Is religion good?

[Arval Va]

Well your god seems to be a bit of a hypocrite, then.

God does things for a reason. We were given different roles than he was

So his role is to kill indiscriminately, and ours to sit back and cheer him on?

[Arval Va]

Yahweh's mentioned killing several million people in the Bible, and then he tells people to not kill? Seems that you're just focusing on the fluffy stuff.

We were given different roles than he was. We have different promises to fulfil

For all his sadism and murder, it seems that Yahweh might not be the most suitable candidate for whatever supreme role you assign to him.

[Floofybit]

God does things for a reason. We were given different roles than he was

So his role is to kill indiscriminately, and ours to sit back and cheer him on?

No. Our role is to keep his commandments, honour him, and love one another. His role is to give us eternal live. Any death that happens is all for a reason, a reason which I don't necessarily always comprehend, but we will know all when we come back to him.

[Floofybit]

We were given different roles than he was. We have different promises to fulfil

For all his sadism and murder, it seems that Yahweh might not be the most suitable candidate for whatever supreme role you assign to him.

Why are you calling Him Yahweh? I have never heard Him been called that outside of NSG

[Arval Va]

So his role is to kill indiscriminately, and ours to sit back and cheer him on?

No. Our role is to keep his commandments, honour him, and love one another. His role is to give us eternal live. Any death that happens is all for a reason, a reason which I don't necessarily always comprehend, but we will know all when we come back to him.

So his job is to do whatever he wants, and our job is to follow all his rules (that he himself refuses to follow,) to act like it's not happening and assume he's doing it for a good reason? All of that sounds like more of a tyrant than a loving "father." None of that sounds like loving another or following the rules.

[Arval Va]

For all his sadism and murder, it seems that Yahweh might not be the most suitable candidate for whatever supreme role you assign to him.

Why are you calling Him Yahweh? I have never heard Him been called that outside of NSG

Yahweh is the original Hebrew name, from which the more common term Jehovah is derived.

[Najairadarethu]

I find religion amusing. The Bible, where Satan is the bad guy, features God killing 2.5 million people (not including the time he destroyed the world to let his favourite human build an animal fuckzoo on water), vs Satan’s 10. Whilst saying things about loving all people.

In Islam, that story is related quite differently. For one, Noah actively warns his community about God’s punishment coming rather than silently building a boat as he does in the Bible, and actually succeeds in getting a section of the community to follow him. Additionally, many scholars believed his flood was local, as the Qur’ân simply says “al-Ardh” in reference to what was flood, causing centuries of debate as to whether it meant, in the context of the verse, “the world” or “the land”.

The twelfth century Islamic scholar ibn Ātiyyah wrote that the flood couldn’t be global because, “If it had been everyone on the earth, as some people say, then Noah and Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon them, would be the same in regards to their being sent to the people of earth… It is made weightier by the view that the sending of Noah and the flood were only for the people of one region and not everyone on earth.”

Another point argued for centuries is to whether it was two of EVERY animal or just two of the animals (or all useful/domesticated ones) that were in the area.

"In Islam...", what a gibberish. Islam is a copy of a copy in the end, the second time some guy successfully convinced a bunch of bimbos, losers and greedy opportunists that he was the update of the original. This is probably why Christians used to hate Jews so much and Muslims still do - it's the copycat's inferiority complex.

[El Lazaro]

For all his sadism and murder, it seems that Yahweh might not be the most suitable candidate for whatever supreme role you assign to him.

Why are you calling Him Yahweh? I have never heard Him been called that outside of NSG

They’re confusing the Abrahamic God with the deity of the Mormon sect, Joseph Smith.

[Floofybit]

Why are you calling Him Yahweh? I have never heard Him been called that outside of NSG

They’re confusing the Abrahamic God with the deity of the Mormon sect, Joseph Smith.

You know you're wrong right? Be respectful, you're not funny

[Floofybit]

Why are you calling Him Yahweh? I have never heard Him been called that outside of NSG

Yahweh is the original Hebrew name, from which the more common term Jehovah is derived.

Hm, interesting. Eh, you can just use God, or Heavenly Father

[Insaanistan]

In Islam, that story is related quite differently. For one, Noah actively warns his community about God’s punishment coming rather than silently building a boat as he does in the Bible, and actually succeeds in getting a section of the community to follow him. Additionally, many scholars believed his flood was local, as the Qur’ân simply says “al-Ardh” in reference to what was flood, causing centuries of debate as to whether it meant, in the context of the verse, “the world” or “the land”.

