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2cents

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Iranians in Yazd during the Muharram commemorations:

 

Sky1981

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I have no religion and do not want to break the rules of the thread, but when i had faith my approuch was this:
- i realized that even when the man receive a revelation his free will will not be supressed or he would be just a robot of flesh. Then even when God gives him His word, the man will mix it with his own psychology, nationalisms, culture and ignorance. This is why the old book looks so antagonistic to the New Testament.
- So what i did is to pick the general idea in the Old Testament, keep everything that was in agreement with the personality, the persona of Jesus and keep it. The rest was obsolete.
The old testament mechanism is unpracticeable (by modern standard). Eg burnt offerings, death sentencing by stoning, an eye for an eye, etc.

Hence the lord gave us a better deal. He bought the whole batch of tickets to heaven by paying the price with the crucifixion and suffering of Jesus. It's now up to him who he wants to give them to. At least that's how i perceived christianity.
 

2cents

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Thread/

 

2cents

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Hope it helps her find peace.
 

2cents

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My sentiments exactly.
Early signs are not promising unfortunately:


This is the 'alim who oversaw her shahada (he's a fairly well known figure in Irish media and a pretty good guy all round):

 

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Early signs are not promising unfortunately:


This is the 'alim who oversaw her shahada (he's a fairly well known figure in Irish media and a pretty good guy all round):

I'm 40, I've followed her all my life and I'm more than aware of her history of "issues". I was really hoping the daily routine would calm her down a bit, but alas.
 

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On another note, I've been debating people on reddit for some time over the use of "white" to refer to non-muslims, it honestly gets on my tits. I've got Bosnian and Albanian friends and it makes me so embarrassed to hear other muslims talk as if white is the opposite of Muslim.

Here's a reply I saved from a few months back when I railed against this, I still can't get my head around it.

But really they aren't

"White" cannot and should never be equated to "Black." Both however should be read from a reading on Power. When someone makes a comment about white people, it's never about their skin colour, but about white privelege, white power, criticising the structural foundation of racist nations - all of which stem from a purely anti-(everything but white) reading on life.

I see how you may find this a little annoying that people are criticising your background, but that's never the case. A lot of white criticism comes from (skin colour white) people themselves.
 

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From the same source as above, this one is more problematic though...

 

Buster15

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On another note, I've been debating people on reddit for some time over the use of "white" to refer to non-muslims, it honestly gets on my tits. I've got Bosnian and Albanian friends and it makes me so embarrassed to hear other muslims talk as if white is the opposite of Muslim.

Here's a reply I saved from a few months back when I railed against this, I still can't get my head around it.
I can see your point.
When they use the word 'white' in a religious sense they seem to mean 'non believer'
Non believer in what. Their God.
It is a class thing:
My God is better than yours.
Islam is a better religion than yours.
I am a believer and you are not.

It is stupid and pathetic and some people use their God to justify terrible and appalling acts. Muslims kill Muslims who don't believe in THEIR version of Islam.
 

shamans

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On another note, I've been debating people on reddit for some time over the use of "white" to refer to non-muslims, it honestly gets on my tits. I've got Bosnian and Albanian friends and it makes me so embarrassed to hear other muslims talk as if white is the opposite of Muslim.

Here's a reply I saved from a few months back when I railed against this, I still can't get my head around it.
That reply you quoted is also stupid. DJ Khaled is a "white" Muslim then? "White" Muslims exist not only in the skin color context but there are privileged ones as well.

Anyway, people who throw around these terms "white/black" are kinda dumb imo. You travel the world and you see it's stupid to put people in buckets. Is it just by skin color? I've seen whiter Algerians than Italians and Spanish. Is it by region? I've seen white central Asians as well.
 

shamans

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I can see your point.
When they use the word 'white' in a religious sense they seem to mean 'non believer'
Non believer in what. Their God.
It is a class thing:
My God is better than yours.
Islam is a better religion than yours.
I am a believer and you are not.

