You can say this about any ancient writings. The bible has several stories that take place in certain places, but just because you find those places existed does not prove the stories associated with them. Saddam and Gamora (sp?), Lots wife the pillar of salt, Water to wine, Jesus rising from the dead, etc..etc..etc..... If you take into context what the people were writing and perhaps their motivation for writing it, it just doesn't hold up. That is not saying that places and people mentioned in the bible did not exist, I believe that most of them did....but I also think that most of the writings about those people are just embellished stories to futher the religion. The same thing about Muhammed and the Koran, I believe he was a guy trying to further his power base, rather than a Prophet talking to god. DD
This is what im mainly talking about. Jesus walking on water?? Come on... Noahs arc???? Moses splitting water?? It's these fables that are irking me.
lol, you would need God to actually exist first in order to ask him...i don't have a problem with religion but most of its followers usually try to shove theur beliefs down your throat, the same can be said for atheists....Dhandi once said "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ." me, i just don't give a f***, if there is a God then that's awesome, if there isn't then oh well, i have been to church my entire life and i still go just to accompany my family but it just seems stupid and pointless
You seem very hung up on the veracity of the tales. How much does it matter to the message if the tales are true or not? Is belief dependent upon proof that the tales are true? It seems to me that you are hung up about the stories as much as a Biblical literalist where as there is more to most religions than just stories.
Right, so you are saying the message is more important than the stories. I agree with you here about Christianity, but that does not fit into other religions which tend to give strict guidelines to how you live your life. I mean....telling someone they can not enjoy a BLT sandwich is just wrong, and something God would NEVER do... God.....loves.....Bacon.... DD
I am telling you that God loves Bacon......and I am sure he enjoys a nice porterhouse steak too......so take that you Hindon'ts... DD
But the guidelines aren't necessarily the story either. Devout Hindus don't eat meat not because of a story but because they believe it is wrong to eat sentient beings. DD I think you and Butterfingers are far more hung up regarding things that have more to do with the surface of the religions rather than the deeper messages and are basically just being the flip side of the literalist. Keeping Halal isn't one of the Five Pillars of Islam nor is wearing a Hijab. Someone can still be a Muslim and eat pork and be a Muslim woman and show her hair.
I was kidding about the Hindus and the steak.....as for whether a cow is sentient, that is an entirely different argument..... But I will say they taste great. DD
No, I understand the message. It's just how can I put merit into something that has such silly tales in it. Overall the messages are generally good and make sense. Abstaining from pork might not be a pillar of islam, but i think it is a sin to eat it(not sure).
I cannot speak for everybody but it is very foreign to me. The churches and a lot of the people in them around my parts do not think that way. If I ever move to Houston, I have a feeling MadMax and his people will end up converting me.
How do you know that science is correct then? Do you absolutely know these things to be true? I doubt it. You take it on faith that the scientists telling you are accurate. How do you know where Houston really is? Or that you are in Houston (assuming you are)? You take that on faith. There are a multitude of things we take on faith everyday. Religion is no different. Also, as for the stories in the Bible...it was written largely in parable. The teachings of Christ were delivered that way. At least that is what I have been told by people who studied theology.
This is contingent on the woman KNOWING that she's wrong in showing her hair and eating pork. But if she thinks it's ok, then she doesn't believe the Qura'an is Allah's word. In this case, it's not my call, but I would guess that she is not considered a Muslim.
I have a question for all. If you could take everything you know right now and go back in time and replace, for example, Jesus PBUH... Do you think you can create a religion and that it would last this long and you would have this many followers? Put yourself in exactly his situation.
Now I get it. This was a VERY cleverly disguised "religion is silly" thread. Just because you don't believe doesn't mean that you demean those that do. Oh...if you were soooooo smart, you probably would have ended the sentence I quoted above with a question mark.
