Have you personally had a bad experience with religion?

Nope, just never had one. :3

nope, i actually enjoyed going to church, and never really had any bad expierinces.

that doesn't mean religion isn't harmful to society in general right now.

also, TC do you think that the reason for people being anti-theists is because they "personally had a bad experience with religion"?

Phaze-Two

[QUOTE="Phaze-Two"]

nope, i actually enjoyed going to church, and never really had any bad expierinces.

that doesn't mean religion isn't harmful to society in general right now.

also, TC do you think that the reason for people being anti-theists is because they "personally had a bad experience with religion"?

the_plan_man

Only an ass whoopin and a whole lot of arguments. Nothing more than that...

all religions are false expect Christianity AussieePet

Yes

[QUOTE="the_plan_man"][QUOTE="Phaze-Two"]

nope, i actually enjoyed going to church, and never really had any bad expierinces.

that doesn't mean religion isn't harmful to society in general right now.

also, TC do you think that the reason for people being anti-theists is because they "personally had a bad experience with religion"?

-Sun_Tzu-

I've had more bad experiences with atheists than other theists, but it's not like they're exempt from annoying me. Many of my friends and family are blindly followers of the faith. I am a devout Christian, but I believe religion is a set of moral guidelines to be consulted with and followed in moral situations, not a rigid and unbending lifestyle that includes using it to make every decision you'll ever make, which describes a number of people I know, like a friend who voted for Romney because "it's our Christian duty", made threats to people who were voting for Obama, and accused others of being morally inferior and not really theists simply because they didn't agree with some of Romney's policies.

It'll never be enough to make me leave my faith, but I can understand why some people do.

all religions are false expect Christianity AussieePet

Okay, now you're just begging for attention.

[QUOTE="-Sun_Tzu-"][QUOTE="the_plan_man"] There's usually some kind of reason why these people are so dogmatic in attacking people's religion. In my opinion, a lot of times it stems from either personally having a bad experience with either religious people or the religion itself (i.e. "God" not being fair in ones life., or a general sense of unfairness in the world in general) the_plan_man

And more importantly, what is gained by belittling anti-theism by portraying it as a result of psychologicaltrauma?

Throughout my life I've been forced to spend a very large amount of hours listening to sermons and speeches and home teachers and devotionals and family home evenings. I could have spent this time like playing video games or something all by my lonesome.

More seriously, religion itself has never done anything to me, it is the way some people choose to interpret and act on their religions that may have hurt me in the past.

Hurt my knees, for one. And they made me eat the flesh and blood of some guy! :cry:

[spoiler] ~honestly~ "Fear of God/Hell" thing wasn't fun, and being told I was going to hell as a child was kinda depressing. [/spoiler]

Hurt my knees, for one. And they made me eat the flesh and blood of some guy! :cry:

[spoiler] ~honestly~ "Fear of God/Hell" thing wasn't fun, and being told I was going to hell as a child was kinda depressing. [/spoiler]

Inconsistancy

My Catholic middle school was pretty horrid.

I wouldn't say I've had a problem with religion, it's moreso the would-be practitioners of religion. In my recent trip to Pakistan, a good portion of the mullahs there were nothing but con artists looking to make a quick buck. Shoot my cousin's Quran teacher jacked my Ipod.

I got stoned :(

I'm not religious, but I learned a lot about how to be a decent human being from my church growing up. Everyone there oozes kindness. Plus, my mom emailed me this a few weeks ago, from the church.

"Today I call on us to knock down one spiritual barrier by becoming a Believe Out Loud congregation.

Being a Believe Out Loud congregation means that we will intentionally, publicly, and openly welcome lesbian, gay bisexual, and transgender (lgbt) people into the life and ministry of this parish. A parishioner made this request of our vestry and me, and at our last meeting the vestry agreed to continue this process a process I asked we complete by the end of this year.

You may well say, But of course we already do welcome gay people we welcome everybody! Why must we do any more? Thats a good question, and I have three answers why we must. blah blah blah..."

I thought that was pretty cool.

all religions are false expect Christianity AussieePet

I've had a number of assh*les tell me that I am going to hell for one thing or another. I was at a Christian summer camp when I was 15 and we spent a whole nights activity talking about how evolution was false, including a cabin discussion. I, having been interesting in evolution since I was young, quickly pointed out all of the lies that were told about evolution and explained why the earth could not be only a few thousand years old, and I got in trouble for it. I didn't get along with the conselors for the rest of the week.

all religions are false expect Christianity AussieePet

I was raised Catholic but eventually came to the realization that I didn't believe in any of that supernatural stuff. I never had really. Just a personal decision, it had nothing to do with world events etc. I've met tons of really nice and intelligent religious people in my lifetime, I've got nothing against them.

I was raised Catholic but eventually came to the realization that I didn't believe in any of that supernatural stuff. I never had really. Just a personal decision, it had nothing to do with world events etc. I've met tons of really nice and intelligent religious people in my lifetime, I've got nothing against them.

Jackc8

Aside from being bored out of my mind from church service, no. I've actually gotten free stuff out of it, so my experience is rather pleasant.

