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[chiagirl]

Sorry if there is a thread for this somewhere else, if so feel free to move this. I basically made this thread as a place for people to talk about problems dealing with religion or ask questions concering their religion. Every religion is welcome and there will be no insulting of other people's religion. If I say something on here that offends you, let me know so I can edit it out and avoid repeating the mistake in the future.

This being said I'm going to move on to my problem. Lately I've been losing faith in religion in general. It seems like many religions have the same basic problems. I'm going to list the five most common ones.

I realize not every relgion does any or all of these things, these are just common examples I have seen.

1: Unequal treatment of women.

Almost every religion says men and women must be treated equally. But yet they don't let women become priest, bishops, cardinals, or popes. Yes women can become nuns, but brothers or monks are basically the same thing just for guys. So why can't women become priest? They complain about a lack of priest yet they ignore half the population. Basically I view it as legal discrimination because of the separation of church and state. It's no different than when they didn't used to let people have certain jobs because of their race. Then there's the fact that practically all religions have a male God and almost none of them have a female God.

2: If you don't have this religion, you're going to hell.

This just ticks me off. Basically you can be a wonderful person who voulunteers in the community on a regular basis, but because you don't believe in God you're going to hell. I find this extremely hard to believe. If there is a God, wouldn't he be more concerned with you being a decent human being than picking this religion over that one? As long as you are a good human being who cares about people and helps people out of the kindness of your heart, I don't see why your religion should affect whether or not you get into heaven.

3: Scandals

Eveybody knows about these kinds of things so I won't spend to much time on this. Things like priest stealing money from church donations to line their own pockets just makes you question how the guy became a priest anyway. It doesn't do a whole lot to boost my confidence in the church.

4: Forcing people to believe in your religion

I bet almost eveyone has had someone come knocking at their door and handing out pamphlets trying to convert people to a certain religion. This just annoys me, especially if you are already the religion they showed up to convert you to. And if you're not, I doubt someone showing up at your door and refusing to leave until you listen to them is going to make you convert. People have the freedom of religion, don't try and force them to join yours.

5: We say one thing but do another.

I'm sure we've all watched at least one movie with a character that claims to be extremely religious, but really acts like a jerk. How many people know someone like this in real life? It bothers me when people claim they are a good religious person, and then they turn around and pick on me because my clothes aren't in style. Seriously guys? Grow up.

I realize many or all of these may not apply to your religion and that's great. I only listed these because these are the most common examples that I know of.

I apologize if I offended anyone, that was not my intention. I'm not trying to start an argument with anyone here, I just want to know if anyone else feels the same way i do. If this thread turns into a war over religions then I'm just going to delete it.

[Vavo Natsumi]

I don't think this is a good idea. People can get very defensive over their faith (I know I can), and this thread could just turn into one giant fight.

[ShinobiXikyu]

Agreed that this could become a flamewar, but, those five reasons are why I don't follow organized religion.

[SirWonderusMary]

I do imagine that some people MIGHT be offended. But I understand just about most of them, along the lines of two things. The "going to hell" stuff because you don't believe in god. I'm like that. I don't believe. I USED to go to church, but I was very into knowing about it. I was forced as a kid to go to it, and it did nothing for me. Please, no one be offended by this at all, but it's just me. Course, I'm a good person, but I imagine some religious people would know.

This kid also reminds me of the forcing religion down your throats...sorta. He liked to carry his bible around and a couple times just went to my table and asking me and my friend if we minded him reading a part of it to us. :/ This only...can offend you at times, since it makes you wonder if they think "you need help."

Another story from that subject "forcing stuff down people's throats" is when my girlfriend's step-dad was with the mormon preachers. They came to his house, I think on the second time and then they just ask him out of the blue "Will you be ready to accept the lord by the 30th of this month? We already decided to Baptist you that day." .....That's a bit too early for someone to decide to switch religions, don't you think? Even my dad hasn't transitioned yet, but I doubt he ever will. They then tried getting my girlfriend to convert...which doesn't go well since I suppose they believe that Homosexuality will get you to hell.

End of rant.

[sam vimes]

Just start worshiping me: all problems solved.

[SaskWhovian]

Originally Posted by sam vimes

Just start worshiping me: all problems solved.

Done and Done. All hail Sam Vimes! Lord and ruler of all CosCom!

[ShinobiXikyu]

Nah, I'd rather worship almighty Atheismo.

Seriously, though, I'm Pagan. Hence "no organized religion"

[Bisected8]

I'm a secularist; I simply keep my beliefs to myself and refuse to debate them with others (spiritual beliefs, that is). I also prefer it if others do the same, but I'm perfectly happy (and interested) in learning someone's beliefs from a scholarly point of view.

IMO any belief system can justify anything, so it's actions and intentions that matter (a hero's a hero and a murderer's a murderer whether they feel they're doing their duty as a servant of a god, their duty to a fellow human being or simply serving their own interests).

[Flora88]

A religion thread?


Oh dear...

Somewhere down the line, this is going to get ridiculous.

BUT HEY, LET'S LIVE DANGEROUSLY.

So, who's for Intelligent Design being taught in Science classrooms, and who's against it?

[Bisected8]

I'm against it, on the basis it's simply not accepted as a theory by the wider scientific community, putting it on par with both obsolete theories (without the justification of a history lesson, as the case would be with Freud in a psychology class) and other theories which simply didn't stand up to scrutiny (and thus never got far enough from scientific circles to reach the public consciousness). Save the debates for university, school's where kids need to be brought up to speed.

[FinalEVA]

I forsee ugly things happening in this thread very quickly.

