(May 10, 2016 at 11:31 pm)Love333 Wrote:(May 10, 2016 at 11:01 pm)TheRocketSurgeon Wrote: 1) It was "looking at the similarities between the religions" that made me realize they're all manmade fables.I do not believe everything in the Bible is 100% accurate at face value. It is a puzzle like many other religions with missing pieces.
2) I don't recall Jesus saying anything about those who "REALLY NEED IT", or specifying that only those who don't use drugs should be eligible for charity. Just puttin' that out there.
3) Congratulations, your "imagine if everyone on Earth did these good deeds" comment essentially summarized the entire idea of Secular Humanism. Humans make all the good (or evil) on earth happen, and there's no paradise awaiting us "someday" after we die, so it's incumbent upon us to make things better, to help those who cannot help themselves, and to share our planet as equals with equal rights and dignity.
Luke14:13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, <- THE PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED IT
Mark10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Galatians 5:21 Envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Timothy 3:3 Not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
On your third statement. I believe at this moment in time that we are judged after death. There are a multitude of religions that mention judgement after death. Especially many of the earlier religions. I cannot rule out this belief.
Certain drugs do have benefits to humans. It is a complex subject if you want to go deep into it. E.g. If someone wants to stop taking Heroin who has a serious addiction and they stop cold turkey the side effects may cause serious damage or death. They would have to slowly decrease the dose. This is similar with many other drugs in that category.
Um, I was just joking, since your "night and day" statement really meant nothing. It was something we call "word salad". We don't "have night and day", night and day happen regardless of us (because the earth spins). The rest of it wasn't much better, I'm afraid. I was asking if you were high because that's the kind of pseudo-philosophical word salad one tends to hear from low-IQ stoners.
As for charity, I should hope we only give it to the poor and/or disabled. Kind of a silly concept, otherwise.
The common theme in "judgment after death" is that it's a fear tactic used to control the weak-minded with threats that never actually have to materialize, as far as the living people they (the priests/shamans/etc) are trying to control and influence are concerned. We use a similar tactic with our children: "Be good or Santa won't bring you any presents!"
With regard to drinking, I happen to agree that alcohol in large quantities (getting drunk) can cause many problems, and that it is a more dangerous drug than almost any of the banned ones. That said, I don't think my Humanist values allow me to punish people for what they do to themselves, as our current culture does. Christian teetotalers (e.g. the Women's Christian Temperance Movement) are the ones who got the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) passed, and even though I'm not a drinker, I loathe them for doing it. The prohibition of other drugs comes from a similar root--though more heavily based in racist policies of American lawmakers in the 1930s and the anti-counterculture Nixon administration in the early 70s--and has been similarly disastrous, resulting in the empowerment of smugglers and gangs, just as the Prohibition movement did. Worse, the modern-day anti-drug campaigns have been devastating to the poor and minority communities, with the rise of the Prison Industrial Complex in the wake of Nixon's "get those hippies and Black Panthers out of my hair" Drug War fallout.
If your religion tells you not to drink, tells you to wear a flowered bonnet on Sundays, and that the only acceptable garments are those without blended fibers (see Leviticus 19:19, if you think I'm joking about that one), then enjoy your self-imposed restrictions. But sadly, the religious seem unable to keep their beliefs to themselves, their restrictions amongst their own kind... and thus I must be harsh with people who seem to be advocating for such positions.
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.