mega thread Everypony's Religion And Why?

[Symph 103]

Don't go by Youtube. It is not a good thing to go by. It does not give a realistic depiction of anything. In fact, if you go by youtube the mankind is already doomed and everyone is a blathering fool sitting around with dick in their hand screaming at blank walls in some psychotic frantic rage.

Which rebuttal, the Hitler one?

Do you have aversion to facts?

Or do you mean about Stalins Sociopathic narcisism? Because he even himself knew he had it and was quite proud of it.

Or that atheism is not a religion? Because if atheism is a religion then not eating is food and silence is a genre of music.

 

Oh and hugs are always welcome! 

What I meant by rebuttal, is that atheism IS a belief, and it CAN cause discord.  Most atheists will stand behind the idea that atheism has never caused any kind of problems, and that it is always just an admittance of not being convinced, but in my experience this is not the case.  But seriously?  I don't wanna have that debate.. I've had it before like.. so many times... it never EVER EVER went well.  I just, don't wanna go there man.  So please, lets not  

[Sheogorath 1,155]

What I meant by rebuttal, is that atheism IS a belief, and it CAN cause discord.  Most atheists will stand behind the idea that atheism has never caused any kind of problems, and that it is always just an admittance of not being convinced, but in my experience this is not the case.  But seriously?  I don't wanna have that debate.. I've had it before like.. so many times... it never EVER EVER went well.  I just, don't wanna go there man.  So please, lets not

Oh, atheism has caused problems sure, but those are interpersonal, not international. 

I don't deny that people lose their shit at the sight of atheistic opinions and then get angry and attack relentlessly, in turn making atheists angry at the religious and returning the favor at the next opportunity given. It is a vicious cycle but at least nobody can't say "there is no god, therefore we will need to kill all the jews" 

[Symph 103]

Oh, atheism has caused problems sure, but those are interpersonal, not international. 

I don't deny that people lose their shit at the sight of atheistic opinions and then get angry and attack relentlessly, in turn making atheists angry at the religious and returning the favor at the next opportunity given. It is a vicious cycle but at least nobody can't say "there is no god, therefore we will need to kill all the jews" 

That is fair enough my friend.  I think my experience with atheists is tainted because I experienced alot of atheists that weren't actually atheists, they were "anti theists" calling themselves atheists.  When atheism is as simple as "sorry I'm just not convinced" I'm all for it.  That's just honesty, that's just reality, and I can support that.  But I've met far too many "atheists" who are constantly trying to debunk and disprove christianity and act like it's the cause of all evil in the world, and it just makes me... cautious when it comes to talking to people who claim to be atheists.  I don't wanna get in one of those circular annoying arguments again, I got into so many I was ready to tear my hair out before.  

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,364]

Guys, Hitler was NOT an atheist. He was a firm Christian and believed that he was doing "God's work". He even went as far as to outlwa any books that were against Christianity. Stalin, well he was communist, no surprise there.

[Symph 103]

Guys, Hitler was NOT an atheist. He was a firm Christian and believed that he was doing "God's work". He even went as far as to outlwa any books that were against Christianity. Stalin, well he was communist, no surprise there.

That's debateable.  I do know what you're talking about, but alot of people think the Christian thing was a facade he put up and in reality he was an atheist it's meehhhhhhh you could be right, you could be wrong, does it really matter though, if he was a christian, he was a lunatic christian who in no way got the point of his religion, if he was an atheist, he was an insane atheist who went WAY BEYOND "I don't believe" lol

[Galen 1,354]

Guys, Hitler was NOT an atheist. He was a firm Christian and believed that he was doing "God's work". He even went as far as to outlwa any books that were against Christianity. Stalin, well he was communist, no surprise there.

 

It still doesn't take away from the fact atheist regimes can still be as vile and dictatorial as any other theist regime. Stalin being the prime example. I'm pretty certain that given whatever reason, anyone, in spite of religious beliefs or lack thereof, will find an excuse to fight pointless wars and cause suffering.

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,364]

It still doesn't take away from the fact atheist regimes can still be as vile and dictatorial as any other theist regime. Stalin being the prime example. I'm pretty certain that given whatever reason, anyone, in spite of religious beliefs or lack thereof, will find an excuse to fight pointless wars and cause suffering.

Stalin was a communist, and then there's Pol Pot who too was a lunatic communist leader who killed many. But then you have things like the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Salem Witch Trials, etc. 