It is stupid and pathetic and some people use their God to justify terrible and appalling acts. Muslims kill Muslims who don't believe in THEIR version of Islam.
Is that the reason they kill them though? People through this around but in most cases (Iran vs Saudi Arabia) there's more to it politically.

Also, what you talked about is common among all human beings. Atheism "I'm better than you religious nuts stuck in the stone age" mentality and the discrimination it comes with. It also becomes a class thing. Idiots are everywhere.
 

2cents

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Some very interesting stuff in the thread quoted:

 

Buster15

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Is that the reason they kill them though? People through this around but in most cases (Iran vs Saudi Arabia) there's more to it politically.

Also, what you talked about is common among all human beings. Atheism "I'm better than you religious nuts stuck in the stone age" mentality and the discrimination it comes with. It also becomes a class thing. Idiots are everywhere.
You are right. Idiots are everywhere.
Regarding Saudi Arabia. I have worked there and got the impression that their politics were dominated by both religion and family.
Most practice the very strict Islam and to get anywhere you had to be a member of the dominant family.

Remember the way they punish so called criminals.
Religion and family equals power and power equals money. That is the way it works.
 

shamans

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You are right. Idiots are everywhere.
Regarding Saudi Arabia. I have worked there and got the impression that their politics were dominated by both religion and family.
Most practice the very strict Islam and to get anywhere you had to be a member of the dominant family.

Remember the way they punish so called criminals.
Religion and family equals power and power equals money. That is the way it works.
Saudi just used their religion as a medium. If it wasnt Islam theyd use Arabism or something.
 

Buster15

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Saudi just used their religion as a medium. If it wasnt Islam theyd use Arabism or something.
That is right. They use religion as an instrument of fear. The same as their families prestige.
Rule by fear and keep the masses ignorant.
Only works for so long though because of the spread of knowledge by the internet.
 

oates

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Taken from the Trump Thread
I think loving the basic values Christianity is supposed to teach you, like love your fellow man etc are all good life lessons, but with that in mind, were, for instance, the Popes of the medieval world not really Christians? Or all those people who left home and hearth to go on a crusade to Jerusalem after being indoctrinated their entire peasant lives that it's what God wants?

Being a true Christian is nothing more than conforming to the Christian powers that be at a certain time no?

to me, everyone who reads the Bible, believes in God and calls himself a Christian, is actually a Christian. There's differences in interpretation, but in the end it stems from the same book. My strictly reformed strongly condemns homosexuality for instance, and can cite Bible verses to back up these claims. More moderate Christians may tell him that misinterpretation God's message, but both of them are equally Christian to me.

Ah well, it just made me wonder.
I'm not a great person to be asking these questions of, I'm not a highly educated Christian, just a pretty simple one but as far as I think I can't really talk much for the church of earlier times except to say that I think it was motivated as I've said before by people who wanted to use it for their own purposes, for power and greed and we struggle to divine what has been altered or not in the Bible's text at times possibly.

Today's churches spend a lot of time trying to make society and themselves relevant with the problems and issues that we have now and I'd rather the leaders of churches simply said "Who are we to judge?". Who are we to judge whether homosexuals can be christians and welcome in our congregations? Isn't that a conversation for individuals to have with God when it comes up?

Jesus didn't talk about us having buildings to congregate and worship in, he simply said wherever two or three are gathered in my name...etc. So, you can tell I'm a pretty simple christian after all. Do I go to church, yes, sometimes. Do I think I can tell who a Christian is? Maybe sometimes, maybe not but a man who lies in public office over 10,000 times, well, he is going to have a difficult conversation with God, as I am too.
 

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Taken from the Trump Thread


I'm not a great person to be asking these questions of, I'm not a highly educated Christian, just a pretty simple one but as far as I think I can't really talk much for the church of earlier times except to say that I think it was motivated as I've said before by people who wanted to use it for their own purposes, for power and greed and we struggle to divine what has been altered or not in the Bible's text at times possibly.

Today's churches spend a lot of time trying to make society and themselves relevant with the problems and issues that we have now and I'd rather the leaders of churches simply said "Who are we to judge?". Who are we to judge whether homosexuals can be christians and welcome in our congregations? Isn't that a conversation for individuals to have with God when it comes up?

