Imagine No Religion

[chri'stina 190]

Nothing wrong with religion. It's not the source of the world's problems - it's only an excuse.

Some people would say it's the manifestation of the human brain's weaknesses and a good excuse for people to kill each other.

Take away religion and these things will find some other way to manifest themselves. At least there is also a tremendous amount of good done in the name of religion.

Nicely put.

I think a world without people believing in something higher than themselves would be a scary place to live. I wouldn't want to live there. It would be interesting to see what that world would look like, and I bet it wouldn't be as pretty as some imagine.

John Lennon's song may sound all nice and cozy but it sounds scary to me. I do "live for today", but I also live my life in a way to please God and following my beliefs. I am very happy with it.

[Ta Ta 1]

yes Stina, I am with you on that. Couldn't imagine my life without my relationship to Christ.

[Nagishkaw 510]

yes Stina, I am with you on that. Couldn't imagine my life without my relationship to Christ.

It sustains me.

Edited December 10, 2007 by Nagishkaw

[trueimage 0]

yes Stina, I am with you on that. Couldn't imagine my life without my relationship to Christ.

It's an experience that can not be explained nor understood without your own Road to Damascus experience..................I pray that all have an experience like Saul.

[mawilson 2,133]

Is the life of a rapist or child molester worth the same to you as the life of, say, a neurosurgeon?

Yes. But then my opinion is a very unpopular one. I am Christian and I believe that ALL humans are created in God's image and that we all have the right to live and be forgiven. I know that most people here won't agree with me, but that is my belief. I don't think that we have the right to choose who lives and who dies. Yes, I know that a killer has made that choice and therefore he should (according to many) not have that right to live, but again, that isn't what I believe. I work with the children of people who would be considered undesirable by most societal standards and yet they have produced loving, caring, empathetic, intelligent offspring.

That doesn't mean I advocate rape or molestation or murder or any other crimes. And I do believe in punishment. I don't believe in "an eye for an eye" and I don't believe in capital punishment any more than I believe in abortion.

Neither do I - but that's NOT what I said.

I said that not all human lives are worth the same. That doesn't mean that some lives can be

taken without a second thought -- it just means that if we absolutely had to choose between

the life of a Nobel-prize winning scientist and a junkie whose biggest accomplishment in life was

scoring some heroin, shooting up and watching Judge Judy, it really is a no-brainer.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Nothing wrong with religion. It's not the source of the world's problems - it's only an excuse.

Some people would say it's the manifestation of the human brain's weaknesses and a good excuse for people to kill each other.

Take away religion and these things will find some other way to manifest themselves. At least there is also a tremendous amount of good done in the name of religion.

Nicely put.

I think a world without people believing in something higher than themselves would be a scary place to live. I wouldn't want to live there. It would be interesting to see what that world would look like, and I bet it wouldn't be as pretty as some imagine.

John Lennon's song may sound all nice and cozy but it sounds scary to me. I do "live for today", but I also live my life in a way to please God and following my beliefs. I am very happy with it.

Well said, Stina. I think it's a pie-in-the-sky ideal - like saying, 'imagine no government'. I don't think Lennon's words should be taken literally...the emphasis is on 'imagine' ...thinking outside the box. Sometimes we need to step back from all that openly accept and re-examine our perceptions...not to necessarily throw out all beliefs and ideas but to look at them in a fresh way.

Here's what I focus on sometimes....imagine no cookies in this world. While it makes me terribly frightened by the idea, it makes me appreciate cookies even more when stop imagining they don't exist.

[Nessa 23]

noodles.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

God may view all lifes as equal, but I certainly don't. Whenever someone argues that point, I ask, if two people were before you, one an admitted child rapist and serial killer and the other a Nobel Peace Price winner who has done nothing but work to better the lifes of others, can you truly say, the sicko's life is of equal value? You, personally, with all your heart and soul can say that person has just as much right to live?

I don't believe that. I don't believe that different lives should be valued differently either. But then I'm pro-life....

Why not?

Is the life of a rapist or child molester worth the same to you as the life of, say, a neurosurgeon?

