Prove it...


I always tell people, one of the greatest, most freeing things I did in life was pick up religion.

I take full and utter responsibility for what I do in life to myself and others
I don't have to try to be superior to others with the mythology of old men nor wish hell on those who do not believe.
I don't have to look to others for my morality.
I don't have to believe in an evil force using me to fight an imaginary battle with another force supposedly good.
I don't have to believe that I am some controlled animal with religion.
I REALLY do have free will, unlike the illusion taught by atheists
I can look at the progression/regression of man because and around religion subjectively without reverence for one over the other.

My spirit has been so full of life and appreciation for life since I embraced it.


Now, will you call me a liar?

I totally agree that noone is better than anyone else. As a matter of fact, unlike many believers AND unbelievers, I dont assume that I am any better than a murderer or an adulterer or anyone else that does or has ever done 'wrong'.

I believe we all make different choices for different reasons,, we all make mistakes and have successes, we all do wrong and we all do right. One of Jesus most precious teachings for me is that we ALL sin and should not judge the souls of others.

I just take notice when I feel someone tearing down my beliefs as unintelligent or un enlightened,, as Im sure non believers do as well.

It is not cool to take someone elses writing and alter it.

That is a violation of me.

Religious like to violate others rights to their own and you just proved it by ruining my writing.

You should be ashamed of yourself for doing that to my writing.

You proved nothing by changing it except how wrong you can really be.

Is that a joke,,,or a serious complaint?

He highlighted the changes to a public post so as to make a point about it,,,,not to violate.

Extreme in anything is folly.

There is a difference between embracing what one believes and what one believes embracing (or consuming) them.

Temper intelligence with wisdom and not wisdom with intelligence.


The truly enlightened faithful are not afraid to try to understand and define another way of thinking without prejudice, because with their sound minds they have already strongly questioned their own beliefs.

Untested faith is weak faith indeed or these days, blind faith.

It is violation of my writing.

Shows how respectful the religious are.

oh kay. anyway,,,

I think the point of the original topic is not far off. Extreme ANYTHING implies imbalance which is never healthy. Faith or religion in and of themselves are not bad,, what people do to or with them can turn into something horrific however.

Considering that religion is extreme in it's concept of devotion. You have to be extreme to be devoted to it completely. This bodes unwell for non extremism in religion.

For starters it is extreme in the concept that to not believe brings an eternity of suffering. It is extreme in who it excludes as not a part of the religion ie homosexuals. It is extreme in that it teaches it is the one and only true right way and all others are wrong. It is extreme in the concept that one should be willing to die for their god and almost all teach that. Ect....

Religion equals extremism by definition.

I disagree. I have been a Christian form most of my forty years. I have been taught none of the things you post above. My religion, what I have been taught, is that Humans by nature will sin. That all humans can repent of their sin and those who have been exposed to the word can choose to accept the Lord as Savior, this includes all sexually active adults who are not husband and wife(homosexuals being just one of many),, all of it technically is fornication and advised against strongly.

It includes quite ALOT of information about 'right ways' so that is actually not extreme at all. The belief that one should die for their God(if it is their choice) is no more extreme than a soldier believing in dying for his country or his government but I dont consider soldiers automatically a class of extreme people because of it.

There is a balance, even within Christianity, that keeps things healthy. Anything too far away from that balance is not going to end well.

Anything unbalanced, rather religious or not,, will not end well.

There is a non religious concept ,,yin and yang, which also supports the idea of HEALTHY balance in peoples lives. As a Christian, I was taught a balance,,nothing extreme at all.

Could you see your extremism from where you stand? Probably not.

Most extremists do not believe that is what they are.

The religious concept is extremism so how can it show balance?

Unless people are not following it as it is written to be followed and then maybe. But then are they really devout? Probably not.

Well, we can agree to see things differently. The life of Jesus is my example and if he was an extremist than I accept the label. He lived a life healing people and trying to bring them to the Lord, but he did no harm and loved all. If that is extreme,,maybe its not a bad thing to be.

