How do you know your religion is the RIGHT religion? (agnostic, divorce)
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While us "believers" may be the majority, I beg to differ that the "non-believers" are subjected much any more to "laws/mores/societal standards set by believers" in todays society. Although I do concede you did add "in a lot of instances". However,
Try saying prayer aloud in a public school!
Try including anything deemed "religious" in your graduation speech!
Try putting up a sign or saying "Merry Christmas" as a government employee!
Try living around some youth who've grown up with nothing to believe in!
Try and say marriage is only between a man and a woman!
and on and on and on.
I say, MY WORLD is going to hell in a handbasket while many others' is going nowhere by their own admission!
Blue laws still exist and even where no longer mandated, many practices emanating from them still do.
Issues of abortion and anything regarding homosexuals revolves basically around religious tenets....as did lost years of stem cell research(These affect peoples entire lives a whole hellova a lot more than whether or not you can say your prayer out loud in a group setting)
The reference to a non-religious teen must be a persoanl one...accept my sympathy for a personal problem.
If those few things make your life hell.......I only hope my biggest troubles are no bigger than that.(other than the kid problem)
While us "believers" may be the majority, I beg to differ that the "non-believers" are subjected much any more to "laws/mores/societal standards set by believers" in todays society. Although I do concede you did add "in a lot of instances". However,
Try saying prayer aloud in a public school!
Try including anything deemed "religious" in your graduation speech!
Try putting up a sign or saying "Merry Christmas" as a government employee!
Try living around some youth who've grown up with nothing to believe in!
Try and say marriage is only between a man and a woman!
and on and on and on.
I say, MY WORLD is going to hell in a handbasket while many others' is going nowhere by their own admission!
Hmmm, I suppose you've never served in the military then. I can't recount the number of times over my career that a chaplain has given an invocation at official functions to include social ones such as the dining-in/out, ethnic heritage observances and even quarterly/annual award presentations. This doesn't even take into consideration chaplain invocation before/during/after combat operations. This is the rule and not the exception. One other thing: this was not that long ago...I just retired from the Air Force back in 2004.
That would be reality. Many can't deal with reality, thus they delude themselves with visions of deities caring for them, afterlife, rewards, no more work........... etc.
Wow... of the three rather "presumptuous" responses blasting my OPINION... I had to laugh out loud.
1.) while I currently reside in "rural" Kentucky, I was born and raised for 21 years in California
2.) while I'm a Christian, I was raised in an ATHIEST household my entire life
3.) the "teens" I was referring to were NOT "personal" experiences.... I guess "gangs" in your neck of the woods are what... Elderly, moral folk? In reality I was eluding to the outrageously growing population of druggies, thugs, and general thieves and the like with seemingly no moral compass at all that tend to dominate news programs across the networks (not just in my "hillbilly" neck of the woods!
4.) I am a proud veteran who DID serve in the military (Air Force), thank you very much, and honestly, no joke, I can't recall one time we EVER had a chaplain even in our midst other than when we CHOSE to go to church on post, or if there were tragic news of some kind that was deliverd by the chaplain.
5.) those few "examples" I put down was not intended to be my all inclusive list on a thesis of theology, they were merely a few samples thought of in one minute to illustrate the ways religion is "ALSO" being stamped OUT of our current society.
6.) Lastly, I have a wonderful life, but in my PERSONAL OPINION it seems that society and even the world as a whole is definitely becoming a very scary place to be and getting scarier every decade that goes by. Whether this is lack of a moral compass being instilled in our youth through lack of education, religious beliefs, or frankly parents & society who tend towards the "it's all about me and what I can get" syndrome, that's for others to debate.
However, thank you all for your opinions on my post!
While us "believers" may be the majority, I beg to differ that the "non-believers" are subjected much any more to "laws/mores/societal standards set by believers" in todays society. Although I do concede you did add "in a lot of instances". However,
I agree...We are getting better at keeping church and state separate the way it was intended...but we still have a long way to go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desiree253
Try saying prayer aloud in a public school!
The operative word here is "public"....this should never be allowed in the public arena where it involves those of other faiths and non-faiths...this is the exact reason why we have separation of church and state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desiree253
Try including anything deemed "religious" in your graduation speech!
See above
Quote:
Originally Posted by desiree253
Try putting up a sign or saying "Merry Christmas" as a government employee!
See above...BTW...I was in the Armed Forces and have worked for the government as a civilian and no one was ever chastised or forbidden to say Merry Christmas...so please provide a source for the above statement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desiree253
Try living around some youth who've grown up with nothing to believe in!
You are truly making assumptions here...I know plenty of youth who have grown up in Christian/religious households and are the biggest trouble makers/law breakers in town. Believing in diety does not make one immune to peer pressure. Given the statistics on the religious who are incarcerated...this is truly proven to be a false statement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desiree253
Try and say marriage is only between a man and a woman!
and on and on and on.
