Jesus Camp

Started by FM, January 09, 2009, 06:59:55 PM

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Inkidu

Quote from: Oniya on April 20, 2009, 02:27:51 PM
All generalities are false.  It also might be worthwhile to look over the sticky at the top of this forum while phrasing your arguments, for optimal effectiveness.
Generalizations aren't necessarily false as they are not true enough. :)
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Oniya

Ah, but I said 'All generalities are false', which is itself a generality.   ;D  Just a little semantics-class humor.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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purpleartemis00

Quote from: Inkidu on April 20, 2009, 02:23:22 PM
From the list of things you listed off, I think you need to reread some of that.
Not so much. Each of the things listed is a documented fact of the mainstream sect or denomination I was referring to. The documentation can be found in holy books from each religion and in studies by scholars of that religion. Sorry to come off as abrasive, but given a few days to research (in the middle of finals right now) I could give you book, chapter and verse.

Quote from: Oniya on April 20, 2009, 02:27:51 PM
All generalities are false.  It also might be worthwhile to look over the sticky at the top of this forum while phrasing your arguments, for optimal effectiveness.
I'm not sure that I was making generalities. American Heritage Dictionary defines generality as "An observation or principle having general application; a generalization" and "An imprecise or vague statement or idea."
I have explicated at length why I believe what I believe using evidence from the very books that these religions hold dear. I'm not sure how determining that organized religion is insane because it asks followers to believe in things that they would laugh at in other area of life is imprecise or vague.
Quote from: HairyHeretic on April 20, 2009, 02:28:45 PM
Purple, while you may not care for religion, it is important to many people, so a little more polite phrasing won't go amiss.
I understand and apologize for my wording. I will be sure to use less inflammatory wording, however I find it funny that I received chastisement for my stating my beliefs, but those who referred to my beliefs as "superficial and narrow" (words I believe have a very negative connotation) were simply ignored. I've a question, if I had referred to mainstream Christianity as superficial and narrow, would you have chastised me? I think you might have. So apparently attacking an individual is fine but attacking a larger group is impermissible. Thanks, I'll be sure to amend my behavior.



HairyHeretic

If I were chastising you, you'd know about it. That was simply a note to keep the tone of discussion civil .. which applies to everyone, not just you .. because I know that politics and religion are subjects that can get out of hand very quickly and easily. I'd prefer not to have to come in and start smiting to ensure good behaviour, hence a polite note now.
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Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

purpleartemis00

Quote from: HairyHeretic on April 20, 2009, 02:56:38 PM
If I were chastising you, you'd know about it. That was simply a note to keep the tone of discussion civil .. which applies to everyone, not just you .. because I know that politics and religion are subjects that can get out of hand very quickly and easily. I'd prefer not to have to come in and start smiting to ensure good behaviour, hence a polite note now.
Forgive me. I misunderstood, because the note stated my user-name specifically.

Let's definitely avoid all smiting! :)

Inkidu

Quote from: Oniya on April 20, 2009, 02:40:07 PM
Ah, but I said 'All generalities are false', which is itself a generality.   ;D  Just a little semantics-class humor.
Well I was countering with the same thing. Ah, semantic humor. ;)
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Nessy

Quote from: purpleartemis00 on April 20, 2009, 02:44:57 PM
Not so much. Each of the things listed is a documented fact of the mainstream sect or denomination I was referring to. The documentation can be found in holy books from each religion and in studies by scholars of that religion. Sorry to come off as abrasive, but given a few days to research (in the middle of finals right now) I could give you book, chapter and verse.

While I support education in general and the knowledge obtained from books, they don't replace experience. I think its well established that how these books are interpretted varies a lot and that one church following a religion in one country doesn't necessarily reflect another church in another country just because they follow the same religion. I am using the word church as interchangeable with places of worship for other faiths.

Over time, these books have always been used to justify horrific acts AND also been used to counter them. I am quite certain that a direct quote from one of them, taken out of context, would be a misrepresentation of the current status of that organized religion. Furthermore, context is where most the problem of interpretation really lies, not the words themselves.
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purpleartemis00

Quote from: Nessy on April 20, 2009, 03:17:14 PM
While I support education in general and the knowledge obtained from books, they don't replace experience. I think its well established that how these books are interpretted varies a lot and that one church following a religion in one country doesn't necessarily reflect another church in another country just because they follow the same religion. I am using the word church as interchangeable with places of worship for other faiths.

