pessimist,
The purpose of religion in any society is to be the source of hope and inner peace, a refuge from the harsh realities of daily life and the things people do to each other. It is to be a model of a better world that we should be striving to create out of the raw material we have.
But this 'better world' remains idealistic, because in the pursuit of that better world, believers revert to the worst aspects of humanity in order to create their version of that better world. This may have been going on as long as someone could point up into the sky and claim that some undefineable cloud being 'told' some deluded bully that he was to force everyone else to follow him - or else. With the threatened execution of this Afghan Christian, Islam fits that bill.
That's the best description of the religion and best description of how current society is...
JUST AWESOME!
I always don't like any one with too much trust or belief in Imams, Cardinal, or Swamis. One can approach them for guidance, just like getting advice from a friend, nothing more.
Once a person gets all input, one has to make a decision what's good for them as they ONLY they know what's best for them.
You made my day!!!
Th prps f Mn's rlgn s t pt n shw, prng cntmpt n Gd's prfct pln f slvtn whch s th crcfxn, dth, brl nd rsrrctn f hs nly bgttn sn, Jss Chrst.
"What one wants from one's religion is a sense of peace and a sense of hope in order to face life another day. And all that matters is that peace and hope arrive to provide that solace."
Pessimist, wonderful post. Yes, you are correct that one seeks peace and hope through religion. Those who have matured in their religious beliefs have roots that go deep and have a vast understanding about those beliefs, while others never grow beyond the infantile stage. It is this infantile stage that many Fundamentalists never grow out of.
Posted by Judith at March 24, 2006 05:50 AMA couple points:
(1) Perhaps this tragic and outrageous story might help explain a little better to those who seem not to understand why James Madison said that both religion and government will exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together, and why we must maintain and fortify Jefferson's wall of separation between Church and state.
(2) As we seek (or purport to seek) to spread "democracy," whether through ill-conceived war plans or misplaced attacks on "activist" judges and an independent judiciary, perhaps this tragedy can also help drive home the greatness of our inherently undemocratic Constitution, which limits the powers of what would undoubtedly be a tyrannical majority. Our founders knew full well that liberty and pure democracy could not coincide, and we'd best not forget that our greatest innovation - a Republic based upon a power-confining, written Constitution - draws lines that even a majoritarian legislature and an elected president may not cross.
Posted by Liveliest Crib at March 24, 2006 06:33 AMI doubt anyone is still looking at this thread but I just read the post so here goes:
Some years ago there was a show on God and/or religion moderated by Bill Moyers. I rarely could find it though. I think it was pre-empted most weeks. What struck me was how civil, dignified and intelligent all the people were. They were church clerics or theology professors, representatives of different religions. The fact that they listened to each other, were respectful, with few interruptions, was so impressive to me, especially considering the subject matter.
Posted by Sharon at March 25, 2006 03:57 AMm gld drppd by t kll lttl tm. pprct ll f th bv cmmnts. Bndt, sspct y’r my brthr; dn’t knw whr y r t sprtlly, s dn’t lt ny f my pst psts cs pst. Tht ld syng, ‘whn n Rm, d s th Rmns,’ s Bblclly grndd. nc ndrstd tht th Bbl s th nly Trth, hd t rrrng, r trg, cnsdrbl mnt f wrldly dctn wthn th Bblcl frmwrk. Thrfr, m llwd t b pprntly rthlss whl tkng dvntg f th slly ssmptns f kk mn-md ntns f slf-mprtnc.
Pss, Bndt crrctly dntfd yr wknss: rltvsm. Thr s n sch thng s mlln ‘trths.’ Thr s ndd rlgn-cntrsm: th Bbl, nd, h, hw r mdrn clt f Sclr Hmnsts, th px f fls rlgns, ht t hr tht thr s n Trth n xstnc. Fr, y s, r Hmnsts trly blv tht ll rlgns r mn-md, ncldng thr wn. Ths blf prps p thr wn ssmptns f slf-ltsm bsd pn vrs ‘scntfc‘ strtgs f hstrcl xplntns, whl flshly dnyng Jhvh‘s xstnc lng wth thr ftr ccntblty t Hm.
