So religious fanaticism is a good thing?

[Kyles93Z34]

I did or are you talking about the guy who made the assination comment?

Kyle

[RednBlack]

No, religion is not to blame here. It is the people who exploit others using religion as a front to make personal gain. You stereotyping all Christians based on what some of these people say/do is just like people stereotyping all Republicans as Bush-loving-war-mongers (sp?).

I am not stereotyping anyone. The small Evangelical Church on the corner is not "Organized". Church of Christ, just over the hill, in Smalltown USA, is not "Organized".

Organized, are the Pat Robertsons and the Oral Roberts of this country, taking money from gullible people, who can barely afford to feed their families. (But they have a television) Then they go out and build a Theme Park. (Jim Bakker)

Sam Kinneson, an Ordained Minister spoke of these people. Yes it was humorous, and some think it was blasphemous. But, it was true.

How about the Catholic Church? The Pope? That to me is a joke! The Catholic Church has more inside influence on our Government, (and others), than you may believe. And it does sway political opinion.

Separation of Church and State is a nice concept. But it will never happen in our lifetime.

On the other hand....I'm not so sure that, that separation would be a good thing at this time. The Human response is not ready yet. All religion out of politics opens the door to Communism. (Hitler 101) As you said, our freedom was based on freedom of religion. Some seem to take this concept a little too far.

Fanatical religion is when extremist leaders make the decisions based on their own beliefs. Bin Laden is a very close kin to Jim Jones. Do you see the similarity? Maybe Pat had a momentary lapse of reason to say what he did. (He is getting old) I do not disagree with what he said. I disagree only if he uses it for political gain. Maybe if someone would have spoken up years ago, New York would have been spared. I would have pulled the trigger. (Easy to say now)

I believe in the Death Penalty. I believe in Abortion under circumstances, I believe in War when necessary, I believe in a God of my choice of which I can call by any name I choose. Those are my beliefs. I will not impose them on others for gain.

BTW, George W., won by using the Moral Majority. Go figure, 'cause he ain't afraid to kill. And I like that in a President. That is an opinion, not a belief.

Jesus was assassinated.....By a political figure. Kind of ironic.

[ikessky]

Deleted: Nothing good comes out of discussing religion and politics on the Internet

[OldSkoolGP]

What I took the greatest offense to is the reasoning that if the bible is not against it, it must be OK. A Bible is not the end all, tell all of how this world works. There is such a thing as morals, ethics, and logic. While religion is very uncomfortable with logic, the teachings of Jeebus are supposed to instill morals and ethics, they are contradicted by everything else in the book. The best Bible you could possibly write would be the one that taught about the life of Jesus and the lessons he taught, mentioned nothing of how he died (because it's not useful information and all it can do is generate Jewish hatred), and filled in the gaps about the missing 18 years of his life. Also, it wouldn't need to include any of the bad things that happened before Jeebus, because they are mostly fantasy and have no place in modern day society.

But as far as church and state, I believe the ten commandments is a bunch of crap. No one has the right to put it on my courthouse wall, and I will swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help myself. Besides, who actually follows the 10 commandments. Our President doesn't, and shouldn't he be leading by example. Besides, everyone at some point in their lives has coveted thy neighbor's goods, so I guess we're all going to hell anyway.

Oh, and as far as the death penalty, that's for the courts to decide, not you. And it certainly isn't for Pat Robertson, Osama Bin Laden, and George W. Bush to decide. This may be one naton under God, but as long as people live in it, run it, and die in it, I think it should be up to people how we deal with it. God's not gonna tell me how to live my life, and he certainly isn't going to tell me what's right or wrong. I form my own opinions on this world based on my own research and listening to others, not by what's in some book. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with war and capital punishment that peace and understanding can't fix. If we had that, there wouldn't be any war, and we probably wouldn't need capital punishment either.

Abortion - 100% for it, but not getting into it. That's a whole new post.

I never intended to go on an attack rant, I guess sometimes I get carried away, so my bad if I did. Brad, feel free to lock this one if you want.

[bszopi]

Nah, I'm actually finding it interesting to read... My views differ quite drastically from some, yet are in line with others, but I am not consistent with anyone yet. To each his own...

As long as it doesn't get out of hand, this thread will stay open.

[ikessky]

I've deleted 2 of my posts. OldskoolGP and I have taken our discussion off line and cleared the air between us. Some of what I said was misunderstood, but mainly, it just didn't come across as I intended it to. Sorry if there was any confusion or hard feelings. I feel better about it all after talking to OldskoolGP and probably won't be putting my 2 cents in about religion anymore! Like my deleted posts say, nothing good can come out of talking politics or religion on the Internet.