"Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions." Blaise Pascal, of "Pascal's Wager" fame.

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Steven Weinberg.

"Throughout history religionolics have killed, tortured and ostracized millions on the altar of their religion and particular Invisible Man in the Sky! "If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another."
Epicurus (341 - 270 BC, Athens) Greek philosopher.



"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."
Buddha

Maybe.....listen to Buddha :)

If we let go of religion and the evil it brings upon people, and let go of the mythology of ....original sin in the past (eating an apple because a snake said to) and heaven-hell in the future (imaginary places) and just relax and enjoy .....
the moment...
Hmmmmmmmm, what a thought :)

Yes, maybe listen to Buddha and stop dwelling on the past and accusing the religious of doing evil things...

What you posted made me think of this for some reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeLr2oElXHQ

And also this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D4JQKVNWdo

The first one is from someone that questions God and religion, the second one is from an atheist and I feel quite inspirational.

Its a good thought as the moment is never ending..It has niether past nor future it just IS>

The writings that tell us what original sin is are way to deep for man to understand.

From original sin they relized shame when no shame was ever meant to be. The human body is a magnificant thing.

We took skin to cover our own as if it is better somehow.

We see gold all over the place in the beginning as if Gold was everywhere to be had and used.

Gold has always been mens power to use for good or for evil.. Blessings...Moshe

Well, are u now saying that people who deos evil, uses religion as an umbrella of evil? Evil and good has been in existence befor the creation of man and the emergence of religion. Religion you see today, is a belief of a people, and not a means,nor channel by which men does evil. Though good and evil lives in the heart of a man. It all depends where you want to belong in terms of "deed". The issue of Adam and Eve is not a yardstick!Thank you

if the religious would stop with their shenanagins then maybe there'd be no reason to blame them.

thats like saying perhaps if blacks would stop being black noone would be racist against them

people will always blame others for the very natural tendencies of man (good and bad)

is the debate about the label 'evil' vs bad or unwise?

of course, thats just semantics

man has been man with or without the introduction of religion

There are some fanatics who are religious

and fanatics who are non-religious.

And there are fanatics who hate religion

and the religious.


Some of these are ticking time bombs

Take a chill-pill.

Please?

Don't hate me because I am saved !!!



You have the same opportunity!!!

I agree,
that I have the same opportunity to be saved !!!
If I just:
Believe that some cosmic Jewish Zombie can save me and make me live forever if I symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that I accept him as my master, so he can remove an evil force from my soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.

makes perfect sense ?????

I don't hate people who think they are "saved", I just get tired of the projection....that Christians are victims when they don't get their way...gay rights, abortion, prayer in public institutions etc...how about a little tolerance for the third largest "religious" group in America..... non-believers ??

It would be interesting to note the subjective definitions of 'victim' ,,,,,,

what qualifies someone as a victim and who amongst us couldnt RIGHTFULLY claim such status at some point in our life,??


certainly miriam webster would agree

victim: : a living being sacrificed to a deity or in the performance of a religious rite

2: one that is acted on and usually adversely affected by a force or agent <the schools are victims of the social system>:

as a (1) : one that is injured, destroyed, or sacrificed under any of various conditions <a victim of cancer> <a victim of the auto crash> <a murder victim>

(2) : one that is subjected to oppression, hardship, or mistreatment <a frequent victim of political attacks> b : one that is tricked or duped <a con man's victim

Calm down...
go back to sleep if that's your choice.

I like the topic of being kind to others and appreciating the moment. It has helped me in my dealings with others. I mean, "Why rush the moment?" We may never pass this way, again. Sometimes it is nice just to realise we are human like the humans around us. It can help you to feel less lonely and can be an interesting way to pass the time. I really love my job dealing with humans. It is so much more interesting than just dealing with inanimate parts.

Why must we wait so long...

til it's too late to see the blessings we have

as a Christian Nation.


Matthew 24:4-12

4, And Jesus answered and said unto them,

Take heed that no man deceive you.

5, For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ;

and shall deceive many.

6, And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars:
see that ye be not troubled:
for all these things must come to pass,
but the end is not yet.

7, For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines,
and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8, All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9, Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted,
and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated
of all nations for my name's sake.


********************************************
It's bad enough
that the outside enemy has infiltrated our premises.
while we tear down our own walls by deception.

When enough of the walls are down
the wolves will shed their lambswool robes.
Then they will show their snarly teeth.

*************************

Why do we self-destruct?

Yet, even worse,
we weaken our own bulwarks with protests
against those precious morals and ideals of faith.


The very morals that provide righteous freedom
and love
and opportunity for prosperity.

**************************

10, And then shall many be offended,
and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.



************************
offended by the slightest discomfort
of our own Nation's standards.
************************

11, And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.


And here is another definiton of "victim"

vic·tim

vic·tim [víktim]
(plural vic·tims)
n
1. somebody hurt or killed: somebody who is hurt or killed by somebody or something, especially in a crime, accident, or disaster
a murder victim

2. somebody or something harmed: somebody who or something that is adversely affected by an action or circumstance
a victim of her own success

3. somebody duped: somebody who is tricked or exploited
4. living being used for sacrifice: a live human or animal used as a sacrifice or in a religious rite
5. helpless person: somebody who experiences misfortune and feels helpless to remedy it


[15th century. < Latin victima "animal offered as a sacrifice"]


-vic·tim·hood, , n
fall victim to somebody or something to be affected, harmed, or deceived by somebody or something
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

So if we go by this definition.....

"And here is another definiton of "victim"
vic·tim
vic·tim [víktim]
(plural vic·tims)
n
1. somebody hurt or killed: somebody who is hurt or killed by somebody or something, especially in a crime, accident, or disaster
a murder victim"

Jesus was the ultimate victim (assuming one very big assumption...that you believe the Jesus myth), killed by his dad (God)...since his dad is all powerful and let it happen....but wait , the Romans killed Jesus, so God either isn't that powerful, or he is and he allowed it...a loving caring dad who lets his son suffer and die, but then god would died...one god...but its a trinity...so Jesus died and god lived... but they are one....
this makes absolutely no sense.... BINGO !!!!!