own view. but you know that this almost never happens, most of them get psychology forced to believe what there parents believe. Most of the children wont get there own choise.
Well, both my folks are priests with the Episcopal church. When I turned 13, they sat me down and told me that from there on out, my religious decisions were up to me. I’ll do the same for my son.
My personal experience is that the ‘Forcing’ to believe a. is not common, and b. NOT effective.
The majority of christian faiths will agree that your own path to faith is intensely personal and that forcing someone down one path or the other isn’t the way to go.
Faith, by its very nature, can’t be forced on anyone, no matter how hard you try. I do feel sorry for those that try to force others, and those that have to suffer through that.
Key words, your parents were ‘episcopal’. Christianity is hardly a bad religion and usually doesn’t force stuff down people’s throats, and this can be seen the farther you get from catholicism. Protestant sects are the way to go if you want to get a feel for true christianity, although personally ive decided that i don’t want to go to church to hear about stuff i can find out on my own and my parents are fine with it.
It’s so awesome that we live in a country with 1- freedom of speech (so jerks can say what they want, regardless of whether it’s mean-spirited and hateful), and 2- freedom of religion (so even more jerks can claim to be atheists when really they’re just anti-christian ’cause their jerky parents used to shove them in closets).
It’s too bad none of those jerks and their jerky parents learned how to be decent human beings who treat other people who believe differently with courtesy and respect. I was pretty sure that was the whole premise of being open-minded; treating others with different views respectfully, but it seems to me that all these jerks think being open-minded just means they can insult people who believe (in whatever they believe) because they think differently.
what a shame.
I suppose you realise that by calling people who disagree with you ‘jerks’ you are totally negating the point you’re trying to make about respecting others? You aren’t dumb enough not to get that are you? Just being ironic eh?
Hehehe.
So much hatred, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I used to hate the amish as a kid because i thought they brainwashed their children into fearing/hating technology. (the shoving)
But then i found out at about 16-18 or so they make their children go out and experience the world and technology before they can truely decide to become amish and give it up. Not many other belief systems that i know of can say that, that you Must try to live as others do before you can truely ‘choose’ a path. If they want they can then give up the amish life, usually without many hurt feelings. They gained a ton of respect from me for that.
The true follower of a path/belief is one who has chosen that path no matter if they find it traveling many or return to its comfort after straying off it. They can appreciate its beauty better than any others who do not know anything else. Many never try anything else because they were forced to think there is no choice, no other roads so they stay there not because they Want to but because they think they Have to. I’m against most organized religions but parents that teach it to their children but let them know its their choice to follow their path or not have my full support.
OK! Hey look everyone look at all these kings, rockstars, popes, philosophers, and other famous people! And the gay guys did a great job decorating the place!
I laughed until I almost snorted. Hilarious. I work with a couple of psycho religious co-workers, and I’m sick and tired of having their version of Christianity being shoved at me. They think that by ramming their strident religion down on people they’re converting people to the faith, but they’re doing the exact opposite. I read that in a recent poll that of the people not strongly religious but still have some faith, fewer and fewer of them are calling themselves Christians because they don’t want to be associated with these extremists. I’m not talking about normal church-going people but the more virulent sort.
Interesting…the moment I saw the title, I practically knew this would be a touchy topic, lol. Christian, if you’re out there, don’t feed ze trolls!.
This is my last post here and I have no intention on arguing anymore. Especially when I’m not really arguing either and people are taking half of what everyone says wrong and then running with a false assumption.
I am non-religious. The entire point of religion, from beginning to end, was to take away fear, to give hope, to let people rest easy, and not fear the end but rather to enjoy their life.
Jesus was an enlightened one, but not a god. He said several times NOT to worship him, just like any enlightened individual would.
To most, religion is helpful, necessary, and gives them a reason to keep going. To myself and many others (about 15% of the population of the U.S.) We don’t need it anymore. We find our hope in ourselves. We don’t need fear to keep us doing good things in the world. We don’t need religion, but we still have morals. We use common sense to solve everyday problems, and we don’t expect everything to turn out well in the end. We fix it, not sit back and wait for it to be fixed by a mystical power.
Religion may be your cup of tea and I don’t care. I don’t bash religion because it has helped many people. I don’t need it. I don’t want it. I don’t want it thrown in my face every time I come near you. I don’t need you to pity me because I don’t believe what you believe. I live my life for the dash, and I do everything I can to make my life and the people’s lives I come in contact to as comfortable and happy as I possibly can.