The twelfth century Islamic scholar ibn Ātiyyah wrote that the flood couldn’t be global because, “If it had been everyone on the earth, as some people say, then Noah and Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon them, would be the same in regards to their being sent to the people of earth… It is made weightier by the view that the sending of Noah and the flood were only for the people of one region and not everyone on earth.”

Another point argued for centuries is to whether it was two of EVERY animal or just two of the animals (or all useful/domesticated ones) that were in the area.

"In Islam...", what a gibberish. Islam is a copy of a copy in the end, the second time some guy successfully convinced a bunch of bimbos, losers and greedy opportunists that he was the update of the original. This is probably why Christians used to hate Jews so much and Muslims still do - it's the copycat's inferiority complex.

A secular perspective renders Islam as taking inspiration from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism etc. However, even the vast majority of secular academics and historians acknowledge that Islam has different interpretations and telling a of stories found in other Abrahamic texts, such as the fact that Jesus is the Messiah but not a Son of God in Islam, and isn’t crucified, or how God doesn’t kill the firstborn children of the Egyptians in Islamic texts. Secular historians point would would argue Muhammad (S) borrowed from heterodox sects (the vast majority of which no longer exist today, hence why you don’t find Christians who espouse those beliefs), misinterpretations of Abrahamic faiths, and injecting his own beliefs into them.

Also, the Qur’ân explicitly states that Jews can go to heaven and that many are upright. Meanwhile, at the second battle in Islam’s history, a Jewish rabbi and his followers were among those fighting alongside Muhammad (S) against the Makkan forces. The Hadith describe Jews singing that Muhammad was an excellent neighbor, coming to him with theological questions, and interacting with him in an amicable way. We have Jewish texts praising God for the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, as the Muslims immediately allowed Jews to live in the city again, and had actually, according to these Jewish accounts, brought Jews with them when they first entered the city.

To say “Muslims hate Jews” is inaccurate; to say “Many Muslims hate Jews” would me more correct.
I point you to the fact that Muslims in Sweden were, according to Sweden’s top rabbi, instrumental in convincing an Egyptian man not to burn a copy of the Torah in Stockholm recently.

[Arval Va]

Yahweh is the original Hebrew name, from which the more common term Jehovah is derived.

Hm, interesting. Eh, you can just use God, or Heavenly Father

If a father ever acted like Yahweh did to his "children," he would be in prison.

[Najairadarethu]

"In Islam...", what a gibberish. Islam is a copy of a copy in the end, the second time some guy successfully convinced a bunch of bimbos, losers and greedy opportunists that he was the update of the original. This is probably why Christians used to hate Jews so much and Muslims still do - it's the copycat's inferiority complex.

A secular perspective renders Islam as taking inspiration from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism etc. However, even the vast majority of secular academics and historians acknowledge that Islam has different interpretations and telling a of stories found in other Abrahamic texts, such as the fact that Jesus is the Messiah but not a Son of God in Islam, and isn’t crucified, or how God doesn’t kill the firstborn children of the Egyptians in Islamic texts. Secular historians point would would argue Muhammad (S) borrowed from heterodox sects (the vast majority of which no longer exist today, hence why you don’t find Christians who espouse those beliefs), misinterpretations of Abrahamic faiths, and injecting his own beliefs into them.

Yes, or in other words: He cherrypicked from various foreign traditions until he had a spiritual edifice with himself at the center some simpletons found convincing (or promising) enough to follow him, first was ridiculed and ostracised, then found out it would be way more lucrative and lead to way more power if he became more of a warlord than a mere spiritual leader and went on "revealing" whatever came in handy as his favourite wife was witty enough to remark.

[Insaanistan]

Why are you calling Him Yahweh? I have never heard Him been called that outside of NSG

Yahweh is the original Hebrew name, from which the more common term Jehovah is derived.

That would be “Elohim” or “Eloah”, actually. “YHWH” (often rendered “Yahweh”) is God’s reply to Moses (A) in the Bible when Moses asks God what he should say to the Midianites & Egyptians is the name of the God that sent him, to which the reply was “YHWH”, which actually means “I am that I am” or “I will be what I will be”, which many scholars have interpreted as, in the context of the story at least, God actually refusing to say His name.

[Arval Va]

"In Islam...", what a gibberish. Islam is a copy of a copy in the end, the second time some guy successfully convinced a bunch of bimbos, losers and greedy opportunists that he was the update of the original. This is probably why Christians used to hate Jews so much and Muslims still do - it's the copycat's inferiority complex.