I've nearly been bored to death in church a number of times.PernicioEnigma

The two creepiest experiences I've had at church were when my nephew was doing this little presentation with his Sunday school class. First, we had to salute the "Christian Flag". That made me think Crusades all over again. Second, they made all the kids (keep in mind my nephew was six, the other children within a year of him) admit they were sinners. I'm sure these kids have gotten in trouble in their short lives. But making them call themselves sinners seems fvcked up to me.

With religion, no. Never.

With a few ministers - definitely.

Problems with the people more or less... I've enjoyed going to church... had a problem with a molesting minister at my first church... catholic school was tame for a year... now I still attend a nondenomenational church that sews more good in my community instead of condemning people to Hell...except the past election lol

I grow up in a fundamentalist christian household. Very conservative. My mother followed what she read to the letter. There were many experiences I missed out on growing up because my mother sheltered me. For example, dating was out of the question until I left for college because my mother believes that a man and woman should not be alone in the same room together. When my mom was dating my step-dad, (they were in their mid forties) she insisted on his 65 year old mother be there to chaperone to shun evil. So you know I never stood a chance in high school.

I never hung out with friends out side of school because my mother didn't approve of the influence she felt they would have on me. According to the bible there are only 2 forces in the world, god and satan. Everything is controlled by one or the other. So if something wasn't christian then it most of the devil. So cartoons, disney, pokemon, anime, video games, most movies, most TV shows, card playing, the movie theater, other forms of theater, competition and sports, various fashion designs, are just some of the things my mother condemned while I was growing up. The older I got was the more freedom I was able to achieve but it was still hard to have close friends which is a reason it took me longer then most to adjust into a normal social life. Its only now that I feel comfortable in social gatherings.

As a kid growing up I was taught many odd prophecies like the world ending in 2000 and the US gov't forcing everyone to go to church on sunday or be thrown in jail. Of course none of these have come true but I can never discuss these predictions failing as an argument that out bible teaching may be wrong because that would be a form of aruging with God which is blasphemy.

I actually had it easy. I know some kids who went to my same church and they had stricter parents. Being that my mom was a single parent for most of my childhood there was only so much she could do since she had to work. But I knew one family that was so strict with their kids that they finally just snapped, the oldest son tried suicide and ran away from home because he got into trouble at school and got detention and didn't want his parents to find out. His younger brother rebelled, got arrested twice and they eventually kicked him out, and their sister (the youngest), got into drugs and stripping, and their was a rumor, but no one could prove it, that she was dating a guy in high school that was selling her to other guys to sleep with.

So now I have no issue with casual religious folks who use the bible allegorically but people that take the bible as fact scare me to death.

People don't have bad experiences with religion, they have bad experiences with people who happen to be religious

supa_badman

Pretty much this.

At my former job we had a very religious cleaning man. I didn't like how he was talking about horrible stuff in the news and telling that those people deserved it because they were sinners. But anyway, I kind of endured it. Until that one day that he found out that I am homosexual, he started preaching me. And telling me the things I should and shouldn't do.

Needless to say that I wiped the floor with him verbally and made him lose his job at my company. Relifundies need to stay out of my life.

I haven't really had any experience with religion. I was "muslim" until I actually started thinking about it. Until then, I never really practiced it except for fasting during ramadan (which i still do as an atheist)

Nope.

Also, I think this is relevant.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, Merry Christmas to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crib, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her: How could God let something like this happen? (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said: I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbour as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Ben Stein

I'm not particularly faithful, but it is depressing to see how much atheists actually hate those who are religious.

I haven't really had any experience with religion. I was "muslim" until I actually started thinking about it. Until then, I never really practiced it except for fasting during ramadan (which i still do as an atheist)

BossPerson

Ben Stein is mental

Ben Stein is mental

BossPerson

No more than you or me.

[QUOTE="BossPerson"]

I haven't really had any experience with religion. I was "muslim" until I actually started thinking about it. Until then, I never really practiced it except for fasting during ramadan (which i still do as an atheist)

GazaAli

I hope that it's existence and influence become exceptionally diminished over the next 50 years.Zeviander

[QUOTE="BossPerson"]

I haven't really had any experience with religion. I was "muslim" until I actually started thinking about it. Until then, I never really practiced it except for fasting during ramadan (which i still do as an atheist)

GazaAli

Can't say that I have.

[QUOTE="BossPerson"]

Ben Stein is mental

airshocker

No more than you or me.

[QUOTE="GazaAli"][QUOTE="BossPerson"]

I haven't really had any experience with religion. I was "muslim" until I actually started thinking about it. Until then, I never really practiced it except for fasting during ramadan (which i still do as an atheist)

BossPerson

didnt he write an article a couple months back saying the end times are near?BossPerson

It's an observational article. Read it. You'll be surprised.

[QUOTE="GazaAli"][QUOTE="BossPerson"]

I haven't really had any experience with religion. I was "muslim" until I actually started thinking about it. Until then, I never really practiced it except for fasting during ramadan (which i still do as an atheist)

BossPerson

Living in America, it's like a front row seat to the circus. So yes, various ways, I have