What is your religion/belief?

[thefight]

Dude... sorry but Roman Catholics are Christians...

They believe in Christ and that he was the son of god... ergo... christian.

It's just a different church. Like Baptists or Evangelicals.

Not at all. Catholics have Rome and the Pope to give them laws whereas Christians use only the Bible. Christians think Catholics are all going to hell and they are very seperate. Many times Catholics and Christians get grouped together, but they shouldn't be.

[Smurftyours]

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Fucking thats what I mean.

[Ashfall_2008]

WHAT???

You guys are weird... the definintion of Christian is that you believe in Christ and follow his teachings. I went to a catholic school... thats what they do. They are Christians by definition.

The catholic church is indeed directed by the pope and led from Rome.

Catholics would claim to be the oldest christian church in the world.

What type of church do you attend?

[MayheM]

Actually to clarify, Catholicism is the first kind of Christianity. All other sects of Christianity have broken from Catholicism. In fact Catholicism can trace its beginnings back to Peter who is the first Pope.

As Smurftyours says, the Bible is more than just a book about the teaching of God. It is a historical account of events of that time. Those events are covered in the gospels by several different writers. As for interpretation I was always taught in Catholic school to follow the spirit of the law, not the word of the law. That video he posted pretty much says it all as to why Catholics often are seen as separate from other Christians.

Though truth is, Lutherans are really close to Catholics. In fact my church back home has started holding joint events with the Lutheran church down the street. They actually hold Easter service outdoors with both churches taking part. It is actually really kind of cool. Though the fact they are so similar is likely because the founder of the Lutheran church, Martin Luther, believed himself a Catholic till the day he died. The beef he had with the church was, at the time priest where taking money to absolve sins. Luther felt this was wrong (and it was) and spoke out about it. Eventually that disagreement lead to the split and formation of the Lutheran church. However in present day, those events no longer happen in the Catholic church.

All that aside, I understand why people would say Catholics are the same as Christians and to some extent you are correct. However, it is not as cut and dry. As thefight said, often Christians believe Catholics are going to hell. I have a friend who is evangelical and he has been trying to get me to convert for a while.

[Jangalomph]

The plus side of making this is seeing the vote, and Learning things I didn't know about beliefs

[Simpletool]

This is my own experiences and has nothing to do with the entire whole of Atheism. The only Atheists I have met in real life have acted this way, so therefore I will base some of my arguments on how I have seen some real Atheists act. Your obviously missing the parts where I said or implied that this was with Atheists that I have met personally. Obviously not all Atheists act this way, some or many might even be completely respectable of other religions.

Explain to me exactly what I missed, because after quoting your words verbatim the phrasing didn't change. You said...

"Same here. Atheists just automatically assume that every single religious person is brainwashed to the point of ignoring reality."

"I also find it odd that Atheists say that other religions are pushy and try to convert people against their will. In my own experiences, I find that the most pushy out of religious groups is the Atheists by far. Rather then getting along and saying Atheists believe in nothing and Catholics believe in a God, Atheists basically say your fucking wrong and that your stupid for having personal beliefs."

I'm even linking to your exact post here.

You made broad sweeping generalizations about a group of people and now that you've been called out on it you're backpedaling. What point were you trying to make exactly? There is nothing in your wording to indicate anything other than blatant stereotyping.

As for them trying to convert people, I'm once again basing my writings off of my experiences with Atheists in real life. I am not saying they all act this way.

Show me evidence in response to the first time I questioned you on this.

You missed the point completely. I am not saying its the truth, I am saying its the truth in my opinion.

If you understand what you've said doesn't accurately reflect everyone within a group then why are you holding onto your original convictions so fervently?

Same could be said for your opinion since theres no way to prove if there is a God or not.

This doesn't even make sense. Not once did I ever bring up "God" or my own beliefs. My response was regarding your generalizations of a social group.

The fact you felt so compelled to go off on this tangent is evidence to me that you have little confidence in your own opinions.

Also good job on picking apart my statement to make me look ignorant. I'm 15 so it probably wasn't even that hard in the first place.

I quoted you verbatim, and yes when you say the things you say you do you look ignorant.

If you want to be the type of person with no belief, then don't believe in not believing....

I'm not understanding what point you're making?

