Quote:
Originally Posted by Shownomercy
Nah, I think religion can be discussed civilly. Its not just about telling someone that they are going to hell or that their god is made by man. Its a lot deeper than that.
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god is not made by man. religion is made by man. who truly knows what god is? i am not being lazy, i just don't capitalize god, since i don't believe as others do that there is a God. i have a more scientific approach that can be taught to people without the fear of hell/hades/pick your punishment for a life full of debauchery.
religion, on the other hand, was created by man. following religion gets people in line. it's also a great money maker. where else is it written that a tenth of your income should go to a certain institution? i still get 'offering' envelopes from churches i've only had a cursory relationship with. they want your money. period.
now, churches can and do have an impact on society. they are involved in many programs that help poor people. they have structured environments for learning what traditional marriage is. so religion can have a positive affect on people. i just can't do the whole 'leap of faith' thing. it defies logic and i like my educational packages to fit into a logical box. i excelled at math, but i hated it the whole time i was studying it. plane geometry was a walk in the park. calculus was, and still is, my favorite subject. computers was the next logical step for me, and i excelled at that, too. my favorite all-time subject was english. i guess i liked the concept that there are a set of ground rules but there are also exceptions to the rules. you can't find that in math.
i agree that religion can be discussed like any other topic. the problem arises when you tell a devout "insert religion here" that they are following precepts made by man, not by "God". they get all emotional about that. then, when you try to nail them down, they throw the "faith" thing at you, as if faith can explain everything. not my cup of tea. but i like the fact that we can chose our religion and that we have the freedom to study whichever religion we want.