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So because a book that is very old (and been changed many times over the years) decides what god believes? A book that people dispute being written by anyone with the authority to say what is in that book?

Doesn't that same book that you base your beliefs on say that people have the right to live their lifes the way they want, as long as they are not trying to hurt anyone, and are not hurting them selfs?

If God is so powerful to make a rule that you can marry someone of the same sex is the Goverment really that worried that it won't be dealt with?

I still say look at Germany... I have yet to see anyone talk about Germany giving them the right to marry. It's not like their a small Country, and it's not like they don't have major political effects in the World.

PhaseDMA wrote:Doesn't that same book that you base your beliefs on say that people have the right to live their lifes the way they want, as long as they are not trying to hurt anyone, and are not hurting them selfs?

I can't speak for other religions, but according to mine you have the right to do anything you want. That is God's gift to us, but you must answer for those actions which go against what God wants. What God wants is outlined in those ancient books that have changed often that you you described (We only acknowledge one translation of the Bible....the KJV).

We are also taught to honor the laws of the land. So if the gov't decides it's legal, we are to honor it but that doesn't mean we must agree with it.

Me, personally, I have an issue with laws being dictated based on religious preference. They did it when they outlawed polygomy. They made anti-polygamy laws directly to squash the Mormon Revolution that was going on in Utah (which wasn't even a US State yet). If abortion gets overturned it's going to have a lot of influece from the religious perspectives. Laws pertaining to the sale of alcohol have religious roots (like not being able to buy alcohol on Sunday). I can go on an on.

Let the homosexuals get married. Let a man have more than one wife. Let a woman have more than one husband. Let people buy alcohol whenver they want. If you aren't agnostic/athiest, then you will believe that God will punish you when you are dead if you did something wrong according to that ancient book that gets changed alot. If you are agnostic/athiest and are correct, then you get to have a nice life with no reprocussions......lol

harra wrote:If you aren't agnostic/athiest, then you will believe that God will punish you when you are dead if you did something wrong according to that ancient book that gets changed alot. If you are agnostic/athiest and are correct, then you get to have a nice life with no reprocussions......lol

So, someone tries to be a good person, but has natural flaws that humans have. He gets punished for eternity. What a great fucking reason to be religious!

Axilla,

Religion is a complicated subject, as I'm sure you are fully aware. It is for each person to determine whether or not what is being taught in any of the thousands of religions is correct or if none of them are correct. Most religions have the same principle, you MUST believe in something. With Christianity, they believe you MUST accept that J.C. is the Son of God and he died for your sins. If you refuse to believe this, then you are not going to be accepted into God's Kingdom of Heaven. So it really doesn't matter if you are the most noble person on the planet. But I believe some of the other non-Christian religions (i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc) reward those with good intentions regardless of allegiances to certain dieties.

I must also state that I haven't ever stated that what I've talked about is what I believe. It is what my Church teaches. I am pretty much agnostic. Meaning I don't have enough to base an opinion yet whether or not there is a God. I am hedging my bets by hoping that my Church is correct, but I don't whole-heartedly agree, yet. I tend to believe that any person who is basically good and helps his fellow man without provoking ill will and mean spiritness will get a reward in the end. Even without allying oneself with a religion, it isn't easy to be kind, generous, charitable and unselfish. Religious affiliations makes it much, much harder because they add more "no nos" to the list. If there is a God, He/She will straighten out the details when we face them.


[ETA more clarity to my argument]

I think most religions are also forgiving of not being able to figure out the complicated god thing... As long as your faith... Is in... err... Good faith...

PhaseDMA wrote:I think most religions are also forgiving of not being able to figure out the complicated god thing... As long as your faith... Is in... err... Good faith...

Unfortunately, that trend that you talk about Anthony is leading to much discord amongst the religions. The orthodox members of a faith are getting angry because the necessity to adhere to various precepts of the faith are being "trivialized". Many churches are saying that all you need to be is a good person to get into heaven. When I took a religion class in the early 90's, my professor (an orthodox Jew) stated that he believed that this was a marketing trend by the more non-denomination faiths to get more butts into the seats. Studies had shown that more people were willing to go to Church if the "fire and brimstone" act was toned down or eliminated

True, but I don't think should (or would) be punished because you can't 1000 people are telling you they are the boss, and you can't figure out which one is telling the truth... No wonder the Romans had so many gods ...