h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Standing ovation for Rebecca. I admire you for defending your beliefs, this posting had been far too one sided for too long.

And from me too. I thought that you handled that very well.

Thanks for your support. (Sighs) If only everybody in the world were as perfect as me . . . (I hope you know I'm joking!) :P

Don't worry about the out of order thing - I was just clarifying for anyone who hadn't realised... I've done the same thing in another forum - only that was a game forum, so I made myself look totally dumb. (something like Q:"name flowers beginning with M", A:"Volvo") Welcome to h2g2 - we hope you like it.

From my own pitiful grasp of the history of the crusades, a reasonable number of the "crusaders" were peasants, inspired to journey to the holy land, and informed that God would provide the means. They mostly died in former yugoslavia... "their own glory"?

Just out of interest, what is the "true christian" perspective in your case? Most of the xtian churches in the world claim to be the one true faith - could you enlighten us as to your particular truth? Catholic? Protestant? Fundamentalist? Uncategorised?

If you do indeed want to be nice, I'll give you two pieces of advice - firstly, most people don't think you have ultimate truth, so you're not "clarifying" things for us, you're "giving us your perspective" - see the difference? And try to avoid calling people "true" and "false" christians categorically - better to say "true in my view" and so forth.

My advice to Rebecca - give your smiley faces noses;
: - P
(but no spaces) =

Lucinda,

If the statement fits, then it fits. I stand by my statement.

It surprises me that the atheists are the ones trying to shove there opinion down everybody’s throat, what they claim they hate about the religious folks.

Mostly

Thanks for the advice, Lucinda (or is MyRedDice?). I really, truly, honestly didn't mean to make it sound as if I have the one and only truth. What I believe is totally different from what another person might believe, and I don't want to condemn anybody else's beliefs because I hate it when people do that to me! But, to answer your question, I consider myself Protestant, if anything. I grew up Lutheran, switched to Presbyterian a couple of years ago, and now I'm in college and am church-searching again. So, I hope that helps a little. Again, thanks for the advice, and I'll try to watch my fingers (rather than my mouth) from now on!
Rebecca

Thanks for the advice, Tigerlily. (I seem to be getting a lot of that advice!) My first attempt at humor failed . . . ah well, there's always another time to try it! Better watch out! (that better?)
Rebecca

I suggest a BIG GROUP HUG.

Come on you know you want to!!!

*sits on her hands* - sorry I'm not ovating that...

The reason that some people ... *pause* ... Argh! Too much edited entry writing! I'm using the evil group 'some people' instead of saying what I mean!

*ahem* The reason that fairies and Saint Nick get put in the same category as gods is that there are many similarities. All are (imo) untrue. All are fantastic claims. All have little supporting evidence. All are not disprovable. And all are ridiculous if you do not believe in them.

There's no shame in believing in ridiculous things. Personally, I believe that super-intelligent machines will rise up and enslave us (replacing our current slave masters: money, sex, and "Have I got news for you"). This is a totally ridiculous idea which the vast majority of people think is nuts, but I have a firm belief that the vast majority are idiots who can't recognise the truth when it smacks them in the face.

Nitpick - "hoaxes" - plural. In fact, I'm guessing from your talk of "true" christianity that you think that the muslim, jewish, and other xtain variants *are* all hoaxes, or something. The other nitpick is that they don't have to be hoaxes - some of them could be, say, misunderstandings, some could be inspired by visions caused by two much cheese before bedtime. Who knows?

Mostly: go for it - I just saw an opportunity to plug my entry and took it...

Lucinda,

Nice Plug, (boy, that sounds sexual doesn't it)

Mostly

wait till you see my taps...

Hmm, the reason ateists sometimes shove things down other ppl throats is because you can´t always be tolerant of the intolerant. The Nazi´s aren´t tolerant, but by you tolerating them, you´re not making it any better. Besides, we may ridicule ppl, but we don´t burn them at the stake. We use arguments, not knifes.

When it comes to religion and military, ppl don´t get the benefit of the doubt from me. So untill you can give arguments for your belief, I don´t like you. But I have a good friend who believes in Adam & Eve and all that stuff. But I respect her because she´s the first Christian I´ve met that could give me a run for the money.

Hmm, still seems a bit harsh to give death penalty for lying. And what about something like Lot having sex with his daughters, and God then calling him one of his best men?

*ponders whether two uses of Godwin's Law in one conversation is excessive*

Hey, I only did it because she did it Seriously, I wouldn´t compare it to nazi-germany if she hadn´t. Everybody in denmark are comparing things to Germany in the 30´ties right now, so I´m fed up with it. And it also seemed quite unneccesary.

I certainly don't want to offend any particular people with my beliefs (or lack of any). When I spoke of the bad effects Christianity and certain Christians had on me I wasn't picking on all Christians, just those that I have experienced. I have an example which maybe some people will criticise, however, I believe that any true Christians will read the comments of many of the athiests and learn from them - I don't recall Jesus teaching that his followers should be hypocrites and drive people to depression and suicide.

I was quite ill a few years ago and at university. The minister of the church I went to visited me once, briefly, out of duty and asked if I was getting any support from my lecturers. I was doing a theology degree and surrounded by Christians, the one lecturer who really helped me, showed genuine concern and gave up his precious time for me was a Rabbi. When I told the minister this he said, "Well I suppose any help is good, regardless of where it comes from." I thought this was a terrible thing to say.

Xanatic: Well said about intolerance of intolerance. Everyone wants tolerance and understanding, but religions breed intolerance by their very natures. In order to promote a world of tolerance, intolerant religions have to go. They are the very basis of the morality of the people who follow them. And although I tried to make light of it, that kind of thing does frighten me. Just as in that episode of Ananias... supposing my mother was having difficulty financially, so I sold my car and promised to give her the money. Then I said, "Wait a minute, how will I get to work? I need to keep a part of this as a down payment on a new one, or both of us are going to be broke." So I give her what I can, and she finds out what I did, and she goes into a blind rage, because I acted just like Ananias did. And because Ananias was punished with death, so too should I. But God is a bit busy right now, and can't be striking me dead at the moment, so she'll just handle it herself.

This isn't some crazy scheme I just invented. This happens. The bible is full of this kind of episode, and people use it as divine sanction for all sorts of atrocities. 2000 years of human history prove it. People often say "but Christianity has done so much good." What good?

If you want a world where people can be understanding and tolerant, I'm with you. And if you find it helpful to believe in a supernatural being and a life after death, that's fine. But put away your Bible. It's a terrible document to base your morals on.

TIGERLILY, I believe it's supposed to be a tongue, not a nose.

3

JOTD: Microsoft spel chekar vor sail, worgs grate!!

(Bob should like this JOTD)