Over time, these books have always been used to justify horrific acts AND also been used to counter them. I am quite certain that a direct quote from one of them, taken out of context, would be a misrepresentation of the current status of that organized religion. Furthermore, context is where most the problem of interpretation really lies, not the words themselves.

I completely agree with you on interpretation being the "evil" and not the words themselves.

I guess my problem lies in the fact that the literal interpreters tend to be the most vocal groups. That may have to do with sensationalism and our current media, but it stinks, none the less.

A caveat -- historically, most large sects of mainstream religion (with the current exceptions of Buddhists and Protestant Christians) turn to violence against others as a way to disseminate their beliefs. While I do not believe that the violence sprang from the religion itself, rather than from power-hungry leaders, the followers, historically, tend to fall in line with this policy. There's so much historical evidence that LARGE GROUPS (not fundamentalists sects) used violence as a means of religious conversion that people want to disregard, because it colors their religious choices negatively.

I guess I feel that if more people involved with mainstream organized religion would (and had) voice the fact that they are uncomfortable with a groups methods, then they world would have been a much less bloodshed in the name of deities.


Inkidu

It's a tragedy for sure, but many things have been brought about by non-religious things. It's people. People misuse religion, science and whatever, mostly for greed. The problem isn't religion it's people. The same with the Jesus camp people.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Nessy

Quote from: purpleartemis00 on April 20, 2009, 03:43:11 PM
I completely agree with you on interpretation being the "evil" and not the words themselves.

I guess my problem lies in the fact that the literal interpreters tend to be the most vocal groups. That may have to do with sensationalism and our current media, but it stinks, none the less.

A caveat -- historically, most large sects of mainstream religion (with the current exceptions of Buddhists and Protestant Christians) turn to violence against others as a way to disseminate their beliefs. While I do not believe that the violence sprang from the religion itself, rather than from power-hungry leaders, the followers, historically, tend to fall in line with this policy. There's so much historical evidence that LARGE GROUPS (not fundamentalists sects) used violence as a means of religious conversion that people want to disregard, because it colors their religious choices negatively.

I guess I feel that if more people involved with mainstream organized religion would (and had) voice the fact that they are uncomfortable with a groups methods, then they world would have been a much less bloodshed in the name of deities.

See now I think what you just said now holds a lot more weight than what you started with because it explains where you are coming from and doesn't appear to be an attempt to demonize organized religions and their followers as a whole. I am sorry you felt attacked as well, it feels awful to feel personally attacked when you are trying to debate your point-of-view in a topic that is, as the moderators say, a very touchy topic. I assure you I made very little assumptions on you personally and was only regarding your statements.

I think there are problems with intepretations of the these sacred books. I think its a problem that stems from different cultures reading the same sentence in a different way, problems with translations, problems in that the people who wrote the originals are long since dead, and concerns that there might have been alerations. All of those are valid concerns.

Historically, not many cultures, religiously backed or not, got along with each other. We know that some wars were written as religious war but others were about wealth and power and land... it can be very hard to separate the two. Buddihism has a violent past. Christians, any of the sects, have a violent past. I think humanity as a whole has a violent past and a violent present.

Anyway, I have concerns with some organized religions too. I have concerns with any groups that might try and silence dissent amongst their members (religious, civil, government, whatever), and I know that its natural to want to watch the sensational over the mono-tone drones that occasionally show up on a channel like CSPAN. But my concerns do not translate to a dismissal of any group as a whole or an unwillingness to hear what they have to say.

I do think it is a disservice to refer to religion as insanity. Insane implies lack of reason, lack of purpose, no explaination. When there is no explaination then that seems to give us a license not to bother with trying to understand something we don't agree with or just can't comprehend. I also don't think understanding a group or a situation means justifying their words or actions. I think its dangerous to dismiss actions or individuals as insane unless there is truly is an actual medical issue going on with the brain.
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Torch

Quote from: Inkidu on April 20, 2009, 03:50:03 PM
It's a tragedy for sure, but many things have been brought about by non-religious things. It's people. People misuse religion, science and whatever, mostly for greed. The problem isn't religion it's people.