[Smurftyours]

Simpletool, I'm obviously out witted and out numbered here. Your right, in my original post I could have probably made it clearer that I was talking about atheists I have met rather than atheists in general, I apologize for any misunderstandings there. I don't know what more you want on the topic of conversion, I have had atheists tell me things like "You should stop believing in god, it makes you look stupid." and other things like "Why not just become an atheists like me." As for saying that my opinion or beliefs are the truth, I am pretty sure other Roman Catholics believe in the same things I do. making this more accurately reflect to a group of people rather than just me. As for going off in a tangent, I wasn't. You said don't expect anyone to believe your opinion unless you have rational evidence. I was basically pointing out the uselessness of a argument like this by saying that neither of us have enough evidence to prove each other wrong, since neither of us knows everything, or can prove everything.

Anyways, better shut up and see how you use these words against me. May just be the way I am reviving or interpreting your writing, but there seems to be quite a bit of unnecessary aggression. Theres obviously a lack of equalization, I am trying to treat you as I would treat myself. I'm not getting the same feedback though. Then again your obviously my Superior in age which would otherwise not make us equal.

I haven't really extensively argued with someone who's older than me. Its a skill I have not fully yet learned.

[Simpletool]

Simpletool, I'm obviously out witted and out numbered here. Your right, in my original post I could have probably made it clearer that I was talking about atheists I have met rather than atheists in general, I apologize for any misunderstandings there. I don't know what more you want on the topic of conversion, I have had atheists tell me things like "You should stop believing in god, it makes you look stupid." and other things like "Why not just become an atheists like me." As for saying that my opinion or beliefs are the truth, I am pretty sure other Roman Catholics believe in the same things I do. making this more accurately reflect to a group of people rather than just me. As for going off in a tangent, I wasn't. You said don't expect anyone to believe your opinion unless you have rational evidence. I was basically pointing out the uselessness of a argument like this by saying that neither of us have enough evidence to prove each other wrong, since neither of us knows everything, or can prove everything.

Anyways, better shut up and see how you use these words against me. May just be the way I am reviving or interpreting your writing, but there seems to be quite a bit of unnecessary aggression. Theres obviously a lack of equalization, I am trying to treat you as I would treat myself. I'm not getting the same feedback though. Then again your obviously my Superior in age which would otherwise not make us equal.

I haven't really extensively argued with someone who's older than me. Its a skill I have not fully yet learned.

Listen dude, I'm not trying to belittle you or your beliefs, but you need to understand that you cannot be making such statements about groups of individuals based on a few bad experiences, it's unfair and dehumanizing. People are dynamic complex things, you have to be willing to cut past the veneer and get a deeper sense of that individual's own experiences. You'll find a lot of friends in life this way. =)

My whole point I guess is that you're too young to allow yourself to become jaded by a few bad experiences. As I said you have to treat every person as their own individual. Give them the same opportunity you expect for yourself...even if that respect isn't mutual.

[IMUS]

Thought Catholicism formed when king Philip (4th?) broke off ties with the church? Can't remember why though.

[MayheM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of ... lic_Church

The Catholic Church was formed during apostolic times. The Apostles who follow Jesus traveled and spread the word of his teachings. It is the very origin of Christianity...

I believe you are thinking of the Algonkian Church which it tied to King Phillip's War.

[Ale]

I dont believe in some higher power until im proven otherwise, though i have a feeling that wont happen

[Ashfall_2008]

Given that god only exists if humans believe in him... and 53% of people who responded to this thread don't believe in god... I'd say the odds of him existing are not looking great!



OK that is a bit of a stretch I admit...

Can god exist if we as humans don't give him any attention?

[ad_hominem]

“Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bog-gglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God.
The argument goes something like this: `I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, `for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'
`But,' says Man, `The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.'
`Oh dear,' says God, `I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanished in a puff of logic.
`Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets
himself killed on the next zebra crossing.”

[Kanine01]

I'm Christian though I like reading about and exploring other beliefs because I find it very fulfilling.

[Dr. KillPatient]

I'm a sort of deistic atheist, if that makes any sense. I believe that no physical gods exist. I do, however, believe in the existence of gods as extremely powerful human-made concepts-- they're still incredibly influential, but only because their believers make them out to be. A sort of self-perpetuating cycle, used by the higher-ups as control. Gods are the priests' puppets, to which everyone else must bow.