Don't Shave you Beards !

Originally posted by Regret
Agnosticism is a belief in the possibility of a deity. Your statement to a stance on agnosticism is still a behavior based on the possible existence of deity. It is still personal religion. The only nonreligious stance is atheism.

That's not true. It may exist or it may not, neither of which concern me.

I don't believe there is a God, but am not foolish enough to say there definitely is not one without some sort of evidence.

Still, religion is outdated. More and more people are showing that they do not need religion to show they they love others or won't go on a killing spree.

Originally posted by debbiejo
IT'S ONLY A JEWISH RELIGION......

Originally posted by debbiejo
No.... trace all the roots of it.....it is only a Jewish belief just many in the whole world wide........ Celtic, Scandinavian, native American, etc. etc...............only another belief system .......only the Samaritan and older cultures had the names.........They were changed with the Roman Catholic church,

Debbie, quote yourself any more and I might start to wonder as to your socking for JIA 😆

Originally posted by Mr. Sandman
Still, religion is outdated. More and more people are showing that they do not need religion to show they they love others or won't go on a killing spree.

I think you are wrong. People in general perform acts of kindness in mediocrity without religion. Those that perform acts of kindness above the mediocre that do not have a religious view are not the norm.

Originally posted by Regret
I think you are wrong. People in general perform acts of kindness in mediocrity without religion. Those that perform acts of kindness above the mediocre that do not have a religious view are not the norm.

Woah, hold up there buddy...I seriously beg to differ.

It has been my experience, that the kindest people in general happen to be open minded liberals, and very few I have met have been Christians. Are all Liberals/Athiests/Agnostics good people? No, but I have met more people in those categories who display kindness and sympathy, while the majority of hateful. judgemental, and prejudice people I have encountered or seen from a distance happen to be Christian.

Why do you imagine I have such a personal dislike of Christianity in general? Do you think its the religion ITSELF I dislike so much? No....its the multitudes of close minded, hypocritical, and judgemental people who represent Christianity that make me sick of the religion itself.

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
Woah, hold up there buddy...I seriously beg to differ.

It has been my experience, that the kindest people in general happen to be open minded liberals, and very few I have met have been Christians. Are all Liberals/Athiests/Agnostics good people? No, but I have met more people in those categories who display kindness and sympathy, while the majority of hateful. judgemental, and prejudice people I have encountered or seen from a distance happen to be Christian.

Why do you imagine I have such a personal dislike of Christianity in general? Do you think its the religion ITSELF I dislike so much? No....its the multitudes of close minded, hypocritical, and judgemental people who represent Christianity that make me sick of the religion itself.

I am not saying they act any better. I am stating that, imo, man needs something to promote behaving in a loving manner. That religion or something like it is needed as impetus for man to be better.

Originally posted by Regret
Debbie, quote yourself any more and I might start to wonder as to your socking for JIA 😆

I know. WTF? 😛 Even I don't quote and argue with myself.

Originally posted by Shalimar_fox
i can't tell you that becuase i'm not god.

I don't think I was actually intending you to answer as a god, but rather as a rational person.

...mmmm...rationality....doesn't grow on trees you know.

Originally posted by Alliance
...mmmm...rationality....doesn't grow on trees you know.

Regretably.

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
[b]HOW IS THE OLD TESTAMENT RELEVANT IF YOU ARE NO LONGER BOUND TO FOLLOW ITS RULES? IF YOU ARE TRULY FREE FROM THE RESTRICTIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, THEN HOW IS IT STILL IMPORTANT? WHAT F*CKING PURPOSE DOES IT SERVE IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO ABIDE BY IT ANY LONGER?????!????~

The fkn contradictions that surround Christian Faith and the Bible itself become more and more plentiful the more time goes by.... 🙄

Indeed he is my freind, Indeed he is. 😄 [/B]

Originally posted by Bardock42
And who decides which parts of the scripture you go by and which you don't? Did you finally find what we atheists had all along...freedom?

And your freedom shall in turn be slavery, Bardock.

Originally posted by Capt_Fantastic
Jesus had a beard. It said so in the New Testament. Just like hating ****, women and black people.

What? It wasn't mentioned? Because it was written by people four centuries later?!!! Not possible!

Originally posted by Alliance
I know. WTF? 😛 Even I don't quote and argue with myself.

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
Woah, hold up there buddy...I seriously beg to differ.

It has been my experience, that the kindest people in general happen to be open minded liberals, and very few I have met have been Christians. Are all Liberals/Athiests/Agnostics good people? No, but I have met more people in those categories who display kindness and sympathy, while the majority of hateful. judgemental, and prejudice people I have encountered or seen from a distance happen to be Christian.