Yes, I agree. Three of the greatest mass murderers of the 20th century (Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot) were considered, for all intents and purposes, atheists. I suppose technically, Stalin's Marxist-Leninist beliefs could be considered a form of religion, but only very loosely. Hitler's early ties to the Roman Catholic church were tenuous at best.

Certainly the over thirty million deaths attributed to these three were not committed in the name of God.

Now, does this mean that all atheists are evil? Of course not, no more than all religious extremists and zealots and fundamentalists can be considered evil.
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."  Sir Roger Bannister


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HairyHeretic

Hitler is frequently trotted out as an atheist, yet there remain scores of quotes from him where he identifies himself as christian, and believes he is doing the lords work. Whether those were his true beliefs, or merely a public facade will likely never be known. If he was a christian, as he proclaimed himself to be, he was a pretty poor one.
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Inkidu

Quote from: HairyHeretic on April 20, 2009, 05:29:46 PM
Hitler is frequently trotted out as an atheist, yet there remain scores of quotes from him where he identifies himself as christian, and believes he is doing the lords work. Whether those were his true beliefs, or merely a public facade will likely never be known. If he was a christian, as he proclaimed himself to be, he was a pretty poor one.
Hitler's god was greed.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Nessy

Quote from: HairyHeretic on April 20, 2009, 05:29:46 PM
Hitler is frequently trotted out as an atheist, yet there remain scores of quotes from him where he identifies himself as christian, and believes he is doing the lords work. Whether those were his true beliefs, or merely a public facade will likely never be known. If he was a christian, as he proclaimed himself to be, he was a pretty poor one.

Yep, we'll never know. Seems like a small step to go from mass murderer to lying about your religion.
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Torch

Quote from: HairyHeretic on April 20, 2009, 05:29:46 PM
Hitler is frequently trotted out as an atheist, yet there remain scores of quotes from him where he identifies himself as christian, and believes he is doing the lords work. Whether those were his true beliefs, or merely a public facade will likely never be known. If he was a christian, as he proclaimed himself to be, he was a pretty poor one.

Oh, very true, I know there are passages in Mein Kampf where he refers to "Providence" and the creation of the "Aryan Race" being God's will. But I would hazard a guess that all that was simply window dressing for his followers, as the bulk of the German population before the Nazi party came to power did consider themselves Christian, and his Fascist views would have been far harder to swallow unless they were cloaked under the guise of God's approval.

The bulk of the Nazi leadership (Goebbels, Himmler, Eichmann, et al) were avowed atheists.
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."  Sir Roger Bannister


Erotic is using a feather. Kinky is using the whole chicken.

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Akujin Nakaru

I must say, this is a fairly interesting topic for discussion, and an intriguing discussion at that. Like others, I am sure, I was raised by an overbearing father who decided for my brother and I that religion, and in my specific case being Full Gospel Pentecostal, was the only way for us to live. This lifestyle opened my eyes to a lot of things that the camp in the movie mentioned at the beginning sustained. The main one being, and correct me if this is indeed wrong, that almost all religions throughout history taught the same main teachings: Their religion is the correct religion, intolerance for all other beliefs, and that those who were not part of their religion had to be converted or exterminated like pests.

To me, in my own personal view, this is in fact ironic as most religions teach about peace, love, forgiveness and acceptance yet at the same time, in the case of Christianity, teach that all non christians are wrong. So how does this indeed teach that love and forgiveness is the way? When all my life I witnessed gay bashing, of which I myself became the victim of one, and even campaigns to shut down various bars and liquors stores that helped my town's economy. And one must never think it is simply one branch of Christianity either, for it encompasses all views of the church.

Now, I shall make it plain and clear I am not bashing on any form of religion, I myself still accept there is a God and Christ because of my mother who truly showed what being a christian was like. But I do not believe in those views anymore, for I had witnessed too much corruption because of the very doctrine they teach and force down others throats, and frankly all church has really come down to now, it's simply like high school all over again, where cliques form and exclude all others while any new comers are frowned upon for any reason that can be found whether it be their dress, hair style, life choice or even body art.
The only thing people must truely fear, are the terrible yet wonderful secrets that lie within the darkest corners of one's mind.

Oniya

Oddly enough, the one thing I've found in common with most religious texts is 'be nice to each other, try to live a good life while you're here, and hope for something better after you die.'