A secular perspective renders Islam as taking inspiration from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism etc. However, even the vast majority of secular academics and historians acknowledge that Islam has different interpretations and telling a of stories found in other Abrahamic texts, such as the fact that Jesus is the Messiah but not a Son of God in Islam, and isn’t crucified, or how God doesn’t kill the firstborn children of the Egyptians in Islamic texts. Secular historians point would would argue Muhammad (S) borrowed from heterodox sects (the vast majority of which no longer exist today, hence why you don’t find Christians who espouse those beliefs), misinterpretations of Abrahamic faiths, and injecting his own beliefs into them.

Also, the Qur’ân explicitly states that Jews can go to heaven and that many are upright. Meanwhile, at the second battle in Islam’s history, a Jewish rabbi and his followers were among those fighting alongside Muhammad (S) against the Makkan forces. The Hadith describe Jews singing that Muhammad was an excellent neighbor, coming to him with theological questions, and interacting with him in an amicable way. We have Jewish texts praising God for the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, as the Muslims immediately allowed Jews to live in the city again, and had actually, according to these Jewish accounts, brought Jews with them when they first entered the city.

To say “Muslims hate Jews” is inaccurate; to say “Many Muslims hate Jews” would me more correct.
I point you to the fact that Muslims in Sweden were, according to Sweden’s top rabbi, instrumental in convincing an Egyptian man not to burn a copy of the Torah in Stockholm recently.

However, religious and Abrahamic hostilities to other religions can, no doubt, be traced back to the basic division between them - faith. Because faith is an emotional, indoctrinated justification rather than empirical explanation for belief, it is the perfect recipe for unsolvable dispute.

[Arval Va]

Yahweh is the original Hebrew name, from which the more common term Jehovah is derived.

That would be “Elohim” or “Eloah”, actually. “YHWH” (often rendered “Yahweh”) is God’s reply to Moses (A) in the Bible when Moses asks God what he should say to the Midianites & Egyptians is the name of the God that sent him, to which the reply was “YHWH”, which actually means “I am that I am” or “I will be what I will be”, which many scholars have interpreted as, in the context of the story at least, God actually refusing to say His name.

Elohim was originally an epithet of the Canaanite god El, which was later merged with Yahweh.

[Floofybit]

Hm, interesting. Eh, you can just use God, or Heavenly Father

If a father ever acted like Yahweh did to his "children," he would be in prison.

But he's not mortal like most fathers. He is above the law. He made the law

[Insaanistan]

A secular perspective renders Islam as taking inspiration from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism etc. However, even the vast majority of secular academics and historians acknowledge that Islam has different interpretations and telling a of stories found in other Abrahamic texts, such as the fact that Jesus is the Messiah but not a Son of God in Islam, and isn’t crucified, or how God doesn’t kill the firstborn children of the Egyptians in Islamic texts. Secular historians point would would argue Muhammad (S) borrowed from heterodox sects (the vast majority of which no longer exist today, hence why you don’t find Christians who espouse those beliefs), misinterpretations of Abrahamic faiths, and injecting his own beliefs into them.

Yes, or in other words: He cherrypicked from various foreign traditions until he had a spiritual edifice with himself at the center some simpletons found convincing (or promising) enough to follow him, first was ridiculed and ostracised, then found out it would be way more lucrative and lead to way more power if he became more of a warlord than a mere spiritual leader and went on "revealing" whatever came in handy as his favourite wife was witty enough to remark.

The thing is, while you’re obviously entitled to your opinion on Muhammad (S), he isn’t really classified as a warlord, and the idea of Islam having been “spread by the sword”, once commonly held by scholars and historians, is now viewed by historians to be incredibly inaccurate.
To quote Ira Lapidus,
“Earlier generations of European scholars believed that conversions to Islam were made at the point of the sword, and that conquered peoples were given the choice of conversion or death. It is now apparent that conversion by force, while not unknown in Muslim countries, was, in fact, rare. Muslim conquerors ordinarily wished to dominate rather than convert, and most conversions to Islam were voluntary…In most cases, worldly and spiritual motives for conversion blended together. Moreover, conversion to Islam did not necessarily imply a complete turning from an old to a totally new life. While it entailed the acceptance of new religious beliefs and membership in a new religious community, most converts retained a deep attachment to the cultures and communities from which they came.”

[Arval Va]

If a father ever acted like Yahweh did to his "children," he would be in prison.

But he's not mortal like most fathers. He is above the law. He made the law

Because a member of Congress made a law against insurance fraud, does that mean that they could commit insurance fraud without repurcussions?
Laws apply to everyone. That's the point of laws (at least in a just and fair system, which Yahweh clearly does not run.)

[Floofybit]

But he's not mortal like most fathers. He is above the law. He made the law

Because a member of Congress made a law against insurance fraud, does that mean that they could commit insurance fraud without repurcussions?

