This is why Christianity is made fun of

[Wooduck51]

link 1
The dinosaour thing was new to me actually I had never noticed it before whe n I had been reading before.

Ahh, the fire-breathing "dinosaurs" that lived alongside humanity. By jove, what a fool I've been!

Did you read the entire dinosaur page?

[Omni Hunter]

It's pretty hard to define if religions are false or not , mainly because every religion has some history to prove it. I think the idea that something, be it God, a pantheon of Gods or whatever is nice, but I'm very much an atheist myself, but I don't need to believe a God to be a nice person, I buy the Big Issue, I've done charity work, I've slaved in a kitchen on a day off because the head chef got hammered and stoned.
True, I have my own views of what is right and wrong and it's the same in religious groups, I've come across devout Christians who think it's funny when they smack a football into my face and devout Christians who wouldn't hurt a fly.
I see religion like eye colour, some have blue, some have brown, it makes no difference which you have, but unlike religion, you can't change it. If someone has brown eyes then I'm fine with them but if they force me to wear brown contact lenses then I'll kick up a fuss.


The only thing I'm not too sure about is this Heaven/Hell/Nirvana/Valhalla thing, but as another potential plain of existence, it's as hard to prove as alternate dimensions.
I'll choose Valhalla though, sounds more of my thing.

[Crazy Penguin]

link 1
The dinosaour thing was new to me actually I had never noticed it before whe n I had been reading before.

Ahh, the fire-breathing "dinosaurs" that lived alongside humanity. By jove, what a fool I've been!

Did you read the entire dinosaur page?

Yes. And it's bollocks.

[Wooduck51]

Don't lump all Christians in with something like that please.

I said that because at the end of the Bible in Revalations it says:

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Chirstianity doesn't dumb down the Bible, Individuals do.

Yes. And it's bollocks.

Your doing what I did the first portion of this thread.

[j-man]

Chirstianity doesn't dumb down the Bible, Individuals do.

Yes, Christian individuals. No other individuals from any other fucking religion. Did you even read what I said? You're still missing the point by a few thousand miles.

[Wooduck51]

Chirstianity doesn't dumb down the Bible, Individuals do.

Yes, Christian individuals. No other individuals from any other fucking religion. Did you even read what I said? You're still missing the point by a few thousand miles.

But the question you must ask is are they really Christians? I don't know the people so I can't pass judgement on them, but I must question them if they are screwing with the Bible. A person can say that they are something and not be you know.

[j-man]

Why would a non-Christian spend all that time essentially "translating" the whole fucking Bible for a teenage audience?

[Wooduck51]

To confuse people more than they already are? There can be misguided Christians also. The real problem is that a teen should be more than capable of processing the information without someone "translating it" into something Extreme. For younger Children I see no problem with the Bible stories though. And having study points in with the Bible is also fine, as long as they are made separate. And before I go on to much, Is this extreme teen thing a Bible with study stuff in it or is it actually some kind of bible that is totally reworded?

And we have switched to a different topic than a couple posts ago, I got the information you wanted, Crazy Penguin was the only one who even really mentioned it.

Edit: if it is not a rewording of the Bible, But instead a Bible with discussions about it in between then I could go with the "it does make it easier" theory, if all the questions that someone might ask about anything is already in there also, it saves the parents the time it would take to actually have a discussion with their kid.

[Locit]

The correct answer was "money".

And J-man, I don't hink it's as big an endeavor as you might think it is to change the linguistics of the Bible. Each version of the Bible is meant to (hopefully) be as accurate as possible to its source material, and there isn't really a 'definitive' version, especially not in an extreme form. More likely than not they used a previous, very direct and straightforward translation (one without 'thee's and 'thou's) and then added daily lessons about how to follow lessons from the Bible in your daily life or some junk like that. It is unlikely that the text itself was actually dumbed down, but that doesn't mean slapping "extreme" before any religious text is anywhere near a sensible idea. However, there is big money in Bible printing, and oftentimes Christian schools will order a great many 'student' Bibles for their students taking 'religion' (i.e. Christianity) class and include the expense in the tuition fees. In this way it is concievable that the administration of many such schools could think "Hey, an extreme Bible! That's just what we need to get the kiddoes enthusiastic about their Lord and Savior". So some guys get make a cheap buck off of another 'version' of the Bible and a bunch of students get a cheap laugh when they see the title of the text they're supposed to be reading from.

[Esrever]

There are a lot of essentially "for dummies" books about eastern religions, too. I think the common thread among all these types of books is not the religion, but the audience (Americans) or perhaps just the authors (white people.)

[Wooduck51]

Locit and Ersever more or less win that discussion.

[Crazy Penguin]

Your doing what I did the first portion of this thread.

Can you back up the claim that dinosaurs were created one day before humanity, existed alongside humanity and breathed fire?

