Are you religious?

[simon12]

Just wondering as I have considered starting threads that would have little interest for those not religious. I didn't put Muslim on the answers as I assume they don't home brew and am interested in if there is anyone not included in the categories.

 

[MickDundee]

I have some opinions about organised religion that would probably offend a lot of religious people and I personally don’t believe in anything.

However I certainly don’t judge people for believing what they want to believe (my dad’s sister’s family are very happy-crappy religious and my pal who was best man at my wedding was president of his University’s Catholic society and travels to Lourdes every summer) but it’s not for me.

 

[Gulpitdarn]

I chose 'Other' because although I am a Christian, I don't go to a church as such, I go to twice a week meetings. :-)

 

[Dutto]

Whoa there! I think it only fair that the Muslim faith and Judaism should have been included in the Poll.

I say this as a person who has been accused to being "Anti-Semitic" and a "lover of Muslims" because:

1. I AM a Member of the Labour Party.
2. I DO NOT approve of the Israeli Government actions in Palestine.

Personally, I am a very poor Christian ( i.e. I fail miserably to follow some Christian teachings and I'm critical of the way some people and organisations present such teachings to further their own ends).

 

[kelper]

I've been a staunch atheist since I was twelve. I went to a CoE boarding school but stopped going to the compulsory Cathedral services and just kept my head down. As Mencken said,

We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.
— H L Mencken, Minority Report (1956), quoted from Jonathon Green, The Cassell Dictionary of Insulting Quotations

 

[simon12]

I'm critical of the way some people and organisations present such teachings to further their own ends).

Just like Jesus and the apostles where

 

[An Ankoù]

I have some opinions about organised religion that would probably offend a lot of religious people and I personally don’t believe in anything.

However I certainly don’t judge people for believing what they want to believe (my dad’s sister’s family are very happy-crappy religious and my pal who was best man at my wedding was president of his University’s Catholic society and travels to Lourdes every summer) but it’s not for me.

I think I would probably share those opinions.

Whoa there! I think it only fair that the Muslim faith and Judaism should have been included in the Poll.

I say this as a person who has been accused to being "Anti-Semitic" and a "lover of Muslims" because:

1. I AM a Member of the Labour Party.
2. I DO NOT approve of the Israeli Government actions in Palestine.

Personally, I am a very poor Christian ( i.e. I fail miserably to follow some Christian teachings and I'm critical of the way some people and organisations present such teachings to further their own ends).

1- I used to be a member of the Labour Party until recently. I'll join again if they get their act together. In the meantime I've turned Green, Not as green as Gunge, or Bruce Banner, but green nonetheless.
2- If denouncing the pariah state of Israel and standing up for the Palestinians constitutes anti-Semitism in this crazy world then I'm proud to be called so. But note I would stand up for the cause of any Jew who is being persecuted for the same reason that I back the Palestinians- because they're being persecuted.
3- I'm so glad you're a poor Christian, but are you sure? Don't listen to the shiite the CofE and the Cathos say about good old Jesus meek and mild. He was nothing of the sort. Read the Gospels for yourself and see that he was a complete hell-raiser, subversive of the established order of the day, far from being a pacifist ( I have not come to bring peace, but the sword) and a racist (It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs) to a Canaanite woman. In short, a complete pain in the butt. Excellent fellow. And, just like you and me, a son of God! (Whatever that means).

 

[An Ankoù]

Just wondering as I have considered starting threads that would have little interest for those not religious. I didn't put Muslim on the answers as I assume they don't home brew and am interested in if there is anyone not included in the categories.

I think you should have included Jews and Muslims. I'd love to know how many Muslim home brewers we've got on the forum.
Is New Age and Pagan the same?
Mainstream Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism are as unalike as chalk and cheese and I don't think the Sikhs would like to lumped in with the other two.

 

[Gulpitdarn]

I think you should have included Jews and Muslims. I'd love to know how many Muslim home brewers we've got on the forum.
Is New Age and Pagan the same?
Mainstream Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism are as unalike as chalk and cheese and I don't think the Sikhs would like to lumped in with the other two.

At the end of the day, no matter what religion or no religion one belongs to... We are all just the same!

 

[Dutto]

Just like Jesus and the apostles where

Er ... I don't think so and I use the parable of "The Good Samaritan" to point this out.

Consider a situation where "The will of God." is seen as being sacrosanct. This system means that anyone who interferes with the status of another person may be acting against "The will of God." It is still prevalent within some religions!

When the man in the ditch was robbed and left for dead by robbers people "passed by on the other side"; and so they might because by going to the man's aid, they could have been accused of going against "The will of God."

