*sigh* would the Crusades have happened if the Pope hadn't sanctioned them? No :| If there was no religion, would the Jews have been discriminated against and subsequently killed in the Holocaust? No :| Would the Inquisition have been made without religion? (The Inquisition was responsible for thousands of deaths during the Enlightenment period) No :| Religion may not be the only factor causing violence, but it sure as hell is a huge factor!hamstergeddon

I agree with you that- Catholicism and Muslum in particular (no offense, I am Roman Catholic so I'm admitting our faults here)- are some of the most corrupt organized religion of all time. I also agree that organized religion has caused much pain and suffering throughout history, but it has also caused much good throughout history. In this respect, organized religion is the faults of man, not God. The crusades, indulgences, witch hunting, they were all the errors of man, not God.

I'm sure I'll have a hard time arguing with someone who's name is "RationalAthiest" (no offense intended, it just points out that you have a strong view), but I'll try nonetheless. This is my personal philosophy on the topic:

God gave us a free mind, free to explore and challenge things, the bible included. If you're a big bang / evolution theorist, (which I slightly am, and I'm still Roman Catholic) here's what I say:

For the big bang to occur, someone had to have set something in motion. Something, someone, had to move that very first space particle to create the explosion that created existence. Some kind of outside force has to be there for anything to be created, and that is what I believe God did. He was that outside force that set things in motion- which leads to a greater question- are we simply a consequence or meant to be?

RiSkyBiZ-13

Well said nice to see genuine posters here an not trolls ...

spank_daley

ty ;)

then why the hell isn't our precious god doing anything to stop the millions dying in the Darfur conflict right now? If it is the work of the devil then why isn't god intervening? That's right, because if he does exist, he couldn't possibly give a **** for one human life right now. We're like ants to him, and he doesn't care who lives and who dies in the first placehamstergeddon

Like I said in my last post, it's due to free will. God does not work people like puppets, we are free to create our own conflicts, elect our own leaders, war with our neighboring countries. It's a blessing and a curse.

all the miserable things which happen in the world where caused by 1 woman ( Eva).

if god punishes millions of people with cancer and other deceases, why do people still think he is a nice guy

serious, the bible makes no sense at all

whoody12

That's a common misconception. The misery things that are caused in the world are due to free will. All human beings are given free will, a blessing a curse. You are free to kill a man, and free to save a man.

[QUOTE="RiSkyBiZ-13"]In those months and months of talks and meetings, you suppose it's completely impossible for Sadaam to have hidden his weapons? Also, what about the tens upon thousands of Kurds that Sadaam massacred with poisonous gasses, it was genocide. That ALONE would be reason enough, but we still didn't invade. The U.N. gave Sadaam an ultimatum, he refused, we kept our end of the deal.stopitandtidyup

I think your naive. But while where on the subject of WMD's, lets talk about the only country in the world ever to have dropped one....

And oil? There's 10x more oil in Alaska than in the middle east- we don't NEED it.RiSkyBiZ-13

You need money. When oil is sold from Iraq to Europe in the Dollar, the money comes from and goes to the USA. America profits from each transaction.

You clearly don't understand how this works. I bet you voted for Bush twice.

Actually, I'm libratarian so no, I didn't vote for Bush twice. And you saying "I think your (spelled you're actually) naive" isn't exactly backing up any kind of argument. Read up on Sadaam's reign, he is clincally insane. Yes, we dropped a nuke, but we were at war. Someone with Sadaam's history wouldn't use one due to war.