I'm not religious, although I won't go too much into my reasons why. I grew up going to church, but I prefer not having religion a part of my life for various reasons. I share many of the same sentiments as the OP.

As for Intelligent Design being taught in science class, only findings that use the scientific method should be taught in science class. Whether you choose to believe in Evolution or not, it does have the backing of the scientific method while Intelligent Design does not. Intelligent design can be taught in religion classes though.

[Formalhaut]

Originally Posted by chiagirl

Sorry if there is a thread for this somewhere else, if so feel free to move this. I basically made this thread as a place for people to talk about problems dealing with religion or ask questions concering their religion. Every religion is welcome and their will be no insulting of other people's religion. If I say something on here that offends you, let me know so I can edit it out and avoid repeating the mistake in the future.

This being said I'm going to move on to my problem. Lately I've been losing faith in religion in general. It seems like no matter which religion you look at they all have the same basic problems. I'm going to list the five most common ones.

1: Unequal treatment of women.

Almost every religion says men and women must be treated equally. But yet they don't let women become priest, bishops, cardinals, or popes. Yes women can become nuns, but brothers or monks are basically the same thing just for guys. So why can't women become priest? They complain about a lack of priest yet they ignore half the population. Basically I view it as legal discrimination because of the separation of church and state. It's no different than when they didn't used to let people have certain jobs because of their race. Then there's the fact that practically all religions have a male God and almost none of them have a female God. And then there's the whole 'a women must be subservient to her man' thing. Don't even get me started on that.

this is only in a few religions, not all. some religions and cultures are wholly matriarchal/female based

2: If you don't have this religion, you're going to hell.

This just ticks me off. Basically you can be a wonderful person who voulunteers in the community on a regular basis, but because you don't believe in God you're going to hell. I find this extremely hard to believe. If there is a God, wouldn't he be more concerned with you being a decent human being than picking this religion over that one? As long as you are a good human being who cares about people and helps people out of the kindness of your heart, I don't see why your religion should affect whether or not you get into heaven.

quite a few religions dont believe this as well, Hinduism, buddhism, judaism, jainism, to name a few
3: Church Scandals

Eveybody knows about these kinds of things so I won't spend to much time on this. Things like priest stealing money from church donations to line their own pockets just makes you question how the guy became a priest anyway. It doesn't do a whole lot to boost my confidence in the church.

this seems to happen only with religions that have churches. which some dont
4: Shoving religion down people's throats

I bet almost eveyone has had someone come knocking at their door and handing out pamphlets trying to convert people to a certain religion. This just annoys me, especially if you are already the religion they showed up to convert you to. And if you're not, I doubt someone showing up at your door and refusing to leave until you listen to them is going to make you convert. People have the freedom of religion, don't try and force them to join yours.
welcome to the human race, enjoy your stay
5: We say one thing but do another.

I'm sure we've all watched at least one movie with a character that claims to be extremely religious, but really acts like a jerk. How many people know someone like this in real life? It bothers me when people claim they are a good religious person, and then they turn around and pick on me because my clothes aren't in style. Seriously guys? Grow up.

see above
I apologize if I offended anyone, that was not my intention. I'm not trying to start an argument with anyone here, I just want to know if anyone else feels the same way i do. If this thread turns into a war over religions then I'm just going to delete it.

OP, if you are going to bash religion, please for the love of God, (no pun intended) at least do some research about the other religions out there. I know I, as a Hindu, do not think you are going to hell for not believing what I do. nor is my religion "male centric" as a whole. Im sure others can say the same for theirs, but I can only speak for myself. Ignorance about religion is one thing, arrogance is another. Please make educated claims about such serious and volatile topics.

[chiagirl]

I apologize for offending you, I based those reasons off of experiences I have had with certain people. You're right that I don't know much about the Hindu religion, and if you don't believe people who don't believe in God are going to hell that's great. I was basically questioning my own faith and wanted to know if anyone else felt the same way. I don't know everything about all religions and I doubt anyone does. I would like to thank you for educating me that some of the things I said are not true of most religions, I am sorry for assuming that they were. I didn't not mean to sound as if I believe religion is religion and that's that, I realize every religion is different, and saying religion A is exactly the same as religion B could not be more untrue. I was not trying to bash religion, I can not express how sorry I am if it came off that way. I will definately remember what you have said.

[Vavo Natsumi]

Originally Posted by Formalhaut

OP, if you are going to bash religion, please for the love of God, (no pun intended) at least do some research about the other religions out there. I know I, as a Hindu, do not think you are going to hell for not believing what I do. nor is my religion "male centric" as a whole. Im sure others can say the same for theirs, but I can only speak for myself. Ignorance about religion is one thing, arrogance is another. Please make educated claims about such serious and volatile topics.

I completely agree. You need to do research and not just put slam religion into one group. You really can't generalize religion.

[Formalhaut]

Originally Posted by chiagirl

I apologize for offending you, I based those reasons off of experiences I have had with certain people. You're right that I don't know much about the Hindu religion, and if you don't believe people who don't believe in God are going to hell that's great. I was basically questioning my own faith and wanted to know if anyone else felt the same way. I don't know everything about all religions and I doubt anyone does. I would like to thank you for educating me that some of the things I said are not true of most religions, I am sorry for assuming that they were. I was not trying to bash religion, I can not express how sorry I am if it came off that way. I will definately remember what you have said.

you didnt offend me, its just a few words of wisdom. religion is something very close to many peoples hearts, and quite a few people will indeed get riled up if they feel like someone is bad mouthing their beliefs whether that was your intent or not. a bit of prudence now and then can go a long way.