Religion and pleasure

[genkaus]

I believe what was said, was I know Christians that... and referred to sin as the way Christianity sees it.

Your actual statement started with "What makes you believe Christians do not enjoy pleasure, we do as long as it's not sinful pleasure."

Nothing specific about the Christians "you know". Atleast get your own posts right.

[Kayenneh]

what is your problems

You and your holier-than-thou and sanctimonious attitude.

all I did was explain what Christians find pleasurable and what we do not find pleasurable and explained why

No. You quoted my post, but instead of making comments on what I actually had written, you jumped straight to the conclusion that I assume that christians don't want pleasure and brought up sin.

I did not point a finger at anyone and if you took it that way it must be from guilt.

Guilt? Pray tell, what should I feel guilty about? You leap to such astounding conclusions, you pecksniffian pompous prick!

Both of you need to read what's printed not what whirs around in your minds.

Maybe you should take your own advice before preaching it to others.

[Esquilax]

Guilt? Pray tell, what should I feel guilty about? You leap to such astounding conclusions, you pecksniffian pompous prick!

That is some fucking fine alliteration, Kay.

[Kayenneh]

That is some fucking fine alliteration, Kay.

Thank you, I am quite fond of alliteration

[Tonus]

Now, after reading this, a question came into my mind: what is the point for religions in negating earthly pleasure?

Someone mentioned control, and that is probably a part of it, but not all of it. I also think that the rules and behavior control developed over time for religion in general. Superstition probably played a big part in it; if you behaved a certain way and saw benefits that you ascribed to the gods, you might be inclined to codify that behavior. Without a real god to provide oversight and to organize the laws, it's no surprise that you wind up with so many and that some of them seem utterly bizarre (wearing clothes of mixed fabric, for example). Since the assumption is that these are laws direct from god himself, there's no impetus to change them in any way.

So you wind up with a lot of restrictive laws designed to control behavior to a ridiculous degree, which just happens to work very nicely alongside fear and guilt to help keep a population in line. I doubt that church and state leaders were about to look that gift horse in the mouth.

[Doubting Thomas]

I think this is where the prohibitions against eating shellfish came from in the bible. Some schlump back in biblical times was allegic to shellfish, and after eating it suffered a bad reaction and perhaps died. Others in the tribe of Israel saw this as a punishment directly from God. Perhaps trichinosis is what cased them to avoid eating pork.

Same goes for Christians' attitudes toward sex. Before the causes of STD's were known, it was assumed that a case of syphilis was God's punishment for sticking your hoo hoo dilly in the wrong cha-cha. Those prohibitions against premarital and extramarital sex were handed down from generation to generation and are still considered sins to this day.

[Godscreated]

@ genkaus

What makes you believe Christians do not enjoy pleasure, we do as long as it's not sinful pleasure. Read the book Song of Solomon in the Bible, I would suggest something other than the King James. We also and firstly receive pleasure serving God, we enjoy living life, we enjoy serving others. Going on bike trips and white water kayaking (use to be one of my favorites until I hurt my back), I can still canoe on calmer waters. I tournament fished for many years, I still hunt and do wood work. I know many Christians that are very active in things like marathon runs, hiking and ect. We do not find pleasure in the things we consider sinful, it bothers us to do so, in other words it makes us feel bad thus no real pleasure.

The bold is what I'm speaking of. What you picked out is a general statement about what Christianity says. Sorry if it was misleading.

[frankiej]

Hello, fellow Earthbound fan.

Wait... you are an Earthbound fan? Yet another reason to love you...

[freedomfromforum]

I'm taking pleasure in a roast beef sandwich.
Following the sandwich I will be enjoying a
walk in the park. Then, I'll come home and
take great pleasure in a nap. Later this evening
I will pleasure my wife. I’m pleased to have a
mind capable of rational thought. I enjoy a good
book. I'm pleased that I ditched religion and
found life and freedom.

I am not pleased by people imposing their
fallacious regulations upon me in an obvious
attempt to quell their own guilty conscience.
I take no pleasure in imposing my thoughts on
other people. I do not enjoy watching people
congregate, and being taught things which
have no foundation in truth or reason. I take
no pleasure in observing the continuing
propagation of ignorance.


What is your definition of "Pleasure"

[Doubting Thomas]

Going on bike trips and white water kayaking (use to be one of my favorites until I hurt my back), I can still canoe on calmer waters. I tournament fished for many years, I still hunt and do wood work. I know many Christians that are very active in things like marathon runs, hiking and ect.

Guess what? We atheists can also enjoy those things, and at the end of the day enjoy a glass of beer or wine without feeling any guilt about it. Then we can also have sex with someone we're not married to but perhaps in a committed relationship, and not feel guilty about that, either.