[Symph 103]

It still doesn't take away from the fact atheist regimes can still be as vile and dictatorial as any other theist regime. Stalin being the prime example. I'm pretty certain that given whatever reason, anyone, in spite of religious beliefs or lack thereof, will find an excuse to fight pointless wars and cause suffering.

Yep.  Pagans were fighting wars over who the best God was long before Islam or Christianity even existed.  In all faiths of any kind you have the good ones, and the crazies, sadly the good ones don't get noticed much, cause well, THEY AREN'T FUCKING SHIT UP.  

[GottlosMann 221]

I'm an atheist. I think the main reason for this is the fact that there is no god.

 

But seriously, I don't believe in any higher power because I've never seen any evidence for the existence of one. I won't believe a claim like, "There's a dude who lives in the sky and grands wishes!" without observing this dude somehow.

 

Wow. Like everywhere else on the internet, there are a lot of atheists here.

Edited July 11, 2013 by GottlosMann

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

Atheist here, I once was a Christian but I read the Bible (Front to middle and a little more) I got sick and put it down. It's nothing but harm sprinkled with some happy love. I've always preferred atheist folk over religious folk, now I am not putting down every single Christian. It just seems to me is that lots of Christians never really truly are a "Christian" if that makes sense. They are one because that's the trend. I encourage Christians to examine there beliefs at-least for an hour, see what they find and see if they truly are still a Christian.

 

Of-course, without the mass crowd chanting and imaginary friends (That's the way I view it) some people might have a gap in there life. I tried to fill that with lots of science, all that did was support my atheist claims. So I filled that gap with ponies, I've never been happier since! Bringing ponies into this topic might be kind-of awkward but I'm not out to make a pony religion, but I kind of filled that void with them.

 

The reason also why I know no god exists, is because I've lived with an imaginary one for a bit. (I was really faithful, like 100 percent sure of his existence) I then lived without it and looked back, all my miracles proving him were of my own force or coincidence. I'd throw the thousands of unanswered prayers to the side like yesterdays garbage and pretend they never happened.

 

TL;DR Ponies>Religion

[TheInsaneShane 359]

Ummmm, Christian. Yeah this seems to be a pretty moderate blief. I choose to believe and see there is evidence that God exists. The biggest One is, ya know the Big Bang Theory? To sum it up, it says the universe just.....happened, I'd say Thats perfect evidence. Though I still respect and admire atheists for being able to live life without God. Your beliefs are completely understandable, and respectable, even if I dont agree with them. :-) /)

[Galen 1,354]

Ummmm, Christian. Yeah this seems to be a pretty moderate blief. I choose to believe and see there is evidence that God exists. The biggest One is, ya know the Big Bang Theory? To sum it up, it says the universe just.....happened, I'd say Thats perfect evidence. Though I still respect and admire atheists for being able to live life without God. Your beliefs are completely understandable, and respectable, even if I dont agree with them. :-) /)

 

Since this IS the debate pit, I'll throw in a bone.

 

I believe a creator exists for the exact same reason you do: science has yet to prove how the universe was created. But I do want to ask, why does that prove everything else in the bible is true? Correlation is not causation. Yes, the fact the universe was created from nothing could be evidence of a higher power, but I've yet to see any other evidence that everything in the bible and other abrahamic scriptures is real.

[TheInsaneShane 359]

Since this IS the debate pit, I'll throw in a bone.

 

I believe a creator exists for the exact same reason you do: science has yet to prove how the universe was created. But I do want to ask, why does that prove everything else in the bible is true? Correlation is not causation. Yes, the fact the universe was created from nothing could be evidence of a higher power, but I've yet to see any other evidence that everything in the bible and other abrahamic scriptures is real.

Yes, exactly, though like I said, I choose to believe everything in the Bible. ( though there actually is some evidence of bible stories that have happened) So, more or less....I agree with you. :-) /)

[Galen 1,354]

Yes, exactly, though like I said, I choose to believe everything in the Bible. ( though there actually is some evidence of bible stories that have happened) So, more or less....I agree with you. :-) /)

 

Well yes, like I said previously, there is archeological evidence which proves some events in the bible occurred. Once again, however, it's a matter of correlation not equating to causation. It's a coincidence, largely manmade, that people associated some events as the work of god. What truth there is in Jesus being the son of god is questionable, for all intents and purposes.

