Thats why I consider myself an agnostic and try to avoid all the bickering.
Why do they call it the holy land??
There has been religious wars and fighting over it for 2000 years of course its full of holes!

I don't get it either. I think some peopIe need to convince others to agree with them to vaIidate their own beIiefs. Others think they have a duty to witness and that God has commanded them to proseytize.

On my recent bus trip to Iowa, severaI other passengers spent hours arguing about reIigion...what race was Jesus, what skin coIor were the originaI Hebrews, the Trinity, bIood transfusions, on and on and on, aII at very high voIume.

I don't know why it stressed me so much, maybe just the arguing over and over, and that I couIdn't get away, but I finaIIy yeIIed at them to shut up. Then I was so embarrassed, because I aImost never get triggered by anything.

Why can't we just Ieave each other aIone and trust that God is capabIe of Ieading peopIe to Him?

debah - I agree there are definitely people who truly believe that they have a duty to spread the word of god, and I would say they are the majority, at least in the christian faith. I grew up in the church, and I understand that Jesus directed his followers to be "fishers of men" and to bring others to god. And I don't think those people are doing anything wrong. They are good people just trying to be the best christians they can be.

However, I think that a lot of these people need to understand that if someone does not want to hear their message they will not hear it - no matter how many times you try or how loud you speak it. It did not take me long to figure that out when I was still a believer. If people want to bring others into their faith the best and most successful way to do it is to live their lives as an example, and when people see them they will see the peace and love in their hearts and some will want to know how they too can acquire peace and love. They will ask, they will want to hear the message, and they will hear it. When I was younger I did bring a couple of my good friends into the faith by waiting for them to ask and taking the oppourtunity to bring them to church and to share my beliefs.

Most people who go around trying to spread the word of their god really are good people and really are trying to do the right thing - they just aren't going about it in the best way. IMO, of course.

Rambo - I too have chosen to don the title "agnostic" when people ask about my beliefs. I'm not sure I like giving it a title at all, but of all the religious definitions in the common lexicon, it is the one that fits me best. I also find that calling yourself agnostic helps to avoid religious arguments, as people tend to be far less offended by the notion that someone neither believes nor disbelieves per se, than they are by the notion that someone has opposing beliefs (or lack thereof).

Honestly, what I think is rather funny is that I have been drawn into arguments with both believers (Christians as well as Muslims) and Atheists and, while there have been stubborn asses on both fronts who were bothered by my choice to neither believe or disbelieve, the Atheists in general were actually much ruder and far less willing to accept my stance on things by the end of the conversation. I really don't get why an atheist would give a shit - they have NO mandate to spread the word that no god exists.. they have NO stake in my faith or lack thereof at all, while both Christians and Muslims have reason to believe they DO have a stake in it.

i am not as . . . religiously intolerant as i once was years ago. years ago i would have spit on the face of someone (being it chirstian, jew, hindu, pagan, satanist, or muslim) trying to convert me.

now days i only get pissed off, (in a respectful way though) when people knock on my door of any religion trying to tell me about the end times or telling me that there is something wrong with certain issues. funny aspect was had a old christian lady knock on my door and tell me that homosexual are huge sinners and that they need helpt to be converted and saved from burning in hell, of course i happen to be gay. that was probably the only time in recent time that i told someone bluntly to go somewhere else.

now days i find myself more interested in philosophy (rational usually not mystcal stuff for me) and just living my own life. though in many ways, i do get offended when i see muslims walking down the street in protests, carrying signs stating:

"slay all that are not islam,"

i got offended by christian book burnings (ideas are powerful but burning a book is a crime)

i get offended by jews slamming Germans (not all were nazi's you know)

i just get offended when people use their religion as a whinning effect. kind of like some people use the race card, for everything. i am not a racist when i criticise kanye west, for being a talentless entertainer. i am not an anti-semetic person if i question Israel position in Gaza/plaestine . i am not an islamaphobe when i question how they treat their wives.

my main issue now days is mutlicultralism, in my opinion it fragments society, and causes more trouble then good.

"i just get offended when people use their religion as a whinning effect. kind of like some people use the race card, for everything. i am not a racist when i criticise kanye west, for being a talentless entertainer. i am not an anti-semetic person if i question Israel position in Gaza/plaestine . i am not an islamaphobe when i question how they treat their wives."


With ya 100% lady! Actually.. with not just this part but pretty much everything you just said.

In my eyes, someone who uses the religion card to condone being an ass hole, condemning others, or to kill/maim is not a true believer at all. No reasonable god would actually tell people to do those kinds of things.

"I'm an athiest..."

"Really??"


"Yep swear to God!"

lol couldn't resist it...

I beleive in God, I go to church, I pray for my fmaily and for others as well.. I pray for beleivers and non beleivers. I say what is on my mind, I share, but I don't shove it down anyone's throat. I don't judge others for their beleifs

The world would be a much better place if more religious people were like Missy777. Religion has caused so many wars, if not most of them. And any religion that tells people to kill others because they are not of the same religion is bull. You might as well call it Satanism or something. When people try to shove anything down my throat, they get the opposite reaction. BLEEEEEEEEEEEH! all over their shirts LOL

That said, can't resist this: Have you found Jesus? Yes, he was hiding behind the couch the whole time.

"have you found Jesus?"

I didn't know He was Iost! Where did you see Him Iast?

I became disiIIsioned with one church I expIored as a teen because it seemed Iike aII they ever taIked about was the need to repent and accept Jesus as your personaI Savior, and then go out and witness to others to save them from going to heII. There was no teaching or guidance on how to Iive a Christian Iife on a daiIy basis.

I recentIy watched some news reports about radicaI "IsIamic" groups in Britain that beIieve their duty is to bring IsIamic sharia Iaw to every country in the worId. A reported asked "What about the Queen?" and the response was "she can become a MusIim or she can Ieave the country."

Do these peopIe reaIIy think that God (if there is a God) wants peopIe to just say the "right" words, even if in their hearts and minds they don't beIieve them?

i was here.

^
i was there.

just wanted to be included in this thread.

I believe that everyone has a right to believe in anything they want. However I do feel the duty need to tell people that I believe in Jesus. What you do with it is your business.

maybe because it's really people's identity, at least they think it is, they must defend it!!!!lol.

i think it gives people solace, motivation, hope, guidance for themselves and family. it keeps society in check. people depend on it!