Your religious affiliation, or lack thereof, and why?

[Degenerate Heart of HetRio]

Agnostic atheist who passionately flirts with pantheism/panentheism, Buddhism, Kardecist Spiritism and all sorts of esoteric shit (I know my entire astral map over the top of my head) because I'm hell damn edgy.

It can be said that I worship myself and the fate/future, too.

[Big Jim P]

Agnostic atheist who passionately flirts with pantheism/panentheism, Buddhism, Kardecist Spiritism and all sorts of esoteric shit (I know my entire astral map over the top of my head) because I'm hell damn edgy.

It can be said that I worship myself and the fate/future, too.

Edgy?

[Benuty]

So on a whim I found something interesting, apparently there are people who inherently believe HaSatan is actually God. Of-course you also have the Cathar take on dualism as well.

[Benuty]

Agnostic atheist who passionately flirts with pantheism/panentheism, Buddhism, Kardecist Spiritism and all sorts of esoteric shit (I know my entire astral map over the top of my head) because I'm hell damn edgy.

It can be said that I worship myself and the fate/future, too.

So if you worship yourself does that make it simultaneously masturbation, and abortion?

[Degenerate Heart of HetRio]

So if you worship yourself does that make it simultaneously masturbation, and abortion?

I get the first joke, but abortion? O.o

[Brickistan]

Hmmm...

Good point.

However, even allowing for the occasional misunderstanding and mistranslation, there are some things that are kinda hard to explain away.

The flood, for example. Even if allowing for the fact that God is entirely alien to us and we have completely misunderstood him, I find it hard to see wiping out (nearly) all life on Earth as anything but exceedingly evil. Or how about the "minor" massacres described in the Bible? The looting and raping? The killing? How about Sodom and Gomorrah*?

We would have to look at everything on a case by case basis but as I said sometimes it was humanity.

Or how about the whole free will issue? He gave us free will and allowed us to be tempted beyond breaking point. And then he punished us for it...

People are tempted to steal, do you blame the government for enforcing anti-theft laws?

Case by case is just an excuse. When you've committed atrocities on the level that God has, then you don't get to claim clemency because you also did a little bit of good along the way.

As for the government, that's missing the point entirely. The government didn't create humanity so they simply have to deal with humanity as it is. God, on the other hand, created humanity and so could have created us however he wanted. Why then, create us with very strong impulses to break his own rules?

In other words, he set us up to fail.

Either he knew this would happen (God as the omnipotent and omnipresent entity), in which case it's just downright evil. Or if he didn't know it (God as an imperfect being), then why call him God?

No; it's not. In fact, it's selfish of you not to.

In addition, you have your own little hypothetical scenario, but you intentionally neglect to consider that, by the very definition of God, He is omnibenevolent. You cannot, in your scenario, acknowledge God is real, but then fail to acknowledge every fact that follows as a logical necessity of God's existence, such as Him being omnibenevolent and, therefore, in no possible way, "evil." It's a contradiction on your part. It's simply false. You are attempting to redefine God and, in doing so, are no longer talking about the true God, but, rather, your own false notion of God. So, you cannot impose your own little ivory-tower misperceptions on the actual definitions and the actual consequences of God's existence.

My 'view' of your god is based on his actions throughout the bible instead of what people claim he is.
The countless genocides and atrocities commited by him throughout the scriptures speaks far louder then merely repeating 'God is Good'.
Actions speak louder then words in the real world after all.

Exactly.

That's my issue with religion - and Christianity in particular. Instead of actually following their own holy book, they simply practice some sort of generic spirituality, giving God whatever personality they feel like giving him.

[Regenburg]

apatheist-agnostic-pantheist thing and brogre priest of shrekism

[Immoren]

Agnostic atheist who passionately flirts with pantheism/panentheism, Buddhism, Kardecist Spiritism and all sorts of esoteric shit (I know my entire astral map over the top of my head) because I'm hell damn edgy.

It can be said that I worship myself and the fate/future, too.

By the Goddess.

[Sebastianbourg]

My beliefs are extraordinarily complicated; they (my beliefs) consist of a great mixture of cultural/secular Roman Catholicism and Agnosticism. Perhaps because of fear of what follows life in this world I dare not describe myself plainly and merely as an Agnostic! Why I believe in what I believe is simple: Science (the reason I'm some odd kind of an Agnostic) and fear of what follows life (the reason I some sort of a secular/cultural Roman Catholic.)

