Christianity: Too controlling? - Page 2

Jane13 · 03-06-2006, 06:29 PM

*sigh of releif* Thank goodness that isn't real!

... and it is quite hilarious ^.^

Shi'ark · 03-07-2006, 12:39 AM

Here’s the thing. Those of you who like sociology will get a kick out of this one. What has religion mainly been used for over the thousands of years of Human cultural evolution.

Social control: a pretty good tool of the people in power to tell those who are not what they can and can’t do.

Christianity: Too controling? Is there a big religion that isn’t.

What do you think?

655322 · 03-07-2006, 09:42 PM

I guess religions are just a set of rules or guidelines that you follow in order to hopefully be a better human being. They are, ideally, the oil that lubricates society as a whole and makes it function without friction.

"Belief" then is belief in these rules. Something higher than yourself. Faith comes from this belief in the rightness of the rules.

There is nothing wrong with following your own rules. However, if by following your rules, you begin to piss too many people off you will experience backlash. If you don't think about other people much, you will find it harder to get along with the society around you.

Saying that my rules are better than your rules will inevitably piss you off. It's like me saying, Texas Holdem rules are better rules than 7 card stud. It's all poker, but different people have preferences towards one kind, because they think they play better with one particular rule set. But pressing the issue about which rule set is better causes a poker room brawl.

If a Christian walks up to you and tries to convert you, whether you believe in Christianity or not, give them a fish, and say "Have a nice day." If they don't get it, you know they are being fucked by Satan.

Queenofdarkness57 · 03-08-2006, 05:58 AM

I've read somewhere that the current bible is not complete, but the missing parts are found in the Vatican Library! I wonder what those pages contain...

succubus,queenofvampires · 03-08-2006, 06:25 AM

I have a feeling that some of the missing things may be related to Mary Magdalene.

Blushing Heliophobe · 03-08-2006, 06:36 AM

The 'missing' parts of the Bible aren't missing, they just aren't 'canonized' which is basicly means 'approved'. Look up the Apocrypha on Google and you can read it on the net. Yes, one of the Gnostic gospels is the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Read it for yourself.

A lot of the apocrypha is actually included in Roman Catholic Bibles.

succubus,queenofvampires · 03-08-2006, 06:48 AM

If they are widely published on the net, then why are they still hiding or not approving of them?

Black Widow · 03-08-2006, 07:12 AM

My grandfather once said that reading Harry Potter was a sin, and that I'd go to Hell if I didn't repent after reading it.

succubus,queenofvampires · 03-08-2006, 07:27 AM

I've heard someone say that reading Harry Potter is considered as a sin, too. It's something because Harry Potter contains dark magic ( Death Eaters, Voldemort...) and may lead children to start practicing dark magic and/or Satanism.

Personally, I think this is bullshit!Harry Potter actually FIGHTS dark magic, he doesn't practice it or follow the Dark Lord or something. He HATES dark magic because it killed his parents and landed him with the Dursleys!!

succubus,queenofvampires · 03-08-2006, 10:23 AM

Yea, but there are lots of stories that are magic-related, but the Vatican stresses on Harry Potter and kind of forgets about the others.I don't know why...Maybe it's because the Harry Potter series is EXTREMELY popular or something!

Anyways, I think that by banning a certain book, the Vatican is giving it free publicity, and everyone will want to read it just because it's banned regardless of the topic it's talking about.

Reject_Bunnies · 03-08-2006, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by succubus,queenofvampires

Anyways, I think that by banning a certain book, the Vatican is giving it free publicity, and everyone will want to read it just because it's banned regardless of the topic it's talking about.

Take for example:"A Million Little Pieces",this book isn't banned but after all the controversy from the 'Oprah' show;I'm sure it's sales have skyrocketed. (No publicity is bad publicity)

succubus,queenofvampires · 03-08-2006, 10:41 AM

Yea, whenever someone labels a book as controversial, everyone will become interested in it and will go out and buy it in order to know what was causing all of this turmoil.( I don't know if it's the right word here)

pheramoans · 03-08-2006, 01:03 PM

Christianity summed up in 7 words:

"If it feels good, don't do it."

ExistentialDisorder · 03-08-2006, 06:06 PM

IF he ever was at all. keep that in mind too.

ExistentialDisorder · 03-08-2006, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xnguela

...you should have the utmost respect for those strong enough to have faith in something greater than themselves...

Is that really strength tho? or weakness? Just something to think about.

Jane13 · 03-08-2006, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by succubus,queenofvampires

Anyways, I think that by banning a certain book, the Vatican is giving it free publicity, and everyone will want to read it just because it's banned regardless of the topic it's talking about.

Technically, under a ruling made by Pope John Paul II, books are no longer banned.... there's just a list of books that the vatican STRONGLY SUGGESTS Catholics don't read (yeah, I know, that's not much better). I personaly don't care.... even Sister Rosemary( a nun at my church) agrees that there's nothing wrong with Harry Potter, and even encourages kids to read it because of the fact that it's a book and it gets kids to read.

