Guys, remember Anders Breivik, the "savior of Christian European culture", in 2011? Or when a Christian dude entered an abortion clinic in Colorado Springs, killd 3 people and injured 9, in 2015? Or FREAKING CHRISTCHURCH?! Does that ring a bell? Insane people can bee inspired to kill by their views on religion. Any religion.
No you fucking don't. You won't find thousands killed in an attack, but you can find mass murders happening in the name of Christianity happening every week if you look.
The important take away here isn’t an attack on Christians or Christianity like I feel some folks might be taking this as. The point is that there isn’t anything wrong with Christians or Christianity but any religion can be perverted to terrible things.
Jonestown- almost 1,000 people killed them selves. Jim Jones was a Christian minister of a church called “Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ” which mixed aspects and verses of Christian faith with politics and personal beliefs into a cult. We can’t say Jim Jones and his far left socialist views and suicide pacts represents Christianity can we? Well we also can’t say that those pushing far right nationalism and conservative religious fundamentalism and xenophobia under the name “muslim” represent the Muslim faith. If you want to equate Islam to radical violence you need to equate Christianity to the sins of those using its name too- or as an alternative that will probably make everyone happier we can all just agree that sometimes practitioners and even whole churches don’t represent an entire faith.
Look- look at many countries that are known for producing violent terrorists. Do you think they are terrorists because they are a certain religion- or because of the sociopolitical and economic climate of their home- and that the same people would be just as likely to use violence regardless of their religion under the same circumstances?
And why does everyone always forget the very Catholic IRA/factions as a long standing and often brutal terrorist force? If you’re 13 it must seem like that’s ancient history- but for many of us the troubles were a part of life and aren’t so long ago that we have forgotten the whole thing or had it fade into antiquity. The nationalist and religious factors of the conflict were both significant and follow the Muslim world- catholic residents that their land and identity were threatened by foreign governments of a different faith who would subjugate their religion etc.
And on the personal and modern level- You have large groups of American Christians who consider things like not using tax dollars or government resources to evangelize and celebrate their faith is an act of “war” against Christianity. The majority religion on the US feels threatened by just the fact that other religions have a right to exist and that the government isn’t supposed to play favorites. People lambasting countries ran on religious fundamentalism who are upset that we can’t make our country a different kind of religious fundamentalism. People who want to pass laws on marriage and babies and everything else based on THEIR religion and force anyone who doesn’t follow their religion to still have to follow its rules and ethics.
It’s not a far stretch to say that we aren’t that far off from being no different than our supposed enemies ourselves- that the only thing really stopping us is that we have checks and balances meant to prevent the government from being ran as a giant church with an army. If fundamentalist Christians had complete control of the government- what do you think the odds are that a people who already feel it is their religious duty to cast their ballots and spend their money in accordance with their religions beliefs without regards to others- what do you think the odds are that they wouldn’t feel compelled when in control of the worlds largest military to use that as a tool to act their religious conscious?
The reason we seem to have pulled western religion “past the Middle Ages” isn’t because we are so enlightened. It’s because we literally- after hundreds of years of bloody religious war and religious political corruption- said fuck this- and made laws so that we could keep religion as far away from having its own armies and police and power seat on politics as possible. That’s our secret. We learned that if you run a country on religion- you’re going to have religious wars. It’s that simple.
I saw Christchurch. The guy who did that, Brenton Tarrant, wasn't a Christian. In fact, he was allegedly inspired by Islamic extremists. There are good and bad people in every religion, every side of the political spectrum, and to judge the whole based on the actions of only a few of its parts is foolish.
Oh, if hardcore Christian fundamentalists had control of the government, the first thing they'd do is round up all the Muslims and gay people, throw them in concentration camps, then execute them. The next thing they'd do is try to do the same thing across the Middle East.
Yeah. That’s what my gut says too. Change the nouns around and suddenly we all aren’t so different. Supremacists and fundamentalists are the same- it’s not about the “other guy” being worse- it’s just that they are different. People don’t care about how the steak is made if the steak ends up on their table. But man- I just wish more people had the guts to be honest about it instead of debating on logic they don’t even believe while lying about their true reasoning- it’s simply “they” aren’t like “you” in some way and you want your group to be supreme.
I just have a murder boner for the fundamentalists who are already in charge of governments.
I don't have a religion, so I've got no dog in the fight, so much as I'm the guy wanting to dismantle the dog fighting ring altogether.
When I do defend christianity in particular, it's just because I'm tired of hearing "But Crusades" when there's little girls having acid dumped on them at this very moment.
Nah. It’s a little tired to drag up the crusades as though it happened yesterday. It IS still relevant but people use it out of context. It’s relevant in the sense that we’ve modified government to help prevent that, and society has changed- but the attitudes that allowed that are still alive and well. I don’t care what religion a person is- if they aren’t hurting anyone do what you want and stay out of my way.
The Crusades went back and forth for quie a long time,the kings of England, France the Pope , and of course Salidin and the Nights Templar battled each other. @Guest_ if it wasn't for Jim Jones we would had the "drink the cool aid" comments, lol. I ment wouldn't @guest_.
