Are your Politics / Religion converted ?

[mawilson 2,133]

They don't hate anybody.

Except maybe religious people - just a tiny bit.

[Captain Oates 911]

Except maybe religious people - just a tiny bit.

....we hate the sin and not the sinner ! The sin being to reject science.

We were all born atheists so there is always salvation calling us back to that pure state

As I move around the word being threatens with bombs in Northern Ireland or being pelted with chestnuts in Turkey or living in fear as I fly the Atlantic or being demeaned in Saudi Arabia, I realize that all the threats to me come from religious people and the atheists are totally harmless

It would be easy for me to hate the religious like a cat hates coyotes and I am toying with the idea of becoming anti-religious as distinct from non religious

Edited November 15, 2011 by Ashud Cocoa

[Sofiyya 1,687]

One thing that I respect about religion is that, despite science, people keep looking to it for answers. If there was nothing greater than us, there would be no science. I will always be a Muslim; my soul belongs to God.

Now we just need to open your eyes on religious dogma written in the prehistoric ages of man. A time when folks walked around barefoot, rode on donkeys, did not have electricity, had not a clue what was in the sky, I don't know if I can say science even existed when those prehistoric creatures roamed the earth clueless.

No medicine, no elements, no understanding of the age of the earth, sun, let alone universe. I give them some credibility on their fairy tales because they thought the earth and universe was young, maybe 1000 to 10,000 years old. We're talking double digit billions so they were off quite a bit!

The fact alone that these prehistoric animals were at least 1000 years away from realizing the earth was not flat and that if you sail a boat (if they had those back then) then you wouldn't fall of the edge should be 1 of the first red flags.

All the stories (not sure about the Crayon but) in the Bi-Bull do not make sense if you think about them for 5 seconds. Noah and the animal story, the Adam and Eve story, Walls of Jericho coming down by the sound of trumpets, Jonah in the belly of the whale. Many many more.

You can try as hard as you can to think inside your brain among billions of other people at the same time. Nobody but your brain hears you! And you can try your whole life but you will never get an audible response from God or even a clear documented provable sign that He is out there.

You have to realize you would be Christian if your parents were, Hindu if you were born with Hindu parents, an Aztec Warrior if you were born in Mexico in the 1400s, a believer in Greek Mythology if around in those times, or one of the many weird African tribal religions if you grew up in those parts.

Your religion is right but all the others are wrong. If all the others are wrong then how hard is it to connect the dots and add one more religion to the list (yours)?

You should at least take a look at what the other side has to say.

You are smart - pick up this book, and then follow up with this, this and this. You will see religion decapitated in each book.

[Captain Oates 911]

One thing that I respect about religion is that, despite science, people keep looking to it for answers. If there was nothing greater than us, there would be no science. I will always be a Muslim; my soul belongs to God.

Were you born a Muslim - like when you were a month old ? I mean do you get born one ?

Or is it the same as christianity where people, usually your parents, tell you that you are one ?

If people were offered a range of religions and allowed to pick them themselves at age 13, it would be much more of a considered choice; but the way it is done now is like an arranged marriage with no thought process leading to up to the starting point.

Come to think of it, how come our parents don't chose our politics for us when we are 3 weeks old....it would seem logical.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I've been a discerning adult for quite a while now. I was born and raised as a Muslim, and choose to remain a Muslim.

Were you born a Muslim - like when you were a month old ? I mean do you get born one ?

Or is it the same as christianity where people, usually your parents, tell you that you are one ?

If people were offered a range of religions and allowed to pick them themselves at age 13, it would be much more of a considered choice; but the way it is done now is like an arranged marriage with no thought process leading to up to the starting point.

Come to think of it, how come our parents don't chose our politics for us when we are 3 weeks old....it would seem logical.

[Captain Oates 911]

I've been a discerning adult for quite a while now. I was born and raised as a Muslim, and choose to remain a Muslim.

It was a happy coincidence that you were raised in the religion that you finally decided, by means of applying intellect and reasoning and logic, was the true one.

When you think of all the religions in the world , it was an outside chance that the religion you chose would be the same as the one your parents schooled you in; but it was

I am willing to bet good money that your parents had a similar fortunate coincidence happen to them; and their parents too, and your great grandparents too

Having these happy coincidences happen to every generation in a family must be genetic

Edited November 15, 2011 by Ashud Cocoa

[slim 1,523]

Come to think of it, how come our parents don't chose our politics for us when we are 3 weeks old....it would seem logical.

Most do.

[Captain Oates 911]

Most do.

I was lucky as my parents were a lefty and a righty and both were typical

The righty was a tea lady in an engineering works and paid peanuts wages and treated like dirt, yet she sucked up to bosses and called them " Mr John" etc - and she voted conservative and looked down on her neighbors who were not god fearing christians

My dad was a co-op grocery van driver and a lefty who had been treated badly by small business owners, firstly when they forced his dad into the army under threat of being sacked (his dad was quickly killed), and then by threats that if he worked for the co-op, he would never work again in this town

They were allowed 2 hours off at Saturday lunchtime to get married. She said " Oh thank you MR John". He called his small business employer some juicier words.

I therefore had a choice as to which one to follow and it was easy. Later in life I saw how the co-op and local government worked and I went to East Germany before the wall came down. It was easy to see that Marxism and communism were totally inefficient and didn't produce the goods.

