Fundamentalism is ALWAYS a bad thing

[CurtSibling]

So much time is being wasted on this pointless thread...
This impressive and long-winded war of words is very illustrative of the problems of religion and it's varying interpretations.

Fearless and Allan are obviously two intelligent and high-minded men, who cannot agree on who has the best view on their creed.

The argument is pointless, people are people.

There is good and evil in all humans, there is corruption in the world but also good...
Someone may be out of line in your view, but if they are harming no one, who are you to dictate their lives?

For Christians of whatever variation to say we are all "sinners" is rubbish, maybe you are guilty about your life, but most people are not.

There are values in life that you can abide by, and you don't have to be religious to respect them.

I think the thread could go on ad finitum, but you will never all reach a compromise, for it is a flawed part of human nature to feel you have superior morals compared to lesser "inferior" people.

This is a flaw that most religions cater to nicely.

Very sad...

Fearless, you are obviously a good man, but you have to wake up and see you are not above any one here; your religion makes you no different from me (a person who ignores all religion).
We all bleed red, we all go to the bathroom, and we all die eventually, Life is life, and people are varied, get used to it.

What is the point of being a fundamentalist?
Ordinary religion does not suffice anymore? The desire to outclass the lesser follower? It is an un-necessary waste of energy.

What does religion offer you except a false feel-good factor when you are looking for a way to feel better? Talk to people and see from their eyes if you can...When you start to judge people's lives when you don't even know them, you are on dangerous ground.

Allan, you have your feet on the ground and seem more anchored to real life than Fearless, but you must see that you and FL2 can never reach an agreement, too many differences and points are contained within this theological argument.

Basically you are all chasing each other in circles, and none of you will ever get the upper hand because you are all too sold on your individual religious beliefs to back down an inch.

It would be better if you gentlemen would reserve this energy for something positive...like learning more about other people's ways of life. Religion seems to be throttling your broad-mindedness somewhat.

In conclusion I say this as a free man:
I want to raise these points about most western and some eastern religions....
1- I find most religion an affront to basic human freedom.
2- The Christian/Islamic type religions exist to keep mankind on a leash. This true of some other creeds also...they know who they are.
3- there is no way a newborn child is in any way a "sinner". This disgusts me, a Christian concept to catch their believers before they can even speak! Unacceptable!
4- Too many religions desire the humbling of women...this is sick, the "original sin" is a load of fairy tale gibberish, a way of making the male-dominated religions keep women in the kitchen. This is evil!
5- most fervent followers of religion are only into it because of peer pressure of having it pounded into their heads by their parents…very sad, arrested development.

So That’s my opinion. Feel free to counter-attack and flame. But I will not be listening. If I had a conscience it would be clear because I have made no flames or trolling at anyone. Just my opinion as a free man.

I am glad to have never known this mental prison that is religion…

You may now continue your arguments.

 

[FearlessLeader2]

Thuloid-
John 14:28
A flat denial of divinity. The apostles were corrected by Jesus on numerous occasions when they sought to worship him. Clearly, ignoring his corrections, and instead following in the faltering footsteps that the apostles WERE starting upon before Jesus once again turned them to the correct path is folly.

You make mention of various symbols the Isrealites adopted, and which became part of the Jewish faith, and seem to indicate this as a means of whitewashing the corruption of faith with symbolic representations of God. I seem to recall this story about a golden calf... It would seem that the precedent He was setting was that symbols are unacceptable. The Isrealites frequently involved themselves with such symbols, and what, in the end, became of them?

In both of these cases, you seem to be saying that because someone else made the mistake first, it is okay to go on making it, even though it is known to be wrong. This smacks of willful ignorance, one of my pet peeves. I can't imagine that God is too fond of it himself, especially where it concerns Him.

At any rate, I'm all done with this discussion. It would seem that a new topic is in order, as this seems to be a new can of worms...


allan-

I have decided to capitulate on this issue. It has occurred to me that involving a government in anything, especially an important issue like morality, is a bad idea. Governments have never done anything right. They either do too little, and serve only those in power, or do too much, and ruin the lives of millions.

Backing religion with secular power is just a bad idea. There is too much room for allowing those in charge of the government to corrupt the religion. Thanks for the enlightenment.

For those keeping score-
This makes twice that I've admitted the error of my ways. But don't think I'm ever letting go of absolutism.