I don’t fear the end, because it’s not the end that matters.
No one has a right to shove their beliefs onto anyone else if the other party asks them not to. Not an Atheist or a Christian. No one should hate anyone based on something as trivial as this. If you keep your religion to yourself and to interested parties, many many arguments would cease.
Buddhists require you to request three times before you can learn about the philosophy. (Used to be that way anyway) That means that no one really feels “shoved upon” in that situation. I like that system.
I was raised Christian for 10 ears, then raised Jewish for another ten years. I was 5 when I realized that I didn’t want to be religious. It was forced on me and I didn’t know how to tell anyone I didn’t want to be involved with it… I was friggin 5. Kenneth Copeland conventions that made me want to gouge my eyes out when they tried to make me speak in tongues… all the other kids could, why couldn’t I? I wound up faking it and feeling guilty for years to come.
No one has a right to shove their beliefs onto anyone else if the other party asks them not to. Not an Atheist or a Christian. No one should hate anyone based on something as trivial as this. If you keep your religion to yourself and to interested parties, many many arguments would cease.
Buddhists require you to request three times before you can learn about the philosophy. (Used to be that way anyway) That means that no one really feels “shoved upon” in that situation. I like that system.
I was raised Christian for 10 ears, then raised Jewish for another ten years. I was 5 when I realized that I didn’t want to be religious. It was forced on me and I didn’t know how to tell anyone I didn’t want to be involved with it… I was friggin 5. Kenneth Copeland conventions that made me want to gouge my eyes out when they tried to make me speak in tongue… all the other kids could, why couldn’t I? I wound up faking it and feeling guilty for years to come.
I take most of my morals in life from Judaism and Buddhism. I was pagan for a while and take a few more from those areas. I don’t believe in a god, and if I was shown proof it wouldn’t change my life at all because a god is supposed to be infallible and enlightened… they wouldn’t care if I worshiped or not. Only if I lived my life properly, and I do. I am happy and don’t hurt anyone, I only attempt to help. The thought of religion doesn’t cross my mind in the slightest, it’s like a negative space like I mentioned above. It’s not a belief because until a person mentions religion, there is no thought on that subject… nothing in the back of my head, nothing in the front.
I don’t mind if someone tells me their religion or a few things they believe. Sometimes I will even have a religious discussion with them as long as I am sure it will not become heated or pushy. When I am not in the mood, they go too far, or every conversation becomes a lecture in their religion and I ask them to stop… I want it stopped. I shouldn’t be forced to listen to it, just like I said earlier;
I agree with you completely, except i get really uncomfortable when people start talking about religion because everytime i bring up my atheist point of view everyone gets pissed off at me
“I don’t want to hear a lecture on why you think Lady Gaga is so great for two hours. I’ve listened, I don’t like, if you like it that’s great, but I don’t need to have 3 conversations a week with people all about them telling me how much they like Lady Gaga and trying to convince me to like it. You should respect my tastes, beliefs, and anything of the like, and if I say I don’t want to talk to you about something, then you should respect it. Otherwise it’s shoving it down my throat.”
I’m not bashing religion, I’m just speaking about anyone that has an opinion or belief of something that is not, and will not be proven in our lifetimes… don’t force it on anyone else.
Also, anyone that is stubborn or naive enough to believe that they know everything about the world, that they could in no way be wrong, that everyone that disagrees with them is a bad person or is a heretic or something of the like, You are the ones who need to be quiet the most.
The rest of this is being modded and may take a bit of time… ~sigh~ I wrote out something way too long and hoped to break it up for an instant post… but it didn’t work on part of it.
~headdesk~
Have patience, and know that I didn’t bash anyone or anything in my posts.
Yes! finally someone who understands how religion is used as a crutch. I tried to explain that to my friends and they refused to accept that fact. The truth hurts sometimes.
lol 502 comments. WOW! Religious topic is controversial! Who say THAT coming?
It’s too bad so many people think it’s alright to just openly bash an entire belief system. Yes, I’ll acknowledge that not all Christians are great people, but it seems to me that there are an awful lot of people on here who just want to take whatever opportunity presents itself to act like they’re so much better than someone else just because they have a belief in something bigger than themselves.
It’s a good thing no one did this to Muhammad ’cause someone would likely end up dead.
this isn’t just anti-christian. it doesn’t say “christianity,” it says “religion.”
good poster, teaching children is one thing, forcing them is another. question is, will you teach your children more than one religion or only the one you believe in?
