Society Religious Discussion and Q&A Thread

[Reebi]

But what were Pentecostal Christians told about Heaven?

I agree though. Why do they paint God as a good person when their examples and the Bible paint him as a bad or selfish person? Plus, didn't he torture one of his followers and made his life miserable just to tell Satan he has loyal followers? That's fucked up.

There are differences between the Judaism, Christian, and Islamic version of Job. My understand is that Satan said Job was only a follower because of the luxuries that God gave him and told God to take away his divine protection for some time. It’s a story of how Satan tried to mess with God but Job proved Satan wrong. From a view of this day and age, it can be seen as harsh but that is only a view from present times.

 

[M3J]

It still makes God come across as a bad person for willing to put someone through horrible hardships even though he'd reward the person for being loyal. If that happened among humans, there'd likely be mutiny or fighting back.

 

[Reebi]

It still makes God come across as a bad person for willing to put someone through horrible hardships even though he'd reward the person for being loyal. If that happened among humans, there'd likely be mutiny or fighting back.

Isn’t that the purpose of living? To have hardships in order to learn experiences and sympathy? If everything was perfect and going smoothly, how will people live? It would be like what Shiro Kotomine suggested in Fate Apocrypha.

 

[M3J]

In my opinion, no. I believe the basic purpose of living is to reproduce and ensure the survival of species. In a more complex view though, the purpose of living is up to us.

However, what God did was go waaay out of his way to make his follower's life miserable and extremely shitty to prove a point to feed his own ego, or at least that's how it comes across. It also shows God as an immature being for showing off to Satan that he has people loyal to him.

 

[z.5]

If everything was perfect and going smoothly, how will people live?

Comfortably


I don't really buy the added benefit of misery in character building.

Also, God is a terrible person.
As far as gods go, however, he's certainly not the worst (well, not from my perspective at least - his tendency for inactivity has certainly saved me some severe divine punishment).

 

[M3J]

Comfortably


I don't really buy the added benefit of misery in character building.

Also, God is a terrible person.
As far as gods go, however, he's certainly not the worst (well, not from my perspective at least - his tendency for inactivity has certainly saved me some severe divine punishment).

Sir, do share. Why would he severely divinely punishly punish you? What did you do?

 

[z.5]

Sir, do share. Why would he severely divinely punishly punish you? What did you do?

Well, let's just say, for a being as narcissistic as it appears to be - with such willingness (in the old testament at least) to lay down the law through plagues, floods, injury, death (of the sinner, their family, and friends)... for the most trivial of reasons...

... let's just say that I might not offer quite the degree of respect which that god might feel entitled to...

 

[M3J]

Well, let's just say, for a being as narcissistic as it appears to be - with such willingness (in the old testament at least) to lay down the law through plagues, floods, injury, death (of the sinner, their family, and friends)... for the most trivial of reasons...

... let's just say that I might not offer quite the degree of respect which that god might feel entitled to...

Did you bash God or deities like I did/do?

 

[z.5]

Did you bash God or deities like I did/do?

Certainly not like you do

 

[M3J]

Certainly not like you do

You're soft for a Brit, then, you wanker slag

 

[Reebi]

Comfortably


I don't really buy the added benefit of misery in character building

Also, God is a terrible person.
As far as gods go, however, he's certainly not the worst (well, not from my perspective at least - his tendency for inactivity has certainly saved me some severe divine punishment).

I don't mean to sound rude but the first statement sounds privileged in the sense that living comfortably in reality is where only a very few in this world don't have obstacles for their survival. Even those with fortunate upbrings may have misfortune in other aspects. Most social change comes from advocates who want to make a difference from their hardships in order for our future to be a better place. Just think of the progress society has made in the last decades (unless you live in Trump Nation). Most of my life lessons weren't because things were going smoothly. I don't think humans can ever rid the world of suffering but I think we are on a path where evenually it would be balanced enough for being on the smoother side. I'm not saying people who had everything going perfectly have no character and/or meaningful experiences but one cannot deny the strength from those that turned negatives in their lives into social change.

 

[z.5]

I don't mean to sound rude but the first statement sounds privileged in the sense that living comfortably in reality is where only a very few in this world don't have obstacles for their survival.

Not rude at all.

I don't believe it is an issue of privilege, unless, for some reason, you believe that people who have suffered hardships have 'more character' than those who have not.

I'm not saying people who had everything going perfectly have no character and/or meaningful experiences but one cannot deny the strength from those that turned negatives in their lives into social change.

I am not denying that at all.

A person's character is built around their experiences, positive and/or negative.

 

[M3J]

zimby, as a nonbeliever, how do you feel about premarital sex and sodomy?

 

[z.5]

zimby, as a nonbeliever, how do you feel about premarital sex and sodomy?

As someone who tries not to be overly hypocritical, I have no issues with people who do either of those things.

People who want to have sex before they 'put a ring on it' are no better than those who wait until they have 'marked their territory' before they get down and dirty.
And, as a scientist, I'd never have any issues with people who want to experiment.

As long as you aren't hurting anyone (who doesn't want to be hurt ), and you aren't abusing a child/animal, then what you do in the privacy of your bedroom (kitchen/bathroom/hallway/local park/...) is none of my business nor concern.

 

[Freid]

zimby, as a nonbeliever, how do you feel about premarital sex and sodomy?

I admire people who wait until marriage. It's difficult but anyone willing to abstain from sex for that long is probably in the relationship for the long haul. It's easy to lose interest in someone you slept with only after a week of dating but it's reasonable to expect it and people who wait are probably a dying breed.

And about the sodomy thing, I think anything goes as long as its consensual but of course women are redefining consent now. If I wasn't with my partner, I'd have every woman sign a contract before doing anything with them.

 

[M3J]

So, why are God and Jesus against homosexuality?

 

[z.5]

It's not just homosexuality which the bible has issues with.

It also has laws against:
- who/what you can have sex with (there's quite a long list, including women who are on their period and the wives of neighbours [amongst others])
- what you can eat (you must not eat fat, certain animals [including rabbits, pigs, shellfish...])
- What you can say and do (you must not carelessly making oaths, lie, curse your mother or father, blaspheme...)
- How you look (you must keep your hair nice and tidy, not cut the sides of your hair, get tattoos, trim your beard, wear/produce clothing made out of multiple fabrics...)
- What and who you can touch (you must not touch certain insects or women [at certain times], amongst other things)
- Farming (you must not reap all of your crops [just the majority], pick up grapes which have fallen off the vines, cross-breed animals, plant multiple different crops within a single field...)
- Mistreating foreigners
- Working on the Sabbath
- Selling your land permanently...

I mean, it's quite a list to choose from.

Though, I can see why you singled out the easy pickings, as it is the one people tend to have the most issues with.

 

[M3J]

But why homosexuality and premarital sex?

 

[Reebi]

But why homosexuality and premarital sex?

Not the ideal for family raising. This was thousands of years ago where the population was much lower, especially in rural areas. Also they had STIs without the right treatment so sex with one person of the opposite sex was best for that time.

 

[Freid]

But why homosexuality and premarital sex?

I guess it's because it's supposed to be unnatural since god created one of each sex to procreate. Although incest was also natural back then so the adam and steve argument doesn't really hold much weight. Anyway the church kinda treats homosexuality like a disease these days.

Remember this?


I swear that video kills me every time haha.

And about premarital sex, something the christian community back home always used to say was 'your body is the temple of god', so I guess fornicating is supposed to be defiling god's temple or something.