Ilunga Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 7 hours ago, RupertKBD said: @Ilunga, speaking of Canadian authors, I can't recommend Guy Gavriel Kay enough. He's not easy to categorize, but it's a basically a combination of fantasy and historical fiction. (although his first trilogy, The Fionavar Tapestry, is straight up fantasy). I've read everything he's done and loved all of it. Thanks for the tip Rupe, I will check him out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilunga Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 6 hours ago, Satchmo said: I'm not going to defend or promote Dawkins. I will say I agree he is very clever. His 'conversion' - though he has not really converted - is mildly interesting. He seems to be saying that if he is to live in a religious country he'd rather it be the Christian religion because even though Christians do not have a stellar history of treating women fairly he thinks they do a better job at it than Muslims. A look at the current practices of Afghanistan could prove his point. He also, like me, can be moved by some hymns even though he is a non believer. Certain renditions of Amazing Grace won't bring me to tears but they can come close. His stance could be described as Islamophobic but I'm not sure that's the right fit. He's just saying that if there has to be religion he prefers Christianity. Everybody has favourites. If forced to pick one I might choose Buddhism though I doubt I would ever become a true believer. I have no real opinion of Dawkins. I am agnostic. I believe that is the rational, logical position to hold. As I stated, the discussion was about anti semitism and Islamaphobia, in particular the events in Britian since the mass stabbing of those children at a dance studio. Anti semitism and Islamaphobia have been on the rise for a while, the conflict in Gaza has exacerbated these problems. I used to love singing in church as a kid, my parents were Catholics. My favourite hymn was Joy to the world. I went on to be singer in couple of local bands, both here in the hills and up at Mt. Hotham. Even though Australia is classed as a " Christian " country, we are basically a secular society, and I am happy to live in a secular society. Religion/Religious people are like anyone, there are good, bad and everything in-between. So long as you are not hurting anyone, impacting others in a negative way, you have the right to believe whatever you want. As I have stated before, the best people I have ever known were very religious, my parents. They were kind, compassionate, empathetic people. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/15-thought-provoking-questions-atheists-often-wish-christians-would-answer/ar-BB1pVvhz?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=c597695c04d248ebbd420809f9b7dc78&ei=31 " Getting into discussions about religion can be really tricky sometimes. If you’re a Christian, you’ve probably had friends or family who don’t believe in God ask you some pretty tough questions about your faith. Maybe they were just curious to understand your beliefs better, or maybe they were challenging the logic behind Christianity. Either way, some of those questions from atheists and non-believers can really make you stop and think! Like, how can an all-loving God allow suffering and evil in the world? If God is all-powerful, why did he have to sacrifice Jesus? Doesn’t evolution disprove creationism? -------------------------------------- Much more at link 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishopshodan Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 When I see that thre is a new post in the God thread I often wonder..." oh, has 'He' done something?" Then I open up the thread and find out....no, 'He' hasn't done anything, nothing at all, not one little thing since he sent his son down to then forget about us all 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJVD Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 19 minutes ago, Gurn said: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/15-thought-provoking-questions-atheists-often-wish-christians-would-answer/ar-BB1pVvhz?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=c597695c04d248ebbd420809f9b7dc78&ei=31 " Getting into discussions about religion can be really tricky sometimes. If you’re a Christian, you’ve probably had friends or family who don’t believe in God ask you some pretty tough questions about your faith. Maybe they were just curious to understand your beliefs better, or maybe they were challenging the logic behind Christianity. Either way, some of those questions from atheists and non-believers can really make you stop and think! Like, how can an all-loving God allow suffering and evil in the world? If God is all-powerful, why did he have to sacrifice Jesus? Doesn’t evolution disprove creationism? -------------------------------------- Much more at link I find the belief variance among Christians to be interesting. There is a pretty wide spectrum of how much "biblical litteralism" a given congregation subscribes too. Taking the whole "creation in 6 days" thing litterally is a minority, from what I understand. Many generally follow the science and belive god created the fundament physics laws of our universe, initiated the Big Bang, and was the spark that started life here in some pool of amino acids 3 billion years ago. Some find that consistant with the spirit of the creation passage and aren't too fused about how litteral something that has been translated and copied by hand for two thousand years is. It has an interesting cross-over with politics too (US). Those who believe more in biblical litteralism generally see the US constitution in the same manner. That it is not a living document and it should not have additions and deletions over time as new problems arise. But that it is the list of 'commandments' that can not be altered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 3 minutes ago, MattJVD said: I find the belief variance among Christians to be interesting. There is a pretty wide spectrum of how much "biblical litteralism" a given congregation subscribes too. Taking the whole "creation in 6 days" thing litterally is a minority, from what I understand. Many generally follow the science and belive god created the fundament physics laws of our universe, initiated the Big Bang, and was the spark that started life here in some pool of amino acids 3 billion years ago. Some find that consistant with the spirit of the creation passage and aren't too fused about how litteral something that has been translated and copied by hand for two thousand years is. It has an interesting cross-over with politics too (US). Those who believe more in biblical litteralism generally see the US constitution in the same manner. That it is not a living document and it should not have additions and deletions over time as new problems arise. But that it is the list of 'commandments' that can not be altered. I guess that's why they call it "faith", it's a la carte as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post RupertKBD Posted August 28 Popular Post Share Posted August 28 "Atheism is a non-prophet organization".... - George Carlin - 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satchmo Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 2 hours ago, RupertKBD said: "Atheism is a non-prophet organization".... - George Carlin - Not trying to diminish the humour in that statement but what about that Dawkins guy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilunga Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 " Why Agnosticism is the real and true enemy " https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/miles-kington/why-agnosticism-is-the-real-and-true-enemy-96426.html " On Tuesday I brought you part of the proceedings of a recent meeting of the United Deities ( the steering committee of gods past and present that watches over our doings ) and they were just getting started on the subject of blasphemy when we left them. I thought it might be interesting to see what the gods had to say about such a god orientated crime. " " 6. The Chair god said that he hated bringing people back to the subject but in 1917 after a far ranging debate in the wake of the Russian revolution, it had been decided to admit athiesm as a bonafide belief system, because athiests actually had the grace to actually disbelieve. It was agnosticism that was recognised as the real and true enemy of the gods, because agnosticism meant people didn't really care whether gods existed or not. " 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post smithers joe Posted September 8 Popular Post Share Posted September 8 i've always believed that regardless if you believe in god or not, most important, is what is in your heart. my mother was very religious but never pushed it on us kids. we were given the freedom to make our own choices. somewhere in the bible, it says, if a man does not know the laws of god, but lives them in his life, he is a law unto his self. my take away from god's laws is " do unto others as you'ld have them do unto you'. a golden rule, i live by. like my mother, i have my beliefs but i don't push them on anyone. 2 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.