Religious intolerance (2 Viewers)

Astute

Well-Known Member
Absolutely, he probably reads the King James Version, like myself. There's more varieties of Bibles these days than there is types of coffee in Starbucks, it's mad. And yes, the modern ones tend to re-word the scriptures in a way that diminishes their value, a bit.
Did you ever have a debate where about 5 religions partake? I could be the only non believer in there and cause the least offence. That was sometimes down to someone being told that their bible was rubbish from someone of the same faith.
 

trevelfarandwide

Well-Known Member
Did you ever have a debate where about 5 religions partake? I could be the only non believer in there and cause the least offence. That was sometimes down to someone being told that their bible was rubbish from someone of the same faith.

At most we had about 3 different religious types in our 'group', who regularly same to Stoned-Henge (my mate's flat) for a few blasts. Surprisingly we had a Sikh lad and a Muslim lad, as well as a 'Shinto' lad (he was from Japan) and as you can imagine, it was a sheer conflict of faith, haha. The Muslim guy, Sadiq I think his name was, would dramatically fetch his Quran and start preaching to the Sikh guy whose name could have been Balvinder (long time ago), and the Sikh guy would be totally Zen and just puff away at him. :)

I had a few really insightful conversations with the Japanese lad, and I always remember his name cos it was almost the same as the creator of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Komatsu it was. Shinto is a bit scary as a religion, though, to be honest. Bit dark and mysterious, so we often had to shush him cos it's doctrines would send us paranoid.
 

Astute

Well-Known Member
Yep, that happened a lot. :) Usually they fell over into the water bong and munchies, or into the stereo. One of my friends actually put his foot through one of the stereo speakers, and went goose-stepping around the flat like Basil Fawlty. Had to be there, but two of the 6 of us present actually laughed so much they spewed.
We once had a newcomer to our group. He was an obnoxious twat. He didn't get the idea that it was a debate and not an argument. He stood up and continued to argue with everyone. He tripped over and banged his head on the corner of a radiator. It split his head open. He sat back down with blood running down his face. Once we composed ourselves the debate went on to how long would he live for before he ran out of blood.
 

Astute

Well-Known Member
At most we had about 3 different religious types in our 'group', who regularly same to Stoned-Henge (my mate's flat) for a few blasts. Surprisingly we had a Sikh lad and a Muslim lad, as well as a 'Shinto' lad (he was from Japan) and as you can imagine, it was a sheer conflict of faith, haha. The Muslim guy, Sadiq I think his name was, would dramatically fetch his Quran and start preaching to the Sikh guy whose name could have been Balvinder (long time ago), and the Sikh guy would be totally Zen and just puff away at him. :)

I had a few really insightful conversations with the Japanese lad, and I always remember his name cos it was almost the same as the creator of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Komatsu it was. Shinto is a bit scary as a religion, though, to be honest. Bit dark and mysterious, so we often had to shush him cos it's doctrines would send us paranoid.
We always had the obligatory Rastafari in our group. It was normally in his place. The newest religion but everyone's favourite. Get stoned have peace. Very God fearing though.
 

trevelfarandwide

Well-Known Member
We always had the obligatory Rastafari in our group. It was normally in his place. The newest religion but everyone's favourite. Get stoned have peace. Very God fearing though.

We would often complain that we didn't have a 'rasta' in our group, haha, in fact 2 of us went looking for one around the college so he could come to Stoned-Henge for a few. :)
 

Captain Dart

Well-Known Member
So to summarise, religion is a load of old nonsense.
 

trevelfarandwide

Well-Known Member
So to summarise, religion is a load of old nonsense.

Not really, no. I think you've missed my point about 'extreme factions' within every religion.

It may be nonsense to you, but I have found my way through Christ, thanks.
 

Captain Dart

Well-Known Member
Got you going, but it means nothing to me, never has, never will. Invented, divisive, a con trick.
 

trevelfarandwide

Well-Known Member
Got you going, but it means nothing to me, never has, never will. Invented, divisive, a con trick.

That's fine, but then you load your comment with mockery and bait at the end? Your views are your own, as are mine, however I really only bite back when the provocation is unavoidable. Respect goes a long way. :)
 

rob9872

Well-Known Member
Am I only a racist when I disagree with Islam or would you call me a racist for questioning scientology, christianity and dianetics?

