Why does it seem the SL population hates Christians?

I think it's cool that people of different religions can play and enjoy the game with the non-religious.
But just like in real-life you're going to get idiots who get insulted by the mere fact that you're Christian or Budhist, chose a black skin for your avatar, are a furry etc. etc.
All you can do is laugh, because in singling you out they only show up their own inadequacies, ignorance and so-on.

I mean, I can get very riled up about religious fanatics, or people who push it upon you. I've had arguments with people who's defence is along the lines of "Oh you would say things like that, because you're going to hell anyway", all because I read Harry Potter or something, and they give the majority a very bad name.

Don't try to tell me what to believe, and I won't tell you where to shove your faith, that's my simple (albeit very rude sounding) philosophy

But to the original poster, that profile message is fine. It's a shame that people can get annoyed by it, I think it's great that faith has helped you so positively, but find it amusing that people can be so insecure as to react so negatively to it. Just ignore them or reply in the knowledge that you know what you believe and aren't going to be affected their words, if you have faith then you shouldn't ever doubt it. I reply to anti-furry comments with things like "I'll bear that in mind" or "How very nice"

So did you come up with your own arguments that "Christ came to make the new Covenant"? Nope. But since you're a Christian you can do what you want and rationalize it later, after attacking others for doing the same thing.

Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.Excerpt from the notebooks of Lazarus Long, from Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love"and
One man's theology is another man's belly laugh.Excerpt from the notebooks of Lazarus Long, from Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love" i have no trouble with peopel who have any kind of faith
but to base your attitude on Christianity on Lewis would be like baseing your opinion of dogs on Goofy

I'm not Christian, but I do think it's really tacky to harass someone unprovoked over a line in a profile in any case.

Any reaction to it is merely entertainment to the perpetrator - I'd not satisfy.



Just by various dogmatic contradictions alone, we can pretty much prove that 90% of us on earth *has* to fervently believe utter nonsense.

The major and minor religions, atheists and UFO folk can't all be right at once.

So logic dictates that 90% of the time, one person harrassing another about belief is about as relevant as saying Superman can beat up Batman.

Don't argue with him, it's not really worth it (unless you have nothing better to do in which case it can be amusing)
The moment the bible is used as concrete evidence you know that the argument isn't going to go anywhere, it's fine to believe the bible, hell, most historical sources are 'belief' until you can find something more tangible. It's fine to believe things, especially if it fits your idea of things or ideals, but the bible is so old, and was written by so many different people that to quote it as undeniable truth to back up an argument with the non-religious (or non-Christian) is senseless.

If a religious argument doesn't begin with "I believe" then it's often doomed

No way Batman would make up some kyrptonite bullet shit and damn it'd be off the hoook!

Oh wait, we're not talking about this.

Yes, well belief is not so much about how much logic applies to it, but how it doesn't apply. I've got my beliefs, and if the world got to a point where everything was deduced as right or wrong, i'm sure that my personal grade would not be straight A's.

There's a really good book called Misquoting Jesus by I think Bart Ehrman, and he (a christian) chronologues how so much has changes in the bible, where it happened, who did it, what's new, and why they'd put it in there. Interesting read.

Issues I have with traditional christian / catholic thinking:

1) Whatever horrendous deed you perform, it's ok, God will forgive you. Just go to church and confess it to the priest, drop him a few coins and say a few prayers.

2) Nothing's under your control - whatever goes wrong is god's will. Don't bother doing anything to make your life better, the most you can do is pray and make promises, and wait for God to change his mind.

3) Truth is absolute and unchanging. The ideal life today is the same as it was 2000 years ago, as written by God in the Holy Bible. So basically no progress is ever possible because you've already been handed the ultimate truth and recipe for a perfect life 2000 years ago.

4) Tolerance is a bad thing! If you're not a christian then you will burn in hell. Never mind the fact that most of the world has never even heard of your religion, and instead follows taoism, buddhism or hinduism or whatever

5) It's perfectly alright to blindly believe in things! Surely no one will ever attempt to deceive you or spread uninformed drivel. I can't help but think that if christianity had never existed, people wouldn't naively spread urban legends and all those horribly annoying emails that tell you something bad's gonna happen

6) Life doesn't mean anything! You're just being tested. Your real life begins in heaven. Or hell. So don't bother succeeding in this world beyond living a "moral" life. In fact, you should damn well be humble instead of ambitious.

I guess I could go on forever but my wrists hurt. I could write a PhD thesis on why and how christian thinking has a negative impact on the world. But why bother. It's all about blind faith, so no argument will ever dissuade a "true" christian from their circular reasoning. God exists because he wrote so in the bible. Smart thinking there!

