Thread: Can someone tell me why a person defines themself through religion?

Well, I personally care whether a person close to me, like my father, thinks that myself, my bro, his fiance, and my wife are all going to burn in hell for eternity because we don't bow down to his dictator.

Religion is intrinsically divisive because of its dogma and the way people (mainly Americans when it comes to Christianity) make it more important than their own flesh and blood. Like the church I came from taught God first, family second (you know, the invisible guy who you always have that one way conversation with first, then the loving physical, real family).

I'm talking about the kind of people that call the story of Isaac and Jacob (where God tells Isaac to kill his only son) a wonderful story of God's love; or call the story of Job a wonderful story of God's mercy and compassion. You know, the batshit crazy people.

Personally I find that kind of devotion to something 100% intangible and completely lacking in evidence terrifying and I want to know if a person really believes it.

Now as far as moderates go, I really don't care. Live and let live; they're wrong but they're not telling me I'm going to burn in hell or bombing Planned Parenthood.

Originally Posted by oleander

You know as I get older i get baffled. I don't understand why there is this need to know in something that you can't see. I mean faith is based on a belief that can not be seen. So why argue about it? Why try to understand it? Why pit one thought against another? I just don't understand why a person would persecute, deny or judge another human being for faith or define oneself to be part of the group. Is there one person out there that really just lets a person be. Why ask if your not really interested. Why ask? Can't a person say "fuck it" you're you and i am me.

What makes religion so important in regards to who you are? Just tell it to me straight with no mumbo jumbo. Just say it like it is and how you feel.

really? you can't see why human's would do that!? Because it seems pretty obvious to me...

Could you please state the obvious?

Originally Posted by oleander

You know as I get older i get baffled. I don't understand why there is this need to know in something that you can't see. I mean faith is based on a belief that can not be seen.

Faith is a belief, not a basis for one. People believe in something and this something becomes real. You talk from your personal standpoint without thinking from another perspective. A religious person doesn't think or think that he needs to know something, but he knows. That's why religion isn't just some absurd force in this world.

Originally Posted by oleander

So why argue about it? Why try to understand it? Why pit one thought against another? I just don't understand why a person would persecute, deny or judge another human being for faith or define oneself to be part of the group.

Same as above... argue about it? Because they know it's real. I'll argue with you if you tell me that the 4 ancient elements exist and not the ones we know today.
Why prosecute, deny or judge? Because god said so.

Originally Posted by oleander

Is there one person out there that really just lets a person be. Why ask if your not really interested. Why ask? Can't a person say "fuck it" you're you and i am me.

There are a bunch of people like that. But there are also a bunch of people who express their need for belonging on some other level... nationalism etc.
This is a deeper issue. Not just a religious one. It's obviously a natural thing. Packs of animals fighting others... Just like ants for example. But again, on another level.

Originally Posted by oleander

What makes religion so important in regards to who you are? Just tell it to
me straight with no mumbo jumbo. Just say it like it is and how you feel.

It's very important. You can go to hell and stuff. It also tells you how intelligent the other person is, how much he is capable of critical thinking, what his past was like and what he might do to you.

I don't like how once you label yourself something you have to adhere to all its standards and believe in every little inch of it and not believe in what exists outside of it. I'm sorry, but there is no standard interpretation of the universe, not in any religion. Christianity, especially methodism, fails the follow its own definition in practice as it does not hold the bible as the only truth. It fails miserably at adhering to biblical ideas.

Or like in High school I read the Satanic Bible and decided it'd be cool to be a satanist. This other kid got me into it, but I had ideas that don't align perfectly with the philosophy, and I was told "that's not satanist" therefore I couldn't call myself a satanist anymore. That pissed me off, that made me want to give up on religion all together. How fucking retarded. Or like, in middle school I converted out of christianity and told my (atheist) friend I changed my religion and he was like "to what?" and I said "to something more intuitive" and he said "that's not a standardized religion." So it's like, you HAVE to label yourself something, but if you don't fit perfectly you cannot label yourself anything.

Not all people define themselves through religion.

But seriously, it is easy to argue over something that either side can proof. ^^

Originally Posted by Needcatscan

Now as far as moderates go, I really don't care. Live and let live; they're wrong but they're not telling me I'm going to burn in hell or bombing Planned Parenthood.

I agree with Need's post 99 percent. When it comes to moderates though, the thing that really matters is truth. I want to know the truth. I want others to know the truth.

Even moderates are picking and choosing what they want from a book that is not truth. Hence they are actually impeding the discovery of it.

Just wait till the religious nuts look into a mirror!