Why do you imagine I have such a personal dislike of Christianity in general? Do you think its the religion ITSELF I dislike so much? No....its the multitudes of close minded, hypocritical, and judgemental people who represent Christianity that make me sick of the religion itself.

You are wrong ! 😆 I'm gonna do a JIA, and argue with myself too

Originally posted by FeceMan
Simply because we are no longer bound to obeying the Law to the letter does not mean that it is obsolete. Rather, the OT is an excellent teaching tool. It gives insight into God's character. It also means that we don't have to kill people for certain sins--like bestiality. However, it does not mean that certain things are not sinful.

But they do not matter if the laws are no longer relevant, does it ?

Shaving your beard is a Sin in the Old Testament, but suddenly because Jesus arrived, it is no longer a sin? Then why bother having it written? You say as a guideline, a guideline for what?

Why do we need to be told not to shave our beards if it no longer applies ? This makes me beleive that a lot of the Bible is inapplicable today (as if i already didnt beleive that) 🙄

The more you study the Bible, and follow it's teachings, the Jewish you become............Hence denominations like WWCG, and SDA, and also Seventh day Baptists..........

Originally posted by Regret
I am not saying they act any better. I am stating that, imo, man needs something to promote behaving in a loving manner. That religion or something like it is needed as impetus for man to be better.

Hmmm. Perhaps, motivation is needed for many things a person does in life. But I think there are any number of things - society, image awareness, philosophy, education, family etc. that fulfill the same roll as a religion in motivating a person to contribute positivly to the world.

I don't think a person needs God to be good, to do great things.

Originally posted by Imperial_Samura
Hmmm. Perhaps, motivation is needed for many things a person does in life. But I think there are any number of things - society, image awareness, philosophy, education, family etc. that fulfill the same roll as a religion in motivating a person to contribute positivly to the world.

I don't think a person needs God to be good, to do great things.

Not all people, there are those that are good and do great things without religion, but they are a severe minority. On the whole, man fails at being good, even with religion, imo. The absence of religion would be a detriment to man's attempts at being good.

Originally posted by Regret
Not all people, there are those that are good and do great things without religion, but they are a severe minority. On the whole, man fails at being good, even with religion, imo. The absence of religion would be a detriment to man's attempts at being good.

Hmmm. I'd say, as the whole, while man might fail at being good, that doesn't mean he succeeds at being bad. For most part people are just people - not profoundly good or bad, they go through life closer to the middle.

However they are more likely to do little goods then little bads - depending on how one defines and levels good. One acting as a good parent would be more a majority, and there needn't be anything religious about it.

But as I was saying - society (well most) and education socially exhort a person to be good. People are taught from a young age (hopefully) that it is better to be good then bad - be it awards in school that honor moral concepts to bravery awards for adults. Likewise the whole "image awareness" issue - or what some call Rich Man Charity - were positive image reinforcement is associated with acts of charity, social contribution and the like. Really I don't see nonreligious people who do good things as a minority.

Originally posted by Imperial_Samura
Hmmm. I'd say, as the whole, while man might fail at being good, that doesn't mean he succeeds at being bad. For most part people are just people - not profoundly good or bad, they go through life closer to the middle.

However they are more likely to do little goods then little bads - depending on how one defines and levels good. One acting as a good parent would be more a majority, and there needn't be anything religious about it.

But as I was saying - society (well most) and education socially exhort a person to be good. People are taught from a young age (hopefully) that it is better to be good then bad - be it awards in school that honor moral concepts to bravery awards for adults. Likewise the whole "image awareness" issue - or what some call Rich Man Charity - were positive image reinforcement is associated with acts of charity, social contribution and the like. Really I don't see nonreligious people who do good things as a minority.

By minority I am referring to the great men, not people as a whole. Typically great men in history have been religious.

It is an interesting subject, but in our world it is impossible to empirically study whether or not people would be good without religion. There is no method to remove the influence of religion on society, given that all moral teachings, to my knowledge, have basis in some religion, I am not sure that "good" behavior is something that would be produced without religion. Now, I am biased in that view because I believe in religion, and thus man didn't invent religion. If man invented religion, then religion is unnecessary to "good" behavior.

Ah, I am with you on now on the "great man" bit, though of course at the end of the day it was the men themselves that did great things, religion merely motivated - theoretically.

And of course it is religion in general - the many great men and women there have been throughout history have backgrounds in any number of different and varied religions. Theoretically then if there is one "true" religion out there, then the others must have there origins in the minds of man, making plenty of them man made, which would simply lead to the conclusion that it, the good act, still rests with mankind itself.