"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

HairyHeretic

Most religions, in principle, are pretty good things.

Then people get involved and it all goes downhill from there :)
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

Silk

#68
Getting this in now, im speaking purely from a factual sense and not demonizing anyones religion.

But all of these "Holy books" have all been victims of mistranslations,(In the old testament lucifer "Morning star" was a title given to jesus, in the new testament its the devil) convienence changes from those in power, and ultimately, started as human handwriting not one religious text is "Gods words" but "humans interpreting gods words" And in my opinion should not be treated as such, because as previously stated, humans mess everything up. If it was a true "Text of gods mouth" that people mistakenly claimed i may be more willing to believe.

Now although im going to use christianity as a example but this goes for all religions as well. I cannot remember which but one of the sections of the bible was written 20-30 years after jesus apparent death. Sure ill admit being with the messiah would be pretty rememberable but how can people have such a good memory that they are able to remember practically every moment from several decades ago?

I'm personally a shaman that also has its own share of mistranslations and variants but on the most part i go with science, because it admits the unexplained but at least tries to explain it with some form of logical reasoning and because of science our entire life has skyrocketed in stregnth.



And for those who say science kills, Science saves a immense ammount more than it kills, the life expectancy has gone from 30ish to the late 80/90s thanks to science. While religion which has been a consistant killer throughout time, is a long way lacking in the physical "saving peoples lives" department. (I cannot quote for mentality saving as that is a different bowl of fish fingers alltogether)

Anyway ive tried to keep it as factual and as little of my personal opinion as possible.

Nessy

Quote from: Silk on April 28, 2009, 04:52:51 PM
Getting this in now, im speaking purely from a factual sense and not demonizing anyones religion.

And for those who say science kills, Science saves a immense ammount more than it kills, the life expectancy has gone from 30ish to the late 80/90s thanks to science. While religion which has been a consistant killer throughout time, is a long way lacking in the physical "saving peoples lives" department. (I cannot quote for mentality saving as that is a different bowl of fish fingers alltogether)

Anyway ive tried to keep it as factual and as little of my personal opinion as possible.

Unless you live in Africa, in the Middle East, parts of China, the Phillipines, Mexico, India. Science isn't readily available everywhere and the life expenctancy drops like a rock depending on what part of the world you live. Life expectancy in these countries is still in the 30 to 40s and the infant mortality eye openingly bad.

Most of the religions state that the person who is writing the text is not doing so from memory but, for example, being guided by God which means it has almost nothing to do with memory. If you believe in God, and his willingness and ability to use disciples or certain chosen people, then the problem with memory is mute. The guidance alone would ensure the accuracy. The problem with claiming that facts can dispute the idea is it can't. Facts, which is often mistakenly stated as interchangeable with science is there is no way to prove or disprove the existence of God so there is no way to prove or disprove that the texts were indeed written with a large amount of inaccuracies or is perfect. Its a round and round discussion, that only ends when one side decides that its perfectly okay to completely dismiss the other sides viewpoint and call it fallacy in which case the debate is not longer a debate or an argument but just a conflict that goes nowhere.

As for facts versus what exactly? Facts you read in a book, a class you took? Everyone claims their viewpoint is based on facts, and most of them are, but facts alone aren't sufficient. Facts have to be interpretted, they have to be taught, they have to be translated, they have to be believed and what you think is a fact someone else could claim is a myth.

The problem with trying to judge a religion from the outside is that many religions require a certain amount of faith. Faith isn't illogical necessarily but it's certainly not easily explained. The key is to accept other people's religions and beliefs and judge their actions, not them, not their faith, or the fact that its a religion you don't subscribe to which is where it all falls apart.

There are many religions I don't believe in, don't understand, don't agree to but I think it is pointless to setback and try and dissect that religion and claim that my so called facts are sufficient to dismiss their faith. Let them have their faith. By the way, religious war is almost never about religion at all... there is almost always something else fueling the problem underneath the surface that has nothing to do with religion, poverty, land grabs, lack of opportunities, etc. I'll judge a person by their actions, not their faith.

