devan said:
What a bunch of complete morons some of you guys are. You cherry pick the beliefs of a few wacko groups, but haven't a clue as to the fundamental theology of Christianity. At its core, it teaches tolerance, forgiveness and charity to others. It adheres to the beliefs of someone who spent most of his life among those who were poor and rejected by society. I don't think he even ever beheaded anyone. And "He" is someone you decide to ridicule? And I guess the tens of millions of dollars and tons of food and clothing contributed by Christian churches and individuals for Katrina relief and the Indonesian tidal wave means nothing. Thousands of such acts of charity goes on quietly every day.
Yes, Devan, thousands of those acts of charity go on every day, by atheists, governments, local farmers who feed you for damn near nothing. The charity 'business' has nothing to do with God. It has everything to do with people WANTING to do good work, and with churches capitalizing on the desires of people. SOME churches ARE altruistic, but as a rule, the whole point of religion is to set up an hierarchy where a few people control the lives and fortunes and belief systems of the many. That is the point to religion: to set up some figurehead and worship it. What is 'worship'? Payments, actions based upon blind faith, subservience, respect for authority.
The idea of a Creator is a leadership tool. Used properly, it can be a convenient interim metaphor to explain things 'up to a point' until true Cause can be determined through science. If science is inadequate, it doesn't mean there HAS to be a Creator, just that we need to keep looking for the cause of existence. There is always a cause.
Let's see how tough you are. Try bashing and mocking Islam and its founder. Look what happens to those who even dare publishing a stupid cartoon about it. How about we watch the Nick Berg beheading video? Or, we can find several others very similar to it. Then let's have a few more laughs and mock Christians.
Being tough doesn't have to mean being stupid. You don't hand a child a handgun and then stand there and berate them. Am I afraid of the nutjobs who attack people making fun of Mohammad? Of course. I'm not an idiot. They set a perfect example of the REAL true evil in this world: Actions Taken Based Upon Blind Faith. Should they have respect for Mohammad? Yes. Should they follow the good things Mohammad taught? yes. Should we? Probably, in some ways. We should always look for nuggets of wisdom in things that have withstood the test of time. However, we can still explore what they do wrong without needlessly antagonizing them. Jim Croce said it best, "You don't piss into the wind."
Christians, on the other hand, have done evil things in the past and continue to do so in the present in the name of "My faith is perfect because we accept everyone who pledges their faith in Jesus. Then our children can die fighting for "Always Low Prices" in the name of 'fighting terrorists' so we can drive Cadillacs and Hummvees."
Should I stand up on the Capitol Dome and tell all of Abraham's children to 'Bring it ON!'? Bring on what? You fight your way, I'll fight mine. I don't have to defend my stance on Net Creativity with a weapon because simple logic doesn't require 'followers'. Leaders and followers are only necessary when you keep people from figuring out where to go on their own.
Obviously, organized religion has had its problems. But what's the alternative? A completely secular society where belief in an intelligent design behind the universe is ridiculed? Or everyone makes up their own religious beliefs and we have 20 million religions? Both are pretty scary. And what does the holocaust have to do with organized religion? Are you blaming the Jews for holding their beliefs? It can't be Hitler, because he had faith in no God.
Hitler was a fond worshipper of God. He had blind faith in his role as God. Many churches, including the one in Rome, turned a blind eye to his corporate-sanctioned atrocities because they benefited from his economic practices. Religion is Marketing. War is Business. We only got into Europe's wars after they threatened our business interests. Roosevelt poked and prodded Japan into attacking us through various sanctions and trade moves. Germany was inevitably forced into breaking bonds with Europe because of the Treaty of Versailles, where they couldn't possibly pay the reparations forced upon them, so their only hope was to declare independence from the agreements, build up their defenses against the inevitable 'protecting business interests' war. Unfortunately for everyone, Hitler's charisma was seized upon by the corporate players and he was launched into infamy for money. The corporations made money selling computers, tanks, and interest on debt to both sides.
'The Alternative' is for people to stop lying to themselves about their responsibilities to the planet, to each other, and to their grandchildren; to stop lying to themselves about how deeply entwined we are with every plant, animal, fungus, and molecule of oxygen on this planet.
God isn't going to bring Armeggeddon; WE are, and the few that survive will call it "God's Will" because they survived. Unless the planet is completely blown apart, it is likely that someone will survive and pick up another goddamn bible and use that blueprint to enslave others, defile children, and claim Manifest Destiny.
We have opportunities at this point in time to fight off the oppressions of faith with logic and common sense. Co-operate instead of compete, live locally, build communities that aren't based upon authoritative rituals and fear, put down weapons and hammer them into tools. Will there be bad people trying to take things that they don't work for? Of course. That's what society needs to work to minimize. It doesn't matter what we believe; Nature will decide if we have something to offer as a species. If we don't cooperate, then our destiny is sealed.
Christianity is always about Competition. "Have no other Gods before me", "Thou shalt not covet xxx", "Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death" are all things to inspire people to fight for their god, to kill anyone that looks at their 'stuff', and to die blindly while indoctrinating children into the same mentality before those children are old enough to make decisions. Why do you think soldiers are always young and full of hormones?
If you want to use the metaphors of the bibles to guide your life, that is great, there is a lot of wisdom in ancient writing. Just remember they are METAPHORICAL. They are NOT historical accounts of real facts. They are stories which were written and embellished so they could be remembered by people who DIDN'T WRITE. Writing was a tool of control.
It's amazing that a group who believes in near-death experiences and are so "open minded" about the paranormal are proud of themselves when trying to outdo each other in their mocking the idea of an ultimate intelligence behind creation. Maybe Gene needs to put on some of those very compelling physicians who are also near-death researchers. Ultimately, you may not have the last laugh.
But this highlights why Ufology IS GOING NOWHERE. It has become a gathering place for society's nutjobs and will never be taken seriously by the mainstream, which is needed to get funding for serious research. People like you have killed it.
UFology is going nowhere because people don't cooperate. They believe they can write a book or sell a movie or be the first to gain fame for 'uncovering the Big Scam'. People like us are open minded when evidence is presented. Christianity has NO evidence of miracles, NO evidence of anyone living after 'kissing Hank's ass' (well, no more than Sylvia Browne), and NO proof of what an 'original' sin is, let alone proof that some guy died to take that sin away. If we actually read the words, "Thou shalt not eat of the tree of knowledge, lest they become like us.", it is CLASSIC suppression of individualized thought by authoritarian figures. It never had anything to do with good and evil. Just with control.
The current government secrecy issues are exactly the same thing. Keep people ignorant and fighting with each other over nitpicking details and they won't step back and connect the age-old idea of religion and authority to the power that lies in Big Secrets based upon Lies.
u will attain enlightenment for sure 
