christians.

[Sanctuary]

Christian Universalism is one of those rare religions that has no self righteousness nor hate.

Doesn't it say in the 10 commandments "Thou shalt have no other god besides me" or something to that extent?

That has to fall under one of the categories of self-righteousness, hate, or jealousy. Either way, it's not pretty.

Or does universalism not believe in the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments?

[Sanctuary]

the thing is, when people look hard enough, they always find what they are looking for..

this is why i don't bother looking for god. i already know that he doesn't exist.... except for those special appearances on buttered toast

raverboy

^ Confirmation bias! It's why religion and conspiracy theories work.

[Illusional]

this is always probably why they drank wine all the time.

raverboy

[Gribble]

So the door is closed but you're saying there's still a possibility that it can be opened. And I'm saying because of that possibility - no matter how infinitesimally small it is (so long as it isn't zero) - it isn't logical to say you can fully close the door.

Anything is possible. Absolutely anything. You have to disregard the possibilities that come with no backing. This is getting into syntax more than religion, but as of right now I am absolutely certain that there is no god and religion is bunk. My door is slammed shut. There is no room for debate. No room for argument. Until a god pops down here and moves mountains and farts rainbows I live with absolute certainty that there is no god.

When that day comes my door cracks open a hair and I consider that maybe there is an omnipotent being. Maybe.

Look at it this way: there could be little green men living on Mars. Maybe they're hiding from us. I'm absolutely certain that there are none. We have no evidence. In fact, what evidence we have points to them not existing. But if the Mars Rover stumbles across an underground city full of little green crackheads and prostitutes, hey, I'm gonna have to change my tune, obviously.

By your way of thinking I have a door open to every single possibility anyone can fathom and even those no one can. My doors are shut, man. The key is tangible proof.

[Sanctuary]

^You're right, this is more a debate about syntax than religion. But, if you are to stray so far to one side of the debate as to absolutely close the door on the existence of a greater 'cosmic' being, then you're probably also experiencing the confirmation bias that Illusional mentions and you're no better than the religious people; you see no reason to believe, you don't want to believe, and because of this it makes you all the more zealous in your beliefs (it probably doesn't help either that for the most part, religion causes trouble in the world).

In the same way that you say my way of thinking leaves every possibility open, I can say that your way of thinking closes off every possibility until proven wrong. 200 years ago people could not fathom the type of technology that we have today (we will fly around in the sky in metal containers called airplanes); and we had a lot of wacky ideas about the future but some of them came true. I'm not saying everything is possible, but I am saying that very few things are truly impossible.

[Gigabitch]

I'm actually a Christian Universalist. I believe that everybody's going to be saved & go to heaven.

I'm a Unitarian Universalist. I don't believe in heaven or hell. Wow, I can't believe you and I have something in common.

[Gribble]

Speaking of Christian Universalism, let me provide you with a hypothetical conundrum. Explain how this would end:

A vile, horrible beast of a "man" preys on children. That monster dies. Now it's in heaven. What happens when the fathers and older brothers of its victims die and they too go to heaven? What happens when they decide to spend eternity, or at least a hundred years or so, torturing this monster for its despicable crimes?

[Gigabitch]

Ooo! That makes me want to go to heaven and help them!

[IndiReloaded]

Simple. Its heaven, right? The child molester becomes bishop of an all-boys school with children who are the spirits of buggering priests. One man's heaven is another man's hell....

If he goes to hell, the scenario is reversed.

[Graham Berkeley]

You know whats funny... There is increasing evidence that Jesus was Bi-Sexual and had relationships with me and women.

[Gigabitch]

You know whats funny... There is increasing evidence that Jesus was Bi-Sexual and had relationships with me and women.

You know what else is funny? That ^^^.

[Mish]

I think the main problem with Religion is it's duality. There is a vile self righteous side that denies everything and looks for enemies in anything "strange" or different. And there is a soft cultural underbelly that fills people's lives with hope, good will and decency. If only someone could separate the two.

[Lipp]

I think the main problem with Religion is it's duality. There is a vile self righteous side that denies everything and looks for enemies in anything "strange" or different. And there is a soft cultural underbelly that fills people's lives with hope, good will and decency. If only someone could separate the two.

Unfortunately going from devout to extreme is a smaller jump than most. And especially for religions, people aspire to be devout followers, as it is seen as a good thing.

[loudrims_inc]

oh lord!...i cant touch this subject lol

[CocoChanel]

Who gives a shit what you think the problem is with religion.

Let people believe what they want to believe and stop blaming religion for the people who choose to customize it.