Poorthang 's Obituarie

Thanks Roto for responding in your own words.We will agree to disagree as has happened before . I agree with you about being "uncomfortable" for some.........Just enjoying paradise tonite......down here....8-).

Uncomfortable for some maybe, but not for all. I enjoy a good theological discussion. 😎

How about a different line of thought that someone once passed along to me. You may not believe in a single GOD, however you can believe in Good, Orderly, Direction (GOD). Let me expand a little. Whether I personally believe in a higher power or not is up to me, yet I can live my life trying (not always succeeding) to be the best person I can be, by following the basic tenets expressed by a variety of religions. e.g. do unto others, don't kill;steal;lie, etc. i.e. following Good, Orderly, Direction. Yes it's a vast simplification, but I like it.

My biggest hang up with organized religion is that they do not follow their own scripts. While they may provide those in need with fellowship and common values, they can create an aura of superiority for those that subscribe. Hence why historically our bloodiest conflicts are based more on religious difference than other causes.

So while not believing specifically in the man in the sky, I can still be open to the possibility that there is something greater than ourselves, however unlikely that may be given current knowledge. Science is for discovery, broadening our understanding of the physical world, and should not be limited or dismissed by religious dogma.

In the words of Dennis Miller "Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

More evidence that christianity is NOT a positive influence on society.

Divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher than for other faith groups, and much higher than Atheists and Agnostics experience.

George Barna, president and founder of Barna Research Group, commented:

"While it may be alarming to discover that born again Christians are more likely than others to experience a divorce, that pattern has been in place for quite some time. Even more disturbing, perhaps, is that when those individuals experience a divorce many of them feel their community of faith provides rejection rather than support and healing. But the research also raises questions regarding the effectiveness of how churches minister to families. The ultimate responsibility for a marriage belongs to the husband and wife, but the high incidence of divorce within the Christian community challenges the idea that churches provide truly practical and life-changing support for marriages."

So what do the christians say?

Tom Ellis of the Southern Baptist Convention suggests that the Barna poll is inaccurate because the people contacted may have called themselves born-again Christians, without having previously made a real commitment to God. He said: "We believe that there is something more to being a Christian...Just saying you are [a born-again] Christian is not going to guarantee that your marriage is going to stay together."

They only called themselves christians, They aren't TRUE christians. A laughable excuse! When he says that 80% of the people in the US are christians is he talking about TRUE christians?

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm

Well since I can't chime in elsewhere and be heard when I see a wrong I am left doing it on my own obituarie site.Are you an American or not.?Believe in it or not?Honor those who allow you to do it or was that an inconvenience they chose?Pretty tough to have a one sided conversation isn.t it?(td)

Well since I can't chime in elsewhere and be heard when I see a wrong I am left doing it on my own obituarie site.Are you an American or not.?Believe in it or not?Honor those who allow you to do it or was that an inconvenience they chose?Pretty tough to have a one sided conversation isn.t it?(td)

Sorry poorthang but I am afraid that I don't understand what this comment means. Please clarify your thoughts a little.

John

Sorry Roto I was afraid you'd think I was directing that babble at you . I was not.Unfortunately Clarity cannot be accomplished as I will be waterboarded again.I am still willing to write but I am on a short leash apparently.:-(

poorthang,

As far as wanting to waterboard you. The more frequently people attend church the more likely they are to want to torture other people. There is that negative impact of religion on society rearing it's ugly head yet again.

Just so you don't think that I am making this up.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/04/30/religion.torture/

Hi Roto,,,You must have an amazing Lexis/Nexus connection or library.I think the times we have recently gone thru probably greased the moralists ability to justify some of that treatment.I personally believe other tactics can accomplish the same results instead of "real" torture.Everyone can be broken just depends on how quick you want the info.Just because someone is in command doesn't mean they have any common sense,My waterboarding has been more from Caribbean water drinkers if you get my drift.I also believe back to our other discussion that Christians have a different baseline and added pressure to live up to the expectations of their own belief systems.The failures of that expectations are I think similar to a child trying to live up to a successful father .In their eyes they can't live up to his accomplishments and they give up or crash It's in no way an excuse for the behavior but just part of human frailty.Just my opinion.*-)