Crb, yr scnd pnt wrks wll. Hwvr, b dvsd tht Jffrsn, nd t lst th rly Mdsn, dd nt wnt wll btwn Chrstnty nd th Stt, bt wntd th Stt t nt ntrfr wth Chrstnty. ls, whnvr th wrd ’rlgn’ ws sd drng th 18th nd th frst hlf f th 19th cntrs, thy wr thnkng f ’Chrstnty.’ Thy hd n d tht w wld dvlv nt th scl chs f tdy whr w r frcd nt th mprl Hbrs f rlgtng tr Chrstnty nt th md-mn scrp hp f myrd f kk rlgns ll bsd pn mn’s d f slf-mprtnc. Th frmrs f th Cnstttn wld b shckd nd trgd tht th S wld llw nt nly Cthlcs, bt slm, Bddhsm, Hndsm, Cnfcnsm, Wtchcrft, Sclr Hmnsm, nd th thr hndrd frms f Pgnsm wthn r brdrs. Frthr, th frmrs wld blnch ftr lrnng hw hghr dctn, tslf prdct f Chrstnty (hghr lrnng ws crtn f Chrstn prncpls) hd frgmntd nt bstns f Stnc wpns md t dstry th tr mssg f th Bbl. Thr dgnss: th nt-Chrst s pwrflly t wrk.
Thr s n xcs fr th scl cndtns f tdy, thr thn tht wht w s tdy s mrly n xtnsn f r nntly vl ntr. Fr, vl s s vl ds. Th dd thng hr, s tht vl ppl cn sly nt vl n vryn ls bt thmslvs. Wht ls s nw?
The Bible was written by men.
Posted by Sharon at March 25, 2006 11:21 AMShrn, y my b srprsd t lrn tht nrly ll chrch ldrs f tdy’s rgnzd rlgn thr gr wth y, r vw th Bbl s cllctn f myths, r blv th Bbl hs cpl hndrd rrrs, ll th whl prppng n frnt thr ‘prfssn’ f lgtmtng th xtrnl chrch nstttn. Ths gys r spd n trsh thnkng lngsd thr vltn frnds nd crprt bdds. ndd, tht’s why thy cll thmslvs ‘prfssnl’ pstrs wllng th sll thmslvs t mnstrm cltr s tht thy my drv Lxs nd ps mprtnt. Snd fmlr?
Thr r 66 bks f th Bbl wth bt 38 thrs, ll wth th sm thm. n fct, th ld Tstmnt thrs, fr th mst prt, hdn’t cl s t wht thy wr wrtng. Thy wr wrtng jst wht Gd tld thm t wrt; w s pctr f ths wth Mss nd Jrmh. n 2 Ptr, f rcll, Chrst gn tlls s hw th Bbl ws wrttn, sng dffrnt wrds: ‘Hly mn f ld spk s Gd th Hly Sprt mvd thm,’ r wrds t th sm. Sm f th Nw Tstmnt wrtrs dd nt flly ndrstnd wht thy wr wrtng, bt thy hd mr nfrmtn vlbl d t dvlpng vnts tht xplnd ld Tstmnt crmnl lws, rls, nd prcdrs.
Chrst hs mny nms: Jss, Jhvh, Fthfl, nd mny mr; hwvr, H lvd t cll Hmslf th ‘Wrd.’ Th Bbl s th ‘Wrd.’ T frthr cmplct thngs, th bv s nly rvld t th ‘chsn/lct.’ Ths s why w hv nt nly s mny tht fl t s vl n th Bbl, bt mny ‘thlgns,’ r chrch ldrs, tht vw th Bbl s myth nd thr chrch jb s ny thr ‘jb.’ Ths w nt chrchs bcmng xctly s th tsd cltr: hnrng hmsxls, th dvrcd, wmn s thrty fgrs, trtng th chrch s cmmnty cntr, tc. Thy dn’t tch th Bbl; thy tch th tsd cltr: Bbyln!
Rgrdng mn/wmn n th Bbl. Chrst st-p mn s dmnnt vr wmn fr rsns mntnd rly n Gnss nd ltr n Crnthns nd fw thr plcs. H ls st-p strct rls f mn-wmn bhvr tht lwys rvlvd rnd hnrng th wf. H dsgnd wmn t b th cntr f th fmly, wth th hsbnd hnrng th wf’s pstn s th vry ncls f th fmly. Yt, Chrst ls st-p chn f cmmnd: Hmslf, thn th hsbnd, thn th wf, thn th chldrn. Ths s mch s r mltry. T dstry ths chn f cmmnd s smply nthr ct f rblln gnst Chrst. t s ths chn f cmmnd tht rslts n mst f th Bbl bng wrttn thrgh mn, wth th xcptn f prhps sthr nd Rth, nd fw sctns n Jdgs.
f y dslk sm, r ll f th bv, wll, jn th prty. r cltr f rblln dslks whl lt mr thn jst th bv; nd whn th tm cms t rlz th Trth, thy wll hv t swllw rthr lrg bttr pll.
Yes, Sharon, The bible was written by power mongering, male chauvinist earthly bipeds, without any invisible help.
Even Job didn't have the patience to read a scout post.
Posted by TIKI AL at March 25, 2006 01:27 PM