There are a lot of essentially "for dummies" books about eastern religions, too. I think the common thread among all these types of books is not the religion, but the audience (Americans) or perhaps just the authors (white people.)

Probably the latter, because the Brits have got in on it too!


http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1841012173
http://us.geocities.com/Axiom43/cockneybible.html

Jesus heals some geezer
(Matthew 8; 1 - 4, Luke 5; 12 - 16)

THERE was this geezer who had leprosy (some dodgy skin disease), and he came to Jesus, fell on his biscuits and said, "If you want to, please make me clean."
Jesus felt really sorry for the geezer. He stretched out his Ramsgate and touched the geezer, Jesus said, "Be clean."
Well would you Adam and Eve it, the disease left the geezer immediately and he was clean.
Jesus then said quite seriously to him as he sent him on his way, "Now don't tell anyone about this, will ya? Go straight to the priest and he'll check you out, and then make sure you offer up a little sacrifice that Moses rabbit and porked about and that'll prove to all the prople that you're clean.
But the geezer was so happy, he started to tell people everywhere what had happened. In fact, he rabbit and porked about it so much that Jesus couldn't go into town publicly. He 'ad to stay out in the country, and people came to see him from all over the place.

[Popcorn]

I just found these on Youtube, and they're both relevant to the topic at hand and extremely interesting:

Early this year, British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who is one of the most famous opponenets to theism in modern thinking and the author of 'The Selfish Gene' and other books, did a two-part documentary for BBC about what he perceives to be the dangers of religious thinking.

I have to say-- and you may not be surprised in hearing this-- that I by and large agree with everything he says. He is, however, somewhat sensationalist in his approach from time to time (the opening lines being a good example of this). Nonetheless, I think this is a really fascinating documentary and I advise everyone to watch it.

Additionally, in the footage of him from the 70s/80s I think you'll agree that he really used to be quite attractive. Or at least, y'know, that's what I'd be saying that if I were gay. Which I'm not.

Part 1-1: http://www.youtube.com/?v=CPaD6D54L4o
Part 1-2: http://www.youtube.com/?v=TUy-Uq3WuhA
Part 1-3: http://www.youtube.com/?v=8GgD3lgspQE

Part 2-1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcKInudkq4
Part 2-2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T27Ef_xvYMs
Part 2-3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPBdz-TXlaI
Part 2-4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTKLM09FeNM
Part 2-5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwD9HOrjLRw
Part 2-6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGLPViVW5ms

I'm pretty sure I got those right, but if any are wrong, slap me hard and I'll fix it. (Otherwise, it's not too hard to find it all yourself on Youtube.)

Oh, and here's a taster: a highlight of the series, most agree. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmNjfpoRZpE

[Wooduck51]

To make a small point, Real Christians will not go around killing other people in the name of Christianity.

[Popcorn]

To make a small point, Real Christians will not go around killing other people in the name of Christianity.

Yes we know.

Not, of course, that there can even be such a thing as a 'real Christian', because no one person's interpretation of Christianity makes any more sense than the other, and blah blah blah blah blah read the damn thread

[Delphine]

Real Christians will not go around killing other people in the name of Christianity.

Right. And Real Boys don't cry and Real Girls wear makeup.

[Zeta]

To make a small point, Real Christians will not go around killing other people in the name of Christianity.

And some other Christians will say that no Real Christian would ever let a sinner live. Who are you supposed to believe when each side says the other is wrong, based on a document thousands of years old written about events that didn't happen in the first place?

[Light Speed]

To make a small point, Real Christians will not go around killing other people in the name of Christianity.

What about all the Holy Wars, the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades. Those were all led by some of the most devout christians. Were they not real Christians or have times changed?

[Majestic Joey]

Is there a bible for dummies?

[Plorpus III]

^Yes, I own it.

One thing I simply can't understand is why Christians are so faithful to the current New Testament, considering it has been confirmed that entire passages have been erased or modified. At least in the Torah, everything is the same as it was several thousand years ago.
I understand trying to argue against the blind faith side is kind of like headbutting a brick wall in more ways than one, but here's a couple of questions for the Jesus jubilee.

1) We have seen evolution happen in unicellular organisms, including the recent bird-flu epidemic. We have seen genetic mutations of the same type occur in multicellular organisms. DNA testing only supports evolution. In all honesty, how can you not accept its existance when evolution is happening before our eyes?

2) What are your opinions on the monumental changes in the bible over time, done by the known to be corrupt at the time catholic church?

3) Considering you seem to believe Genesis to be literal, I am assuming that you take Revelations literally as well. How do you account for all the stars in the sky faling to Earth (twice, however that works), when we know that stars are massive superheated balls of gas?

4)When did God say it was okay for you guys to stop keeping kosher? I mean, come on, in the Bible, eating shellfish is as bad as sodomy! Did I miss the part in the New Testiment where God comes down and says, "Hey guys, you can eat pork now. Just don't tell the Jews."?

