F*cked up cultures from around the world.

It's not the teachings themselves rightey, your distinction between good and bad religions is nonsense when they all teach the method of blocking out reason and logic, they teach methods of how to ignore things that don't correlate with reality, they teach them methods of self delusion. The methods they teach are the precursor to everything else that follows, you are taught and you preach that god comes first. Most of the time, what that really means is that your personal wishes are attached to your god and gain authority because religious people are delusional and think that means they're right even when the facts show otherwise.

A lot of religious people have that smug attitude that just because they're 'humble' and their beliefs makes them do charity work that they're entitled to those delusions. On top of that they use their god and their own personal acts of good to besmirch anything that isn't religious, e.g. atheism, science, logic, reason, and it's usually like "im a facking christian and oi you grcade is not da place to dickscuss anny relijuns. I'm humble and im entitled to my spaghetti monster if it maks me fill gud" etc.

Back in the day, Catholicism made life pay2win by making redemption and forgiveness dlc content. A lot of religion still does this, and the religions that don't, the religions that good things in the name of god end up supporting a mass delusion in which corruption breeds. Sociopaths take advantage of this 'religion' all the time, and they thrive in that culture.

All the religious people I know are fine with my atheism and I see no problem accepting religion even if I don't agree with it.

You can understand how the culture is fostered by religion. The quran doesn't prohibit slavery, women are referred to almost as property, it's not really a surprise that three men can be thrown out because women can't control themselves (I'm pointing out that's the kind of culture that instilled and affirmed by treating women like property and allowing it in your holy text).

Rightey wrote:1 & 2, you're just stating the same things over and over again, yes there are some religions where people say that you are not allowed to question anything, and must do exactly what you are told. If you are part of such a religion you should probably leave before they bring the Kool-Aid around. Not all religions are equal, and I'm certainly not going to defend all religions. It would be like a person who believes in democracy having to defend dictatorship while arguing with a Anarchist. As for interpretation being the excuse of apologists, have you never heard of Theology? I'm pretty sure that the main point of it is to study religious texts, as not everything should be taken literally.

3) I don't know what religion you are referring to, but as far as I know in Christianity there is these things called "forgiveness", and "redemption". It's not exactly "if you break any rule in the bible ever that's it you're going to hell". Furthermore even if you do sin, God is the one who judges you in the end and decides whether you were a good person or not. It is not just a case of "well you broke a rule once and never felt sorry for it so that's it I'm afraid you're going to hell now!"

No, you're misinterpreting what I'm saying. All religious texts and by extension the religions based upon them, have some form of rule against questioning God. Again, this discussion is based upon the idea that any idea or person that cannot be questioned is a dangerous one and that genocide usually follows when a group of people accept this proposition.

Indeed, on the subject of whether we should obey the rules of God or the rules of man where there is a conflict, Acts 5:29 says; "But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men". (It also says the exact opposite when it says all installed governments are installed by God and so should be obeyed, which is a can of worms on the nature of free will that I'm not even going to touch yet). Matthew also says in 5:29 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away". Matthew also says in 4:4 "Man shall live... by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

So, man should live by all words out of the mouth of God, and obey them before the rules of man. There is no allowance in there for a Christian to question the word of God. The word of God is absolute, it cannot be questioned. Not only that, but I remember the moment I became an atheist and it was when, at about the age of 7, I was in a school assembly and being read the story of Abraham and Isaac where it was being taught to me that it is good and moral and righteous to murder your own child if you think God has ordered it; because God's word is absolute and always morally correct.

That. Is. strawberry floating. Retarded.

You can talk about theology if you wish, but I haven't got any more reason to listen to opinions on reality from a theologian than I have a man proclaiming to be an expert on the hundreds of different types of fairies.

Theology is what religious people need to mould their millenia-old texts written by a bunch of people living in a society so different to ours that if they want their religious texts to still be relevant they need to dedicate entire fields of academic study to 'reinterpretating' them. I have no reason to listen to what their interpretations have generated because you still haven't given me a reason to listen to the Bible in the first place.

If you've dedicated a career to interpreting the Bible to make it fit modern society then great; power to you. However, if you haven't demonstrated why the Bible is relevant in the first place then the backflips of logic and apologism that theologians jump through to make the Bible relevant are nothing more than faintly amusing.

So you are not free to question God, and you are not free to change his word in the Bible (or the Quran or Torah or whatever). You can reinterpret the words that are there already, but your interpretation is exactly as valid as the Westboro' Baptist Church's because you are not free to question God.

As for hell, you've again misinterpreted my point, as revealed a lot in the mindset. I'm not talking about something that you and the Bible both agree is 'wrong' but that you do anyway. I'm talking about something that the Bible says is right or wrong and that you disagree with. If, say, you're a homosexual (which is specified as being wrong in both testaments) and you do not feel that it is wrong to be homosexual, would most Christians argue that God is therefore wrong about homosexuals? Are you free to question God about your own homosexuality? Are you free to defy God over your homosexuality? No; if you die an unrepentant, unforgiven homosexual then you are going to hell.

