What is the purpose in life?

Serenity595 said:
I think it's moderately important. It defines who they are and how they will make their future decisions. For example, a Muslim President would make completely different decisions in foreign policy than a Catholic President.


I agree, but if you are indirectly talking to anyone of us, please state who you are mentioning so we can do better rather than be left in the dark. :)
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I meant generally.

also you are one of the more pronounced culprits :p
 
Serenity595 said:
For example, a Muslim President would make completely different decisions in foreign policy than a Catholic President.
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You're making a pretty big assumption there - one based solely on a person's religious views and not their own history. It's also blatantly prejudicial, which is something I'd avoid if I were you.
 
Admiral360 said:
I don't know, but if he were an extreme Muslim he would try to introduce Sharia law.
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And if he were an extreme Christian he would try to persecute gays or kill abortion doctors. Saying that he's a Muslim means nothing to that regard - an extreme person would do extreme things, and therefore be dangerous. There's no rational reason to single out one religion.
 
Vorsprung said:
I agree.
It comes across as almost ignorance or just laziness. It's like, "I don't really practice religion or really believe in it, but nominally I'm Christian, I suppose."

Also, since when did religion become a deciding factor in electing politicians?
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There is a lot more to religion than going to church or temple... Non-practicing generally means they do not regularly go to church or participate in religious activities.

I will go out and say that I am Jewish. Although I am Jewish in faith, I am non-practicing. I do not regularly go to the synagogue for services. I do not believe in god. I do, however, believe in the moral teachings of religion and the culture brought along with Judaism. Because of my religion, I have a close knit extended family that often gathers for celebrations and we have lots of fun together. I am culturally Jewish even though I do not believe in some of the fundamental bases of it.
 
RioDeal said:
Sure :p

and if you want to add in there "read the Bible Daily"
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So happiness is our purpose in life? :)

Also, so you mean that you read the Bible daily or??? :p

mikeymagic said:
I meant generally.

also you are one of the more pronounced culprits :p
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Show me a quote and I'll take that into consideration. ;)

StTheo said:
You're making a pretty big assumption there - one based solely on a person's religious views and not their own history. It's also blatantly prejudicial, which is something I'd avoid if I were you.
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Prejudicial? OK, let me back up for a second. Religious views (even atheism is a religion) are a definition of who you are because it is what you believe. It is not "prejudicial" to say a Muslim President would make different decisions in foreign policy than a Catholic President; it's logical.

Think about this for example: if you were to ask a military veteran on how to shoot a gun, and then asked a Call of Duty player how to shoot a gun, don't you think they would give different answers? Sure, they're both people, and we can't KNOW for a FACT they would give different answers, but it is logical to assume, just like it is logical to assume that someone of one religion would act differently in situations compared to another religion because said religions have their own sets of rules and regulations, which a true believer of that religion would follow and base his life upon. Catch my drift? :)

Stratadon said:
There is a lot more to religion than going to church or temple... Non-practicing generally means they do not regularly go to church or participate in religious activities.

I will go out and say that I am Jewish. Although I am Jewish in faith, I am non-practicing. I do not regularly go to the synagogue for services. I do not believe in god. I do, however, believe in the moral teachings of religion and the culture brought along with Judaism. Because of my religion, I have a close knit extended family that often gathers for celebrations and we have lots of fun together. I am culturally Jewish even though I do not believe in some of the fundamental bases of it.
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So... I don't want this to sound judgmental or anything (honest), but that would be making your own religion, right? Kind of like if I said I was a Christian but didn't believe in Jesus Christ's redeeming power, y'know? It wouldn't technically be Christianity, would it?

I don't want this to sound harsh or anything. I know plenty people who are on the same path as you are.
 
We are in a new day and age. You can't continue to foolishly dance around the topic of religion. Religion is not a concrete unchanging entity. Religions are meant to adapt over time. You know why the bible may have things written against gay marriage? Because back then, it was not common, and maybe it was looked down upon. Thousands of years later, people are still trying to force this into our face. Look around you. Gay marriage has become a widely excepted norm. Extremists are people who can't deal with the changing world around them and adapt to it. Religions, like any law or constitution, should be able to be reformed and changed to accept the changing norms of society.

We are at a day and age where the concept of religion is changing. It is very easy to associate yourself with a religion without practicing or even believing in the first place. I was born a Jew. I went to Hebrew school every Sunday for many years. Now I am older and can think for myself. I have decided that I don't believe in a god. That doesn't mean that I don't accept the moral and ethical teachings of my religion. I was raised through Judaism and it has shaped who I am. I am therefore culturally Jewish. Religion in my mind is slowly turning away from following the strict laws set in place thousands of years ago. Extremists are dying out. Reform congregations from every religion are becoming dominant.

I believe that you are wrong saying that religion automatically factors into the decision of any political leader. First of all, there are radically different levels of practice in a religion, from extremists to non-practicing individuals. I agree that for an extremist, religion plays a very large role in making decisions. For non-practitioners, however, I believe that they can think completely freely from religion. For example, even though I am a Jew, I do not automatically agree with everything Israel does. I am able to look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with no regards to religion, and see what solution would satisfy both parties and maintain peace. Morality and ethics play a larger role in how I make decisions than religion BY FAR.

This is why religion is FAR more complex than many of you sum it up to be. Religion is not black and white. It is impossible to say anything concrete about what a person of any religion would do in a given circumstance. This being said, I think the topic of religion in politics can be dropped.
 
More stuff about being culturally Jewish

http://plancksconstant.org/blog1/2009/09/not_all_jews_believe_in_god.html

The evidence is all around you. Open up your mind to the changing world. It is foolish to blindly follow a text written thousands of years ago. There were no cars then, no phones, no modern science, nothing that we have today. These texts have not changed. How can you possibly expect them to still be able to fully apply to the modern world?

Not to mention the changing ideologies and ideals of the entire planet over 2,000+ years.
 
Admiral360 said:
If they don't believe in God such as the "Protestants" the "Catholics" then they are hypocrites.

You can be culturally Jewish and listen to morals of the Judaism religion, but that doesn't make you a follower of Judaism. Is that what your saying?
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I am not entirely sure what you were trying to say in that first sentence. Could you be more clear?
 
Well now that we know 3vans has nothing substantive to add to the discussion, lets continue and disregard his trolling.
 
Stratadon said:
Mormons disagree with you. They dramatically reformed their beliefs in 1978 when god apparently changed his mind about black people.
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Because the Mormons believed they had "further revelation" from what the Bible actually taught (even contradicting it too). If you study it, you'll realize this so-called "further revelation" has many flaws in its reasoning.

Even Islam is based on "further revelation" by Mohammed that somehow superseded the words of Christ Himself.
 
Serenity595 said:
Because the Mormons believed they had "further revelation" from what the Bible actually taught (even contradicting it too). If you study it, you'll realize this so-called "further revelation" has many flaws in its reasoning.

Even Islam is based on "further revelation" by Mohammed that somehow superseded the words of Christ Himself.
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So you are saying the Mormons and Muslims are just wannabe branches of Christianity that interpreted the bible wrong? wow...just wow. :confused:
 
I'm saying that Truth cannot be changed. Mormonism and Islam contradict, not only what preceded them, but also themselves. Singling out religions in this debate seems kind of pointless though.
 
Serenity595 said:
I'm saying that Truth cannot be changed. Mormonism and Islam contradict, not only what preceded them, but also themselves. Singling out religions in this debate seems kind of pointless though.
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You are forgetting one key fact that Jews came before Christians. By your reasoning, Christianity is fake because it contradicts something that came before them. The point at which they were created has NOTHING to do with their claim to the truth. How do you know that your truth is the only truth? You are so blind and naive.
 
Christianity is an exception because the Jews were told a prophecy by God that He would send His Son.

Time isn't the only relevance, of course.

Your last sentence was unnecessary.

I know it is the only truth because I believe it is the only truth. There can only be one truth. And truth doesn't change. God doesn't change. Religions change. Christianity isn't a religion. It's a relationship with the God of the universe.

One thing that separates Christianity from every single other religion (that I am aware of) is this: in all the other religions, it's about glorifying man, and how man can redeem himself by his own efforts. In Christianity, it's about glorifying God, and how man is completely and utterly helpless without God's unending mercy.
 
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