Comments on: Religion is an Insult to God http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/ Change your beliefs, change your world. Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:58:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Paul Maurice Martin http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-1326 Paul Maurice Martin Tue, 26 May 2009 15:40:20 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-1326 It seems to me that speaking for God or saying what God's like is a difficult thing. In the end, God always seems to agree with our views - and yet people's views can be very different. George Bush and Bin Laden, are a couple of, uh... stellar examples, so to speak. Each thinks he pretty much know God's thoughts and has acted in history according to the will of God. It seems to me that speaking for God or saying what God’s like is a difficult thing. In the end, God always seems to agree with our views – and yet people’s views can be very different. George Bush and Bin Laden, are a couple of, uh… stellar examples, so to speak. Each thinks he pretty much know God’s thoughts and has acted in history according to the will of God.

]]> By: Angus http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-986 Angus Sat, 16 May 2009 05:45:08 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-986 SoulRiser—congrats, not too many people catch than acronym! cheers, Angus SoulRiser—congrats, not too many people catch than acronym!

cheers,
Angus

]]> By: SoulRiser http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-982 SoulRiser Sat, 16 May 2009 04:07:51 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-982 <blockquote>Church of Universal Love and Truth</blockquote> The acronym for that is CULT... did you do that on purpose? :D I really enjoyed reading this, I've been wanting to write something similar for a while but just haven't gotten around to it. All organized religions fail in some way, mainly because they discourage critical thinking.

Church of Universal Love and Truth

The acronym for that is CULT… did you do that on purpose? :D

I really enjoyed reading this, I’ve been wanting to write something similar for a while but just haven’t gotten around to it. All organized religions fail in some way, mainly because they discourage critical thinking.

]]> By: David Cain http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-653 David Cain Wed, 06 May 2009 19:12:53 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-653 Totally agree Angus. I don't have anything to add really, you said it all. Totally agree Angus. I don’t have anything to add really, you said it all.

]]> By: Justin http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-634 Justin Wed, 06 May 2009 04:01:53 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-634 David, I actually agree with Angus response to you, which I find quite amusing. David, I actually agree with Angus response to you, which I find quite amusing.

]]> By: Justin http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-633 Justin Wed, 06 May 2009 04:00:04 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-633 "My own belief, and a core tenet of my faith, the Church of Universal Love and Truth, is that we humans, in all our profane excess, are perfect just as we are, by divine grace, and that the Divine One is a kind and jovial being, chiefly concerned with fulfilling all our desires and being amused by our picaresque antics." A bit naive ... man is sinful, depraved, or whatever you want to call it. All one would have to do is look at how much mankind slaughters one another to prove the point. "everything is just precisely as it should be" If man didn't sin, it would be. But man did. Hence salvation by Christ. And Christ commissioned men to evangelize. He does not need men. Examples could be given in Scripture of Christ directly evangelizing. “My own belief, and a core tenet of my faith, the Church of Universal Love and Truth, is that we humans, in all our profane excess, are perfect just as we are, by divine grace, and that the Divine One is a kind and jovial being, chiefly concerned with fulfilling all our desires and being amused by our picaresque antics.”

A bit naive … man is sinful, depraved, or whatever you want to call it. All one would have to do is look at how much mankind slaughters one another to prove the point.

“everything is just precisely as it should be”

If man didn’t sin, it would be. But man did. Hence salvation by Christ. And Christ commissioned men to evangelize. He does not need men. Examples could be given in Scripture of Christ directly evangelizing.

]]> By: Audrey http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-616 Audrey Tue, 05 May 2009 16:56:52 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-616 My skin crawls a little just hearing the word CHRISTENDOM again. It's been a long time. My skin crawls a little just hearing the word CHRISTENDOM again. It’s been a long time.

