Communicating with people of different faiths/no faith discussion/debate

[sramir2]

First off I'm sorry for your loss., I hope she is in a better place.

......Extremists of any kind, religious or secular, liberal or conservative, always make for bad guys we want to see lose. I'll leave it at that.

{mod snip}
This is how I look at religion:

Somebody is up there judging us, but not on how much you go to church, how much you worship him, or anything like that. I think he looks at us like this: he judges us on how we are in general; good, evil, morals, ethics he takes all that into effect and then he decides what should come for us, y'know. I think if your bad, your bad if you commit a henious crime like murder, rape, burglary, adultery(without consent from your partner) that you shouldn't be able it lay on your death bed and be able to repent all of your sins that just doesn't make any sense to me. Same thing goes for ethics if you take money from people to suit your own greedy needs you shouldn't be alowed to repent. If you bad you should go to hell, and if you are good you should get into heaven. I'm not saying people can't make a mistake that He wouldn't forgive, like for example, if you get into a car crash and you were drinking and driving, and kill somebody, and you take all the blame, you stop drinking, you don't runway from the scene, you do everything that you need to, I think that He would forgive you in the long term. But if you on purpose kill somebody and try to get away or even take the blame for it, you shouldn't be able to get forgiveness, no matter what.

{mod Snip}

[Bareassedmunky]

Haha, I heard that the Big Bang theory would be as likely as a tornado going through a car junk yard and, in it's wake, leave a fully functional 747 Aircraft.

Thats something religious people say about the creation of earth (not the the big bang) who don't understand the processes. If there is one thing religious people fear more than someone who believed in a different god, it's someone who does not believe in a god at all

[Phenom]

Thats something religious people say about the creation of earth (not the the big bang) who don't understand the processes. If there is one thing religious people fear more than someone who believed in a different god, it's someone who does not believe in a god at all

Funny isn't it. I reckon I would believe the tornado 747 theory over some almighty being deciding things on a whim just because you kneel beside your bed at night and ask him.

[Vyse99]

Thats something religious people say about the creation of earth (not the the big bang) who don't understand the processes. If there is one thing religious people fear more than someone who believed in a different god, it's someone who does not believe in a god at all

Yeah right. I'm a Christian and I don't fear atheists or people who believe in other religions, why should I?

[Bareassedmunky]

Yeah right. I'm a Christian and I don't fear atheists or people who believe in other religions, why should I?

You might not, but there are plenty that do.

The reason many do is because some christians are more comfotable with the thought of spending eternity in Jewish/Islamic/Norse hell than contemplate the idea of not existing at all after death. Oblivion seems to hold greater fear than eternal torture to some people. They would rather think that an all powerful being is going to punish them for not believing in the correct all powerful being than consider that there may not be someone looking over us.

[capricaabydos]

First off I'm sorry for your loss., I hope she is in a better place.

......Extremists of any kind, religious or secular, liberal or conservative, always make for bad guys we want to see lose. I'll leave it at that.

{mod snip}
This is how I look at religion:

Somebody is up there judging us, but not on how much you go to church, how much you worship him, or anything like that. I think he looks at us like this: he judges us on how we are in general; good, evil, morals, ethics he takes all that into effect and then he decides what should come for us, y'know. I think if your bad, your bad if you commit a henious crime like murder, rape, burglary, adultery(without consent from your partner) that you shouldn't be able it lay on your death bed and be able to repent all of your sins that just doesn't make any sense to me. Same thing goes for ethics if you take money from people to suit your own greedy needs you shouldn't be alowed to repent. If you bad you should go to hell, and if you are good you should get into heaven. I'm not saying people can't make a mistake that He wouldn't forgive, like for example, if you get into a car crash and you were drinking and driving, and kill somebody, and you take all the blame, you stop drinking, you don't runway from the scene, you do everything that you need to, I think that He would forgive you in the long term. But if you on purpose kill somebody and try to get away or even take the blame for it, you shouldn't be able to get forgiveness, no matter what.

{mod Snip}

So you're Mexican, cool, me too! So what did you think about the whole goa'uld and the Mayans thing, do you think the writers did some research when they wrote that in because there are some Mayan stories that talk about gods that came from far away in the universe
And back on topic SG didn't change your view on how we look at science(they made it seem so cool)

[Vyse99]

You might not, but there are plenty that do.

The reason many do is because some christians are more comfotable with the thought of spending eternity in Jewish/Islamic/Norse hell than contemplate the idea of not existing at all after death. Oblivion seems to hold greater fear than eternal torture to some people. They would rather think that an all powerful being is going to punish them for not believing in the correct all powerful being than consider that there may not be someone looking over us.

Not sure what those people think they believe, but I know where I'm going where I die, because I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I know beyond a doubt He is real, I just look at all the wonderful things He has done for me in my life, I look at how every bad thing in my life has some how had something good come out of it, every little improbably coincidence, every day I see more and more of what He has planned for me and I take comfort in it. Whenever I get depressed or lonely, I look back at all the good that He's done for me and give thanks to God, then all the sadness go away and become replaced with joy.

