Summations Only

Yet another pointless hit-n-run.

I wasn't talking about the people who follow the religions.I was talking about the people who use religious freedom as an excuse to turn their heads to misogyny, homophobia, bigotry, and general oppression.

AZPaul3Equality in the West. How droll if it was not such a sad state of affairs.What are women up to now in terms of equal pay for equal work? 80% of so. Right?If we do not walk our talk in the West, it is not surprising that those who we criticise ignore us.Regards
DL

If I have to argue that we are product of what we are taught by the books we read for you, then you would not understand it.Where did you get your view of religion if not from what you have read of a religious nature?Where do you think Jihadists get theirs if not from what they have read of a religious nature?Regards
DL

frakoA great idea.That and begin all holy books with a disclaimer stating that it was written by immoral people.Regards
DL

jarHaving a bad day are we?Regards
DL

JonThat is what their so called holy books teach.Have you not noted that even the most progressive counties are not quite walking their talk yet.We are getting better but are not quite there yet.Regards
DL

Define 'progressive'.

Well given that in the us you censor profanity nudeness and the like i dont think it would be to hard to make the bible a +18 book with the sticker and everything. After all its full of murder, genocide, the odd case of incest and the like.

Social Enlightenment. Education. Not censorship. And your solution for this is to scrap the First Amendment. Real good.

I'm going to take this response as saying essentially, "No I don't have any argument. This is yet another of GIA thread that fails because the basic premise behind the OP is fatally flawed."As expected.

No. Our real enemy is lack of education, lack of critical thinking skills, and a stubborn bias towards established dogma. As a Christian, I can tell you that my belief is examined and questioned by me often...but I don't believe that a believer by default is delusional or necessarily wrong. I question certain passages in the Bible and I will admit to a propensity to confirmation bias, but I have had experiences that lead me to no other rational conclusion---except perhaps mental illness! Personally, I believe that God exists and I will admit to actively sharing this belief with others. I will agree with you, however, inasmuch to say that much of Christian Culture is sick and dysfunctional to an extent. Not because of our beliefs so much as our actions and perceptions. I will not blame black and white thinking, because absolutes are a fact of reality---not all is gray. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He pre-existed time itself and was in the beginning with the Father. Jesus is Gods human character, were God to transform into a human. No prophet nor individual will ever get any closer or better in this representation than has Jesus. That being said, I acknowledge what jar emphasizes in that Jesus was made man. As far as goals go, I believe that there is a dynamic--a type of battle in the Spirit---that is in essence a part of the human experience.Many say that Jesus was the "second Adam" but I see Jesus as plan A rather than plan B. God never created actualized evil, in my belief. God created the possibility of evil--potentialized evil in the form of rebellion (independence?) from His Spirit. Lucifer actualized the process by choosing to rebel---much like many of today's educated skeptics do.

Bit of an old theme this Phat, but you've literally just made that up. On the rare occasions that I go to a church service - births, deaths, marriages - I hear the priest/vicar doing the same; he just makes stuff up. He has no more knowledge of god and his schemes than I do, but he spouts this fairytale stuff anyway.A complete fabrication repeated over and over down the centuries and across the land. Doesn't it bother you at all that ther's absolutely no foundation to any of these sorts of statements and yet you talk of the need for critical thinking?"Lucifer actualised the process of choosing to rebel"No he didn't, and what's more, Lucifer doesn't exist. So now what?Edited by Tangle, : No reason given.

Why is it you always take the contrarian position by default?

No, I.D. was a masquerade created by fundamentalist Christians to obfuscate the religious nature of their program and disguise it as science. They were trying to pull the wool over the school boards' eyes and sneak their religion into the science classroom. They were wrong and were rightfully outed.Its not something that I would have had the government spend much time and money on, but when the people take things to the courts then the government has to respond.