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Pushing Religion

The belief that one's heritage is "Divine".

uh, a little more elaboration, what do you mean that is the problem? why is this bad? to believe the human race has divine heritage? and to use that to encourage morality?

It's an illogical and vain premise for one's existance.


You must have had some horrible experiences with churches, I am sorry. It is only illogical and vain because that is your point of view.
From my point of view, why get up in the morning, go to work, deal with life in a patient way, be kind, be selfless, be anything good if at the end of the day it didn't mean something. Not just to me but to God?


If you ask me the illogical and vain premise is the one that says that there is no divine spark and (you may or may not believe this) but that when we die we die and that is all. Then why be good, what would I be building? What purpose would it have?

Maybe you and others can find reasons for existence and happiness with that mindset, but as for me, I'll cling to my fanatical and wild Christian beliefs. ;)
 
But the God you describe is hardly the God I believe in. The God I would teach my children about is their Father. He created us and the world we live in to give us experience and the ability to choose between right and wrong. He knew that we would fall short of perfection so he provided a Savior and gave us commandments and prophets so that we might know the way back to him. I believe that he will reward us the maximum that he can and take into account everything when judging us in the end, judging us less harshly than many judge themselves.
The thing is, you are already their parent, and they don't really need the complication of another invisible father they have no real understanding of as children.

I will teach them about a God who wants us to be good, not because if not we are going to hell, but because he wants the best for us and wants us to fulfill our potential.
Motivation via the religious route is not "do good or go to hell", to me it is do good, because you are a child of God and your heritage is divine."
Secular humanism can accomplish the same task in either case.

It is uplifting to know your true nature.
Which is why science is cool.

Hmm, with that in mind can we do the same with evolution, too?
No. Perhaps it's escaped your notice, but whereas religion is faith-based and requires no evidence, peer review, replication, or vindication based on observable fact, science does. Evolution is based on scientific theory, and it needed and still needs all of those things I mentioned and more in order to have obtained its status as a scientific theory and to continue to maintain that status. Science is not comparable to religion, and frankly doesn't have anything to do with morality or the topic being discussed.

And what about sex ed?
Sex ed is only an issue for people who have a problem with their kids learning about the changes their bodies are going through and why they are getting the urges that they are getting - i.e. people who have a problem with sex in general because they think it is bad or dirty somehow, rather than a natural biological function. Sex Ed is also usually only taught to kids in their tweens or a bit older. And to be frank, sex isn't all that complicated of a concept to understand, while religion requires a lot of philosophical thought and feeling.

while evolution is a matter of biology or science, sex ed is more or less political rather than anything else.
I have to disagree with you there - sex ed is very much a matter of biology, it's only made as complicated as it is because so many people insist on attaching politics to it.
 
Wow, I am amazed. I don't even know what to say for the moment. The hostility to a belief in God in this thread is beyond what I imagined.
 
Wow, I am amazed. I don't even know what to say for the moment. The hostility to a belief in God in this thread is beyond what I imagined.

I don't see anybody being hostile to you, or your belief, in this thread. Religious people often seem to mistake differing opinions as hostile and such, IMO. I think the discussion in this thread has been very civil.
 
Wow, I am amazed. I don't even know what to say for the moment. The hostility to a belief in God in this thread is beyond what I imagined.

I don't see anybody being hostile to you, or your belief, in this thread. Religious people often seem to mistake differing opinions as hostile and such, IMO. I think the discussion in this thread has been very civil.

Poor choice of words, I don't mean hostile towards me. I agree, it has been very civil. I just mean that when I throw an idea out there, I am just surprised at how easily it is summarily dismissed. And how quickly and totally the God-less ideas are supported.

So hostile to the idea, not to me.
 
You must have had some horrible experiences with churches, I am sorry.

Nope, it simply has no more merit than Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.

It is only illogical and vain because that is your point of view.

It's illogical because there is no basis outside a poorly written,
illconcieved and contradictory novel. And vain because people
would actually believe they are the offspring of "God".


Maybe you and others can find reasons for existence and happiness with
that mindset, but as for me, I'll cling to my fanatical and wild Christian beliefs. ;)

Good for you. I'll cling to my logic and sense of reality. :cool:
 
^ haha
Well, that is fine that we agree to disagree, you certainly don't have to believe what I believe, but, I think God has more merit than the tooth fairy. And the Bible isn't the only source, as a member of the LDS church, I have other scripture and modern day prophets to reinforce and elaborate the doctrine.

Besides, there is a lot of basis for a belief in God, even all the wonders and mysteries of science and the universe can make one ponder and ask "Why? and by Who?"