As far as your desperate, ad hominem attempt at undermining my argument by trying to call me a 'concern troll' ???? I have fought long and hard to have all 3 of my children withdrawn from religious education and all acts of collective worship in school, I have also helped many other parents to do this.

My 13 year old Daughter was called a racist a bigot and threatened with violence by her class mates for not partaking in r.e and daring to have the opinion that she doesn't "believe" (acts of which you seem to approve).

And I have had to deal with your type many times before, form tutors, year heads, head masters, and I have always won, because I have the law on my side (school standards and frameworks act 1998)

You sir are the bigot.

Whilst I agree with lots of what you have said as a non-believer myself, I wouldn't ask for my daughter to be excluded from things like RE. Apart from not wanting her to be marginalised or alienated from other classmates, I think pushing that on her is in itself brain-washing and no different to those who preach religion. I want her to gather all of that information for herself and as she grows up with her own rounded and rational thinking, hope that she comes to that path in her own time, but if she doesn't and chooses a different path, then that's fine too if it's her choice.

I think we can set examples and there is of course no right text book way to bring up children, but my view is that respect is a two way thing and whilst I will promote our values and beliefs that I expect her to respect, I also want her strong minded and willed enough to come to her own conclusions.
 

Malaka

Well-Known Member
I find religion fascinating. I am a non believer but really do envy people with faith. They usually appear more chilled. The bit I can not get past is that in most cases your religion applies to where or to whom you were born. People are indoctrinated at a very early age and often stick with their religion. It is my understanding that in the old testament that we were told not to worship false idols, yet Christians worship Jesus or the Virgin Mary. Musilm's pray to Mohammed and yet Christian's, Jews and Muslim's have the same God. Why disagree over the middle man? Just pray to God and get along.
Don't get me started on Jesus being being Gods equal, if there is a God, how could Jesus be his equal as he claimed?
Unfortunately, there are many bigoted religious leaders (I'm thinking in the USA) who are anti gay, anti muslim anti inter-racial marriage etc. These people are dangerous and spew their hatred and justify it by misrepresenting the bible.
Religion, unfortunately left to mortals use it to justify their opinions and judge others, which in my opinion is wholly wrong.
 

Sick Boy

Well-Known Member
Religion was altered and re-doctrinated to serve an agenda of conflict and hatred. This began a very long time ago.

The savage rituals you speak definitely do still exist, sadly, however these people are not indoctrinated into an Orthodox, peaceful, respectful branch of religion.

Why can women still not be priests?
 

Sick Boy

Well-Known Member
That's the thing though, it is massively outdated and if you read the opening of the Old Testament, it quickly becomes clear that there is an attempt to blame all of the ills in the world on women.
 

Nick

Administrator
That's the thing though, it is massively outdated and if you read the opening of the Old Testament, it quickly becomes clear that there is an attempt to blame all of the ills in the world on women.

Might have to start reading it if that's how it goes ;)
 

Otis

Well-Known Member
That's the thing though, it is massively outdated and if you read the opening of the Old Testament, it quickly becomes clear that there is an attempt to blame all of the ills in the world on women.
I think the sooner we accept the Bible and Quran as just religious books and not the word of God the better.
 

Nick

Administrator
The mormons have it figured out don't they.

article-2405675-1B852839000005DC-623_634x473.jpg
 

covcity4life

Well-Known Member
Exactly, how can something man-made be the word of God?!

if those who wrote it were the embodiement of god. as in gods presence was in them when they wrote it.

stuff written 13 years after jesus(which i believe is what bible has in there) is gonna be tough to believe in some cases i agree.
 

Otis

Well-Known Member
intolerance from you otis
More likely to be fact to be quite honest.

If the Bible WAS the word of God, why does he contradict himself so much in it and why are women classed as second class citizens?

Clearly written by men, for men.

Don't get me wrong, it is a beautifully written book in so many ways, but the actual word of God?
 

Gazolba

Well-Known Member
Religion has always changed. I know someone who has an old bible. It is now about 150 years old. He reads part of it most days. He won't read a more recent one as it has vastly changed to the one he has.

