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Author Topic: Religion  (Read 25058 times)

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Joost

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Re: Religion
« Reply #100 on: March 26, 2010, 10:07:26 AM »

Is this discussion centered around the belief of God in general, or Christianity?

Belief in God and religion are two different things. One is a gut feeling, the other is culturally determined learned behavior.
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Kevin

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Re: Religion
« Reply #101 on: March 26, 2010, 10:45:57 AM »

Belief in God and religion are two different things. One is a gut feeling, the other is culturally determined learned behavior.

Agree completely. I'm a card carrying aethiest but can see many positive things in religion. It is obviously an evolutionary tool that bonds societies together and makes them feel special. This of course has negative consequences as well. Believing your group to be "special or "chosen" has given many societies an excuse for some terrible things. But science and politics gave Hitler, Stalin. Mao and Pol Pot excuses to exterminate millions, so humans will twist anything. No one talks down evolution or science because it gave Hitler a rationale for the concentration camps.
Without religion we might well still be squatting in caves throwing rocks at bears. Whether that's a better life than the one we lead now is the rub.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2010, 11:26:31 AM by Kevin »
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sgt. peppie

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Re: Religion
« Reply #102 on: March 31, 2010, 01:24:57 AM »

I've got a question for Christians. How do you know what Jesus looks like? I'm honestly curious.
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Joost

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Re: Religion
« Reply #103 on: March 31, 2010, 06:57:46 AM »

I've got a question for Christians. How do you know what Jesus looks like? I'm honestly curious.


Good question. I think it's safe to say that He wasn't the tall, blue-eyed guy that you often see depicted. I think it's actually a bit sacriligious (and racist) that He's usually being depicted as an aryan because it's highly unlikely that He was. You just wouldn't have found too many aryans in Palestine 2000 years ago.

Based on historical descriptions, scientists came to the conclusion that it's more likely that He looked something like this:
« Last Edit: March 31, 2010, 07:01:59 AM by Joost »
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Kevin

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Re: Religion
« Reply #104 on: March 31, 2010, 10:27:19 AM »

Good question. I think it's safe to say that He wasn't the tall, blue-eyed guy that you often see depicted. I think it's actually a bit sacriligious (and racist) that He's usually being depicted as an aryan because it's highly unlikely that He was. You just wouldn't have found too many aryans in Palestine 2000 years ago.

Based on historical descriptions, scientists came to the conclusion that it's more likely that He looked something like this:



Rascist but probably necessary. In an a less enlightened age when contact with strangers, let alone strange looking foreigners was almost non existant, convincing ordinary folk that this was the son of The Almighty God might have been a tad hard. I think even now many people would have difficulty accepting that Jesus looks no different to the local kebab shop man.

But religious people don't have a monopoly on this kind of image manipulation. Remember your picture of the statue of Lennon from Cuba, where he's portrayed as a bare-footed peasant hero type chap (much more acceptable to a Communist regime than a borgouis (sp) millionaire driving around New York in limo's.)
« Last Edit: March 31, 2010, 12:50:28 PM by Kevin »
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Bobber

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Re: Religion
« Reply #105 on: March 31, 2010, 08:26:48 PM »

...accepting that Jesus looks no different to the local kebab shop man...

LOL!
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Sondra

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Re: Religion
« Reply #106 on: April 01, 2010, 08:01:04 AM »

Hey man, he was the son of God. He had to be pretty. That guy up there is just creepy! ;D ;D

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nyfan(41)

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Re: Religion
« Reply #107 on: April 01, 2010, 11:25:30 AM »



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nyfan(41)

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Re: Religion
« Reply #108 on: April 01, 2010, 11:28:52 AM »

^^ please don't have me wrong - i personally think jesus is a plagiarized version of egyptian sun god horus
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Joost

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Re: Religion
« Reply #109 on: April 01, 2010, 11:54:23 AM »

^^ please don't have me wrong - i personally think jesus is a plagiarized version of egyptian sun god horus

Almost all historians (not just the christian ones) agree that it's very likely that Jesus Christ really did excist. How much of his legend is true is, of course, another issue.
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Kevin

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Re: Religion
« Reply #110 on: April 01, 2010, 12:03:53 PM »

Almost all historians (not just the christian ones) agree that it's very likely that Jesus Christ really did excist. How much of his legend is true is, of course, another issue.

Go with that. It's whether you believe his claim to be the son of a divine supernatural being that things get a bit dodgy. And he wasn't the first (or last) man to claim to be descended from a god.
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emmi_luvs_beatles

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Re: Religion
« Reply #111 on: April 01, 2010, 02:37:14 PM »

My Aunt has this picture hanging in her livingroom....

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Jane

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Re: Religion
« Reply #112 on: April 01, 2010, 08:31:16 PM »

It absolutely doesn`t matter what he looked like. It is irrelevant.
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Joost

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Re: Religion
« Reply #113 on: April 01, 2010, 09:00:13 PM »

It absolutely doesn`t matter what he looked like. It is irrelevant.

That's true, but that's not the point here. Thing is that there are millions of people who worship him, but at the same time reject the person that he really was and go for a fictionalized version adjusted to their own preferences.
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nyfan(41)

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Re: Religion
« Reply #114 on: April 02, 2010, 11:30:02 AM »

this is a really interesting 3 part documentary about the origins of christianity
it presents the argument that the christ story is a metaphor for the sun and the zodiac
if you have a half hour - it's pretty good
.
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i'm not cosigning on it, but it's definitely thought provoking / informative
Zeitgeist [Religion] The Greatest Story Ever Sold (1of 3)

Zeitgeist [Religion] The Greatest Story Ever Sold (2 of 3)

Zeitgeist [Religion] The Greatest Story Ever Sold (3 of 3)
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