Posts: 517
Threads: 0
Joined: March 2, 2013
Reputation:
2
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
May 30, 2013 at 12:58 pm
(May 30, 2013 at 11:45 am)ReasonableRuben Wrote: archangel, I am sorry, but I found it really hard understanding what you were actually asking, though I have a feeling it has little to do with the question that the OP is asking. Perhaps you could create a thread outlining your main concerns.(?)
Na, no need for a thread. I think you know what I am I saying. If you don't, I misread you.
And you are correct. "Religion" can be a boat in uncertainty. Nothing wrong with that so long as we are truthful about it.
Posts: 143
Threads: 3
Joined: May 29, 2013
Reputation:
2
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
May 30, 2013 at 12:58 pm
Changing your beliefs based on new information is not necessarily a bad thing. However, when your beliefs include the proposition "every thing I believe was revealed to me by the divine and is the complete, unchanging, eternal truth", then changing your beliefs creates a logical contradiction.
Posts: 13051
Threads: 66
Joined: February 7, 2011
Reputation:
92
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
May 30, 2013 at 1:24 pm
(May 30, 2013 at 11:51 am)NoraBrimstone Wrote: "Hi, I'm a cyclist and a footballer and I play cricket on the weekends,but I don't believe in sports."
Or how about "I drink too much, but I'm not an alcoholic."
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
Posts: 2968
Threads: 10
Joined: June 2, 2012
Reputation:
44
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
May 30, 2013 at 1:42 pm
(May 30, 2013 at 1:24 pm)Faith No More Wrote: (May 30, 2013 at 11:51 am)NoraBrimstone Wrote: "Hi, I'm a cyclist and a footballer and I play cricket on the weekends,but I don't believe in sports." Or how about "I drink too much, but I'm not an alcoholic." I prefer "I weigh 200kgs, but I'm not obese"
Posts: 67
Threads: 0
Joined: June 15, 2012
Reputation:
0
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
May 30, 2013 at 7:11 pm
I find that the same people who say that they're Christian but they don't believe in religion, when asked their religion will say "Christianity". They're also the same people who accept the neocons' claim that changing a law that hurts the middle class is a law that helps the middle class.
They're people who don't understand language.
Posts: 6896
Threads: 89
Joined: January 13, 2013
Reputation:
116
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
June 2, 2013 at 3:10 am
Admittedly I was one of those people Colanth. Mainly, I rejected religion as a whole (Catholics and bible thumpers). I believed I knew god for who he was, and believed that he was pure love, requiring nothing from us but faith. I believed that he was mis-represented, mis-understood, mis-quoted, and any other mis you can think of. Once I started reading the bible more in depth, and understood just who he was based on his supposed actions and decries, I decided what any reasonable person would. God's a dick.
If I were to create self aware beings knowing fully what they would do in their lifetimes, I sure wouldn't create a HELL for the majority of them to live in infinitely! That's not Love, that's sadistic. Therefore a truly loving god does not exist!
Quote:The sin is against an infinite being (God) unforgiven infinitely, therefore the punishment is infinite.
Dead wrong. The actions of a finite being measured against an infinite one are infinitesimal and therefore merit infinitesimal punishment.
Quote:Some people deserve hell.
I say again: No exceptions. Punishment should be equal to the crime, not in excess of it. As soon as the punishment is greater than the crime, the punisher is in the wrong.
![[Image: tumblr_n1j4lmACk61qchtw3o1_500.gif]](https://66.media.tumblr.com/5fb74c6d16622fb3dbb358509c9aec03/tumblr_n1j4lmACk61qchtw3o1_500.gif)
Posts: 1
Threads: 0
Joined: June 11, 2013
Reputation:
0
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
June 11, 2013 at 4:06 pm
Couldn't agree more...
"It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." - William Clifford
"If a man, holding a belief which he was taught in childhood or persuaded of afterwards, keeps down and pushes away any doubts which arise about it in his mind, purposely avoids the reading of books and the company of men that call in question or discuss it, and regards as impious those questions which cannot easily be asked without disturbing it -- the life of that man is one long sin against mankind."
- William Clifford
Posts: 14259
Threads: 48
Joined: March 1, 2009
Reputation:
80
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
June 11, 2013 at 4:42 pm
(This post was last modified: June 11, 2013 at 4:44 pm by fr0d0.)
If you do something 'religiously' you do it thoroughly, relentlessly from a sense of duty. Without understanding or inspiration. This is the opposite of what Christians see as their faith. Faith is inspired by love and proven by its fruits. Religion is mostly the enemy of faith. it's what faith turns into when it gets old and forgets why it's there. It makes proclamations and forces rules, stifling faith.
A keen Christian I know said she wouldn't believe if religion was all there was. Because blind faith is empty and hollow. I think this is how the vast majority of Christians, including Christ from his teaching, view religion.
Posts: 6896
Threads: 89
Joined: January 13, 2013
Reputation:
116
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
June 11, 2013 at 4:46 pm
So do you deny the validity of the Bible as gods unerring word?
If I were to create self aware beings knowing fully what they would do in their lifetimes, I sure wouldn't create a HELL for the majority of them to live in infinitely! That's not Love, that's sadistic. Therefore a truly loving god does not exist!
Quote:The sin is against an infinite being (God) unforgiven infinitely, therefore the punishment is infinite.
Dead wrong. The actions of a finite being measured against an infinite one are infinitesimal and therefore merit infinitesimal punishment.
Quote:Some people deserve hell.
I say again: No exceptions. Punishment should be equal to the crime, not in excess of it. As soon as the punishment is greater than the crime, the punisher is in the wrong.
Posts: 4940
Threads: 99
Joined: April 17, 2011
Reputation:
45
RE: "I'm a Christian but I don't believe in religion."
June 11, 2013 at 5:13 pm
I could be wrong, but I've always thought the "not a religion, but a personal relationship with Jesus" nonsense was invented so they could try to get around the First Amendment's Establishment clause. They think (wrongly) that if they call their religion not a religion, then it's OK to force it into government.
Christian apologetics is the art of rolling a dog turd in sugar and selling it as a donut.
|
