I see this quote all the time, but it's silly. Are you saying no otherwise good person has done a "bad" thing to get money, for example? And since we're in the D&D... you could argue that - almost every single day - an otherwise good person who is a politician does something bad that he wouldn't do if not for political influence/prestige/security.
I'm saying that eternal paradise and martyrdom can change an individual perspective on life if they literally believe in those concepts. There is no tangible reward for bombing a civilian populace and yourself. The entire motivation is purely based on faith on your religious teachings being true. Also you seem to be straw-manning my message. Religion is not even close to the ONLY negative influence on humanity. Also, there might have been a time when religion was needed, but it's way past it's nessecity.
I'm saying it doesn't take religion for good people to do bad things - that will happen with or without it. Good people do bad things for all sorts of reasons. That frequently referenced quote makes it sound like religion is the only way good people can do bad things.
I agree that a single quote is too broad in explaining the entire narrative but I still agree with the general gist. It may not be the only way for good people to do bad things but it is one of the ways.
violence will always exist as long as there are humans. sometimes there comes a point where people dont listen to words. then you hurt them real bad so they do listen you to. depending on my uniform, my skin color, my religion, my clothes people will judge me for being violent. theyll say im a crazy marine, a racist white man, a hateful christian, skinhead and those things made me violent. we should get rid of those things to make me peaceful. no i would have hit you without all that stuff. to make me unviolent, you have to take my humanity away.
No, most people just lack a clear understanding of their societal role and value, and conflate acceptance or participation in their rituals as a full embrace of their literary and metaphysical concepts.
Please don't ask a sweeping question to a broad forum about a 5,000 year old societal concept in absolutist terms and then try to cherry pick which subtopics displease or exhaust you rhetorically.
They all have this component. Some tend to downplay it more than the rest because it's embarrassing or inconvenient, but it's all about magic at the end of the day.
the magic is what separates religion and philosophy it also lends some motivation to the social code I'd think more people are more civilized with it than without it I'd encourage anyone to strive for the tenets of New Testament Jesus
Depends on how you draw the line between religion and spirituality. I don't think religion is inherently evil/bad, I do think men are fallible and men create/run religions. I believe anyone who looks at Jesus' life and message would be supportive of his ideology. It's when men get involved and begin to corrupt his message that religion begins to take its toll. Same goes for Muhammad and Muslims, although this is much more difficult to argue because Muslims don't believe the Qur'an was written by man, or corrupted by man. They believe it is the pure spoken word of God, as delivered to Muhammad. But you could say over the centuries, men have corrupted the Qur'an and used it to increase their wealth, influence, and control, as they did with Christianity.
Strive for the tenants of New Testament Jesus? You mean blindly accept Jesus as lord and savior and you are granted eternal paradise NO MATTER WHAT YOU DID BEFORE? That is an amazing tenant. I'm glad Jeffrey Dahmer, mass rapist, serial killer and cannibal, accepted Jesus as his lord and savior right before he died and is now with Jesus for eternity in paradise.
If Dahmer really was sorry for what he did, and really would never do what he did ever again, is there not an argument in favor of forgiving him? I certainly wouldn't, but I can see how people would if there was a 100% way to make sure of such a thing( which Jesus can do because he's Jesus). We have people talking about how prison should be a rehabilitation instead of a punishment thing, so how's that different?
Reminds me of: <iframe width="854" height="510" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5oqcG1Ws5FE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
He gets imprisoned and murdered while on earth; he can't murder people in heaven and his former victims can't get re-murdered there either, so it's completely fair deal.
Someone who lived a life of generosity and didn't rape or eat another human goes to hell because he requires more evidence for the assertions of Jesus's divinity while Jeffrey Dahmer who did rape and eat other humans is rewarded eternal paradise. Seems fair.
Utilitarianism works in the perfect world, but in the world we live it I don't think it does. There will always be people who will steal, kill, rape, etc. Religion has made society a better place to live in, overall. There are less crimes today because of it. Whether or not they are true, I think the fear of spending eternity in a lake of fire scares many. However, more wars have been started and people have died because of religious differences. This is how I see it. This is not a debate about whether or not god/religions are right, nor is it a debate about which religions are best. Try a different thread.
Again, you can't post a loaded, sparsely worded generalization to attract attention and then exclude fully relevant subtopics and responses because you're preoccupied with some narrow angle about war or conflict.
If one acknowledges they're two different existential planes it's completely fair. Dahmer is physically and socially restrained by corporeal beings for his earth-bound actions and is metaphysically rewarded by spectral entities for his channeled thoughts and emotions. Rubles in Russia, dollars in Dallas.
Depends. I always have a disdain for proselytizers. Your religion should be something you derive the benefits from ALONE and with other WILLING people. The moment you decide you think you know what is best for everybody? (And that includes proselytizing atheists as well...) That's when I have a problem. Worship your religion all you want, just don't hurt other people, and don't force your religion onto other people. Radical Islamists in the Middle East sadly fail at the not hurting people part. Domestic Christians sadly fail at the don't force your religion onto others part. I used to think all religion should be banned, but I guess with my new line of thinking that would make me a massive hypocrite. I just keep to myself now, both with religion and politics for the most part.