A believer at least has that "poorly written, ill-conceived and contradictory novel" as well as the witness of all things to say that there is a God, even the universe itself. You have nothing to back it up other than your own word.
 
Apostacy in Islam is still punishable by death. Their logic comes from a part of the Koran where Mohammed says you can only take the life of your fellow Muslim brother if they are a married adulterer, have already taken the life of a muslim or this person has deserted of Islam. Today the death sentence seems to be less common for aspostacy/blasphemy however floggings and amputations still happen regularly.
 
^ haha
Well, that is fine that we agree to disagree, you certainly don't have to believe what I believe, but, I think God has more merit than the tooth fairy. And the Bible isn't the only source, as a member of the LDS church, I have other scripture and modern day prophets to reinforce and elaborate the doctrine.

Besides, there is a lot of basis for a belief in God, even all the wonders and mysteries of science and the universe can make one ponder and ask "Why? and by Who?"

A believer at least has that "poorly written, ill-conceived and contradictory novel" as well as the witness of all things to say that there is a God, even the universe itself. You have nothing to back it up other than your own word.


The LDS church and "Book of Mormon" are just a big contradiction and violation
of the very book it claims to follow.

Revelation chapter 22: "18For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of
the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

So it's own sacred text can't even be followed. Interpret as you will.
An even bigger hoax on top of another.

As for Science, the world around us, society. Everyday it proves more and
more that "God" is no more than a fairy tale and the sooner the world realizes
and accepts this the quicker it can get under way with facing it's problems
and actually fixing them and bettering Humanity as a whole instead of hiding
behind these "Divine" books and waiting for "God" to do it for them.
 
I had to laugh when you quote the Bible to try to discredit my religion. a little research will discover that the book of revelation was not the last book written in the Bible, John, its author wrote other parts of the Bible afterward. That verse refers to the book of revelations. I learned that in 3rd grade...

But ANYWAY, what problems are people waiting around for God to solve? Just because society is deteriorating doesn't prove there is no God, it merely proves that people are straying away from him.
 
I had to laugh when you quote the Bible to try to discredit my religion. a little research will discover that the book of revelation was not the last book written in the Bible, John, its author wrote other parts of the Bible afterward. That verse refers to the book of revelations. I learned that in 3rd grade...

But ANYWAY, what problems are people waiting around for God to solve? Just because society is deteriorating doesn't prove there is no God, it merely proves that people are straying away from him.

I do quote it. What better to disavow a Religion the the faults of it's own
"Divine" texts. I was trained and taught these things plenty to know what
I am talking about. I simply grew up and saw the light.

And I have to laugh even harder now. Your own book descredits it's self
multiple times and the "Book of Mormon" claims to follow it with it's own
tall tales.

You have proven my point good sir.


Good night.
 
I had to laugh when you quote the Bible to try to discredit my religion. a little research will discover that the book of revelation was not the last book written in the Bible, John, its author wrote other parts of the Bible afterward. That verse refers to the book of revelations. I learned that in 3rd grade...

But ANYWAY, what problems are people waiting around for God to solve? Just because society is deteriorating doesn't prove there is no God, it merely proves that people are straying away from him.

I do quote it. What better to disavow a Religion the the faults of it's own
"Divine" texts. I was trained and taught these things plenty to know what
I am talking about. I simply grew up and saw the light.

And I have to laugh even harder now. Your own book descredits it's self
multiple times and the "Book of Mormon" claims to follow it with it's own
tall tales.

You have proven my point good sir.


Good night.

I don't understand what you mean, or what exactly you discredited.... but whatever...
 
No one is a good person.
I am. :cool:

A believer at least has that "poorly written, ill-conceived and contradictory novel" as well as the witness of all things to say that there is a God, even the universe itself. You have nothing to back it up other than your own word.
Actually, I find the fact that the Universe exists is a good reason to believe in it. ;)
 
No one is a good person.

Just because society is deteriorating doesn't prove there is no God, it merely proves that people are straying away from him.

Society is deteriorating. It is growing more depraved and immoral every day.

Reading your posts, I'm reminded that my one regret about turning away from religion as a teen was the boundless optimism, love of life and humanity, and pure happiness that my faith used to fill me with. I'm glad to see you guys still have that though.
 
^^^Actually, I think you've definitely retained some of that optimism and love of humanity (albeit under a snarkier exterior). The touch of idealism is something that stood out about you, at least to me.

In regards to the OP, I still haven't made up my mind as to what religious beliefs I would instill in any offspring. I think I'm most comfortable with the idea of teaching morals through a religious framework which can be dropped as they get older. The thought that my children would not choose to follow my religious beliefs does not unnerve me; however the thought that they may choose another religion does.

It seems wisest not to assume much either way.
 
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