Hi @popsy! Very true. Fun fact- they drank flavor aid, but kool-aid is synonymous with powdered drink (that isn’t tang,) like how we call most tissues “Kleenex” or cotton swabs “Q-tips.” But I have gotten a lot of mileage out of the phrase “drink the koolaid” so you are very right!
@guest_ simple question, and I’d very much like it answered if you have the balls. So I doubt it.
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Do you have the ability to comment without it ruining the conversation for literally everyone else by laying down the Old Testament every time you open your fucking mouth?
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There’s a basic continuity to the argument and the conversation. Enter you, and it’s either, re-read the story of the Israelites or lose track of where the conversation is now. Jesus Christ. Who were your English professors growing up? They all failed
guest, simple question, and I'd very much like it answered if you have the balls. You're hiding behind a guest account, so I doubt it.
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Do you have the ability to comment without ruining the conversation for literally everyone else by being a fucking dick?
Sorry funk, my spelling sucks and it's worse when I have a few cocktails. I get misunderstood by a lot of folks because I don't jive with political correctness and things.
@guest- as others have pointed out- you don’t even “have the balls” to post as a user who can be identified by anything other than your IP, so that’s rather humorous to start. I also don’t really know how replying to an anonymous poster on a message board where no one knows me except for my screen name to answer a relatively incoherent rambling about my post length would take any “balls,” it seems the sort of thing any child let alone anyone in the world without some crippling social anxiety could do. It does make me wonder what level of fortitude daily life must take for you if that is how you define “balls.”
But to answer your question directly- I can in fact answer a post without telling the story of Israel. I have done so- possibly up to 2-3 tiles in my life. However, I usually like to start anything I write by re telling the Old Testament. Just to sort of- get things going you know? Sometimes I put “Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; add salt to all your offerings” passages from the Old Testament right in the middle of what I’m saying. I don’t even realize I’ve done it until someone points it out to me. It’s crazy.
But you’ve really opened my eyes @guest. Thanks to your eloquence and a level of manners Miss Emily Post herself would applaud, coupled with faultless logic and an impeccable wit you’ve reached me. I never realized that my words could be so harmful to random guests who come out of nowhere and hurl vulgarities about. And aren’t those the people Israel... oops. I mean America- is really about? Random strangers hiding behind masks and shouting criticisms at others are the backbone of what now and has always made our country- no. The world, great.
Starting with this very post @guest- I pledge that I will show my respect and fondness for you by how well I honor your calls to end my verbosity and use of Old Testament writing. “He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah.” Oops. I did it again didn’t I? Well- don’t take it to personally. It can’t be personal since you haven’t even seen fit to show yourself. So anyway guest- yeah. Your words- you can see how much they mean to me, how much they’ve impacted me by my reply. Don’t be too disappointed. I get the feeling you aren’t used to being listened to- but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen some day. Hey- have you tried quoting the Old Testament and writing long replies? It doesn’t always work, you can throw in mention of Israel to help- but in my experience I know at least one person who seems to pay attention of you do that. Just trying to help. Your friend- Guest_
@funkasterrex- thank you good sir. As for the limit- about 1-2 weeks back I hit it a couple times. Was in the app- so it didn’t tell me I hit the limit, just an error whenever I tried to post. I didn’t figure out what was going on until the next tine it happened. I was posting a lot though, and lots of little posts like one word posts. Lol.
@popsy- oh no! I knew it was contagious but never got vaccinated against it because I thought that everyone else had their vaccines and didn’t want to take the risk! Now we can add begating to the list of side effects too!
@guest_ so basically you like being a wordy loud-mouthed shithead? I guess that’s a valid response.. I mean I still think you’re a dumbass, but hey, nobody listens to me anyway right?
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You’re like Anderson from Sherlock. You insist on opening your mouth, invited or not, and you lower the IQ of the whole block when you do. So I’m not hiding, please respond if you feel the need. I’ll come back and read volume 4 of your inane, verbose, failure to comprehend the ability to be brief and direct
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And for the record, which in your bold, unswayed-stupidity your consistently fail to recognize is this is a community forum. You inflict yourself on those around you because we don’t have a choice but suffer you. I don’t give a shit about your pledge and fondness, you’re an idiot. But it is in-fact possible you make your point in less than a thesis. Point and case literally everyone but you.
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But please, don’t mind me, I need to go be ‘disappointed’ that an old fool won’t listen to me.
What- if any of that post am I supposed to respond to? I think you just want to argue. All you did was post back handed insults. Am I supposed to argue I’m not an idiot? How would I prove that? Is there a questionnaire you use? Am I supposed to say I’m not verbose? I certainly am. How one is a loud mouth on a public forum escapes me- since no voice has the capacity to be any louder than any other. You dig me for passing my opinions as facts- then come here and post your opinions of me as facts. You dig me for being conceited and you come here and speak as “we” for an entire forum. You dig me for being a loud mouth who offers unsolicited opinions and then come here and start ranting about how much you dislike me and find me to be a pox upon this forum.
