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The beginning of the end? Or and end to the beginning?50% Voted for by kai-kat16, mesmerize me, mizundastoodgal.
In my years as a high school student, I have learned to basically try and keep my religious life out of the learning environment. The simple fact that, what I believe in (or don't believe in) causes conflicts of which I am not to describe in full detail.
It has been brought to my attention that no matter what people think about religion, they are always in conflict with someone else. For the simple fact that, there are so many religions with beliefs so different from those of others.
Religions cause wars between the people. I, as a non-believer of anything, even know that if there was a "God," and he was actually the good guy... Wouldn't he want us to get along? I mean, all religions basically have the same ideas, they all worship the same God, with respect to the different names used. The only thing different is the way religions depict the path to eternal life. But, maybe there's more to this story than meets the eyes...
2 years ago, I went to a Methodist Summer Camp for young children and teens. I've never seen so much hypocrisy anywhere else up to that point. Pastor "X" (I would like to call out of respect to privacy), would preach to us every morning before going to breakfast. "Pastor X" would tell us how gambling was bad, and it was the devil's way to... do whatever... I couldn't quite remember all said. I guess I happened to be the one catching a few more Z's in the back row. But the one thing that made me wonder, was the fact that, even after all said, the counselors joined in on a game of poker with the kids playing for money. A sermon about how bad open sexuality was for today's generation the morning before the camp dance, turned again when most of the older teens were seen grinding with counselors who weren't much older than them, to music that had a sexual theme.
In turn, I've learned a few things over the years. I have chosen when asked to say I am atheist. No matter what people say about that. Some are misguided by saying that atheists are devil worshippers. That is completely wrong, satanists worship satan, atheists don't believe in anything. When asked why I chose to be an Atheist, I simply say: "Religion is hypocritical. Methodists need to practice what they preach. Baptists like to drown people. Pastors belonging to the Church of God yell way too much, and Catholics... well... Catholics... their priests rape little boys to get a piece of anything... .... .... INCLUDING THE NEWS!!!"
12-28-2005 cw
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No matter who33% Voted for by A Thought Persists, Felicitas.
I am not religious, but even so I do not think that just because priests happen to be hypocritical that doesn't mean that their religion is wrong. I know a few priests and they are really nice guys and they try to follow their religion as best they can but nobody is perfect. They make mistakes, one priest I know happens to swear probably more then a priest should, but that does not contaminate the faith. People are never perfect and you should not expect them to be. You cannot base your entire opinion purely on the weaknesses of certain humans. You believe in a religion for the beliefs, not the priests.
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NondominationalVoted for by Southern Belle.
I am a non-dominational Christian. So basically that means I believe in God and doing the right thing WITHOUT being caught up in the whole relgion hypocrisy. Personally I believe that a lot (not all) of the churches have been caught up in politics and some of the corrupt actions of the world, and I don't understand why there are so many dominations in the world when we all worship the same God. We are suppose to be in this TOGETHER. So why are we spliting ourselves up by more dominations? I believe in the Bible, and Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior but I don't believe in the corruption that is taking place...there is too much to describe for just one post but you know what I'm talking about.
It just goes to show that you can believe in God, without participating in the corrupt practices of some churches.
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December 30, 2005
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great view
I agree completly with you,i am also atheist.December 31, 2005
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January 3, 2006
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hypocrisy of religion or those who claim to practice it
kai-kat16, while I certainly don't disagree that those you encountered are hypocrites, I think it is a bit misguided to label yourself as having experienced the "hypocrisy of religion", for was it Christianity itself that was hypocritical, or those that CLAIM to follow it. In order to truly judge a religion, it is not reasonable to judge those that merely calls themselves members of that religion. One can only judge a religion based on its text and its expressed beliefs. A Christian who truly follows Christ would be just as appalled as you are about the campers' behaviors. While such behaviors were indeed hypocritical, something they were not was Christian despite the fact that the camp called itself a Christian camp. If we were to imagine a hypothetical religion in which every practitioner of that faith was a hypocrite, this would not speak against the religion itself necessarily. When you call someone a hypocrite, you are claiming that they do not live consistently with their purported beliefs, so you are casting THEM in a negative light not the beliefs. To judge this religion, you must imagine someone that did live in accordance with the religion's values, and only then are you judging it fairly. Sorry for being ridiculously repetitive and I hope this helped in some way.January 9, 2006
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