Sane -- I do not doubt for a second you are my brother. Not for one second. I just think we're broken. And no observance of ritual will heal us.
You may have forgotten that you asked this by now, but I'll answer anyway. I preach for the Northeast Church of Christ in Odessa, Texas.
Not sure what that means. Who cares what it does or how it affects people? If you believe it's the will of your creator, then that's what you should follow.
even if your perception is reality, maybe religious people bring it upon themselves? knocking on strangers' doors trying to convert them. inescapable billboards and bumper stickers everywhere u drive numerous religious radio and tv stations where they ask for "donations".
the reverse is also true Look at TV , Magazine Stands, etc everywhere are billboards, and bumper stickers that infringe upon the sensabilities of religious folx. . . why is it an issue when they do it the knocking on your door thing . . well. . that is a bit invasive for me Rocket River
As soon as the creator comes down and tells people IN PERSON what to believe then we will all know the truth. Until then..I guess we have to rely on the accounts written by men, who are fallable, corruptable, and power hungry. Therefore the scriptures are the same. DD
Selections from Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right by Karl Marx Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher February, 1844 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction For Germany, the criticism of religion has been largely completed, and the criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism. The profane existence of error is compromised as soon as its heavenly oratio pro aris et focis , ["speech for the altars and hearths"] has been refuted. Man, who has found only the reflection of himself in the fantastic reality of heaven, where he sought a supernatural being, will no longer be tempted to find the mere appearance of himself, a non-human being ["Unmensch"], where he seeks and must seek his true reality. The foundation of irreligious criticism is this: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is indeed man's self-consciousness and self-awareness so long as he has not found himself or has already lost himself again. But, man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man -- state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d'honneur, it enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo. Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower. The criticism of religion disillusions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he will move around himself as his own true Sun. Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself. It is, therefore, the task of history, once the other-world of truth has vanished, to establish the truth of this world. It is the immediate task of philosophy, which is in the service of history, to unmask self-estrangement in its unholy forms once the holy form of human self-estrangement has been unmasked. Thus, the criticism of Heaven turns into the criticism of Earth, the criticism of religion into the criticism of law, and the criticism of theology into the criticism of politics. http://www3.baylor.edu/~Scott_Moore/texts/Marx_Opium.html
Rocket River, Let me ask you a few questions. You do know that your religion should be personal relationships with God/Jesus, right? You know that *they* can't take this away from you, right? This will never change. No matter what becomes of the world. You are not OF THIS WORLD. No matter how much the world around you changes, DO NOT COVET THE THINGS IN IT. Now, I know that you WANT there to be some type of external LAWS that help you change the the USA (No smut tv, no p*rn, no Jerry Springer, no Howard Stern, etc..). But it can't be like that in AMERICA. It was designed to OPEN to all. And for that you have to have a SECULAR nation. It can't be the other way around (one religion with a little bit of secularism). No, it has to be pure secularism in order to allow atheist, satanist, agnostics, hindus, muslims, taoist, Confucianists, Buddhist, and christians...all of them. This is why the GOVERNMENT can't mandate the standard. The STANDARD has to be open of all. The SECULAR documents of the CONSTITUTION. Now, some may say that many of the men that came up with the CONSTITUTION were of Christian background and they got their ideas from the Bible. Well, true. But they designed the CONSTITUTION to even prevent of their OWN religion(those that were) from taking control. It was created in spite of itself. Also note that the idea of democracy was not born in the USA. It's roots go back to Rome and Greece. Imagine if Rome or Greece never existed. The USA would be a different place today. Ideas, ideas, ideas...great aren't they? Democracy works best. Even though it's not perfect. Note. I do not want American to be like this because I want decadence and heathens to run rampant. No, I want America to be like this because I fear that ONE RELIGION will dictate the rules that I should act. And I'm wary of "religion" especially "governmental religion." This is why I keep it personal (as opposed to government mandate) even though I will share it with people if they ask (testimony). P.S. God's government will not be a democracy. It will be a theocracy. So, lets stop trying to make a theocracy out of a democracy for now. Um'kay?
well put. . . .thanks. . i really appreciate the commentary [honestly no sarcasm] However. . . I must admit .. we do have ONE RELIGION that is .. . CAPITALISM Rocket River
I understand your concerns. But you have to admit there are some things in the scriptures which you can't explain to this day. How come the Bible says the world was round, when everyone else thought the world was flat? Are you saying a mere carpenter (According to you) was the person who discovered that the world was round? How did Islam know about the trinity, when few people knew about it? When Muhammad PBUH was born, Christianity wasn't even fully established in Europe, yet you're saying that this illiterate guy knew about the holy trinity? In all seriousness, I'd like to hear what you think about these things.
This is one of those posts that stay with you. One of those posts you will use in the future, for yourself, and when speaking with others. Brilliant.
concepts of the trinity didn't arise out of europe. there's talk of the trinity in books and letters that were written in the first century while Paul was in Jerusalem and abroad. Christianity spread like wildfire throughout the world in the 300 years or so after the resurrection. it seems quite clear that mohammed understood basic tenets of judaism and christianity at the time the koran was written. by the way...his explanation of what christians believe the trinity to be was inaccurate.