What do you want me to say besides sorry you don’t seem to like me? That happens sometimes in life. I don’t actually need everyone to like me. The best I could hope to do is to avoid your posts- which I can’t really do since you’re a guest account can I?
But you’ve made your opinions known. I’ve made it known that perhaps if you had any manners I might be inclined to work out some sort of accommodation for you- but I’m quite a bit less inclined to do so considering if all the myriad of ways you could have told me you don’t appreciate my style- unsolicited or not- you chose to throw a tantrum. Nothing you’ve said raises a point for discussion in any meaningful way, and perhaps you are just venting. That’s fine. People can vent. My humble advice, should you choose to take it, is to simply ignore thing I write if you don’t care to read them. The beauty of a text based format is that you can do that. I can also avoid tagging you in posts as well- but of course that won’t really work if you’re a guest. So it seems dear guest that I occupy at least some deep or your thoughts- when you not only do not occupy mine but cannot by default.
It also seems that you have some irreconcilable issues with me. So why would I argue or debate that? You’re allowed to not like me, I give you my blessing, it’s best when we can all get along, but there’s no need to bicker if we can’t. In the future- it might be constructive we’re to to perhaps specify some actionable items that a person could consider. Something specific and quantifiable to set some ground work for your grievances. Some actions that they might take to alleviate some of your feelings of ill will and enhance your overall enjoyment.
Things like “I hate how you’re an idiot...” are not only often going to escalate tensions or provoke non constructive responses, but also don’t give people much to work with. Let’s say I said “gee, you’re right. I’m an idiot.” Where do we go from there? Is there a way that I might become not an idiot? What does being an idiot encompass to you? Clearly I have a reasonable command of language and spelling- some knowledge of various topics- so those things alone to you do not qualify a person one way or another.
One can also in theory get an education, degrees, a mastery of a craft or field, and still be “an idiot.” So the complaint is somewhat vague and there isn’t really a clear action to take in response to it you see? If you want to receive results and remedy it is quite helpful to try and be specific and make statements based on desired actions which can be broken into tasks. A good attitude and overall dialog that is conducive to collaboration and good will helps, and of course it’s still at the discretion of the parties involved- but sadly I feel your efforts are not in good faith to your supposed desired outcome.
There aren’t enough hours in the day bud, I read the first 20% of the first comment. You’re right, don’t argue back, you are an idiot. Or do, who really knows, I’ll be 80 by the time I finish reading your response(s). Evidently, with that being my point, the logic is wasted on you. Like everything else it would seem
Religion: *minding its business*
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Crazy people: Finally! An excuse to murder people I don't particularly like!
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Normal worshippers: *glancing at fire and brimstone* Be a lot cooler if you didn't...
Applies to every religion too...even political parties. Holy crap have we solved this puzzle? There are just crazies that wanna do murder and will try to rationalize it any way they can?
Pretty much. The justification one uses for their crazy just depends on what’s in arms reach. It’s a happy coincidence that most religions carry a built in and eager fanbase, a position of divine authority to dictate the will of an infallible power on earth, and usually some form of “don’t ask questions” clause. Religion- like people- isn’t inherently bad- but can be manipulated to whatever ends desired.
You all do know that the reason the crusades started was because the Muslims at the time were invading a ton of Christian countries in Europe and the Middle East? Right? Or did no one study history at all?
I don't have a religion, so I've got no dog in the fight, so much as I'm the guy wanting to dismantle the dog fighting ring altogether.
When I do defend christianity in particular, it's just because I'm tired of hearing "But Crusades" when there's little girls having acid dumped on them at this very moment.
Also... Pootie Tang lol
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Do you have the ability to comment without it ruining the conversation for literally everyone else by laying down the Old Testament every time you open your fucking mouth?
—
There’s a basic continuity to the argument and the conversation. Enter you, and it’s either, re-read the story of the Israelites or lose track of where the conversation is now. Jesus Christ. Who were your English professors growing up? They all failed
—
Do you have the ability to comment without ruining the conversation for literally everyone else by being a fucking dick?
.
You’re like Anderson from Sherlock. You insist on opening your mouth, invited or not, and you lower the IQ of the whole block when you do. So I’m not hiding, please respond if you feel the need. I’ll come back and read volume 4 of your inane, verbose, failure to comprehend the ability to be brief and direct
.
And for the record, which in your bold, unswayed-stupidity your consistently fail to recognize is this is a community forum. You inflict yourself on those around you because we don’t have a choice but suffer you. I don’t give a shit about your pledge and fondness, you’re an idiot. But it is in-fact possible you make your point in less than a thesis. Point and case literally everyone but you.
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But please, don’t mind me, I need to go be ‘disappointed’ that an old fool won’t listen to me.
'
Crazy people: Finally! An excuse to murder people I don't particularly like!
'
Normal worshippers: *glancing at fire and brimstone* Be a lot cooler if you didn't...