Questions – will atheists teach their children that there is a possibility that there is a God who wants them to follow Him? Will non-relgious parents expose their children to a variety of churches so the children can decide for themselves if they want to become Christian or Jewish or Buddhist? What if the child of two atheist parents came running in with a Bible saying she had found Jesus and was so overwhelmed by the joy she felt that she wanted to become a missionary and share that joy with others? Would her atheist parents embrace her and tell her how happy they were that she had made up her own mind and didn’t just blindly accept their beliefs? Or would they cry and wonder how they had failed to adequately instill their beliefs in their child?
Fact is – pretty much ALL parents want to see their children believe in the same things the parents do. If I didn’t love my church enough to want to see my children accept and love it like I do, I would find another church that I did love enough. If atheists think believers should teach about all faiths, or no faith at all, then atheists should likewise give their children a well-rounded view of religon and not just tell them that all this relgious stuff they see out in the world is just a bunch of BS and anyone who believes in it is just weak, ignorant fools who use their religion as a crutch.
God loves gays, athies, commies, democrats, terrorists, presidents, etc, No matter what kind of Arschlochs they are.
I would appreciate it if you DIDN’T insult Christianity, or any other religions. Thank You.
appreciate, fine. but one can not demand.
I think all you people are missing the point of the poster. The real message it’s trying to tell you is that you shouldn’t stick your penis(or anything else for that matter) into children.
In other words, don’t rape kids. I think we can all agree on that no matter what your beliefs are, right?
GTFO!
I love how people just start foaming at the mouth as soon as religion is brought up, seemingly without even reading the poster.
Religion, like a lot of things, is a personal thing to each person. The point of the poster isn’t that religion is bad, it’s that people need to learn to keep personal things personal, and NOT force their own stuff on other people, especially innocent children who have the right to be taught an unbiased view of things.
You know those obnoxious people who flaunt their sexuality as though it’s the most important aspect of their personality? Religion is no different. I’m a very strong Atheist, and my best friend in high school was a very strong Baptist (to the point that both her parents were traveling Baptist missionaries) and we got along perfectly fine, because we understood the concept of public versus personal.
I love how you started foaming at the mouth as soon as they started foaming at the mouth.
your supposed to shove it down your neighbors ! ! !
Well all I can say is I want to be ready to meet my Lord. I will pray for all of you.
The way I see it is this:
I’ve got my belief (agnostic)
Other people have their beliefs (whatever they choose)
Can we have an actual conversation about religion? Yea
Can we have different views on our beliefs? Of course
Can you try to convert me? Only a couple of times. After all, if I’m that adamant against it, then I’m strong in my beliefs
Can I try to convert you? Same as the answer before. It goes on a 2 way street (and I’d take the baseball approach–”3 strikes and you’re out”)
Can I insult/make fun of your religion? Oh hell yeah
Can you make fun of mine? See previous answer (and thus is what the link above is for :3 )
Will I still treat you as a respected human being, even though you have different opinions and beliefs than mine? Without question
It should be, more or less, as simple as that
well said and im Caholic but i aint gonna annoy u about it =D
This was inspired by a quote in #xkcd. Saw it happen. Booyah!
*looks at thread*
Remember when people used to have RATIONAL discussions about this subject?
Unfortunately, not really.
it doesn’t work to have rational discussions on an irrational subject
excellent point my friend
I know right? That’s why we can never have a rational discussion on atheism.
Fail comment is fail.
Sorry dude.
You suck!
Pingping, or whoever made this, you have created Art at its finest… inspiring controversy and commenting on aspects of society affecting us all. Never have I seen nearly 600 comments on one piece on here EVER.
Holy crap, this picture is so true. Every time I tell people I’m a Christian, all Atheists do is bash my religion and try to convert me to Evolutionism.
This
Secularists: Comparing everything to a penis…..EVERYTHING!!!!!
A note on the recurring theme of the comments from the non-religious side of the house. “I don’t think you should ‘indroctrinate’ children. You should let them choose for themselves.” is a rough summation.
This is the most ignorant statement I’ve heard. I’m also pretty certain that most people that make it don’t have children.
1. I don’t think there is any one age you can list for the ‘age of reason’. Some people never learn how to reason and others are fully capable at 11 or 12 or even younger.
2. At this age, are the atheists planning on making appointments for their kid to meet with every leader of every type of religion so they can ‘come to a rational decision’? No, they aren’t. Likewise, I’m not planning on doing it for my child either.