Interesting that the only abuse report mentioned in this thread so far was filed by a Christian. That says something to me about tolerance, or a lack of it.

I grew up Christian, but left that path years ago for a variety of personal reasons. I have no issues with most Christians; I think it's perfectly possible to coexist peacefully. The important thing is that we do good in the name of *whatever* deity we follow. It's not so much what name we give our deity, it's what good or evil we do; that's what counts.

I think this idea can be illustrated nicely by a passage from 'The Last Battle,' the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia, which is (admittedly) a Christian allegory but also a heck of a good read.

At one point, in the book's version of Heaven, Aslan (the book's symbol for God) comes across a young Calormene, a member of a race who were enemies of the Narnians. The young man is confused at being in this place, because all his life, he followed their god, Tash, and devoted himself faithfully and completely to that god.

Aslan tells him, basically, 'Whatever good you did in the name of Tash, you did for me.' I like that idea. I think it'd be great if more people would stop worrying about what name others give their god/s and pay attention instead to how they treat others.

My advice to the OP would be to ignore the people who act like jerks to you, spend some time with the non-Christians once in a while, and enjoy what you can learn from each other.

Lewis, Its people like you that make me dislike many aspect of evagelical/fundamental christianity and all that it stands for and I am also glad that I will be going to hell because having to spend eternity in heaven with all of the self-righteous assholes like you would be well WORSE THAN HELL. Well at least any hell I can imagine.

I have problems with religion in general and why? Because more blood has been spilled in the name of religion over the past two millenia (well since the dawn of human kind probably is more accurate) and why has blood been spilled because no one can accept that no one really knows the answer to life the universe and everything and that there could in fact be multiple divergent answers to that question. That is In addition to that seeing America being taken over by all of the fundamentalist christian nutjobs and turned into a theocracy.

I can accept that you have different beliefs than the rest of us, what I cannot and willnot accept is the level of self-rigteousness you exude in the name of your religion and how you feel you have the right to tell us all that we are going to hell because :::Gasp::: we don't hold the same beliefs. You are not helping people to see the light and think better of christians -- you are promoting and fostering the stereotype of christians as being self-rightous, ignorant assholes.

That's not a "true" Christian. That is a fool who blindly follows an organized religion without having the brains to find his own path, and thus someone who doesn't understand what Jesus said, at all

googling like mad to find out how many wars were started by Buddhists.....

Not turning up a dang thing

However I'm still fast asleep, and while I can sleep-type, my sleep-googling is sketchy

lil help??

Do some research on India's Emperor Ashoka.

He is basically the Buddhist Constantine (the roman emperor, not the movie).
He was much worse before the adoption of Buddhism, but after his conversion he still maintained a military force and was still greatly feared by contemporary rivals. Combat did not cease after his conversion.

Also, there is the somewhat obscure Buddhist story about a Buddhist general, in the process of conquering Sri Lanka (IIRC) grew concerned about the great quantity of death and suffering he had inflicted on the enemy. Not to worry, he was assured, because only two and a half humans had truly been killed: Only 2 of the enemy had been Buddhists, and one was considering converting.

That said, yes, Buddhism has not been a faith that has traditionally been spread by the sword. But Buddhists can start wars just like anyone else.

Enabran, that *really* rocked. Best post I've read in ages. In fact, most of this thread has been very good, and I thank those who have taken the time to enlighted me. The analysis of St. Paul's role was particularly fascinating.

I take back my proclaimation of this not ending well. Funny how some people stir up the pot, then run from threads once confronted with anything that might get in the way of their blind faith. Its a recurring theme with a few here.

Regards,

-Flip

Organized Religion, IMO, is the Devil's greatest work. What a great tool to get people to kill each other over and feel no remorse. How easy it is to get people to give up their free will, one of God's greatest gifts to mankind.

I was raised Roman Catholic. Church every Sunday, CCD classes every week, Baptism, First Communion (Never did understand why the young were unfit to recieve Christ's holy blessing), Confirmation. Even an ECHO retreat.

The end result?

I believe in God, be he/she the God of the Bible, an amalgam (sp?) of all gods, or just an organizing force behind reality. I believe in Jesus, be he the one of the bible, or just an elightened being who could see through the idiocy of a race that was still in diapers. I believe in a spirituality in all things, and an underlying balance that supports everything. I believe that one day, 'God' may make his presence known, either though another 'Jesus' or some other way. And I believe that we should all respect each other (Though some may scoff, Bill and Ted had it right: "Be Excellent to Each Other."

But when I am presented with a list of religions and told to indicate which I am, I check 'Other.'