[lincolnshirepony 527]

I'm a Christian, Methodist, if we're getting more specific. I like the redemption offered by Christianity and the idea of showing love towards all people. So, the message appeals to me. I was raised with certain Christian beliefs (some I've left behind, others I've kept), which probably does have a lot to do with my current religious beliefs. There's still a lot about my beliefs I have left to figure out; it'll probably take a lifetime to get there, but I'm cool with that. Faith is also obviously a huge component. I have faith that it is God's presence is what I'm feeling in my life, and that my experiences with God have been genuine. That might sound crazy to some, but it's what I believe in.

[Chain Combo 135]

Agnostic, why? because idfk one way or the other. There could be something out there beyond comprehension just laughing at us. I do firmly believe that there are beings out their that are way smarter, more powerful than us, but on some omnipotent level idk  

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

I'm a Christian, Methodist, if we're getting more specific. I like the redemption offered by Christianity and the idea of showing love towards all people. So, the message appeals to me. I was raised with certain Christian beliefs (some I've left behind, others I've kept), which probably does have a lot to do with my current religious beliefs. There's still a lot about my beliefs I have left to figure out; it'll probably take a lifetime to get there, but I'm cool with that. Faith is also obviously a huge component. I have faith that it is God's presence is what I'm feeling in my life, and that my experiences with God have been genuine. That might sound crazy to some, but it's what I believe in.

 

I'm not trying to shoot you down, but I can relate and since this is a debate I'll respond to you.

 

I use to be a Christian just like you, I felt this "Presence" in my life nearly at all times. I felt I had these experiences with a god but then I started to critically think. Now I look back and I realized something, I have these "Good" feelings inside even more now ever-sense I left Christianity. It's natural to have good-feelings for something you like, when I watch MLP, listen to music, and more I get the same feeling. Now before you tell me all those things are just physical objects and such, people can form connections to even things that aren't real.

 

It's a delusion, I can look back to my time as a Christian and say that it was one. Miracles don't exist, and the ones people claim aren't comparable to Biblical ones or don't have evidence to back them up. All these things I use to love and cherish for being a Christian are enhanced by dropping this religious act and actually truly working to make my short seventy or so years great.

 

Now I could go into other sides of the debates, like "How the bible doesn't preach love" and other things but I'll keep it at that for now.

[Sky Warden 2,243]

Odd. I don't even remember posting here, but it's in my content.

 

Well, I think most people misunderstand the so-called holy books (Bible, Quran, etc) because they translate the words literally. They're written with art, guys. There are metaphors and figurative languages used in them. If you translate those books literally, of course they will sound ridiculous, non-sense, and like bullshit.

 

I believe there's no giant-ultimate-hot-eternal fire. I see it as a metaphor used to express a horrible feeling you get from regret of bad things you've done in the past. It feels burning and torturing. The whole red-evil-horned-sadistic devils is the same. It's used to express how horrible hatred actually is. Hatred, greed, and any other Satan personalities make people look like a man with horns, red skin, grumpy face, etc. I believe there's no actual creature like that. The same with the good parts. It's just figurative language.

 

Religion is a guide on how to make people a good people, not a belief of the existence of magical creatures torturing you after death if you do bad things in the past. I see no difference between religions. They're all the same, just written in different cultures, and languages.

 

When you see things with a pure and clear perspective and think with a neutral mind, you will find the explanation of things most people can't solve.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Aerial Stream

[Xanatos 162]

I subscribe to no formally or legally recognized religion but hold a complex and intricate system of beliefs I describe as "transtheistic Paganism". Details are available for the curious but I'm not going to get into all of that if no one asks.

 

To Christians, I offer a challenge: Read the Bible. That seems to be something most never actually do but there's a lot of horrible shit (and inconsistency, especially around that whole genocidal flood fiasco) in that little book.

 

To adherents of any religion including Christianity, I offer a challenge: Find out what you really believe. Most Christians, Muslims, whatever believe what they do because their parents did or the people around them did. Do you really think Jesus would be such a big deal to you if you were born and raised over in the middle east or under an atheistic regime?

 

I do not much care what one believes. I only care that it is truly their belief and not just their parents or culture or some Pascal's Wager sort of nonsense. Anton Lavey once claimed stupidity as the cardinal sin of humanity...I'd say blind adherence falls under that label.

 

 

I like the redemption offered by Christianity and the idea of showing love towards all people.

 

Two questions:

 

1) Redemption for...What? What have you done so horrible that you can't just repent on your own? Rhetorical: Who doesn't like the idea of redemption? "I like the redemption..." honestly just sounds like a shorter version of "I like not taking personal responsibility because I'll be redeemed by Jesus anyway".

 

2) Related to the above...Why can't you just show love on your own?

 

You like the idea of redemption and love. Okay. Redeem yourself. Love others. Why do you need religion for that?