]]> By: Angus http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-576 Angus Mon, 04 May 2009 16:22:35 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-576 Thanks David, thanks Joe. David, I'm sympathetic to your claims that Christendom as a whole is poorly represented by the fundies, but a lot of less obnoxious Christian religions still have creeds that include the doctrines of, for example, hellfire, original sin, salvation only thru Christ, etc. which alone would be justification for my article. I guess I feel that by the time you clear out the bathwater of christianity, there's not much baby left, and you might as well have a personal philosophy based on great teachers, including Jesus. And unfortunately, the bible can certainly be used to justify obnoxious doctrines, so a sane spirituality simply has to deny unique inspiration, and pick and choose instead, so again, what's the value of identifying as 'Christian'. Joe, I couldn't agree more. cheers, Angus Thanks David, thanks Joe.

David, I’m sympathetic to your claims that Christendom as a whole is poorly represented by the fundies, but a lot of less obnoxious Christian religions still have creeds that include the doctrines of, for example, hellfire, original sin, salvation only thru Christ, etc. which alone would be justification for my article. I guess I feel that by the time you clear out the bathwater of christianity, there’s not much baby left, and you might as well have a personal philosophy based on great teachers, including Jesus. And unfortunately, the bible can certainly be used to justify obnoxious doctrines, so a sane spirituality simply has to deny unique inspiration, and pick and choose instead, so again, what’s the value of identifying as ‘Christian’.

Joe, I couldn’t agree more.

cheers,
Angus

]]> By: JoePike http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-575 JoePike Mon, 04 May 2009 15:51:54 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-575 Angus, your last paragraph in this article totally resonates with me. Being a recovering Catholic I find it so much more empowering and joyous to view myself as a spiritual extension of God, who is in fact quite kind and jovial...and infinitely loving. Removing the belief in hell/eternal torment from my perception of the afterlife has completely enriched my current existence. Angus, your last paragraph in this article totally resonates with me. Being a recovering Catholic I find it so much more empowering and joyous to view myself as a spiritual extension of God, who is in fact quite kind and jovial…and infinitely loving. Removing the belief in hell/eternal torment from my perception of the afterlife has completely enriched my current existence.

]]> By: David Armstrong-Reiner http://www.otherbs.com/2009/05/04/religion-is-an-insult-to-god/comment-page-1/#comment-570 David Armstrong-Reiner Mon, 04 May 2009 13:48:00 +0000 http://www.otherbs.com/?p=808#comment-570 Okay, Angus, you knew I couldn't let this one go by without at least some comment. Once again, you have categorized the whole of Christianity with a certain brand of fundamentalism that I would argue most Christians do not buy into - certainly not this one. The Genesis accounts do not provide science or history. They were not written for that, but rather they were written to illustrate spiritual truths. Unfortunately, some big-mouthed fundamentalists - constituting a small minority of us Christians - proclaim their ignorance and make the general public think that that ignorance is Christianity. As for hell and torment, you are absolutely correct in your criticism, and you would have many Christians - this one included - that would say that a God of grace and love is incompatible with a belief in hell. Your "confession of belief" - interestingly enough - is not so far off of Lutheran belief, although your critique of religion would point out that we are a bit off of that "perfect just as we are" claim. By the way, happy birthday! David Okay, Angus, you knew I couldn’t let this one go by without at least some comment.
Once again, you have categorized the whole of Christianity with a certain brand of fundamentalism that I would argue most Christians do not buy into – certainly not this one. The Genesis accounts do not provide science or history. They were not written for that, but rather they were written to illustrate spiritual truths. Unfortunately, some big-mouthed fundamentalists – constituting a small minority of us Christians – proclaim their ignorance and make the general public think that that ignorance is Christianity.
As for hell and torment, you are absolutely correct in your criticism, and you would have many Christians – this one included – that would say that a God of grace and love is incompatible with a belief in hell.
Your “confession of belief” – interestingly enough – is not so far off of Lutheran belief, although your critique of religion would point out that we are a bit off of that “perfect just as we are” claim.
By the way, happy birthday!
David

]]>