655322 · 03-09-2006, 01:48 AM

"a list of books that the vatican STRONGLY SUGGESTS Catholics don't read"

Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

There are some interesting books on that list.

Sister Rosemary rawks.

Disfunction · 03-09-2006, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xnguela

No, he really did exist. Whether or not he was the Messiah is entirely up to you to decide. There has been documentation of Jesus of Nazareth.

I see a lot of people thinking that faith is a weakness, and I understand that point of view, but I presonally feel it's one of the greatest strengths of all. One I don't have.

Can you provide any form of evidence in support of this? I've been made aware of a bunch of individuals fitting the name Jesus and behaving in a messianic style who were eventually taken in by the Romans... but I've yet to be confronted with actual evidence of the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, at least in the sense of anything resembling his portrayal of his biblibcally bad self.

Anyone who can actually provide some form of evidence to support this claim from a credible resource has my thanks, as I've yet to have any valid claims for his existence brought to my attention.

Queenofdarkness57 · 03-09-2006, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xnguela

No, he really did exist. Whether or not he was the Messiah is entirely up to you to decide. There has been documentation of Jesus of Nazareth.

I see a lot of people thinking that faith is a weakness, and I understand that point of view, but I presonally feel it's one of the greatest strengths of all. One I don't have.

I believe it's a strength, too. I can't imagine myself without a religion. When everything around me seems far away and I feel so lonesome, I just turn to him and I do feel better. Although whenever I'm facing a huge problem I start doubting him, which makes me feel really bad. My school took us on Monday on a Spiritual Retreat where a priest told us about his life. I was shocked when he affirmed that right after leaving his family ( 3 kids and a wife) to enter the convent, his 2 yr.old son drowned in a pool and died. He said that he held him in his hands and placed him on the alter as a sacrifice to God. He believes it was Satan. But after that, he didn't return to his family and moved on with his spiritual life. Do you think this is weird or simply usual?

Disfunction · 03-09-2006, 06:24 AM

Having faith makes things easier, in my opinion.

succubus,queenofvampires · 03-09-2006, 08:06 AM

Yeah, I think so too because when I was young, I used to think that everything that the Bible or the church stated was true, and everything else was wrong.Oh boy, life was so simple back then.
Now, I'm constantly doubting my faith, and I'm noticing how many flaws and gaps the Catholic Church has, and everytime I hear a priest or someone talk about Jesus or something Christian-related, I tend to think that they're so wrong and I can't believe a word that they're saying.

But then I look around me and think about the huge number of devout Christians that I know and how many people would do anything for God and Christ, and after the Spiritual Retreat( that QOD57 talked about), my mind became more and more troubled, and I was taken aback by how much this priest LOVED Jesus and how he sacrificed everything, including his son, for him.Oh and he also told us that he was happy that his kid died...

Circle V · 03-09-2006, 10:51 AM

Friedrich Nietzsche : The Antichrist

Some very interesting things can be found in here.

WolfMoon · 03-09-2006, 10:59 AM

Christianity is as controlling or as free as you want. Depending on which branch of it you belong to.

Circle V · 03-09-2006, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Under Christianity neither morality nor religion has any point of contact with actuality. It offers purely imaginary causes ("God" "soul," "ego," "spirit," "free will"--or even "unfree"), and purely imaginary effects ("sin" "salvation" "grace," "punishment," "forgiveness of sins"). Intercourse between imaginary beings ("God," "spirits," "souls"); an imaginary natural history (anthropocentric; a total denial of the concept of natural causes); an imaginary psychology (misunderstandings of self, misinterpretations of agreeable or disagreeable general feelings--for example, of the states of the nervus sympathicus with the help of the sign-language of religio-ethical balderdash--, "repentance," "pangs of conscience," "temptation by the devil," "the presence of God"); an imaginary teleology (the "kingdom of God," "the last judgment," "eternal life").--This purely fictitious world, greatly to its disadvantage, is to be differentiated from the world of dreams; the later at least reflects reality, whereas the former falsifies it, cheapens it and denies it. Once the concept of "nature" had been opposed to the concept of "God," the word "natural" necessarily took on the meaning of "abominable"--the whole of that fictitious world has its sources in hatred of the natural (--the real!--), and is no more than evidence of a profound uneasiness in the presence of reality. . . . This explains everything. Who alone has any reason for living his way out of reality? The man who suffers under it. But to suffer from reality one must be a botched reality. . . . The preponderance of pains over pleasures is the cause of this fictitious morality and religion: but such a preponderance also supplies the formula for decadence...

-- Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist

Queenofdarkness57 · 03-09-2006, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WolfMoon

Christianity is as controlling or as free as you want. Depending on which branch of it you belong to.

Which branch in your opinion is the most controlling?