Edited July 20, 2013 by Xanatos

[Rave Crocker 49]

it's quite simple really my religion is bronyism when singular its just brony, luna is my goddess and she is all powerfull except for her sister satan i mean celestia.

[lincolnshirepony 527]

I'm not trying to shoot you down, but I can relate and since this is a debate I'll respond to you.

 

I use to be a Christian just like you, I felt this "Presence" in my life nearly at all times. I felt I had these experiences with a god but then I started to critically think. Now I look back and I realized something, I have these "Good" feelings inside even more now ever-sense I left Christianity. It's natural to have good-feelings for something you like, when I watch MLP, listen to music, and more I get the same feeling. Now before you tell me all those things are just physical objects and such, people can form connections to even things that aren't real.

 

It's a delusion, I can look back to my time as a Christian and say that it was one. Miracles don't exist, and the ones people claim aren't comparable to Biblical ones or don't have evidence to back them up. All these things I use to love and cherish for being a Christian are enhanced by dropping this religious act and actually truly working to make my short seventy or so years great.

 

Now I could go into other sides of the debates, like "How the bible doesn't preach love" and other things but I'll keep it at that for now.

 

I won't deny that objects can cause feelings of happiness, comfort, and the like. Watching MLP or listening to something like Lincolnshire Posy does make me feel happy. I view those feelings differently from experiencing God's presence though. It transcends that sort of enjoyment for me. That's only my experience though. 

 

I like to think that I'm not deluded, but maybe I am. I don't have a surefire way to prove I'm not. I could list things in my life (and lives of others) that I'm convinced God was behind, but I know that there's no way to prove it was all God. That's where my faith comes in. I want to make the most of the time I have left as well, and following God is how I've currently best determined to do that with the experiences I've had in life. 

 

Two questions:

 

1) Redemption for...What? What have you done so horrible that you can't just repent on your own? Rhetorical: Who doesn't like the idea of redemption? "I like the redemption..." honestly just sounds like a shorter version of "I like not taking personal responsibility because I'll be redeemed by Jesus anyway".

 

2) Related to the above...Why can't you just show love on your own?

 

You like the idea of redemption and love. Okay. Redeem yourself. Love others. Why do you need religion for that?

 

That's not what I meant by saying that. I do believe in personal responsibility, but I also acknowledge that I'm an imperfect human being. I don't use forgiveness as a reason to go and do bad things, just to clarify. I just don't believe that it is possible to redeem myself in the eyes of God on my own. No amount of punishment, good deeds, ect. would be enough. I'm beyond grateful for the redemption in Jesus's sacrifice, hence why I like the concept.  

I don't necessarily need religion to love people, but my own views on loving people (love all people unconditionally) coincide with Christianity's. I suppose not necessarily the reason I am a Christian, but it's something I find very attractive about the teachings of the faith. 

[Xanatos 162]

my own views on loving people (love all people unconditionally) coincide with Christianity's.

 

Yeah...About that...There's kinda the whole "You're all dirty rotten sinful scum and you'll go to hell if you don't obey me" thing. Preeeeetty conditional.

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Yeah...About that...There's kinda the whole "You're all dirty rotten sinful scum and you'll go to hell if you don't obey me" thing. Preeeeetty conditional.

That's not actually what Christianity preaches though. All people are loved by God, no matter what they do. Disobedience to God doesn't necessarily mean a person is going to hell. The reason God provided a means of redemption is because he loves all people.

[Xanatos 162]

That's not actually what Christianity preaches though. All people are loved by God, no matter what they do. Disobedience to God doesn't necessarily mean a person is going to hell. The reason God provided a means of redemption is because he loves all people.

 

Right, disobedience just means a person goes to hell...Unless they "repent" and become obedient, then it's all cool.

 

Still a condition there, I'm noticing. The very nature of religion (hell, most of life too) demands conditions. Not necessarily a bad thing...But still there.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Xanatos

[GottlosMann 221]

Ummmm, Christian. Yeah this seems to be a pretty moderate blief. I choose to believe and see there is evidence that God exists. The biggest One is, ya know the Big Bang Theory? To sum it up, it says the universe just.....happened, I'd say Thats perfect evidence.

If that were evidence for a god, it would be a deist god. If you go by what the Bible says, God made the universe just a few thousand years ago. The big bang happened nearly 14 billion years ago.

I'll admit that there is a slim possibility that a deist god exists. The God of the Bible? 100% certain he's fictional, and I take great comfort in knowing that.