God isn't a member of Congress.

[The Rio Grande River Basin]

But he's not mortal like most fathers. He is above the law. He made the law

Because a member of Congress made a law against insurance fraud, does that mean that they could commit insurance fraud without repurcussions?

Well they do with tax fraud but you know.

[Alledania]

Well as a strong believer in Atheism, you can probably guess what my opinion will be.

[Insaanistan]

A secular perspective renders Islam as taking inspiration from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism etc. However, even the vast majority of secular academics and historians acknowledge that Islam has different interpretations and telling a of stories found in other Abrahamic texts, such as the fact that Jesus is the Messiah but not a Son of God in Islam, and isn’t crucified, or how God doesn’t kill the firstborn children of the Egyptians in Islamic texts. Secular historians point would would argue Muhammad (S) borrowed from heterodox sects (the vast majority of which no longer exist today, hence why you don’t find Christians who espouse those beliefs), misinterpretations of Abrahamic faiths, and injecting his own beliefs into them.

Also, the Qur’ân explicitly states that Jews can go to heaven and that many are upright. Meanwhile, at the second battle in Islam’s history, a Jewish rabbi and his followers were among those fighting alongside Muhammad (S) against the Makkan forces. The Hadith describe Jews singing that Muhammad was an excellent neighbor, coming to him with theological questions, and interacting with him in an amicable way. We have Jewish texts praising God for the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, as the Muslims immediately allowed Jews to live in the city again, and had actually, according to these Jewish accounts, brought Jews with them when they first entered the city.

To say “Muslims hate Jews” is inaccurate; to say “Many Muslims hate Jews” would me more correct.
I point you to the fact that Muslims in Sweden were, according to Sweden’s top rabbi, instrumental in convincing an Egyptian man not to burn a copy of the Torah in Stockholm recently.

However, religious and Abrahamic hostilities to other religions can, no doubt, be traced back to the basic division between them - faith. Because faith is an emotional, indoctrinated justification rather than empirical explanation for belief, it is the perfect recipe for unsolvable dispute.

By that logic, then we also need to get rid of ideologies of any form, sports affiliations, or literally any other form of self-identification, because all of them can lead to disputes. Wars have been fought over soccer/football matches, or on race or ethnicity, or due to political affiliation, etc.

[Najairadarethu]

A secular perspective renders Islam as taking inspiration from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism etc. However, even the vast majority of secular academics and historians acknowledge that Islam has different interpretations and telling a of stories found in other Abrahamic texts, such as the fact that Jesus is the Messiah but not a Son of God in Islam, and isn’t crucified, or how God doesn’t kill the firstborn children of the Egyptians in Islamic texts. Secular historians point would would argue Muhammad (S) borrowed from heterodox sects (the vast majority of which no longer exist today, hence why you don’t find Christians who espouse those beliefs), misinterpretations of Abrahamic faiths, and injecting his own beliefs into them.

Also, the Qur’ân explicitly states that Jews can go to heaven and that many are upright. Meanwhile, at the second battle in Islam’s history, a Jewish rabbi and his followers were among those fighting alongside Muhammad (S) against the Makkan forces. The Hadith describe Jews singing that Muhammad was an excellent neighbor, coming to him with theological questions, and interacting with him in an amicable way. We have Jewish texts praising God for the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, as the Muslims immediately allowed Jews to live in the city again, and had actually, according to these Jewish accounts, brought Jews with them when they first entered the city.

To say “Muslims hate Jews” is inaccurate; to say “Many Muslims hate Jews” would me more correct.
I point you to the fact that Muslims in Sweden were, according to Sweden’s top rabbi, instrumental in convincing an Egyptian man not to burn a copy of the Torah in Stockholm recently.

However, religious and Abrahamic hostilities to other religions can, no doubt, be traced back to the basic division between them - faith. Because faith is an emotional, indoctrinated justification rather than empirical explanation for belief, it is the perfect recipe for unsolvable dispute.

You have a point there, but unfortunately religion/faith is an anthropological constant or a cultural universal, if you prefer to call it that way - even though there have been areligious people at all times, of course. I'm happy we have shown to be able to overcome it in a more radical sense as secular societies with refined areligious world views based on knowledge and critical thinking, but this is only a very recent development of a small minority of people in the world. Unfortunately.

[Arval Va]

Because a member of Congress made a law against insurance fraud, does that mean that they could commit insurance fraud without repurcussions?

God isn't a member of Congress.

Let me rephrase - does someone making a law mean they are exempt from that law and the punishments laid out in it, even if they commit the crime described within it? Not in a moral system.