3. The best I can do for my son is to tell him to not believe a word I say, but verify it for himself. I think what irritates the atheists/non-religious,(insert label here) is that so many rational, well educated adults still believe. Psst, there’s a reason for that. And its NOT indoctrination.
Jack – my thoughts exactly. How many atheists will teach their children that there is a possibility that there is a God who wants them to follow Him? Will non-religious parents expose their children to a variety of churches so the children can decide for themselves if they want to become Christian or Jewish or Buddhist? What if the child of two atheist parents came running in with a Bible saying she had found Jesus and was so overwhelmed by the joy she felt that she wanted to become a missionary and share that joy with others? Would her atheist parents embrace her and tell her how happy they were that she had made up her own mind and didn’t just blindly accept their beliefs? Or would they cry and wonder how they had failed to adequately instill their beliefs in their child?
Fact is – pretty much ALL parents want to see their children believe in the same things the parents do. If I didn’t love my church enough to want to see my children accept and love it like I do, I would find another church that I did love enough. If atheists think believers should teach about all faiths, or no faith at all, then atheists should likewise give their children a well-rounded view of religion and not just tell them that all this religious stuff they see out in the world is just a bunch of BS and anyone who believes in it is just weak, ignorant fools who use their religion as a crutch.
Thank you. Though I’d hope that the atheist family would love their child still. Luckily love isn’t limited to faith. Likewise, if my son came home and told me he didn’t believe, while I’d feel like a failure as a parent, I’d hope that I would be father enough to not ostracize him and continue to love him unconditionally.
All religions are the same for the atheists, more or less, Jack, just non-sense. Might even be an exceptional literature, if you’re in the mood. I have a son, so don’t be “pretty certain”. No, most of the well educated adults I know are not religious nor “believe”. I guess a more proper word would be, in many cases, “I don’t know”. The fact that we, the atheist, get involved in these discussions is the same curiosity that made us discover and invent things. If I will have a revelation at a certain moment, I’ll let you know. But saying just what others are saying too… doesn’t seem like a way for me now… nor for my kid. Which, btw, will not be “touring” the various religions (over 2000, by some estimates), like window shopping.
But let me ask you this: if you are so damn sure about your religion, would you preffer living in a religious state, with priests as rulers? How many countries you’ll accept, each for one religion? Neah… Carlin said it best: Do you really think that, if there is an almighty, would he need fans and preachers and soldiers? Seems to me like an ordinary communist party (they needed that too).
The best answer I can give you to the concept of a religious state is this; You can’t force someone to faith. You can’t force someone to believe. Religious states all fail, eventually, due to that simple fact.
I find the invention comment interesting. It sheds light on what bothers me so much with the latest breed of atheists. I’ll respect your right to not believe. I will point out that it doesn’t make you any better, or any smarter, or any more inventive than someone who does. The big bang theory was first discovered and presented by a catholic priest, as one simple example.
“would he need fans and preachers and soldiers?” Hmm, let’s see. Following Christianity, we are talking about God the Father. You are also the father to your son. If you saw your son doing something that you knew to be wrong or dangerous, wouldn’t you want to tell him? Wouldn’t you want to defend him?
God’s greatest gift to us is free will. We all have the right to be just as stupid as we’d like to be. The bible, and the priests/preachers/ministers, etc are all there to point out the stumps in the road to us. Frankly, from a priest’s point of view they are the watchman frantically waving the red light on the train tracks for danger, praying desperately for you to stop in time. If you saw a blind man walking towards a cliff, you’d stop him wouldn’t you?
Nope, not trying to convert you, just answering your questions. Oh, and thank you for confirming my point. Parent’s will teach what they believe, or don’t believe to their children. Period.
Sorry, had to break this post into two.
“Which, btw, will not be “touring” the various religions (over 2000, by some estimates), like window shopping”
My point exactly. We teach our children by example if nothing else. It’s not ‘indoctrination’, it’s parenting.
“No, most of the well educated adults I know are not religious nor “believe”. ” Yep, we tend to associate with those who’s beliefs are most like ours.
“same curiosity that made us discover and invent things.” Implying that atheists hold the patent on invention or discovery? Please discuss that with the catholic priest that presented the Big Bang Theory.
“would you preffer living in a religious state, with priests as rulers?” Religious states religiously fail. You can’t force someone to faith. Period.
“would he need fans and preachers and soldiers?”