[Bareassedmunky]

Not sure what those people think they believe, but I know where I'm going where I die, because I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I know beyond a doubt He is real, I just look at all the wonderful things He has done for me in my life, I look at how every bad thing in my life has some how had something good come out of it, every little improbably coincidence, every day I see more and more of what He has planned for me and I take comfort in it. Whenever I get depressed or lonely, I look back at all the good that He's done for me and give thanks to God, then all the sadness go away and become replaced with joy.

Interesting that you felt the need to type all that up...

[capricaabydos]

"Big Bang" is a misnomer originally used to discredit the theory. It has nothing to do with "popping into existence" or "something coming from nothing". Feel free to PM me if you want more info. Or PM someone who may be more qualified than me (I'm a biologist, ). Bareassedmunky looks to be a good bet, .

More on-topic:

I am surprised at all of the interesting stories people have put forth in this thread. It's cool to see that something as simple as Stargate could play a role in changing people's views about such a wide variety of things. Can't wait to hear more .

Very interesting indeed, maybe some of us already had "the seed of curiosity" in us, and SG was the water and soil that made it grow in to a beautiful flower that has yet to bloom,

[Bareassedmunky]

Very interesting indeed, maybe some of us already had "the seed of curiosity" in us, and SG was the water and soil that made it grow in to a beautiful flower that has yet to bloom,

I'm always surprised to come across people who weren't born with that seed of curiosity. A desire to know what is over the next hill is what led to mankind to find new sources of food, which allowed us to survive and evolve.

[Vyse99]

Interesting that you felt the need to type all that up...

Well you were saying that some people of certain faiths were scared of dying and fading into nothingness, I was simply explaining why I'm not afraid.

[Bareassedmunky]

Well you were saying that some people of certain faiths were scared of dying and fading into nothingness, I was simply explaining why I'm not afraid.

Thats not excatly what I meant. I wasn't suggesting that those people were having doubts as such, but you can only be confident that your faith is correct if you contemplated the alternatives with an open mind.

When a jew compares his faith to that of a muslim, he contemplates 'what if i am wrong' - even if it is subconscious and only for a fleeting moment. They are comforted by the fact that if they are wrong, and the muslim is righ, then they will still live forever.

When they do the same thing with atheism, the 'what if I am wrong' leads them to consider non existance, which scares them more than the thought of eternal torture.

[Vyse99]

Thats not excatly what I meant. I wasn't suggesting that those people were having doubts as such, but you can only be confident that your faith is correct if you contemplated the alternatives with an open mind.

When a jew compares his faith to that of a muslim, he contemplates 'what if i am wrong' - even if it is subconscious and only for a fleeting moment. They are comforted by the fact that if they are wrong, and the muslim is righ, then they will still live forever.

When they do the same thing with atheism, the 'what if I am wrong' leads them to consider non existance, which scares them more than the thought of eternal torture.

But that is exactly what I meant, these people have the "what if I'm wrong" fear because they don't have a relationship with their god, they have a religion and its hard to believe in something or someone you don't know. I used to have the same fears until I started actively seeking a relationship with Christ, that changed everything.

[Bareassedmunky]

But that is exactly what I meant, these people have the "what if I'm wrong" fear because they don't have a relationship with their god, they have a religion and its hard to believe in something or someone you don't know. I used to have the same fears until I started actively seeking a relationship with Christ, that changed everything.

I'm not saying these people have this fear in their day-to-day faithful lives, but when discussing their religion with people of various faiths they are more open to people of other faiths than they are to atheists. For example, you cannot become a stone mason if you do not believe in a god. They don't care what god, but you must have some faith.


The sentence that I have marked above shows that you have just adopted the same mentality, but in a different way.

You are christian, so you believe that the god that jews/hindus/muslims etc. pray to is not real. They therefore cannot have a relationship with a being who is not real. Despite this, your sentence above implied that you think it is possible for them to have this relationship. It is easier for you to relate to someone of a different faith than it is to relate to someone who has an absence of faith.

[Vyse99]

I'm not saying these people have this fear in their day-to-day faithful lives, but when discussing their religion with people of various faiths they are more open to people of other faiths than they are to atheists. For example, you cannot become a stone mason if you do not believe in a god. They don't care what god, but you must have some faith.

I never said you claimed they have fear in their day to day lives. Though I still don't understand why someone with a strong faith would have an aversion to talking to an athiest about religion. I've done so before and it didn't phase me.

The sentence that I have marked above shows that you have just adopted the same mentality, but in a different way.

What mentality is that? Fear of talking to athists about religion? I've said multiple times I have no fear of that.

You are christian, so you believe that the god that jews/hindus/muslims etc. pray to is not real. They therefore cannot have a relationship with a being who is not real.

Its a bit more then that, Judism Hinduism, and Islam aren't about have a relationship, they are about following a religion/rituals/law/etc.

Despite this, your sentence above implied that you think it is possible for them to have this relationship.

I never implied anything, you assumed I was saying that.

It is easier for you to relate to someone of a different faith than it is to relate to someone who has an absence of faith.

While it might be easier to relate to someone with a different faith, that has nothing to do with fearing someone who has no faith. Even then its still possible to relate to athists, see an atheist would say science can show how we got here, I say science shows God's divine design for the Universe and we go from there.