Weak argument, I didn't quote you and imply that you wrote it. I sure as **** am not gonna write your imaginary paragraph as my own. You insult and demean anyone religious while implying you're morally superior.


Right, and then embraced atheism and the illusion that the religious aren't free.


If you did, you would have admitted your mistake.


Right, you are quite capable of doing that on your own.


Maybe you should before you start using insinuating insults again.


No religion I know of thinks that. But from a Christian perspective, you just may have an evil force using you to battle good. Don't worry though, you can still be saved.


Neither do I, with or without. Whoever ever said you were?


Free will is not an illusion. If you grew up religious, this should be self-evident. Unless it was a lie that you "set down religion", otherwise you'd still be religious.


So can I(subjectively), but I highly doubt anyone can do it objectively.


Is it really?


Your views that you posted and your claims that no religious person can say the same is a bit extremist, don't you think? I know I do...

btw, you never answered the question.
How were you raised that you ended up with such a distorted view of religion?
I think I can guess, but I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable.
If you want to tell me privately, feel free.

I thought this was a post about religious extremes, religion itself is fine for those that want/need it in their lives. For those of us that do not need/want it, thats fine too.

It's when the religion becomes more than a part of your life, it becomes your life altogether and you can't do anything without your religious leaders permission.

For example the waco, tx cult was extreme religion, some might view the muslim religion as sometimes extreme but I'm certain there are people that practice muslim religion that do not go around bombing people or terrorizing other people.

The christian crusades could have been viewed as extreme as they killed anyone that did not convert to their religion.

Everyday religion is good for the people that want it as part of their lives but extreme religion is not so good.

"Everyday religion" can sometimes in numbers be extreme e.g. the election of the Dippic who used the religious to gain power to start illegal wars basically against Islam.



For several years our government was invaded by religious zealots, the Dippic would not appoint nor hire anyone who was not religious. He plucked 150 Regent University grads (A Pat Robertson gig (he's an extremist). RU at the time was a 4th tier lawschool that gave us people like Monica Goodling).

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/05/24/the-goodling-post-game-regent-law-on-the-hot-seat/

The Dippic and his holy people held back scientific and humanist efforts, curbed Stem Cell Research and imposed Abstenence Only in our schools with the results of higher teen pregnancies and to the point today where 1 in 4 teen girls have an STD. That's pretty extreme...

the USAF Acadamy was at one point requiring it's recruits to swear to Jesus..how did that happen?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/03/airforce.religion/index.html

The examples are endless..I was worried we were heading towards a theocracy.

In 2008 the GOP picked Sarah Palin to run for VP, she's a religious exremist and believes in the ends-of-times...she looked into burning books! Her followers tend to be people who don't care about the overall future of America because "He is coming".



~~~

A previous poster suggested "we teach both" in schools (evolution and creationism) THAT is extremism since they are wanting Christianity taught in schools that are diverse and that would be imposing on all other faiths and non-faiths. Evolution is a scientific fact not some "belief" in what could be described as a "fairy tale" since there is no proof what-so-ever" of it's validity.

The map was disturbing, we have a long was to go....Here's a world map of how many people in the world believe in evolution.



~~~

Religious Extremist warnings:

If you believe that America is solely a "Christian Nation"
If you think we should impose prayer in public schools
If you want to impose creationism teachings in public schools
If you vote for a political candidate solely on his religion
If you think the "ends-of-times" are always upon us
If you discrimniate against people based on their sexual orientations
If you think the US should "crusade" Christianity around the world
If you are for Abstinence Only in public schools and reject sex education
If you want the teachings of evolution removed from public schools
If you are for placing engraven religious symbols on public property
If you think a non-religious person can not possibly have a moral compass