From the Christian point of view, it’s God the Father. I’m thankful that my Father wants to protect and defend me. I’m thankful that my Father wants to teach me. I’m thankful that I’ve millions of brothers and sisters. Wouldn’t you want the same for your son? To protect, teach and for him to have men and women that will support and encourage him?
^^ This
I second that.
Yep.
Yes, bring your children to me. I am ordained by GOD to “protect and teach” his son and all the other little children. And we will have other Christian men and women that will support and encourage them too just as I do.
Way to be tolerant and open-minded, epic hypocrites. And I’m not even religious.
We ARE way too tolerant to all religions, in case you’ve missed it. And that’s exactly the point here. The poster above is saying it as decent as it could. The reason all the sectants here are disturbed by it is that you can easily associate it with the latest “invention/discovery” proudly brought to you by the RC church – child abuse.
What I DO believe in, as most are good priests, decent religious people and fine scientists who are believers too (I think everyone agrees on that), so what I do believe in is the endless power within the man to do good. The evil exists, and is inside us – too. If we can’t believe, teach and agree that we should relentlessly seek to be better persons, all other beliefs are completly useless.
We should stay united and with a clear mind, and have this goal in mind.
If people are keep seeing (and looking for) only the difference, but not the alikeness of the Humanity, we will certainly lose it.
Having these small personal goals so fu#!^g present in our lifes, day in and day out, MY soul, MY money, MY career, MY religion etc – invariably in contradiction with ALL OTHERS, and all these sticked into our eyes everyday by the media&co., will surely doom us.
We need to learn, indeed – as some monks do show us – to be more humble, to accept that we are just passing by this life and -as someone well said – only a life lived for the others is worth living.
We DO NOT OWN the resources on the planet – we should learn how to wisely manage it and share it. It is not normal, after thousands of years of “good religions” – for these hypocrites churches to still accept hunger and social injustice. We must admit that science and technology DID helped the people in the last 200 years more than any religion ever did for the mankind. We need to value more the LIFE than that so-called “afterlife” – because THIS means disrespecting your life and everyone else’s, and that’s why all the BS in our everyday life…
Indeed, vanity is a sin. And so is the vanity of “saving your soul by loving imaginary beings” while all you’re life you did not give a dime on other’s wellbeing.
Sorry, of course I mean “all YOUR life” not you’re. And all others…
Not a english native speaker here, ty for understanding.
well stated! if only half of the people had that as their main goal this would be a utopian paradise in a few generations! too bad that these STORIES passed down through the ages have muddled that point beyond comprehension(usually to the ruling classes gain). a thousand internet’s to you sir! and never mind your poor english, people raised on it can’t even use it….well you know that if your reading this post!
hey im super cool atheist and im 14 years old my parents are jesusfreak but im not because im cool and original thinker radda radda radda
Signed,
The Internet
Hah, win.
Epic win.
Sziasztok
Világi vallások bemutatása könyv formában.
http://bit.ly/gd8aMu
Sziasztok
Should i shove it down my girlfriend’s throat?
+1 Internetz
Daddy, why isn’t mister Peter going to church?
Let him go son, he chose the path of logic and reason.
The path of logic and reason? Oh you mean he believes in God, but doesn’t donate his hard earned money to a church.
Ok, I am (I like to believe) a devout Methodist. I am saying this from a Christian perspective BUT I do understand where the athiests/pagans/norse goddians and who ever else wants to join the party are coming from. Even *I* get annoyed by the psycho evangelism and God is God because he is God type arguments that are bandied around by some Christians.
Now, to all the [insert your non Christian religion here]s who are tired of happy clappy Christians coming up to you and shoving Jesus down your throat – consider where they are coming from. Jesus told us to love our neighbours. God told us that whoever does not acknowledge and believe in Christ will burn in hell.
Do you see the problem?
The Christians who are evangelising to you are only doing it for what they perceive to be your own good. So don’t hate. And don’t tune me for this comment please – I tried to be rational and non-be-a-Christian-or-die about it.
Over 2000 people think that penises should be shown in public.
WARNING: The poster has no relation t oredneck socciety, as they will gladly preform both actions
Relgion: easiest way to start a full scale flame war.
This made my day HAHAHAHA!
sooo many comments…..
Wow.
A religion post, guaranteed to attract loads of comments.
Also, noticing that no other religion would ever receive this
kind of treatment. Why not? I mean, the anonymity of the
internet means that you can hate all the others too. So
why not? Go for it! No one will ever challenge you on
making such a remark about, say, Buddhism or Islam with
a reference to genitalia for negative effect.
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