The newer ones are probably more accurate since the knowledge on translating the ancient languages has progressed quite a bit. However, there is always the problem of parts being open to interpretation which leaves it at the mercy of the translator or publisher. The bigger issue though is who chose what to put in the Bible? Many ancient texts were excluded because they did not fit the prevailing ideas of the time.
 
Last edited:

covcity4life

Well-Known Member
More likely to be fact to be quite honest.

If the Bible WAS the word of God, why does he contradict himself so much in it and why are women classed as second class citizens?

Clearly written by men, for men.

Don't get me wrong, it is a beautifully written book in so many ways, but the actual word of God?

i believe the bible and other books are the word of god corrupted by humans and time passing. so the message is there but diluted or skewered.
 

Gazolba

Well-Known Member
I believe religions were invented to explain natural phenomena that could not be explained scientifically at the time. Things like the weather, rainfall, earthquakes, thunderstorms (the Gods are angry), death and disease etc. etc. The weather was vital back then as a lack of sunshine or rainfall could cause famine and thousands to starve to death. What do you tell your unhappy populace in times of strife to keep them happy and compliant? The 'Gods' are responsible and you must pray harder then all will be well. Or, we have to sacrifice 10 virgins then the weather will improve. Most people in ancient times were uneducated and could not read or write so when they heard the elders read from the 'magic scriptures' who else could they believe? Thus began this charade that continues until today, and is still being used to manipulate the populace, who in many cases are still uneducated and believe anything they are told.
 

skybluedan

Well-Known Member
I believe religions were invented to explain natural phenomena that could not be explained scientifically at the time. Things like the weather, rainfall, earthquakes, thunderstorms (the Gods are angry), death and disease etc. etc. The weather was vital back then as a lack of sunshine or rainfall could cause famine and thousands to starve to death. What do you tell your unhappy populace in times of strife to keep them happy and compliant? The 'Gods' are responsible and you must pray harder then all will be well. Or, we have to sacrifice 10 virgins then the weather will improve. Most people in ancient times were uneducated and could not read or write so when they heard the elders read from the 'magic scriptures' who else could they believe? Thus began this charade that continues until today, and is still being used to manipulate the populace, who in many cases are still uneducated and believe anything they are told.

Spot on. But wombles are real, I seen them on the telly
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
I believe religions were invented to explain natural phenomena that could not be explained scientifically at the time. Things like the weather, rainfall, earthquakes, thunderstorms (the Gods are angry), death and disease etc. etc. The weather was vital back then as a lack of sunshine or rainfall could cause famine and thousands to starve to death. What do you tell your unhappy populace in times of strife to keep them happy and compliant? The 'Gods' are responsible and you must pray harder then all will be well. Or, we have to sacrifice 10 virgins then the weather will improve. Most people in ancient times were uneducated and could not read or write so when they heard the elders read from the 'magic scriptures' who else could they believe? Thus began this charade that continues until today, and is still being used to manipulate the populace, who in many cases are still uneducated and believe anything they are told.

Interesting fact (control for your own standard of interesting):

The first proper human civilisation, the Indus Valley civilisation, had no concept of religion at all. Also didn't do weapons (which was their downfall).

Pretty much the second was the Egyptians, who were big on God(s).

The theory behind it is about the rivers that the civilisations grew up around. The Indus Valley river was calm and more importantly flooded on a regular basis. This meant that it was predictable and people could plan and grow crops, etc.

The Nile in Egypt wasn't predictable at all, flooding and going dry seemingly at random. As such the Egyptians suffered random famines and deaths. This lead to people claiming they knew why the river was flooding (God) and that if people just did what they said then they could control the floods and therefore make people prosperous.

There's an interesting psychology experiment as well where you put a bunch of people in a room with a load of levers and buttons and the like and a scoreboard than gives points completely randomly. After a while, people start making up reasons for the score going up, like they had their hands in the air at the time or they have to push a certain sequence of buttons. None of them are true but people get quite convinced about their theories.

As a species we are desperate for meaning and control over our environment. That makes us easily exploitable. See modern life where complex socio-economic issues are supposed to be solved with simple answers (stop the Muslims/bring back hanging/cap wages).
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top