TL;DR - You are not free to question God, you are not free to re-write his words. You may be free to reinterpret his words, but this is merely re-presenting the argument until you agree again; this is not freedom to disagree. This is dangerous, as would be obvious to anyone who can spot the inherent danger within obeying a book that gives countless examples of brutally murdering your own children being a good and moral thing, and as is proven by the horrific history of murder and torture carried out because of it.

Lucien wrote:strawberry floated up cultures, then:

He gazes directly into the camera: all dreamy brown eyes, smouldering good looks and chiseled features. A camel dominates the background.

It's certainly a striking image, but is Omar Borkan Al Gala, poet, actor and internet sensation, one of the men who was too sexy for Saudi Arabia?

Earlier this week, three men were forcibly removed from a culture festival in Saudi Arabia after religious police deemed the men "too handsome".

According to Arabic language newspaper Elaph a festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and there were concerns that female visitors could fall for them.

Even the camel is eyeing up that sexy mummy strawberry floater.

Lucien wrote:strawberry floated up cultures, then:

He gazes directly into the camera: all dreamy brown eyes, smouldering good looks and chiseled features. A camel dominates the background.

It's certainly a striking image, but is Omar Borkan Al Gala, poet, actor and internet sensation, one of the men who was too sexy for Saudi Arabia?

Earlier this week, three men were forcibly removed from a culture festival in Saudi Arabia after religious police deemed the men "too handsome".

According to Arabic language newspaper Elaph a festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and there were concerns that female visitors could fall for them.

I would honestly not know how to feel in that situation.

Catholics.

You want strawberry floated up? 25% of South African men admit to raping someone at some point.

Fatal Exception wrote:You want strawberry floated up? 25% of South African men admit to raping someone at some point.

It cures AIDS though so you can see why they do it.

Lucien wrote:

Peter Crisp wrote:Maybe I'm wrong but Mao did try and end all religion didn't he?

Yep.

It wasn't just religion he tried to remove though - he hated the ancient philosopher Confucius, and tried to remove his teachings, even though they weren't religious.

As for Christianity etc - he expelled thousands of missionaries from the country, pulled down religious buildings, sent people to labour camps and withheld food from some, and he started 're-education' services.

Confucius Say:

Confucius wrote:That gooseberry fool be strawberry floated up, yo.

Corazon de Leon wrote:

Lucien wrote:

Peter Crisp wrote:Maybe I'm wrong but Mao did try and end all religion didn't he?

Yep.

It wasn't just religion he tried to remove though - he hated the ancient philosopher Confucius, and tried to remove his teachings, even though they weren't religious.

As for Christianity etc - he expelled thousands of missionaries from the country, pulled down religious buildings, sent people to labour camps and withheld food from some, and he started 're-education' services.

Confucius Say:

Confucius wrote:That gooseberry fool be strawberry floated up, yo.

We should do that to Christians, Muslims and Jews in this country.

Read something the other day about a 10 year old boy being beheaded in...Afghanistan I think it was, for stealing food to feed his family. Sounds reasonable.

Religion of peace.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-05- ... -pakistan/

Frightening

A woman has been stoned to death in Pakistan by up to 20 members of her family for marrying the man she loved, police and lawyers said.

Farzana Parveen, 25, had married Mohammad Iqbal, to whom she had been engaged for years in opposition to her family, police official Naseem Butt said.

The woman's family attacked her and her husband with sticks and bricks in broad daylight before a crowd of onlookers in front of the high court of Lahore.

That is why so many of them come here. Those countries aren't very nice.

Stoning a pregnant woman to death. Ugh. The channel 4 news report is as grim as you'd expect.

Japan bans child pornography possession

Japan has banned the possession of child sex-abuse images, one of the last developed countries to do so.

The new law states that anyone found with such images can be jailed for up to a year, or fined up to $10,000 (£6,000).

The ban does not apply to animation or to comic art known as manga.

Japan was previously the only country in the 34-strong Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) without such a prohibition.

Opponents of the bill say that freedom of expression needs to be protected in a country that once suffered heavy government censorship.

Analysts say there was strong resistance from manga artists, free-speech advocates and publishers.

They said it would impinge on freedom of expression and allow authorities to make arbitrary decisions about art.

The Japan Magazine Publishers' Association, which represents over 90 publishing companies, posted a statement on its website earlier in June saying the law could "put a strain" on artists and publishing culture.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo says Japan is still considered one of the world centres for the exchange and consumption of images of child sexual abuse.

Crimes related to child sexual abuse have reportedly been on the rise in Japan.

Police uncovered 1,644 cases last year, about 10 times higher than a decade ago.

More than half of the cases involved sharing or selling photos or videos over the internet, police said.

The new law will allow those who do possess such material a year to get rid of it.

Japan had earlier banned the production and distribution of child pornography in 1999.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27898841

Police uncovered 1,644 cases last year, about 10 times higher than a decade ago.

More than half of the cases involved sharing or selling photos or videos over the internet, police said.

it's almost like if you ban something, the amount of crimes relating to it goes up.

child porn is banned

lolicon is fine

lol cya

*japan high court judge puts shades on, kicks saloon door open and walks into sunlight*

Apparently, in some parts of the UK, some people eat curry with a spoon. If that's not strawberry floated up, I don't know what is.