Not just theists Jaime you can't leave out the atheist POV.
It amazes me how we agree on so many levels but yet you want to smite me for believing the same as you.
The reason I wanted to smite you is because you smote someone I respect, and not just that you smote him, but that you smote him because you wanted a different answer than the one he gave. It was the emotional impulse to wade in and hit you back for what I saw as an unjust attack. The reason I didn't smite you is because I realized that doing so would simply make things worse. You clearly felt justified in what you did, and the fact that I would have felt just as justified in smiting you back wouldn't have made any more of a difference to you than your feeling justified made a difference to me.
I'm trying to prove that the existence of a religion in Jesus's name is in contradiction to what Jesus taught. Do you disagree with that idea?
Honestly, I don't know. To a very large degree, it's human nature to venerate things you agree with, as well as anything that champions those things. It's pretty easy to go from venerating something to making it into a religion, whether it's your own personal religion or something you share with millions of other people. I don't think you need a deity in order to have a religion. You just need something that you venerate so much that you don't even think about it. It doesn't matter whether that thing is a person, a god, science, a government, a principle, or even just a sports team; if you get to the point where it's so much a part of you that you defend it without thinking about it, it's become a religion to you.
So OCG gets laminated for only accepting part of the bible and I get none for not believing any of it. You make no sense. I did get a thumbs up way back when so I guess that's OK. I have had my laminated moments here as well. Shoot we all need to feel special sometimes.
I gave him the equivalent of a thumbs-up for two reasons. First, because I didn't think your opinion was justified, and that was a better way to express it than to smack you down for expressing your opinion, and second, because what he said made sense. If you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that something was inserted in the Bible after the fact, then it makes no sense to give that thing any special credence. My opinion goes further than that - we can't actually prove where anything in the Bible came from, and so before I give any of it credence, I would want to see corroborating evidence which supported it. But I respect OldChurchGuy, despite the fact that I disagree with his beliefs, because he's open to considering that he might be wrong, no matter who says it. Do you know just how rare that is? It's something that needs to be encouraged. So I guess that's a third reason.
If you want the turmoil to end show me right now that you can accept me the way I am. Quit trying to rage a war with me. I am not your enemy. I have tried very hard to be a friend to the atheist and trust me, y'all need some friends on the theist side. By "your" I mean atheist not you personally but yes you personally as well. I want nothing less than peace for the human race. So what do you say, will you be my friend? I am a loyal friend. I want turn my back on you when times are hard. I will defend your atheist POV no matter what though.
If I have a problem with you over something, believe me, I'll take it up with you. Otherwise, my attitude is live and let live, as long as other people don't get hurt. As far as anything else goes? I just don't know you all that well, and I've had bad experiences with other people who wanted to be my friends but only wanted to take advantage of me for their own purposes, or who were friendly but had emotional problems which splashed on me. I've found it's better to be cautious until I feel I know someone well enough.
Don't you think peace could start by showing respect to those who believe differently? I have no respect for cruelty, I will be brave and stand against cruelty from believers as well as non believers. We can be a team without accepting each others POV about the existence of God.
And I do respect people who have different beliefs. The problem comes when their idea of respect is taking their half out of the middle and leaving you whatever they don't take. For example, those who advocate teaching intelligent design in science classrooms even though they don't have anything that really supports it scientifically. Those who pass on their religious beliefs in a public school classroom and act as if people who don't share those beliefs should just put up and shut up, or else go away. Those who feel that their religious convictions give them the right to dictate the way other people behave. They aren't being cruel, they aren't being vindictive, they're just blinkered by their beliefs and simply don't understand how much harm they're doing without even intending it. Do you see the problem?