tachograph:
I’m an atheist, I’m willing to respect any religious persons genuine belief as long as they’re prepared to respect my genuine belief that they are wrong.
Unfortunately I’ve met very few if any religious people who even try hard to practice what they claim to believe
As I’ve said the real issue is the just one of sorting out right from wrong.It’s a bit difficult to respect any genuine belief which supports stuff like hard line sharia law and all of it’s penalties amongst other arguable moral issues in life which some denominations support and others don’t just as some total atheists support the same issues and others don’t.
I don’t know but I hope there is something better than this.
I hope this isn’t it.
I went through a stage where this sort of thing really affected me, why are we here, what’s the meaning of life, is our fate already written etc etc
As far as I know every German soldier in WW2 went to war with the words Gott Mit Uns (GOD WITH US) written on their uniforms.However the fact is most,if not all,of them,were just plain evil zb’s but what they all had in common was that they didn’t have my ideas that it’s all about making the right choices between right and wrong.Which at the end of the day is what matters and as I’ve said it’s only at the end where they would have found out for sure wether they’d picked and chosen the ‘right’ moral path through life and wether that message written on their uniforms was worth the metal it was written on.
However none of that is good enough reason to shut down all the churches and to turn my back on those good ideas which I believe the church has and just like those WW2 German squaddies I’ll know for sure at the end wether the choices I made in life were the right or the wrong ones.That to me is what the church is really all about and the idea of god is just a matter of finding out at the end wether I made the grade in life or not.
I’m not sure I understand your argument. Are you saying the german soldiers felt justified in their actions because they felt God Was With Them? And if they did believe god was with them surely they must have known what they were doing was wrong (I’m talking of extermination and persecution, not just fighting for their country). They shouldn’t have needed religion to tell them what was right or wrong.
Like I say I’m not sure I understand your argument here and I fear we are derailing. My main argument is that you don’t need religion to live a good moral life. Those “good ideas” you attribute to the church were written by men 2000 odd years ago who couldn’t explain why the rain falls from the sky or how the sun rises every morning. Unfortunately 2000 years ago their answers to how the universe works and our place in it were the best we could come up with and it stuck. Try to imagine up till now there was no religion and just yesterday, Christian beliefs (or any other religious beliefs) emerged and tried to persuade us that the bible or the quran is the ultimate explaination for everything … it just would happen.
I’m sorry, scratch my last post. There is a God and tomorrow I’m going to heaven, because come the morn I’m delivering to a pie factory where within the sacred walls of the staff canteen fresh out of the oven pies are available free, gratis and for nothing.
A many as you can eat. So on this most joyous of days I’ll be eating for the five thousand. And his wife. And his dog
tachograph:
I’m an atheist, I’m willing to respect any religious persons genuine belief as long as they’re prepared to respect my genuine belief that they are wrong.
Unfortunately I’ve met very few if any religious people who even try hard to practice what they claim to believe
As I’ve said the real issue is the just one of sorting out right from wrong.It’s a bit difficult to respect any genuine belief which supports stuff like hard line sharia law and all of it’s penalties amongst other arguable moral issues in life which some denominations support and others don’t just as some total atheists support the same issues and others don’t.
Yes you’re absolutely right, I wasn’t really thinking about some of the more extreme so called religious beliefs when I wrote that line.
FarnboroughBoy11:
I don’t know but I hope there is something better than this.
I hope this isn’t it.
I went through a stage where this sort of thing really affected me, why are we here, what’s the meaning of life, is our fate already written etc etc
Yeah Farnbro boy I too went through a stage where it really affected me. I had a near death experience and my friend had a complete death experience. Up till then I was agnostic and never really thought about it. So yeah it’s only personal experience that has made me a bit bullish on this thread, but it’s something we are all going to have to confront one day … our own death and what happens after.
You say you hope there is something better than this … what if there isn’t? What if this one life is all you get and then nothing? All the more reason to live life to the full now. Doesn’t mean you have to be bad or immoral, just means live life to the max now cos it might just be true that when you die there is nothing.
DaiDap:
I’m sorry, scratch my last post. There is a God and tomorrow I’m going to heaven, because come the morn I’m delivering to a pie factory where within the sacred walls of the staff canteen fresh out of the oven pies are available free, gratis and for nothing.
A many as you can eat. So on this most joyous of days I’ll be eating for the five thousand. And his wife. And his dog
You have clearly lived out your karma and are headed for nirvana … are there any 38GG amazon beauties serving those pies?