Jesus didn't talk about us having buildings to congregate and worship in, he simply said wherever two or three are gathered in my name...etc. So, you can tell I'm a pretty simple christian after all. Do I go to church, yes, sometimes. Do I think I can tell who a Christian is? Maybe sometimes, maybe not but a man who lies in public office over 10,000 times, well, he is going to have a difficult conversation with God, as I am too.
That's a fair enough example. And yes, I think a big problem is people in power using the name of God to further their own gain. On the subject of Trump, even I can see the guy is not a Christian. My initial question was also not so much directed at Trump, but the true / untrue believer in general.

Anyway, the Christianity you believe in is something I think even the most atheist person in the world couldn't find a down side too. Be nice to people and don't judge them. Seems fair enough.
 

Buster15

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That's a fair enough example. And yes, I think a big problem is people in power using the name of God to further their own gain. On the subject of Trump, even I can see the guy is not a Christian. My initial question was also not so much directed at Trump, but the true / untrue believer in general.

Anyway, the Christianity you believe in is something I think even the most atheist person in the world couldn't find a down side too. Be nice to people and don't judge them. Seems fair enough.
Yes. I agree that many people 'in positions of power' do use religion and specifically God to further their own public profile.
I see this more in the USA than some other countries.
They use it almost as a badge of honour although I would expect many members of public to see through this.

If someone is a true Christian (I am not) then they would be expected to follow Christian values.
And it is pretty clear that very few actually do.
In the 21st century it is good that people are permitted to be open minded and I do accept that you have to believe in something.
I now accept the scientific understanding of how both our Universe came into being as well as Evolution and how we all came into being.
 

2cents

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It’s that time again, the Hajj is upon us. Here’s a live stream from Mecca:

 
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Foxbatt

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You see all these extremely rich christian missionaries flying around in private jets and multi million dollar yachts and TV stations etc. You can see that now in some Muslim preachers too. And of course the some Hindus too. I am sure that religion is not meant to be a get rich and scam instrument to scam the masses in a get rich quick scheme. But it is what it has come to now. Look at the Catholic Church too.
 

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I'm 40, I've followed her all my life and I'm more than aware of her history of "issues". I was really hoping the daily routine would calm her down a bit, but alas.
She was in fine form on Irish television last night:


 

VidaRed

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You see all these extremely rich christian missionaries flying around in private jets and multi million dollar yachts and TV stations etc. You can see that now in some Muslim preachers too. And of course the some Hindus too. I am sure that religion is not meant to be a get rich and scam instrument to scam the masses in a get rich quick scheme. But it is what it has come to now. Look at the Catholic Church too.
Are you sure ?
 

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Are you sure ?
I'm sure if you check the Torah, Bible, Quran, Gita, and any other book, that there is no mention of using the teachings as a means to get rich off scamming their own versions.
 

Foxbatt

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Are you sure ?
Of course I am sure. Which religious book that is used by any of the main stream religion says you have to scam and get rich? None. Forget about the books no main stream religion says to scam the people and get rich. Every says to be good to others and be humble. Look at the Buddhists too. In every of the Buddhist country one of the richest would be a monk.
Maybe in Europe things are not as bad as in other countries. In India there famous cases of Hindus doing these kind of get rich scams and getting becoming multi millionaires. In Malaysia there is a Muslim preacher who is one of the Muslim get rich scam artist. He owns a TV station and now fleeing from Indian justice. In Thailand it is the same. A monk who owned a private jet too. In the Philippines it the Catholic Church and honestly I am shocked that the public are so gullible where religion is concerned.
It is amazing that poor people go and give their hard earned money to the priests to get rich. The Filipino President has urged the Filipinos not to give their money to the Church.
 

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It's crazy how religion is used as the branch and root of all human stupidity and suffering. It may well be the current opium of the masses, but to get rid of mass human stupidity and suffering you have to get rid of humankind, not religion. :lol: