[simpits-chat] Dr. Fun III

Rob Hommel simpits-chat@simpits.org
Sun, 9 Mar 2003 23:04:35 -0800


John

Atheism is a faith one which one should approach only after much
questioning, introspection and willingness to develop ones' own self
according to what they believe. Religion has a habit of answering questions
for one making it easier to develop truths. Some of which may not be in fact
true, they simply become a part of your belief structure. The Moslem
religion has great respect for your religion as they think of Jesus as a
prophet not the son of "God". They consider you to be "Of the Book" the
Bible is in fact one of their holy texts. My beliefs however make me one
which is only fit to serve them in slavery. Don't believe me then check out
the following web site.
http://www.answering-islam.org/NonMuslims/index.htm
They really refer to me and those like me when they speak of "infidels".
Makes me sort of proud (sniff).

We believe many things and accept things thanks to those beliefs. We enter
an airliner without questioning the ability of the airplane to fly. We
believe the wings will carry us safely to our destination. This is not as a
response to any reasoned thought we simply do this. Members of many
religions do the same, enter their church with out so much thought of their
belief. Never asking themselves what do I believe in. One of my favorite
quotes is
" Everyone needs to believe in something, I believe I will have another
drink" W. C. Fields

Membership of most people to their religion is a matter of geography. We
tend to believe what our neighbors believe, society directs us toward this.
Your parents were most likely Roman Catholic and you share their faith as a
result.  You differ from your protestant friends in many subtle ways in your
faith many of which most people are never aware of yet you share the same
basic religion. The Catholic church keeps Jesus upon a cross to remind you
of a sacrifice and yet your protestant friends show a barren cross to show
of the resurrection and the fulfillment of a promise.

I did not mention the various crimes committed by the catholic church
specifically due to the length of the number of crimes they have committed
in the name of "God". The Catholic church is just another Christian church
and the list of the crimes the church has committed should make it an
unwelcome visitor to any nation. But as you brought up the subject let point
you towards a web site that lists some of them.
http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/tinq.htm
The burning of Alexandria and the flaying of it's chief librarian. For those
of you who don't understand the term it is the removal of the top layer of
flesh from the living person. She died in tremendous agony.
The loss of all of the text contained, the sum of all human knowledge at the
time. This one was a crime against humanity alone.

The number of crimes committed by peoples of various religions not just
Christian would fill volume upon volume. I honestly believe that politicians
haven't killed so many people. The atheist hasn't been blameless especially
when combined with social Darwinism the atrocities of Stalin are well known
today.

I know that it sounds as if I am picking on Christians but in truth I
respect people of many faiths and am very happy for the comfort they find in
their religion. Faith has been a powerful tool for many people the prisoners
in the North Viet Nam prison camps found great solace in their belief of
"God". For some of them it was what allowed them to endure the tortures of
their captors.

The idea that religion helped to create the family is a false notion
however, the development of agriculture did far more to contribute to that
than religion. Some folks say that the development of brewing had much to do
with the start of civilization. (This is my second reference to alcohol
people will start to think I drink a lot) :-)

In the mean time I think I will just sit back and watch the folks who are
willing to smear blue goo on their bodies they are at least amusing. BTW
while I don't agree with Dr. Laura on many topics I do enjoy listening to
the show. While I don't agree with people on many topics, they have helped
me to develop my own belief structure. Ethics are a difficult thing to
develop and sometimes difficult to follow even with the best of intentions.
I sometimes disappoint myself as I think of myself as being ethical. My
friend Gene is however one of the most ethical people I have ever known. I
have never understood how he developed such fine ethics. Especially in light
of his reputation as a BOFH.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Keep 'em Flying
Rob Hommel

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John P. Miguez" <jmiguez@bellsouth.net>
To: <simpits-chat@simpits.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 6:21 AM
Subject: Re: [simpits-chat] Dr. Fun III


> Rob, You forgot that my church, Roman Catholic, invented the holy war.  We
> called them crusades.
> :)
>
> I must object to be lumped in with sheep, cow and simpletons.  LOL  I may
be
> a fool, but not a cow or simpleton.
>
> My faith is a direct result of much studying, praying and questioning.
> Faith is a very dynamic thing, some days it is strong, some days weak.  It
> is also tends to be a private thing. A relationship (friendship) between
you
> and God.  Like may things, the man or woman who is always trying to tell
you
> about their faith, is one who doesn't have much faith.  Their talking is a
> way to convince themselves that they have faith.
>
> In reference to Ben Jones' reply: a review of history will show that most
> (if not all) of the great social movements that have made our world better
> have had a faith based genesis.  Look at marriage, (which use to keep
> families together so the children would have a chance of being happy)
human
> rights, slavery, women's and children's rights.  All of these started
> because people of faith believed that things were wrong.
>
> The Christian church laid the foundation for modern democracy and the
> western world.  Although, some people in America try to think otherwise
and
> rewrite history, the great concepts that made up our constitution were
based
> on Judeo-Christian beliefs.  The founding fathers, for the most part, were
> all men of faith.  Even the religion we all love to hate, Islam, saved the
> world from the dark ages by keeping science, math, art and learning alive
> when Europe descended back into prehistory.  What works of learning that
did
> survive, were because of the Christian monks.
>
> I do not wish to argue with any of you.  You are entitled to your own
belief
> or lack of beliefs.  Most of you are rather young.  It is my contention (
> from a 55 yr old position) that very few people feel a need for God until
> they are 30 or so.  I do ask that you do not fall into the same trap that
> the religious zealots or any zealot; that is, writing off everyone who
> doesn't believe the way you believe.
>
> I say again, the most dangerous person in the world is a zealot.  He can
do
> great good, as did the early Christian fathers, or great harm, as did the
> Islam zealots.  But, you will never stop him with reason.
>
> Best to all of you,
>
> John
>



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.456 / Virus Database: 256 - Release Date: 2/18/2003