I do not believe in Opulent Churches. I do not believe in killing over beliefs. I do not believe ancient superstitions should rule my life. And I do NOT believe that people are condemming themselves if they don't feel like I do.

It pains me to hear someone quoting from the Bible as if it were the only truth, and trying to force someone to do the same. It really hurts to see someone give up their free will and try to make another do the same. But while I may disagree and voice my opinion on the matter, I'm not going to go down the same road and tell them they have to give up the Bible.

Back OT: So why do so many hate Christians? Probably because they have been treated badly by them.

I have never had a Muslim come to me and tell me I should convert.

I have never had a Buddhist try to convince me to meditate.

I have never had a Jewish person tell me I should go to Temple.

I have, however, been surrounded by a gang (10+ people) of Christians and told that I was a sinner and going to hell, and all I was doing was standing on a sidewalk talking with my friends. And this is just one instance of a few encounters I've had.

I'm not saying all Christians are like that. However, like anything in life, a vocal minority sets a tone for the majority. If you own a fast car, you have to deal with being pulled over by police more often. If you dress in leather and chains, you have to deal with being branded a punk. It's just how this world is, unfortunately.

Does this mean I will IM someone who has a "Jesus is our Saviour." quote in their profile and insult them? No. However I do admit that I feel a pang of regret when I read that, but I know that they are an adult and can make their own decisions.

So in all, Just be nice to each other and the world will twirl along all the more happily for it.

Wasn't aware I was threatened. Should I panic, bang my head on the wall, or kill myself?

Oh wait..I -wasn't- threatened.

Very nicely put.

Great post. I am in the same category for the most part (although I am mostly agnostic now). But you hit the nail right on the head, I'd say.

MM

Hmmm, if we're going to declare open season on foolish Christians, can we at least find some thought-through atheists to represent the other side? In terms of the above, for example:

(1) A little research into the Jewish apocalyptic genre would help. Books can be scary things full of words, but they are also useful.

(2) From an atheistic point of view, I'm not sure one can imply slavery is wrong. First, right and wrong are of course purely projections of our own ideas and construing any ultimate reality to them is epistemic foolishness. Second, from a survival-of-the-fittest point of view, what's against slavery, surely its the strong triumphing over the weak?

Come on folks, we can do better than this

Then we must ask the question, why is it that all agnostics are gay or bisexual?

KIDDING!

OH EM GEE! I am offended. *reports Flip*

MM

What a shitstorm!

Folks, many of you are busy yelling about intolerance, but you are also giving a prime example of it. Pat yourselves on the back for beating up so thoroughly on yet another "Christian fanatic".

I'd say L$100 if she looks like her dad, L$10,000 if she looks like her mom.



You can, but all they do is stand around asking obvious questions that end in "Eh?" all day long.



Eating shellfish is just selfish. What did an oyster ever do to you?



P2

One of the interesting things that i'd note as true when it comes to heavy belief is that in the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" they had a Jesus like diety that they prayed to through use of these machines that let you feel what he felt as he climbed a hill and was stoned and attacked by animals, and this was their diety. The Androids hated this diety because they couldn't understand why people followed him so much and it was absolutely illogical. They found out that the whole thing was a sham, and that this man was actually an actor who was still living and had taken this job a long time ago, and they interviewed him (androids owned a TV station, long story) and showed him as a complete fake.

But here's the thing, even after the guy who was the basis of their religion was shown as a fake, people still believed in it. The Androids thought it would collapse the religion and it didn't.

What this shows to me is that to humans it doesn't really matter if something like this is true of false, just that we need to believe in something, and once we have our set of beliefs nothing will sway us from it but ourselves.

I figure this is the same with Jesus, and why the "Jesus didn't say any of this stuff that's in the bible that Popes and what not proclaim he did" argument doesn't work. Because at this point, Jesus doesn't matter. They use his name and they make references to him but they could care less of what he REALLY did. People have preconceptions in their mind and they like these preconceptions, we don't want the truth of the matter sometimes, sometimes we'd prefer our fantasies.

Whether or not Christianity has any truth to it is irrelevant, the fact is that people have put their belief in it and once that happens you can only recede deeper into more belief and less logic or drop the thing entirely.

That is the nature of belief and humanity I suppose.

I just heard Bill Meyer say that live at a show here in town...did you go see him when he hit your town too? He was hilarious.

Flip, I couldn't have said it better. But I am sorry for the OP who is getting rude messages from folks in game...that's just...well, wrong.

Why does ANYONE feel the need to push their beliefs on another? Great to share and debate, consider and rebute, but let's not all be so darned closed minded.