[Mons Garle]

My beliefs are extraordinarily complicated; they (my beliefs) consist of a great mixture of cultural/secular Roman Catholicism and Agnosticism. Perhaps because of fear of what follows life in this world I dare not describe myself plainly and merely as an Agnostic! Why I believe in what I believe is simple: Science (the reason I'm some odd kind of an Agnostic) and fear of what follows life (the reason I some sort of a secular/cultural Roman Catholic.)

Have you read about Pascal's Wager?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ligion.jpg

[Immoren]

My beliefs are extraordinarily complicated; they (my beliefs) consist of a great mixture of cultural/secular Roman Catholicism and Agnosticism. Perhaps because of fear of what follows life in this world I dare not describe myself plainly and merely as an Agnostic! Why I believe in what I believe is simple: Science (the reason I'm some odd kind of an Agnostic) and fear of what follows life (the reason I some sort of a secular/cultural Roman Catholic.)

Have you read about Pascal's Wager?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ligion.jpg

I put all my chips on black 13.

[Conscentia]

My beliefs are extraordinarily complicated; they (my beliefs) consist of a great mixture of cultural/secular Roman Catholicism and Agnosticism. Perhaps because of fear of what follows life in this world I dare not describe myself plainly and merely as an Agnostic! Why I believe in what I believe is simple: Science (the reason I'm some odd kind of an Agnostic) and fear of what follows life (the reason I some sort of a secular/cultural Roman Catholic.)

Life is a system that maintains it's internal entropy by using external energy. Death occurs when a living system can no longer externalise entropy. Scientifically speaking, the only thing that follows life is decay as the system succumbs to entropy.

[The New Velociraptor Empire]

Have you read about Pascal's Wager?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ligion.jpg

I put all my chips on black 13.

Dammit, I was putting my chips on the Cthulhu Mythos and the Matrix.

[Benuty]

I am a supporter of Pascal's maxim, the third wager which is totally unknown from the previous two due to the use of HaSatan's advocate.

[Conscentia]

I am a supporter of Pascal's maxim, the third wager which is totally unknown from the previous two due to the use of HaSatan's advocate.

What?

And why say "HaSatan"? Either use "Satan" on it's own - the capitalisation distinguishes as a proper noun in English rendering the "Ha" redundant, or say "the Satan".

[Benuty]

I am a supporter of Pascal's maxim, the third wager which is totally unknown from the previous two due to the use of HaSatan's advocate.

What?

And why say "HaSatan"? Either use "Satan" on it's own - the capitalisation distinguishes as a proper noun in English rendering the "Ha" redundant, or say "the Satan".

1) Nice summary of the third wager.
2) Given people use the form I typed along with others it matters not. Besides, "the Satan" sounds like something from Rorschach's diary.

[Benuty]

So if you worship yourself does that make it simultaneously masturbation, and abortion?

I get the first joke, but abortion? O.o

Masturbation is jokingly referred to as the "male" form of abortion sometimes.

[Immoren]

I put all my chips on black 13.

Dammit, I was putting my chips on the Cthulhu Mythos and the Matrix.

Should've played Texas Hold'Em instead.

I am a supporter of Pascal's maxim, the third wager which is totally unknown from the previous two due to the use of HaSatan's advocate.

What?

And why say "HaSatan"? Either use "Satan" on it's own - the capitalisation distinguishes as a proper noun in English rendering the "Ha" redundant, or say "the Satan".

This seemed silly thing to throw fit over.

[Benuty]

Dammit, I was putting my chips on the Cthulhu Mythos and the Matrix.

Should've played Texas Hold'Em instead.

What?

And why say "HaSatan"? Either use "Satan" on it's own - the capitalisation distinguishes as a proper noun in English rendering the "Ha" redundant, or say "the Satan".

This seemed silly thing to throw fit over.

Especially since I was clearly joking.

[Benuty]

Have you read about Pascal's Wager?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ligion.jpg

I put all my chips on black 13.

I places my chips on his existential deism .

[Conscentia]

What?

And why say "HaSatan"? Either use "Satan" on it's own - the capitalisation distinguishes as a proper noun in English rendering the "Ha" redundant, or say "the Satan".

This seemed silly thing to throw fit over.

What fit?
You must've read it wrong. You should of used Gordon Freeman's voice.

[Benuty]

This seemed silly thing to throw fit over.

What fit?
You must've read it wrong. You should of used Gordon Freeman's voice.

Why do you want them to be mute?

[Conscentia]

Especially since I was clearly joking.

I didn't get it... I still don't get it.

[Conscentia]

What fit?
You must've read it wrong. You should of used Gordon Freeman's voice.

Why do you want them to be mute?

[Benuty]

Why do you want them to be mute?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Freeman