I like free enterprise which is carefully controlled by government to make sure it doesn't steal and abuse, and I don't like religion which is the source of most hatred and killing in the world

That only leaves governmental nationalistic greed which has to corner goods like rubber in world war 2 (the Japanese), and the struggle for oil such as Iraq/Libya/Venezuela/Iran etc etc. It appears there is no regulator who can control governmental free enterprise which uses weapons and young people to get the profits to satisfy their shareholders. I don't know the answer to that one - I wish there was a god to splat people like Cheney who perpetuate this evil - but the ultimate regulator appears to be absent

Governments are like mega companies who have no government to regulate them. The logical conclusion is we are all incinerated, or one country takes over the whole world - there are no alternatives but these two.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Come to think of it, how come our parents don't chose our politics for us when we are 3 weeks old....it would seem logical.

We used to have to go to my grandparents house after church for Sunday dinner...in the afternoon which never made sense. Anyways we were all sitting at the table and someone had left the TV on in the living room. They had a political commercial showing some hot chick pulling for the Republican canidate for governor (Washington state) and I made the mistake of saying; "With hot chicks like that pulling for him, I hope that guy wins." I was like 12 at the time, and the entire room went silent. My gran dad reached across the table and slapped me upside the head hard enough to ring my bell. He says; "Don't you ever say something like that in this house again. This family is Democrat and you can thank them for putting the food on this table." Needless to say my family was and is mainly union construction workers..pipe fitters, boiler makers, etc.. but I got the look of death at that table.

[^_^ 5,021]

Dude, what.

[The_Dude 1,142]

One thing that I respect about religion is that, despite science, people keep looking to it for answers. If there was nothing greater than us, there would be no science. I will always be a Muslim; my soul belongs to God.

People also look to crack cocaine, guns, and alcohol for answers too. Doesn't mean there is any logic or truth in them either

[slim 1,523]

I wish there was a god to splat people like Cheney who perpetuate this evil - but the ultimate regulator appears to be absent

Greed is what does it. God-fearing people are supposed to be humble before God and not constantly attempt get gather more stuff.

"Don't you ever say something like that in this house again. This family is Democrat and you can thank them for putting the food on this table."

The funniest thing about Democrats is they hate businesses yet they've convinced workers it's in their best interest to be a Democrat.

Too funny!

[Captain Oates 911]

We used to have to go to my grandparents house after church for Sunday dinner...in the afternoon which never made sense. Anyways we were all sitting at the table and someone had left the TV on in the living room. They had a political commercial showing some hot chick pulling for the Republican canidate for governor (Washington state) and I made the mistake of saying; "With hot chicks like that pulling for him, I hope that guy wins." I was like 12 at the time, and the entire room went silent. My gran dad reached across the table and slapped me upside the head hard enough to ring my bell. He says; "Don't you ever say something like that in this house again. This family is Democrat and you can thank them for putting the food on this table." Needless to say my family was and is mainly union construction workers..pipe fitters, boiler makers, etc.. but I got the look of death at that table.

Good story - there are plenty of lefties I don't like because of their extremism. Michael Moore is too far left for me and he is an American ! I would never have thought I would come across an American left of me because the Democrats are 2 light years right of the British conservative party who love and support and defend socialized medicine.

My ex wife's Dad was a real communist and had a bust of Lenin on his mantlepiece. He bought it in Moscow.

When the conservative candidate knocked on his door, he would go out and threaten to hang them on his tree

Basically its the hatred factor that I don't like - whether it comes from the right, or the left, or from religion

The commies are wrong and plenty of them are haters, but at least the motives are for universal welfare, whereas the right are for the individual, and let the others die in pain and poverty and hard luck

So as wrong as the commies are, and as hateful as they can be, I still lean left rather than right - but not too far unless its health care - and then I lean ALL the way.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I had a similar upbringing, with a parent on each side of the political spectrum (actually, it's a family joke that my mother has never voted for the same party twice, but she has conservative values) and also with differing religious beliefs.

But, people are generally less manic about both politics and religion in the UK. It's never been anything that my friends or family have cared to discuss with me and I certainly couldn't tell you who they vote for or what box they check on the census.

Alex was so embarrassed when within two days of first arriving in the US his mother had grilled me on both my political and religious beliefs.

Basically its the hatred factor that I don't like - whether it comes from the right, or the left, or from religion

I still lean left rather than right - but not too far unless its health care - and then I lean ALL the way.

[Captain Oates 911]

The funniest thing about Democrats is they hate businesses yet they've convinced workers it's in their best interest to be a Democrat.

Too funny!

It depends on the business and the employer. Without unions in coal mines, the bosses would keep killing the workers if it was cheaper than the safety equipment - that is the logic of profit. It was my job to think like that as Finance Director - but I would never admit it at the time.

In other businesses like the police unions, the unions defend the guilty for the purpose of solidarity - and that's bad

So it depends. WE had workers who spent the afternoon boozing and sleeping in their trucks and going to the bookies. The unions would fight for them to keep their jobs and they did.

The idea of unions is good and has been beneficial on the whole - but they are far from squeaky clean

So - same as free enterprise, Unions are good if they are heavily regulated by an outside body to curb the excesses

I strongly believe in government regulation of companies/unions/fresh air/water/aviation safety /food etc etc