I would like to think there is someone higher than us…but i keep an open mind…as said in the thread all the trouble is in the east has been for donkeys years …everyday there at it on the news …you dont see this side of the world fighting every bloody day over religion or politics…they never seem to just get on with there lives…it makes me sad and angry that human beings dont value others…you only have one short life…but dead a long time.
DaiDap:
I’m sorry, scratch my last post. There is a God and tomorrow I’m going to heaven, because come the morn I’m delivering to a pie factory where within the sacred walls of the staff canteen fresh out of the oven pies are available free, gratis and for nothing.
A many as you can eat. So on this most joyous of days I’ll be eating for the five thousand. And his wife. And his dog
You have clearly lived out your karma and are headed for nirvana … are there any 38GG amazon beauties serving those pies?
Nah, just some grotty Brummie bird asking if I’d loike a kipper tie with that
Personally I’m of the opinion that God does exist, purely on the basis that if others believe in their deity, then they make that deity real. However I don’t believe in God, if that makes sense.
One of these days I’m gonna wake up dead, in hell with Lucifer laughing out “you’re [zb]ed now.”
FarnboroughBoy11:
I don’t know but I hope there is something better than this.
I hope this isn’t it.
I went through a stage where this sort of thing really affected me, why are we here, what’s the meaning of life, is our fate already written etc etc
Yeah Farnbro boy I too went through a stage where it really affected me. I had a near death experience and my friend had a complete death experience. Up till then I was agnostic and never really thought about it. So yeah it’s only personal experience that has made me a bit bullish on this thread, but it’s something we are all going to have to confront one day … our own death and what happens after.
You say you hope there is something better than this … what if there isn’t? What if this one life is all you get and then nothing? All the more reason to live life to the full now. Doesn’t mean you have to be bad or immoral, just means live life to the max now cos it might just be true that when you die there is nothing.
I feel I do live my life to the fullest. This is a selfish way to live though and quite lonely sometimes. (I’m trying to improve on the selfishness)
I don’t know I just think maybe I am not fulfilled yet!!
Mr B:
Personally I don’t believe in God or creation. The Kong James bible was written to suit the guy who paid for it and not a Devine being.
I’m not a scholar in any way but if you look at all the great religions they all seem to share common themes Jews and Muslims neither eat bacon
Jesus is recognised as a profit in Islam. They all claim Jerusalem is theirs.
I couldn’t be religious I couldnt follow any god that doesnt eat bacon!
…Then there’s that old cliche you hear at funerals…
“He lived life to the full”…
… but now he burns in hell.
Regardless of what you believe, you’re gonna end up dead. Religious Denominations are all about what vehicle you intend lining yourself up with.
If you’re quite happy to stay with your scrapped vehicle in the junkyard for all eternity, then that’s a common choice, that no one can prevent you from making.
Personally, I’d rather check out other possibilities. I don’t think any one single organised religion has got it all in a single package.
No one remembers being dead 100 years ago, and you won’t remember being dead 100 years in the future either.
The persistance of memory is what we should all strive for, which would define “Hell” as “alzheimers” rather than “dying in one’s sins”.
You’ll “go” wherever you think of going in the last seconds of your life. Best make sure you’re awake to the very end, lest you miss the proverbial boat - wherever it might take you!
A strong mind is perhaps the most valuable asset one can have when approaching death head-on.
We like to see our kids do better than we did, so why not have the same expectations for your own spirit? If you don’t believe you have one, it doesn’t render it non-existant, any more than being tea-total does not remove the existance of alcohol.
You don’t have to understand the great mysteries to make some attempt to benefit from them is what I’m saying.
Carryfast:
As far as I know every German soldier in WW2 went to war with the words Gott Mit Uns written on their uniforms.However the fact is most,if not all,of them,were just plain evil zb’s but what they all had in common was that they didn’t have my ideas that it’s all about making the right choices between right and wrong.
I imagine that the vast majority of German soldiers in WW2 were conscripted, and only fought because they would have been executed if they had deserted.
Carryfast:
As far as I know every German soldier in WW2 went to war with the words Gott Mit Uns written on their uniforms.However the fact is most,if not all,of them,were just plain evil zb’s but what they all had in common was that they didn’t have my ideas that it’s all about making the right choices between right and wrong.
I imagine that the vast majority of German soldiers in WW2 were conscripted, and only fought because they would have been executed if they had deserted.
They seemed to put up a zb good fight and seemed to be a bit too enthusiastic for soldiers who didn’t believe in what they were doing and who thought what they were doing was wrong then.The amount of damage that more than a few 88 mm guns or spandau machine guns etc could have done in the wrong hands when turned against their own side wouldn’t have exactly helped Hitler’s war effort.No guesses as to which way out I would have chosen in that case.