5) Most importantly, WHY do you think Christianity is the correct religion? What makes it any more believable than Islam or Hinduism or Greek Mythology?

I'd like to end this post by showing you a couple of images.

This is the Earth. Everything and everyone you've known is all on this sphere.

Here is the distance between the Earth and the moon.
Here is a scaled model of the Solar system. The planets in the little white box are Venus, Earth, and mars. The distance between the moon and Earth is not even visible here.
This is our galaxy, made of billions of stars like our own sun. Every little sparkle you can see is several stars.
This is the known universe. Each of these is a galaxy like our own. We know this extends farther than we can see, infinately expanding.
Now I ask you, what is the point? Why would God create all this just for an infintessimal speck in the endless sea of the universe?

I apologize as I am half asleep and this probably makes little to no sense.

[Wooduck51]

To make a small point, Real Christians will not go around killing other people in the name of Christianity.

Since as a Christian your main goal is to try and Bring unbelievers to Christ,
it is fucking unproductive to kill people when they don't agree

I believe the Spanish inquisition and the Holy wars were driven by the Roman Catholic Church. Though there are catholic individuals who are Christians, The Roman Catholic Church is not to be trusted ever, the church is most definitely not christian. You mentioned Idols? look no further. The Catholic Church has caused more misunderstanding and problems in general through confusion and deception; my point though is that the Holy wars and the Spanish inquisition were sure as heck not Christian, they were a tool for the Catholic church to gain more power under the "guise" of Christianity, the people who thought they were doing what the Bible said were being lied to by the Church leaders, as they did not get Bibles to actually check for themselves, or the Bibles that did get out were already butchered.

And plorpus, for the science questions read the first link I gave and go to the evolution page. And when Christ died he fulfilled the law, and freed people from the curse of the law.

[smiths32]

)When did God say it was okay for you guys to stop keeping kosher? I mean, come on, in the Bible, eating shellfish is as bad as sodomy! Did I miss the part in the New Testiment where God comes down and says, "Hey guys, you can eat pork now. Just don't tell the Jews."?

I think it does say it somewhere, I'll have a look, I know it says it about cirumcession. However there's a good chance that you are right and really it just goes to show that we Christians are far from perfect in terms of following our religion. As many of you have stated we have caused wars, often do not love our neighbour as we should and forget the 10 Commandments amongst other sins. Which really boils down to the human heart itself and its imperfections.

[Locit]

It does indeed say that all animals are free for the eatin' in the new testament, and it is indeed pretty much an instace of Jesus appearing in a vision and saying: "Go on, eat pork! It's really pretty tasty!". I think the Jews were informed, but being, well, Jews, they weren't about to take any anti-kosher proclomations from someone claiming they saw the Son of God. It also says many things that indicate we are supposed to (or at least could without any hesitation) make many new allowances that could include accepting women as clergy members and not excluding people based on their sexuality. This is especially evident in the new testament recounting of a married pair of missionaries in which the woman was the more important of the two and actually acted as a preacher. As long as I've been able to ask nobody has ever given me a convincing answer as to why Christians have accepted the end of kosher (among other things) and not the end of said other practices.

Concerning Revelation, it is generally accepted as a book meant to be interpreted as metaphorical, though that is not to say that it isn't interpreted otherwise by people wishing to perhaps cash in on the apocalypse (see: Left Behind). Most view it as a message to always be ready and never to get laxidasical about spreading Christ's message. The Genesis account of creation is also now being widely accepted as a metaphorical account of the formation of the world, and has been for a while. It's just that there are enough fundamentalists out there that are loud enough about what they think that people (not without reason) assume that their stance is the only thing Christians believe.

[Omni Hunter]

To be honest, wouldn't everyone have a slightly different take on their faith anyway? The words may be the same but everyone will take what they read differently, otherwise everyone would be blowing themselves up or getting on just damn fine.
That alone proves there isn't such a thing as a true Chrisian, because there are so many factors that adapt what you take the message to be.

The Roman Catholic Church is not to be trusted ever, the church is most definitely not christian.

You know what, they'd say the exactly the same thing about you, because you believe in a different form of Christianity.
You could argue, but they will argue right back because OHNOES, it comes down to a matter of opinion, as I have pointed out immediately above.


So you aren't just saying that other religions are wrong, your saying that all people who don't believe in your form of your own faith is wrong.

[Locit]

I think you're going a little overboard with the whole "Catholics are the devil" thing there too. They just believe a slightly different version of what you do, and the basics of their faith are the same as yours. I'm not sure why you're attacking them for what has happened in the past of their church when protestants are no better: witch burnings, intense hatred of Catholics, abuse of mission opportunities to force people into Christianity or die of starvation and/or lack of water, televangelism, etc.