Feel free to add to this list...

~~~~

Here's something else to ponder about religiosity:

76% of all war in human history have been fought over religious reasons/differences.

An estimated 850 million people have been murdered over religion, and many more tortured and discriminated against.

And counting....

76% of all war in human history have been fought over religious reasons/differences.


Where do you get this number,, how could that POSSIBLY be determined? Someone actually has proof of the reasons behind ALL wars since mankind began and their reasons?,....thats suspect



As for the list,,lets see

**If you believe that America is solely a "Christian Nation"

Of course it isnt, my own family isnt SOLELY christian but it is predominately.

**If you think we should impose prayer in public schools
Shouldnt be imposed or RESTRICTED,, in my opinion

**If you want to impose creationism teachings in public schools
Shouldnt be imposed or RESTRICTED,, in my opinion

**If you vote for a political candidate solely on his religion
That would be more a sign of stupidity than extremism. Most people vote on issues that are important to them, myself included.

**If you think the "ends-of-times" are always upon us
Well, the end is a relative term. My birth was the beginning of my end,,,so to speak. But to stress over it everyday would be silly.

**If you discrimniate against people based on their sexual orientations
Again, bigotry is not highly endorsed in my faith.
The religious and non religious have things that they feel 'just arent right', whatever their reasons are, but there is a difference between aknowledging or believing something to be wrong and causing harm to others for taking part in it.


**If you think the US should "crusade" Christianity around the world
I dont think anyone should impose their faith but neither should they feel compelled to hide their faith.

**If you are for Abstinence Only in public schools and reject sex education
I support sex education at home.
In lieu of that option, I support a sex education which INCLUDES serious focus on the advantages of abstinence.

**If you want the teachings of evolution removed from public schools
AS a science, I feel it is relevant and should remain in science studies.

**If you are for placing engraven religious symbols on public property
I am for it if the public involved has agreed


**If you think a non-religious person can not possibly have a moral compass
I think morals are something everyone has.
Before my parents took me to church, I had some idea about what right and wrong were. The compass starts with what you are taught at home,not with religion.

"Interreligious wars made up the remaining 32 cases (76 percent).22 Of the interfaith civil
wars, Islam was again well represented, but so was Christianity. Islam was involved in 25 wars
(78 percent), and Christianity was involved in 22 (69 percent)"

http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/2006_03.pdf

And as to your answers....you keep saying "but not restricted", don't religious people have all night and the weekends to pray and observe their faith? The only reason they do it at school is to push their religion, I've even had church people show up at my door and they apparently will break laws to push their religion...tresspassing....and about these foreign missionaries...Don't get me started...lol.

And on sex education, especially with Americans they shame sex and it's rarely spoken about at home...and "just say no" does not work...we've seen the results of Abstenence Only...as I pointed out but it's just cause to insist on a proper sex education in the public school system. Sure we should teach responsibility but also about contaception to avoid unwanted pregnancies and the spreading of STD's...did you know that most teens don't consider "oral sex" as sex at all? Ignorances cannot continue...

wow, I just read this entire thread....I'm so grateful I'm just a highly spiritual heathen...

everyone, lets all look through my window, the view is much better this way.

I dont condone trespassing nor know what that has to do with religion specifically, but as to observing faith

don't religious people have all night and the weekends to pray and observe their faith? Yes as do the unfaithful have those days and ALL the rest to observe what they believe. Each day should be available for those who choose to believe. I dont condone forcing anyone to have faith, but I dont condone restricting the faithful from having the option to observe,, even at school.

I am aware and concerned about the imbalance presently being taught to children as relates to sex education. WE apparently dont disagree there. I dont want an ABSTINENCE only approach in school. But if it must be in school at all(sex education) and it is not going to involve JUST teaching of where babies come from and all the other things that can come from that activity(which would be my preference),than it should be more balanced in addressing ALL options for safe sex, their pros and cons,including the one that involves no sex at all.

"I dont condone trespassing nor know what that has to do with religion specifically, but as to observing faith"

~~~~

I pointed out that it was a visit from local church members...

The point is that even tho~ this religious group knew they were breaking the law they thought that "gods law" (to them) trumps civil laws. I don't appreciate it nor respect that one bit.

Students can pray in the halls or outside, those that want creationism taught or prayer directed in the school's classrooms are simply extremists...and as well blatantly disrespectful to other faiths or non-religious people.