??
Well, I certainly wouldn't. There is no benefit in leading with hypocritical judgement and condemnation of others for their sins, certainly no wisdom to be learned but no practical benefit either. Do you think thieves will stop thieving because someone lectured them? If someone is stealing, they need bread, not a smarmy internet post.
Indeed.
Less personal garbage would show less of your stupidity.
You're decrying the immorality and political violence of religion, while advocating "raising hell" against anyone not like yourself, proclaiming your own religion to be faultless, claiming rather dubiously that other groups call you "the only good Christian", and claiming to be a bishop?
Get all the quotes to prove you lies.
I'm in agreement with you. Most of my friends during this pandemic are Christian females, since our atheist meetups have fizzled out. Most of these Christians are also Black. I can give one excellent example of a Christian female who receives joy from her religion. She is very poor and has suffered with a medical disability since high school, yet she never complains or wallows in self pity. Her church is her foundation, but as I've "preached" before, it's also a lot to do with the relationships she has with her precious family and friends, many who also attend her small, physically broken down church, but it's not the church itself that brings joy. It's the rituals, the hope and the love that they give each other.
Your sympathy, instead of duty against harm, creates more harm, by you not calling it 9out in advance.
The non-believers turned to education, --- while rejecting practices that resembled inquisitions and jihads.
I have decided that It's not religion or non religion that brings most of us joy, it's the "value and enrichment of interpersonal relationships." I stole that quote from the book I'm reading that compares the Nones and the Somes. Somes is the word used by the author to describe those who believe in one particular religion. It's lead me to believe that basically we all receive joy from the same kinds of things, and what we believe has nothing to do with that joy, unless perhaps what we believes keeps us from having the type of relationships that bring most of us joy. For example extremism of any kind probably prohibits joy.
Some of the things in the book reminded me of the wonderful buzz that I usually received after attending either the Atlanta Freethought Society monthly meetings, local atheist meetups etc. When you bring people together in friendship, who share similar values, there is usually a feeling of joy that occurs from being together and sharing ideas. I assume that's the type of joy that religious folks claim they feel from their churches. The same joy can be found in other ways, from pets, from a walk in the woods, from doing something charitable for others, from art, especially music, imo. etc. So, afaik, most healthy people who don't suffer from social isolation, mental illness, or perhaps deprivation of their basic needs like food and shelter are able to experience joy, no different from what believers experience from their religions. I personally doubt it's the religion that brings the joy. It's the relationships and the emotional buzz that comes from gathering together and sharing music and rituals.
I never experienced joy or at least not much joy from my childhood religious beliefs, that were basically forced on me. I did sometimes find a little joy by singing in the youth choir or with the congregation and I do love music of many genres so that makes sense to me now. But, during my early adulthood, after several years of searching for the one true religion, I suddenly realized that no gods exist, I felt a tremendous amount of joy at that realization. Perhaps that is similar to how religious people feel when they believe they have found god or gods. I used to hang out with Bahai's when I was young and married to a follower of that religion. Most of the people were very friendly and thoughtful and from what I recall, I received that same joyous buzz being with them, other than my ex.It had nothing to do with the religion per se. It was all about the "values and enrichment of interpersonal relationships". No gods required.
I enjoy having friends over for dinner, for doing things for others, especially when they appreciate it. I mentioned in the other thread about the woman who researched how Nones and Somes were asked what brought them joy or bliss or spiritual happiness, the top four answers were always, family, friends, food sharing and fido ( pets ). Some more explicit religious things were further down on the list. So, imo, religious people can experience joy, seemingly from their religion, just like the rest of us can. But, as I said before, it's probably not the religion per se that brings them joy, but the relationships and rituals etc. that make them feel joyous. That makes a lot of sense to me.
Really? That's your measure of quality? Anything the Vatican rejects must be worthless?
We had no inquisitions to use because we did not sell out to Rome.
You can also ignore the abusers while pretending to hold an attitude of some kind of equity.
You could be right. I've just been influenced by that book I'm currently reading about the Nones. I was surprised that so many people who believe in organized religion gave the same answers as the Nones when asked what brings them joy or meaning in their lives.I have decided that It's not religion or non religion that brings most of us joy, it's the "value and enrichment of interpersonal relationships." I stole that quote from the book I'm reading that compares the Nones and the Somes. Somes is the word used by the author to describe those who believe in one particular religion. It's lead me to believe that basically we all receive joy from the same kinds of things, and what we believe has nothing to do with that joy, unless perhaps what we believes keeps us from having the type of relationships that bring most of us joy. For example extremism of any kind probably prohibits joy.
Some of the things in the book reminded me of the wonderful buzz that I usually received after attending either the Atlanta Freethought Society monthly meetings, local atheist meetups etc. When you bring people together in friendship, who share similar values, there is usually a feeling of joy that occurs from being together and sharing ideas. I assume that's the type of joy that religious folks claim they feel from their churches. The same joy can be found in other ways, from pets, from a walk in the woods, from doing something charitable for others, from art, especially music, imo. etc. So, afaik, most healthy people who don't suffer from social isolation, mental illness, or perhaps deprivation of their basic needs like food and shelter are able to experience joy, no different from what believers experience from their religions. I personally doubt it's the religion that brings the joy. It's the relationships and the emotional buzz that comes from gathering together and sharing music and rituals.
I never experienced joy or at least not much joy from my childhood religious beliefs, that were basically forced on me. I did sometimes find a little joy by singing in the youth choir or with the congregation and I do love music of many genres so that makes sense to me now. But, during my early adulthood, after several years of searching for the one true religion, I suddenly realized that no gods exist, I felt a tremendous amount of joy at that realization. Perhaps that is similar to how religious people feel when they believe they have found god or gods. I used to hang out with Bahai's when I was young and married to a follower of that religion. Most of the people were very friendly and thoughtful and from what I recall, I received that same joyous buzz being with them, other than my ex.
I enjoy having friends over for dinner, for doing things for others, especially when they appreciate it. I mentioned in the other thread about the woman who researched how Nones and Somes were asked what brought them joy or bliss or spiritual happiness, the top four answers were always, family, friends, food sharing and fido ( pets ). Some more explicit religious things were further down on the list. So, imo, religious people can experience joy, seemingly from their religion, just like the rest of us can. But, as I said before, it's probably not the religion per se that brings them joy, but the relationships and rituals etc. that make them feel joyous. That makes a lot of sense to me.
Maybe a little bit of both? Community and the idea of someone watching out for us, injecting meaning and reason into everything we do.
I wonder if that's exactly what makes non-belief so scary to believers - if God isn't real, then our lives are random, chaotic, and without objective meaning (at least in the eyes of a believer). That's not a trivial concern.