As for the science bit, we could easily wipe out all that we achieved with a few launches of specific missiles and bombs. Everything that science has achieved, it can also undo. For every disease that is cured, they're cooking up new weapons that create a new one. For all the lives are saved, there is a new weapon that could wipe them out in a matter of seconds. I am not an opponent of science, but I think it is misguided to praise one end of it and ignore the other.
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Silk

Quote from: Nessy on April 28, 2009, 05:42:47 PM

As for the science bit, we could easily wipe out all that we achieved with a few launches of specific missiles and bombs. Everything that science has achieved, it can also undo. For every disease that is cured, they're cooking up new weapons that create a new one. For all the lives are saved, there is a new weapon that could wipe them out in a matter of seconds. I am not an opponent of science, but I think it is misguided to praise one end of it and ignore the other.

You mean those bombs and missiles that nobody is stupid enough to use because it would destroy the world, and even if they was used, there is plenty of counter measures in place to prevent such happening

And you mean the misguided praise one end and ignore the other that pretty much every religion in existence does "Yeah love thy neighbour but for these guys were just going to conveniently ignore that"

And my facts come from health and social care courses up to level 3 diploma level training in human relations and equality of human rights legislation's which we are also taught much about each relation as to better provide our service with. Then there is in progress first degree in psychology.

Quote
Unless you live in Africa, in the Middle East, parts of China, the Phillipines, Mexico, India. Science isn't readily available everywhere and the life expectancy drops like a rock depending on what part of the world you live. Life expectancy in these countries is still in the 30 to 40s and the infant mortality eye opening bad.

The science is in Africa and now Africa has one of the largest growing populations as they continue to keep reproducing while having sufficient life sustaining capability (Granted by no means perfect but its there) but now a family who only had 1/2 in 9 children survive is now having food and water issues now that 7/8 of those children are surviving and the food isn't readily available, Mexico i cannot quote on as i do not know, china again, issue comes from overpopulation not lack of science.

Quote
The problem with trying to judge a religion from the outside is that many religions require a certain amount of faith. Faith isn't illogical necessarily but it's certainly not easily explained.

Try looking at it from a psychoanalysis point of view where you send people who you need to send to mental clinics for far less than believing in a magical man in the sky who made everything in six days, and is afraid of dieing and going to the centre of the earth where he would rot in eternal damnation.

No faith is not allways illogical, it depends what you have faith in that makes it so.

QuoteMost of the religions state that the person who is writing the text is not doing so from memory but, for example, being guided by God which means it has almost nothing to do with memory.
Because hearing voices isn't one of the first signs of insanity.

Anyway, before i piss more people off i will state one famous quote

I do not agree with what you say, but i will die defending your right to say it.

Nessy

Quote from: Silk on April 28, 2009, 06:04:58 PM
Because hearing voices isn't one of the first signs of insanity.

Anyway, before i piss more people off i will state one famous quote

I do not agree with what you say, but i will die defending your right to say it.

You began by claiming you were not out to demonize religion. It would appear that that claim may not have been accurate.
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Silk

#72
I never targeted religion when i said that i said "Because hearing voices isn't one of the first signs of insanity." that is alot more widespread than just religion and will not end at religion either. Trust me I do want to demonize religion but I'm not doing it at this moment in time, i am sticking to what "facts" are, hearing voices is a sign of insanity, that is a doctrines symptom of a mental instability.

Don't try to accuse me on things unless you have grounds for please.

HairyHeretic

Let's keep things civil folks.
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

Nessy

Quote from: Silk on April 28, 2009, 06:18:39 PM
I never targeted religion when i said that i said "Because hearing voices isn't one of the first signs of insanity." that is alot more widespread than just religion and will not end at religion either. Trust me I do want to demonize religion but I'm not doing it at this moment in time, i am sticking to what "facts" are, hearing voices is a sign of insanity, that is a doctrines symptom of a mental instability.

Don't try to accuse me on things unless you have grounds for please.

I think when there is a lack of a certain amount of respect for those involved in a debate, for the topics of the debate, then there is a lack of communication. Without communication, what is the point of debating? You don't know my religion or lack of, my faith or lack of, my belief, or lack of. I do think your intentions to demonize and belittle religion in general was clear from your first post and verfied in this one. As for your what you call facts, I will not apply your definition of insanity to people with spiritual, religious, or other supernatural faiths simply because I don't share them. I happen to value and respect cultures not of my own.
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