RELIGION - WHATS THE POINT?

TREXABELL

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religion seems to be fast decreasing in relavance

Not to me! To you, perhap? Cool

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"When angry, count ten. When very angry, swear."

Not at all relevant, but you asked for Mr. Clemens.

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its like the monkey trials of 1920's America...why, when it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that evolution was the culprit, did people still swear blind that their divine backsides were part of God's great vision?

If you've ever studied comparative anatomy, you'll know that evolution and God's creativity work hand-in-hand. The Scopes trial never denied this fact.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/evolut.htm

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Here you go, Portal:

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Religion consists in a set of things which the average man thinks he believes, and wishes he was certain.

--Mark Twain

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A few more Twains:

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When a man arrives at great prosperity God did it: when he falls into disaster he did it himself.

Man was made at the end of the week's work, when God was tired.

God's noblest work? Man. Who found it out? Man.

God's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.

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much better

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"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." -- Mark Twain

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"It is my belief that nearly any invented quotation, played with confidence, stands a good chance to deceive." -- Mark Twain

"The holy passion of friendship is so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring in nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money." -- Mark Twain

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"The history of our race, and each individual's experience, are sown thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal." (Advice to Youth) -- Mark Twain

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Anybody read "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" as a growed-up person? Surprisingly bleak book, considering what popular culture made of it. Written during and after his daughter's death, if I remember rightly.

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One of the popular authors of the day (forget which) wrote to Clemens about The Connecticutt Yankee, commenting that he was surprised that it had been so brief, and wondering if Clemens might not have expanded on the theme. Clemens replied that he could have filled volumes, but that it would have required " . . . a pen warmed up in Hell."

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And one from Randy Newman:

Cain slew Abel, Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:

Man means nothing, he means less to me
Than the lowliest cactus flower
Or the humblest Yucca tree
He chases round this desert
'Cause he thinks that's where I'll be
That's why I love mankind

I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee
From the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That's why I love mankind

The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said, "Lord, a plague is on the world
Lord, no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won't take care of us
Won't you please, please let us be?"
And the Lord said
And the Lord said

I burn down your cities-how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You all must be crazy to put your faith in me
That's why I love mankind
You really need me
That's why I love mankind

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Glancing question: what kind of man would kick his dog?

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I saw jesus on the cross on a hill called calvary
"do you hate mankind for what they done to you?"
He said, "talk of love not hate, things to do - it's getting late.
I've so little time and i'm only passing through."

Passing through, passing through.
Sometimes happy, sometimes blue,
Glad that i ran into you.
Tell the people that you saw me passing through.

I saw adam leave the garden with an apple in his hand,
I said "now you're out, what are you going to do?"
"plant some crops and pray for rain, maybe raise a little cane.
I'm an orphan now, and i'm only passing through."

Passing through, passing through ...
leonard cohen (passing through)

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"In God We Trust. It is the choicest compliment that has ever been paid us, and the most gratifying to our feelings. It is simple, direct, gracefully phrased; it always sounds well -- In God We Trust. I don't believe it would sound any better if it were true."

-- Samuel Clemens

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"For England must not fall: it would mean an inundation of Russian & German political degradations which would envelop the globe & steep it in a sort of Middle-Age night & slaverly which would last till Christ comes again -- which I hope he will not do; he made trouble enough before."

-- Samuel Clemens

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"God, so atrocious in the Old Testament, so attractive in the New -- the Jekyl and Hyde of sacred romance."

-- Samuel Clemens

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"You talking to me?"
Travis (Deerhunter)

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on the topic of the origional question...

I believe i can give you a rational explaination for the prolonged existence of religion.

first, let me state where I stand. I'm a Christian. I believe that God created the world perfect, and that man introduced sin into the world. I believe that Jesus died to cancel out the sins of everybody, but you can only recieve His grace if you ask for it, by way of prayer. I believe all of this to be , not religion, but truth.

on this stance, the purpose of life is to find God and accept His forgiveness. So, to ensure that Man would always search for the truth, God put in on our hearts and in our nature the belief and/or "feeling" that there is a supernatural being. Many have followed this feeling and have come to Jesus, but others have misinterpreted it, and have made up their own religion.

This explains why so many religions are alike. you can stumble across some tribe in africa who has never had contact with the outside world, and yet they still worship a god or gods. it's human instinct.

Now don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that human instinct made the god; i'm saying god made the human instinct.

now to prove that christianity is truth, not just another religion, the Bible is the only book that explains this, and many other topics of the same depth. i would encourage you to look into it.

I hope this helps somebody.

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DeepThinkr wrote:

on the topic of the origional question...

I believe i can give you a rational explaination for the prolonged existence of religion.

Rational + religion? Unlikely, but you have my benefit of the doubt.

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first, let me state where I stand. I'm a Christian. I believe that God created the world perfect, and that man introduced sin into the world. I believe that Jesus died to cancel out the sins of everybody, but you can only recieve His grace if you ask for it, by way of prayer. I believe all of this to be , not religion, but truth.

I'm not sure what denomination you hail from, but several christian institutions believe that you can only be saved through baptism of some sort. Prayer is good, but isn't enough.

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on this stance, the purpose of life is to find God and accept His forgiveness. So, to ensure that Man would always search for the truth, God put in on our hearts and in our nature the belief and/or "feeling" that there is a supernatural being. Many have followed this feeling and have come to Jesus, but others have misinterpreted it, and have made up their own religion.

An interesting notion. Question for you here: Why would god supply man with a notion so ambiguous that it would be easilly misinterpreted so? Why not just make it simple. If he truly loves the world, wouldn't he have gone the extra mile?

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This explains why so many religions are alike. you can stumble across some tribe in africa who has never had contact with the outside world, and yet they still worship a god or gods. it's human instinct.

I really fail to see how so many religions are alike. There are several that stem from similar backgrounds, then there are those that worship a pantheon of gods. The tribe in africa most likely would worship the god of the sun, of the rain, of the earth and of the hunt. I would argue that these beliefs are more grounded in random chance and local events than any divinely imbued impulse.

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Now don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that human instinct made the god; i'm saying god made the human instinct.

Ok.

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now to prove that christianity is truth, not just another religion, the Bible is the only book that explains this, and many other topics of the same depth. i would encourage you to look into it.

I hope this helps somebody.

I'm not sure what you are implying or aiming for here. The bible really proves nothing. As has been discussed in these forums repeatedly, the bible is a mash of smaller stories/books written by several different men over a rather long period of time. They were weeded through and assembled by men, some books staying in, some getting tossed on the floor.

With so many equally reliable and much older religious manuscripts out there it is ridiculous to assume that yours proves anything at all about chrisitanity being the one true religion.

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RELIGION - WHATS THE POINT?

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