I am Christian and I believe that ALL humans are created in God's image and that we all have the right to live and be forgiven.

[GaryC 7]

I don't have to imagine. No thanks, you can keep it.

[mawilson 2,133]

Here's what I focus on sometimes....imagine no cookies in this world. While it makes me terribly frightened by the idea, it makes me appreciate cookies even more when stop imagining they don't exist.

But not as frightening as the idea of using cookies to torture.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Is the life of a rapist or child molester worth the same to you as the life of, say, a neurosurgeon?

Yes. But then my opinion is a very unpopular one. I am Christian and I believe that ALL humans are created in God's image and that we all have the right to live and be forgiven. I know that most people here won't agree with me, but that is my belief. I don't think that we have the right to choose who lives and who dies. Yes, I know that a killer has made that choice and therefore he should (according to many) not have that right to live, but again, that isn't what I believe. I work with the children of people who would be considered undesirable by most societal standards and yet they have produced loving, caring, empathetic, intelligent offspring.

That doesn't mean I advocate rape or molestation or murder or any other crimes. And I do believe in punishment. I don't believe in "an eye for an eye" and I don't believe in capital punishment any more than I believe in abortion.

Neither do I - but that's NOT what I said.

I said that not all human lives are worth the same. That doesn't mean that some lives can be

taken without a second thought -- it just means that if we absolutely had to choose between

the life of a Nobel-prize winning scientist and a junkie whose biggest accomplishment in life was

scoring some heroin, shooting up and watching Judge Judy, it really is a no-brainer.

Well that really depends on how you define the value in this context. From the point of view of someone at the top of the social food chain making distinctions between people based on their level of education and vocational skills training - I can see your point, but from a philosophical point of view (which is where most religions come from in addressing this sort of question) its a pretty shallow way of summing up the value of sentient existence.

Its an iffy road to travel IMO - because we wind up in the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy scenario of considering whether a Hairdresser, Policeman or Estate Agent is "worth" more than a politician, doctor, scientist.

Within that there's a fair few iconic people who don't fit into the "deserve to live" category. I mean... from what you've said - if it were a choice between John Lennon and Joseph Mengele - Lennon would be out on his ear. Not a choice I'd want to make.

[mawilson 2,133]

Well that really depends on how you define the value in this context. From the point of view of someone at the top of the social food chain making distinctions between people based on their level of education and vocational skills training - I can see your point, but from a philosophical point of view (which is where most religions come from in addressing this sort of question) its a pretty shallow way of summing up the value of sentient existence.

Its an iffy road to travel IMO - because we wind up in the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy scenario of considering whether a Hairdresser, Policeman or Estate Agent is "worth" more than a politician, doctor, scientist.

Within that there's a fair few iconic people who don't fit into the "deserve to live" category. I mean... from what you've said - if it were a choice between John Lennon and Joseph Mengele - Lennon would be out on his ear. Not a choice I'd want to make.

I'd look at other factors as well - not only education and skills.

Has he/she contributed anything useful to society, and is he/she likely to do so in the future?

(There are lots of educated people with money who haven't done anything useful.)

Does the person in question have any family or other people who depend on him/her and

whose lives would be affected by their death?

[SteveLaura 0]

I'd look at other factors as well - not only education and skills.

Has he/she contributed anything useful to society, and is he/she likely to do so in the future?

(There are lots of educated people with money who haven't done anything useful.)

Does the person in question have any family or other people who depend on him/her and

whose lives would be affected by their death?

How would you determine that exactly?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I'd look at other factors as well - not only education and skills.

Has he/she contributed anything useful to society, and is he/she likely to do so in the future?

(There are lots of educated people with money who haven't done anything useful.)

Does the person in question have any family or other people who depend on him/her and

whose lives would be affected by their death?

How would you determine that exactly?

If you have trouble determining that, chances are you're looking for something that doesn't exist. Peoples contributions to the world, to their families, are usually quite apparent.

[Nessa 23]

imagine if women had no boobies

imagine if women had no boobies