Atheism speak your mind about religion

I may have to sit with either of the in crowds

I am sure I had posted what I am about to say again, I might have to sit with either of the in crowds. That would be right I went back to page 1, and of course I wrote the same thing again. I prefer to be seen as a fool than hide from the fact.

Well, that makes absolutely no sense to me. I have no idea what you mean by "in crowds," nor have you provided any plausible reason for saying that christianity and islam are cults rather than realigions. Cults of what religion? I suspect, though, that i'll regret asking that question.

Ever felt that shiver, like you were being hunted. However I am not about to preach, extend on my claim or worry about it either way. I had my fun just saying what I felt. Scary as the concept is, it isn't worth tackling.

It's not scary, it's just ridiculous. If you can't support the claim, it is not worth consideration.

Can't I just get it off my chest.

Sure you can . . . however, you can't come to a place such as this is, and expect that your ideas will not be challenged. What i post here is frequently challenged. I defend what i post, up to a certain point; i won't continue to defend what i write if it appears to me that an interlocutor just wants to make vicious personal remarks.

Cult can, generally speaking, have two meanings in such a context. The classic definition is a subset of a religious belief. So, for example, the Romans originally considered christianity to be a cult of Judaism. The second meaning would be a quasi-religious group which keeps its adherents under the constant supervision of the cult leader or his or her lieutenants, and which deprives them of all of their wordly goods. That is the pejorative definition in contemporary western culture.

Cleary, the latter definition cannot be applied to either christianity or islam universally. The former definition could only be applied if you can show that these two religious confessions are a subset of another, more broadly defined religious confession. I doubt that you can make that case. Christianity and islam, each taken as a whole, are adhered to by about a third of the planet's population. I know of no broader religious confession of which they can reasonably be said to be subsets--so i can't accept your claim. Although if you made a sufficiently persuasive argument, i might agree, as it stands right now, i find your claim to be nonsense.

I am amazed that you begun your arguement, with the term cult, rather than the definition of religion. I certainly expect to be challenged, what I didn't like is that first you open as though in jest, then you flip to some recantant stalwart with demands.

I can however come in here, speak my mind and leave, I would not call what I did vicious, as I was asked for a personal remark.

I did not say that anything you had posted was vicious. I did not ask you for a personal remark. Sure, you can post whatever you want, and i can challenge it if i please. I haven't made any demands, i've just pointed out that if you want your remark to be taken seriously, you'll need to support the claim.

To be "recantant" (which i suspect is not actually a word in English, although it is in French), i would have to have recanted something. I've not done that. As far as being stalwart, that's kind of silly. I'm not holding out for any particular point of view, i'm just challenging yours.

Funny really, by your definition of my words, I would seem to have more aptly described myself. I wasn't after a bite on the topic for kicks , I felt that after reading the previous discussions, I could vent, sorry let me say exhale, the condition that all men are equal. It is the only sense to be made from my point.

I don't see any connection between the claim that christianity and islam are "just cults," and a claim that all men are equal. Words have commonly accepted definitions so that people may communicate. That breaks down when those definitions are rejected or ignored.

I don't imagine we are going to find common ground on which to view this discussion from where I had begun. So it has been said, something accepted does not neccessarily make it so

If you refer to accepted definitions of words, i would be interested to know what you allege would make it so. If people don't agree on the definitions of words, communication is doomed.

Are you beginning to regret asking questions yet?

Actually, this has been producing an amazing amount of entertainment . . . but, you're right, i should lay off now . . .

I've always said that the invention of religion and their cults were the most destructive actions in human history. I'm always amazed that in 2011, people are still following dogma from ancient ignorance about this planet and the universe.

BBB

No one ever went broke . . .

Not much I can add to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewKtSKbWZUI&feature=related

I encourage everyone to watch it.

And how much easier than actually framing and defending an argument of your own . . .

The video presents everything much better than I ever could.

My words are boring ... at least the written versions are.