Humanist Hope said 9 years, 8 months ago:

So what about some religious readers? Let’s hear some of your favorite moral codes contained within your faith.

That’s so great, Jacq. :) I’m really glad that your life took such a positive turn.

My primary life focus is on logic and reality. Anyone who has read my posts knows that I live by The Wizard’s Rules, which are a list of 11 interdependent rules that comprise logical, reasonable thinking.

mongoose said 9 years, 8 months ago:

Well much of my beliefs stem from my experience in life. There is a quote that goes something like “Life insists on teaching me lessons I have absolutely no desire to learn.” But you learn from them anyway or repeat those mistakes at your peril.

You can only get so far on your own… and unless you want to continue learning solely from mistakes you take up a study of life. For me it started with Philosophy and branched off from there to add Buddhism. I apply the Scientific Method to everything I study as to find the best answer… not just one that works.

And speaking of Buddhism… @swifting LOVES long winded stories about monks! Just sayin’.

Favourite codes? Well the story of Jesus and the adulteress from the bible.

Buddha and the angry man I’ve told my own version but instead of putting a wall of text in here this is a link to another version:

http://anthonyrego.com/recollections/home_quotes.php?sect=story&page=36&recs=40

BTW Jacq if you haven’t heard this one… it counts towards the 1.5 monk stories I owe you :P

Humanist Hope said 9 years, 8 months ago:

@mongoose That was a great example, thanks for sharing. :)

So, religion itself isn’t a wholly negative thing. For instance, if there was a religion whose sole recorded tenet was to be kind to others, and that was the sum total of their creed and purpose, a person would be hard-pressed to claim something negative about it.

Those parts of religion that are positive and peaceful I have no issues with, and never will. A good thing is a good thing. But when a religion takes good things and negatively attributes them away from mankind, that is making a positive into a negative.

mongoose said 9 years, 8 months ago:

Religion isn’t negative at all… just a social construct. People that uphold the idea can be tyrannical and this is what causes problems. I’m sure the pope is a great guy… but some of the people in that organization are most assured not. Now… aside from that there are some really terrible stories and ideas from the bible as well.

I don’t know enough about all of the religions to know for sure there aren’t any religions without some issues. Issues with the writings themselves and not just the people who run the show. I will say the whole thing is a playground for chauvinists and charlatans.

Deleted User said 9 years, 8 months ago:

Twas a sunny Sunday. I was 11/12 I am not sure
My mom opens the curtains and screams at me to come to church.
I say Ok, Mom! tell her to go out, so i can change with a big smile.
I lock the door and go to sleep lols
she screamed her balls off, not a fuck was given, they gave up after some months.
Never liked any religion, it was brewing up for a while, the forced conformity, but, that was my first rebellious moment with religion.

ps. I still go to church every now and then, not to pray, I just buy some scented candles from the street boy, and trip on that art:D

Humanist Hope said 9 years, 8 months ago:

To say that religion isn’t negative -at all- just isn’t true. The Bible orders parents to kill their disobedient children as examples to others. There is no possible way to spin that into a positive.

Deleted User said 9 years, 8 months ago:

What was the first question you can remember having that put the first real doubt in your head?

I remember asking myself what the fuck is this shit, after, I was being beaten brutally to pray to Jesus properly or I am a sinner, I was forced to kneel down on salt with my knees bloody, and hit with the belt ahah till i got it right, by my parents, I think that was the moment I gave up on religion and its fanatics. I was forced to pray. But, I was never being part of any religion, till I make my own lols.
Was 10-12 i think.

Humanist Hope said 9 years, 8 months ago:

It is examples like that that boil my blood. Abusive parents and neglectful parents who send their kids off to teen torture camps to get reconditioned to be good little brainwashed Christians deserve as much as they give. It’s just terrible.

I didn’t suffer beatings, but I was once literally dragged kicking and screaming into a church. The pastor had the decorum to inform my parents that if I didn’t want to be there that he didn’t want to see them forcing me to come again. He actually stuck up for me. I was 13. My parents never pulled that stunt again, they just left me the hell alone on Sundays.

mongoose said 9 years, 8 months ago:

So Jonathan if there was a book that told you to do something horrible like that… call it a religion or not… where does the negativity lie? In the book that says do this or that or in the person that actually believes it? It is like the saying “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” I hate that we have guns or think we need them in society because they make it far too easy to kill each other but it is true… guns themselves are not evil… the people behind them are.

Deleted User said 9 years, 8 months ago:

Guns are the reason of an inferiority complex, i think.
Not due to evil or any prejudiced notion..

OpenTalk said 9 years, 8 months ago:

I was 23 at the time. It was a pretty big deal because I was raised in a devote Roman Catholic family. I even alter served for about 10 years, prior.

I was reading the bible critically, and started to debate the nature of the Abrahamic God. He couldn’t be omnibenevolent (or all good) if he was omnipotent (or all powerful), as those are mutually exclusive terms (if he isn’t capable of doing bad, then he can’t be all powerful). The bible displays numerous instances which contradict the concept of him being all-knowing as well. Then there was that whole thing where he killed over 2 million people. From the first page of the bible to the last, Satan kills 10. One has to wonder who the real bad guy is. It also became hard for me to justify a loving god in a world where so many innocents suffer and die.

I don’t know if there was an exact moment where I decided to convert. I think I just woke up one day and realized that I can’t consider myself to be a rational thinker if I keep trying to excuse religion.