Hopefully we can generate some sensible discussion from a variety of viewpoints without this becoming a giant flaming session.
Points to consider:
1) Its taken me a few years to realise and confirm that I don't believe there is any form of monotheistic creator god. If you want to call that atheistic, well good for you. I do. However it has started to become tinged with a certain stigma and ironically a "holier than thou" that I would like to avoid in this thread if possible.
2) I'm sorry, but with the distance of the internet your beliefs don't really affect me or the way I live my life. I don't mean that I am sure mine are right and everyone must adopt them because all others are wrong. Just that generally I have enough problems and issues in my life without worrying what other people choose to believe. I'm not going to lose sleep if you believe something different to me. This isn't a thread about trying to dig at people. I accept that everyone will have differing beliefs and I am interested in the view point on this topic that that gives you.
3) This topic is mainly aimed at Christianity for reasons I hope are obvious in the article below. It could apply just as well to many of the worlds religions.
Sorry for the extended prologue but I wanted to make sure I was clear from the start.
Regardless of religion I believe you could put everyone on a scale somewhere between militant atheist - regular athiest - agnostic - christmas and easter church goer - regular church goer - devout believer- religious "holy word of god" fundamentalist (feel free to suggest changes to the labels, there are probably loads missing or in the wrong order. It was just something to help illustrate a point).
I was reading this article earlier Comprehensive map traces 463 of the bibles major contradictions
My initial thought was of Ned Flanders in the Simpsons when his house gets destroyed and he claims he always tried to follow the bible, even the bits the contradict each other. On my scale above I'd put myself on the left. I'm even quite happy to go for a sing song at christmas, but its purely for the social aspect, mulled wine and catchy tunes. I don't have any problem with these contradictions. I will happily accept that different books of the bible were written at different times and by different people with different social ideas to put forward. Its been translated many times and some inconsistencies are bound to occur.
Where would you put yourself on the scale and are you bothered by any disagreements within the bible. I am also very interested in your opinions if you put yourself to the other end of the scale. How do you reconcile these differences with your beliefs?
Points to consider:
1) Its taken me a few years to realise and confirm that I don't believe there is any form of monotheistic creator god. If you want to call that atheistic, well good for you. I do. However it has started to become tinged with a certain stigma and ironically a "holier than thou" that I would like to avoid in this thread if possible.
2) I'm sorry, but with the distance of the internet your beliefs don't really affect me or the way I live my life. I don't mean that I am sure mine are right and everyone must adopt them because all others are wrong. Just that generally I have enough problems and issues in my life without worrying what other people choose to believe. I'm not going to lose sleep if you believe something different to me. This isn't a thread about trying to dig at people. I accept that everyone will have differing beliefs and I am interested in the view point on this topic that that gives you.
3) This topic is mainly aimed at Christianity for reasons I hope are obvious in the article below. It could apply just as well to many of the worlds religions.
Sorry for the extended prologue but I wanted to make sure I was clear from the start.
Regardless of religion I believe you could put everyone on a scale somewhere between militant atheist - regular athiest - agnostic - christmas and easter church goer - regular church goer - devout believer- religious "holy word of god" fundamentalist (feel free to suggest changes to the labels, there are probably loads missing or in the wrong order. It was just something to help illustrate a point).
I was reading this article earlier Comprehensive map traces 463 of the bibles major contradictions
My initial thought was of Ned Flanders in the Simpsons when his house gets destroyed and he claims he always tried to follow the bible, even the bits the contradict each other. On my scale above I'd put myself on the left. I'm even quite happy to go for a sing song at christmas, but its purely for the social aspect, mulled wine and catchy tunes. I don't have any problem with these contradictions. I will happily accept that different books of the bible were written at different times and by different people with different social ideas to put forward. Its been translated many times and some inconsistencies are bound to occur.
Where would you put yourself on the scale and are you bothered by any disagreements within the bible. I am also very interested in your opinions if you put yourself to the other end of the scale. How do you reconcile these differences with your beliefs?
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