Dadu2004

Religion and Faith is such a touchy topic. Everyone who believes in something thinks that what they believe in is correct and everyone else is wrong. Isn't that the nature of religion? If I were to say "I'm a Christian, but there's a possibility that my God is not the TRUE God", then I'm not being a Christian.

It's not that (again, speaking from a Christian perspective) we're judging anyone here. HW, I'm not judging you...but, if I'm a Christian, my belief tells me that you're wrong in your belief. That's the nature of faith. I believe strongly that Christ is my Lord and Savior and there is no other. Other "Gods" (or lack of) are incorrect. They are false. Therefore, your view of religion is incorrect. That's not judging, that's me standing behind my beliefs.

Now, if I said to you "You don't believe in Christ, therefore you are a horrible person", that would be judging you.

Unfortunately, sometimes it's best to agree to disagree and let it go.

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Dadu2004

...and by the way HW...I don't think you're a horrible person.

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etceterae

Wow. This is amazing; I hadn't expected so many people to reply and so quickly.

And you all are (for the most part) so non-judgemental! I suppose it's where I come from that's given me an awkward experience with overzealous faith. I live in the Bible Belt, after all. =]

I don't believe that I'm "lost" or have no goal because I'm an atheist. Is it necessary for a divine being to determine for me what I am to do for my life? I would rather choose my own path of my own volition and passions rather than have it spoken to me.

One more thing: and no offense, musicmom; I'm just going on something you touched upon =] It really bothers me when people say that they can simply ask for forgiveness when they die, and their deity will grant it to them. In that case, I don't see what holds people back from murdering without cause and thinking, "If I ask for forgiveness, it'll be okay."

A rational counter to this could be that one has to truly feel remorse and then ask for forgiveness for any deity to grant it. If so, then what if a person was killed in order to prevent him or her from doing something worse (blowing up a building)? The sin has not yet been committed by the imagined sinner, but the killer has taken matters into his or her own hands and prevented the sin from ever happening. The killer might not be able to feel remorse - after all, he or she just prevented something terrible from happening. But he or she also committed manslaughter without a tangible reason to (the supposed sin had not yet been committed). Thou shalt not kill. And there is no remorse. Can this person be granted forgiveness, in that case?

On a sidenote: OH MY GOODNESS! LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! I get to be in the 11th grade soon! So excited! So incoherent! XD

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Kaytee

that is not how it works though. I had the same problem in thinking that way. People who are given the oppurtunity to let God lead the way, are the ones that are judged this way. This says it better then I can lol
BIBLE STUDY MANUALS: CHILDREN, DO THEY GO TO HEAVEN?

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etceterae

I asked my said supah-Christian friend the same question, and he said, "Everybody has the word of Jesus imprinted in their hearts. It's something they will eventually recognize, and everybody innately knows it - no matter if they've seen a Bible before in their lives or not."

Is that just his denomination that thinks that?

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Skyburning

I could care less about it saying that on the dollar, but I am one of the ones who believes religion should be left out of the classroom. Praying before class or at a football game or whatever is a-okay with me but a teacher in a classroom teaching religion as if it is fact bothers me, mainly because that is a subject for parents to handle at home, and I don't feel like explaining to my kid why I'm going to hell when I ask him how school was.. lol

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Good Wolf

That is my exact thoughts on the matter, and I think it is morbid for someone to actually think anything else.

Here I go....

Religion was created as a form of government for those that do not fear the laws of man. It was created in order to obtain structure. Where did all the people who died go before Jesus, Abraham, or Mohamed walked the Earth? It had to have been Hades. If you say otherwise Zeus will strike you down with a lightning bolt! Ra will engorge you with the flames from the sun etc...

It is also a way for people to 'explain' everything. It gives answers to those that need them. It gives them something to get out of bed in the morning for. For some people it is too depressing to think that this life isn't a test, and that the pain, suffering, and self control that we experience and are forced to use is not in vain.

The only reason people practice religion is because they were taught it by the society they live in and they choose to believe in it. I refuse to believe that someone that is born in a different region from another person is going to 'hell' simply based on the prominent religion in their geographic location.

If 'that is the way it works' then count me out. If I'm wrong then I'm going to 'hell' with a hell of a lot of good people. If 'eternal bliss' is for those that want to believe that other people are going to 'hell' because they don't believe what they do even if they haven't been exposed to it then I don't want to be part of the lemming heard that marches through the 'golden gates'.

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Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.