It was "The will of God" whether or not the man survived or died in that ditch and by helping him the "Good Samaritan" took onboard ALL of the responsibilities and debts that the man had incurred. i.e. IF the man subsequently died then the "Good Samaritan" had to pay off ALL of his debts and became responsible for ALL of the man's responsibilities.

Think about it. If the man died, the "Good Samaritan" had to look after ANYONE who was dependant on the man. i.e. his wife (or wives), his children, his parents, his grand-parents, his employees, his creditors, etc etc.

Please check out ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law

... where you will see that the Laws under which most of us live are part of the religion that was being advocated by "Jesus and the Apostles"!

The people I rail against (instead of forgiving them) are those that use religion as a weapon.

 

[kelper]

I've no wish to offend but the following applies to all religions..........

"The man who prays is the one who thinks that god has arranged matters all wrong, but who also thinks that he can instruct god how to put them right."

Christopher Hitchens

 

[An Ankoù]

At the end of the day, no matter what religion or no religion one belongs to... We are all just the same!

We all drink the same beer and we're all men together. Not like them limp-wristed lager drinkers!
Only joking.

 

[Gulpitdarn]

Er ... I don't think so and I use the parable of "The Good Samaritan" to point this out.

Consider a situation where "The will of God." is seen as being sacrosanct. This system means that anyone who interferes with the status of another person may be acting against "The will of God." It is still prevalent within some religions!

When the man in the ditch was robbed and left for dead by robbers people "passed by on the other side"; and so they might because by going to the man's aid, they could have been accused of going against "The will of God."

It was "The will of God" whether or not the man survived or died in that ditch and by helping him the "Good Samaritan" took onboard ALL of the responsibilities and debts that the man had incurred. i.e. IF the man subsequently died then the "Good Samaritan" had to pay off ALL of his debts and became responsible for ALL of the man's responsibilities.

Think about it. If the man died, the "Good Samaritan" had to look after ANYONE who was dependant on the man. i.e. his wife (or wives), his children, his parents, his grand-parents, his employees, his creditors, etc etc.

Please check out ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law

... where you will see that the Laws under which most of us live are part of the religion that was being advocated by "Jesus and the Apostles"!

The people I rail against (instead of forgiving them) are those that use religion as a weapon.

That's really interesting, I did not know about Samaritan Law.

However, I don't agree with "It was "The will of God" whether or not the man survived or died" that would be predestination surely?

 

[An Ankoù]

That's really interesting, I did not know about Samaritan Law.

However, I don't agree with "It was "The will of God" whether or not the man survived or died" that would be predestination surely?

Predestinarianism is a difficult subject. It could be argued that as the god of the Bible is all-knowing and infallible then everything that everybody does is just fulfilling God's foreknowledge of what they mistakenly believe they are freely choosing to do.
When I fcuk up a beer. It's not my fault. It's God's.
Nah. I don't buy it. No point to such an existence really.

 

[An Ankoù]

That's really interesting, I did not know about Samaritan Law.

However, I don't agree with "It was "The will of God" whether or not the man survived or died" that would be predestination surely?

The parable of the Good Samaritan is often misrepresented. Jesus wanted to show that an all-powerful God doesn't really "need" anything from man, while a chap in need is in need indeed. The priest and the Levite were on their way to to Jerusalem and, as they were a priest and a Levite, their work would have been in the Temple. If they became contaminated with blood, they would be ritually unclean and unable to enter the inner sanctum of the Temple.
Samaritans were also Jews, but considered heretics by the others and they were excluded from cult of the Temple and were unconcerned with ritual uncleanliness.
Who was the better man? The one who left his fellow in trouble to conduct the service of God, or the man who helped his friend in need?
Discuss the above with reference to home brewing techniques and the distribution of product. (15 marks)

 

[Gulpitdarn]

I thought the Samaritans were Gentiles whom the Jews hated?

(Just put some chocolate malt in a litre, into the fridge ready for a brew tomorrow :thumba:)

Thy Larger Drinkers shalt be saved! :tinhat:

 

[user 23602]

Please add Muslim, Jewish and None @simon12 .

 

[Cwrw666]

I voted other as I don't have one of the other categories.
None would be a good category to include as it is a different thing to atheist or agnostic.

Personally I'm a church going atheist.

 

[Justin Dean]

Its all hogwash, some of the greatest lies of life. I had my fill during12 years of boarding school, argued the toss for years with CoE and concluded it is nonsense. Live and let live

 

[MickDundee]

Surely we don’t need a “None”? If your non-religious you’ll either fall into atheist (believe there’s nothing), agnostic (don’t believe there is or isn’t anything there) or “seeking the truth but not sure”. I’m not sure what other positions there are from a non-religious perspective.