The penny has dropped

[SupremeSpod]

Re: i wouldn't call myself religious,

Yeah, but what if Chico is WRONG?

[sasguru]

Religion

I have every respect for other people's religious beliefs and will even tolerate it if they try to convert me. When I question things however I expect straight answers that the person has thought about, not evasions, refusal to answer the question, a complete lack of logical thought, random cut'n'pastes, sanctimonious bulltulip etc.

Chico has achieved the exact opposite of what he set out to do. A moron is not a good advertisement for Christianity.

[widgetdance]

Re: i wouldn't call myself religious,

it verges on arrogance on our part that we claim to be able to say that there is no god since in reality, we are not in a position to ever make that claim

The same arrogance is required to say there is.

I am not asking Chico to give up his religion, I am asking him not to push it at me.
If he holds his position up for scrutiny then I feel entitled, if not obliged to question him.

[Lucifer Box]

Nothing wrong with a vigorous probing

Anyone who posts an opinion on this board, whether religious or not, can expect to be, and nearly always is, vigorously probed on their assertion . It just so happens that in Chico's case it is rarely his own opinion and so he gets flustered and/or abusive when asked to explain or defend that opinion.

I bear Chico no malice whatsoever, even though he is spectacularly rude, but if he or anyone else can't take a vigorous probing, they certainly shouldn't post opinions around here.

[sasguru]

..

>> if he or anyone else can't take a vigorous probing

Ooh er missus!

Careful, you'll be getting Luke GuyStalker and Bored Gay Geek quite excited:lol

[ScotsPine]

i think that

even if chico is wrong, the basic tenet of what he propounds, viz personal sacrifice, is probably the only hope mankind has of long-term survival.
imagine a world if you can, where every single person is trying to give away everything he/she has. where every single person wants to be sure that everybody else is happy. essentially, that is new testament teaching. it is also new testament teaching that we ourselves will be unable to produce such a world yet the nt claims that that is precisely how we were meant/designed to live.
of course, the model begins to break down when **one single person** begins to exhibit the first signs of selfishness. and when you say "pure fantasy", ask why it is "pure fantasy". the answer lies in human nature. that again is nt teaching. but the nt promises a world such as that described above and it claims to be able to deliver on that promise because the promise is being given by the manufacturer.
at least, that is [some of] my take on the nt.

[SupremeSpod]

Re: i think that

even if chico is wrong, the basic tenet of what he propounds, viz personal sacrifice, is probably the only hope mankind has of long-term survival.

Who says we're destined for long-term survival?

We're only visitors in the grand scale of things...

[John Galt]

Re: i think that

personal sacrifice, is probably the only hope mankind has of long-term survival.

-----------------------

Why? I will agree that the world would be a happier place if people lived their own lilves and stopped interfering in others' but personal sacrifice?

[widgetdance]

Re: i think that

If such a world were possible, it would not need to be based on any religious ethic, being nice to each other and supporting each other requires no belief in God.

I do believe that it is a lack of religion and religious education that has brought us to the current state of selfish/Chav style living we have now, though there is clearly a moral majority who would like to help. Look at the donations for the Tsunami etc.
That religious education at least served in the purpose of instilling a sense of right and wrong.

[threaded]

Re: i think that

Yet "right and wrong" are only constructs from the moral axioms of a "religion".