You base this belief strictly by what "your religious" scripture says. Since we don't live in a strictly Christian society, one cannot impose their views on the whole of humanity...this is why we have SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE...apparently you don't really know what that means in a secular society where everyone is to be treated equally.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desiree253
I say, MY WORLD is going to hell in a handbasket while many others' is going nowhere by their own admission!
So, according to your estimation, people who don't believe in a diety have no life, or their lives are going nowhere????
That would be reality. Many can't deal with reality, thus they delude themselves with visions of deities caring for them, afterlife, rewards, no more work........... etc.
Reality is fine, I can deal with it.
OK. I won't debate your personal definition of faith.
I will say, if I choose to add God to my reality to "delude myself", at least it's better than the crack-head down the street sucking on his pipe to effectively do the same thing! But wait.. I'm sure if we wait long enough, we can get a crack-head to debate whether his way is better!
OK. I won't debate your personal definition of faith.
I will say, if I choose to add God to my reality to "delude myself", at least it's better than the crack-head down the street sucking on his pipe to effectively do the same thing! But wait.. I'm sure if we wait long enough, we can get a crack-head to debate whether his way is better!
Love Ya Asheville Native!
Your local crack head also cannot deal with reality, thus they have simply chosen a different path to not deal with it than you have.
While us "believers" may be the majority, I beg to differ that the "non-believers" are subjected much any more to "laws/mores/societal standards set by believers" in todays society. Although I do concede you did add "in a lot of instances". However,
Try saying prayer aloud in a public school!
Try including anything deemed "religious" in your graduation speech!
Try putting up a sign or saying "Merry Christmas" as a government employee!
Try living around some youth who've grown up with nothing to believe in!
Try and say marriage is only between a man and a woman!
and on and on and on.
I say, MY WORLD is going to hell in a handbasket while many others' is going nowhere by their own admission!
That is where the problem lies.. I believe in G-d and I consider myself a faithful person.
I do not:
Feel that we need to have prayer in school.
Feel that a graduation speech needs to be religious.
Feel that any religious signs need to be in a government building.
Feel that is is a problem to live around people who grew up without religion.
Feel that marriage ought to just be between a man and a women.
I also don't believe my world is going to hell in a handbasket.......
I really believe that we all need to just get along no matter what we believe or don't believe.
I really believe that ones religion ought never be forced on others.
The operative word here is "public"....this should never be allowed in the public arena where it involves those of other faiths and non-faiths...this is the exact reason why we have separation of church and state.
IMHO I think all beliefs should be allowed to be expressed. You may argue separation of church and state for various reasons, I'm not going to. I just believe you don't change someone because a block of asphalt happens to be designated as school property. If my child bows her head on the playground or before she eats in the cafeteria, what business is it of anyone elses? If someone else chooses to kneel and pray to Allah at a certain hour of the day and it's not interrupting a classroom lesson, what business is it of anyone elses? If a child wants to sit down and chant in a normal tone of voice I'm an athiest, I'm an athiest, then what business is it of anyone elses?
See above...BTW...I was in the Armed Forces and have worked for the government as a civilian and no one was ever chastised or forbidden to say Merry Christmas...so please provide a source for the above statement.
Providing source for above statement here (I'm the source. I've worked as a civilian employee for almost a decade now. The U.S. Forest Service in Michigan would not let anyone put up a sign that said Merry Christmas, nor were we allowed to say it, nor could we put up a Christmas tree. I guess to some, hey that's separation of church and state. To me it was just a shame, that's all).
You are truly making assumptions here...I know plenty of youth who have grown up in Christian/religious households and are the biggest trouble makers/law breakers in town. Believing in diety does not make one immune to peer pressure. Given the statistics on the religious who are incarcerated...this is truly proven to be a false statement.
Not one assumption intended nor made on my part. I merely stated facts about SOME teens who have no morals and act to the detriment of others. If you'd like to tell me that you don't believe that, that's your perogative. To try and debate whether all of anything is good or bad is ludicrous.
You base this belief strictly by what "your religious" scripture says. Since we don't live in a strictly Christian society, one cannot impose their views on the whole of humanity...this is why we have SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE...apparently you don't really know what that means in a secular society where everyone is to be treated equally.
I'm all for treating everyone equally. But no-one can have it both ways. You either have to let people of ANY belief or faith be able to express themselves, or none. I'm just tired of today's double standard. If you're not, lucky you.
So, according to your estimation, people who don't believe in a diety have no life, or their lives are going nowhere????
My final statement of my "life going to hell in a handbasket" was with the intention of "my life" expressing how I believe our entire world has gone crazy and is getting so war-mongering and hate filled and BOLD to the detriment of others and how "others are going nowhere" was a word-play on how many believe they just die and become dust, therefore their "life" ended nowhere. I actually typed a funny-sarcastic just for myself. No innuendo meant to anyone else or groups of anyone else. I'm not intentionally rude, nor that presumptuous to know.
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