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Quote:

Originally Posted by luxinterior

(Note: Pooping at school is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of).

Shitbreak!

Quote:

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

well you may be right, and i don't know the kind of evangelical christianity that you practice, but on this side of the atlantic we have a number of clowns who have hijacked the brains of the populace for their own political and financial ends. you will usually find them hollering "jesus" and hallellujas in every other sentence, and asking you for money on the tv, and screaming about being born again. assholes such as (to name a few)

jerry falwell (fortunately now dead)
jim bakker (ex-convict)
oral roberts
jack van impe
pat robertson (the 700 club)
jimmy swaggart
etc

and many, many many others-- many because it's a profitable con and a political force-- oh yes. i just don't remember all the name.

then there are scary types that are not necessarily on TV but who preach some of the most backwards and superstitions fundamentalism such as the southern baptists (the largest protestant denomination in america).

and then there are all manner of well-intentioned people who willingly flush their brains down the toilet and interpret the "bible" literally. i put that word in quotation marks because you have your jewish bible and then you have the gospel and what is what depends on who you talk to.

as long as people keep their beliefs to themselves i really have no problem, but when they try to keep others from living their lives as they see fit it becomes a war, and in that sense i do see myself at war with these people.

i did not intent to include you or many other innocent people in these categorizations; i have many friends and acquaintances that are, broadly speaking, christian, but none of them (obviously) are the lunatic fanatics that i've described above.

anyway, i forgot where i was going with this, but i invite you to watch a little of one of the groups i love to hate. or.. wait wait... you might appreciate this. start with 1 and follow the rest...

these are 2 separate documentaries:

1) "bible bashers"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U_B5SPkeNk

2) "the most hated family in america"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O228AQRvcqQ

then you'll realize what we're up against...

Thanks for the links - I'll try to remember to watch them tonight.

I'm very aware of what has happened to evangelical Christianity in America, and I can assure you that outside of your country, and a few African countries, the church is a much more tolerant and authentic creature.

In fact, it was only a few days ago that a theology teacher I was talking to used the verse from Jude (...certain men whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality...) to refer specifically to what is happening in the American Episcopal church. It's seen as pretty powerful condemnation of people like that. There are certain types of Christian, seemingly prevelant in the USA, who are a source of shame and embarrassment to the church of Christ.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Green_mind

What exactly do you learn?
Do you believe that everyone could become a better person if they were to believe in your religion?

What can we learn from each other? Tolerance, knowledge of our differences and similarities (too many people forget the common roots to Judaism, Islam and Christianity and therefore lose the potential fellowship). People seeking to be good can often make others see things in a different light, or with a new relevence. Cultural differences can be shared too.

As for your second question, I would have to say that most religions teach people to think more, on a daily basis, about trying to be good, whether that means acts of kindness or one's own moral behaviour. So yes, I think a part of religion is about becoming a better person. But that improvement should always be measured against oneself, not against others. It should absolutely not be a tool for one-upmanship.

And before anyone steps in, let me add that of course I realise that people can be good without religion. I know plenty of good, caring, moral people (including members of this board, of course) who are not religious.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everyneurotic

i found some christian comics in the bathroom of a cafeteria yesterday, the best part is that at the very very end of the preaching and promises of redemption and happiness in the after life, it says "buy the book by some greedy moron that will help you be a better christian" and in the back of the comic, it says that if you want some samples to spread the word of jesus to the people, to send $12.95 to somewhere in california and to get in touch with your local representative if in somewhere else in the world.

i collect all that crap, i find it really amusing. that $20 bill sounds more like a mean prank. i like the other pamphlets i got from ny this summer where they are disguised as publicity for dr phil's book but then turns into "jesus this, heaven that, repent, send me $50, blah blah".

I feel like listening to Leper Messiah

I'm shocked that nobody has mentioned chick tracts!

http://www.chick.com/default.asp

greatgoogliemooglies it's creeeeepy.

it's people like this that do a great disservice to faith.

This is nothing compared to this porn store I live near. There are religious groups camped out there 24 hours a day, and they take pictures of any cars that drive to or from that place. They've seriously been sitting there for THREE years, EVERY DAY. I pulled over, told them not to take my picture, got into a big argument with them about porn and how it wasn't wrong, how some people go to the store to buy lingerie and stuff and not just porn, and asked them if they just didn't have anything better to do with their miserable lives. They just said "You wouldn't argue you with us if you had god in your life" and "You'd understand if you followed the LORD, we're doing his work." I told them they were fucking pathetic and that I was going to go jack off to some porno I was about to buy. So, I walked off and they yelled, "Praise Jesus! Praise Jesus!" and my firend turned around and yelled, "NO!!!!!!! FUCK YOU." It was funny. So, we went in and bought porn and when we came out that tried to take our picture but we held GRAND THEFT ANAL 4 and NERDS OF PORN 3 over our faces so they got a nice screen grab of an Asian chick bent over with a cock in her ass and a nerdy chick with cum on her glasses.

Fucking "Christian" idiots. I mean, seriously, it's more ridiculously than it seems. They've rented space right next to this porn store and camp out in this huge tent and got all this AV equipment set up and it's like 5 people who take turns and they sit out there even on holidays and shit, ONLY to document people who buy porn.

i cussed out some dudes outside ACL this year who said i was going to hell
i told him to go fuck himself, go home, take her of his own family, and what not
it was pretty raw
everyone clapped

My church organized a protest against The Da Vinci Code movie. Funny story, I was driving my car and had my brother and his best friend Andrew in the back seat. We were passing the movie theater on the way to our house, and saw all the picket signs those people were holding up, and started talking about how ridiculous it all was. Andrew, who has the loudest voice I've ever heard in my life, leans out the window and yells, "WHAT KIND OF IDIOTS...

...GRANDMA!??"

hahahah!

I would love to organize together some athiests and show up at an evangelical church or any christian church and start protesting their bullshit.

can you imagine how irrational and insane we would be portrayed in the mass media?

yet these "religious" idiots are portrayed as being devout and high and mighty.

fuck their bullshit superstitions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by floatingslowly

I'm shocked that nobody has mentioned chick tracts!

http://www.chick.com/default.asp

greatgoogliemooglies it's creeeeepy.

it's people like this that do a great disservice to faith.

I man I met once gave me one of those. I made some pretty cool album artowork out of those pictures after I cut them all up

^ hot damn i would wish she was dead if my aunt pestered me in such a way. lucky for me, when i was little, my favorite aunt would feed me "esoteric" books, shit about the cathars, telepathic tibetans, UFOs, jesus was an alien, ancient giants, etc.

"dear chester.." -- for fucks sakes, what a pest. put her in a home.

I hate how these people give all the good, normal, respectful christians bad names. Thats the worst part of what they do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

this sunday, let's freak some people out

Quote:

Originally Posted by cryptowonderdruginvogue

this sunday, let's freak some people out

I want in!

Which reminds me that I read an article today that people who aren't religious are more likely to cheat on tests.

When I was a teenager my mother took me to all these church denominations. That's when I realized I did not want religion in my life. It was an utter waste of time and they steal all your money.

I think once, when they passed the basket around for donations, I took a dollar out of it.