Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Shake · 08-04-2003, 01:38 PM

I went to the subject index and skipped down to the N's to see if they had anything on nudism (just as an example), but noticed that there was something about the Olympic Games. I thought, "What could be wrong with the Olympics?" So, I started reading ...

Quote:

Third, is the issue of religious pluralism. At the Games there were athletes from 197 countries, representing a wide diversity of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. In a politically correct world, where religious tolerance is the name of the game, it is thought incorrect to maintain that any one religion is uniquely true and that the others are, at best, incomplete or even false.

Pluralism, rejects "the idea that there is anything superior, normative, or definitive about Christianity. Christian faith is merely one of many equally legitimate human responses to the same divine reality" (Harold A. Netland, Dissonant Voices: Religious Pluralism and the Question of Truth, p. 10]. Since pluralism denies religious exclusivity, all religions must be considered alternatives routes to God, salvation, or ultimate reality. True pluralism therefore, while contrary to Christianity, is nevertheless obligated to accommodate Christianity.

OK, it's beginning to make sense now. Imagine that! Xianity put on par with all of the world's other religious beliefs! (gasp) Oh, the horror of it!

More...

Quote:

Believers are called to be salt and light in the world (Matt. 5:13-14). As such, we are to proclaim God's message of good news (Matt. 28:19-20), and to declare Jesus Christ as the only legitimate way that leads to God and salvation. Most of the religious messages attached to the Atlanta games were quite contrary to this.

Wow! I watched the opening ceremonies and I didn't pick up any "religious messages" from them. I caught some history of the games, but no messages.

Quote:

There is nothing inherently wrong with participation in, or enjoyment of athletic events.

Well, that's good! But wait ...

Quote:

... there is danger when pagan religious ceremonies are attached to anything potentially charged with so much emotion as sports.

Annnnnnnd this is different from emotionally charged Xian ceremonies how???

Finally,

Quote:

Olympic spirits are not divine and can never create lasting world peace or unity. Zeus is not God, the universe is not God, and man is not God. The real God created the universe and man. They are distinct from Himself. Man's destiny, his noblest aspirations, and his own fulfillment will only be complete in worship of the true God. Therefore, Christians should glorify God with their bodies, presenting them as a living sacrifice, and run the race with endurance, pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Yeah, those old gods aren't real, 'cause ours is real! Silly ancient Greeks and their pantheism!

Yikes!

Deacon Doubtmonger · 08-04-2003, 03:27 PM

From the site:

"Atheism: The assertion, to be taken on faith [!!!], that there is no God."

OK, so let me get this straight:

(1) This implies that if we take something on faith, it's a bad thing; since faith is the opposite of reason, it follows that we should be held to the highest standards of reason, which the quote implies is good.

(2) But Xians hold that their faith trumps all reason!

(3) And yet those Xians who advance "arguments" expect us to take their assertions on reason -- i.e., to reason that we should surrender reason and embrace faith!

The site in general also implies that we shame and manipulate people into disbelieving as we do, and contort our bodies into ridiculous positions and sing childishly simple songs in incessant praise of our non-god, and coerce them to do the same in order to short-circuit their thought processes, and hold the threat of fire over their heads to get them to love "Him."

[DR. EVIL VOICE] Riiiiiiiiiight! [/DR. EVIL VOICE]

So what are we waiting for? Let's unleash the ...

ATHEIST INQUISITION!!!

Deacon Doubtmonger

HerFlamingLiberal · 08-05-2003, 01:09 PM

Of course Yoga is founded in Eastern religions! What did they think, that Jesus and the disciples sat around doing tantra yoga with one another? Good grief. :banghead:

It still doesn't make it bad. It's good for body and soul alike, and I know many Christians that do Yoga. (I just don't tell them exactly what a Sun Salute is.)

Deacon Doubtmonger · 08-06-2003, 01:04 PM

From the site:

Shame-based relationships are relationships based on messages of shame: You are so weak and defective that you are nothing without this relationship. Shame becomes the glue that holds things together. It is the force that motivates people to refrain from certain behaviors and to do others.

If families, churches, or groups are shame-based, they are more than likely sending messages to their members that they are: "not loved and accepted; not even lovable or acceptable; only loved and accepted if, when, or because they perform well; not capable, valuable, or worthwhile; very alone, not really belonging anywhere, to anything, or with anyone."

........

Ultimately, a person can lose a correct perception of reality because the only reality that can be identified with is within a shame-based system.

So the site condemns shame-based systems, eh? Yea, verily, let us gaze unto certain bits of the Bad Book, that it may shew unto us the Xian take on shame. It starts right in the first book ...

Genesis 2:25
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

... and goes on:

Ezra 9:6
And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.

Job 8:22
They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

And Psalms is loaded with shame:

Psalm 31:17
Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

Psalm 40
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.

Psalm 44
7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah. [Doth this not contradict "Pride goeth before a fall?" ]
9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.

Psalm 69
7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

Psalm 83
16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.
17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish.

Psalm 86
17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.

And even inanimate celestial bodies are to be mortified!

Isaiah 24
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Apparently god wants guys to get new hairdos:

1 Corinthians 11
14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

Finally, we must of course write off women's potential contributions to spirituality as abominable:

1 Corinthians 14
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

NOTE: The online bible concordance I rooted these "truffles" out of has a total of 217 entries for "shame," including generic ones; I have here included only the choicest of the ones in which god and/or his followers wish shame upon "transgressors."

Deacon Doubtmonger

08-04-2003, 03:27 PM	#12
Deacon Doubtmonger Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Level 6, Inside a Burning Tomb Posts: 1,494	*THEY THINK WE'RE A CULT TOO!* From the site: "Atheism: The assertion, to be taken on faith [!!!], that there is no God." OK, so let me get this straight: (1) This implies that if we take something on faith, it's a bad thing; since faith is the opposite of reason, it follows that we should be held to the highest standards of reason, which the quote implies is good. (2) But Xians hold that their faith trumps all reason! (3) And yet those Xians who advance "arguments" expect us to take their assertions on reason -- i.e., to reason that we should surrender reason and embrace faith! The site in general also implies that we shame and manipulate people into disbelieving as we do, and contort our bodies into ridiculous positions and sing childishly simple songs in incessant praise of our non-god, and coerce them to do the same in order to short-circuit their thought processes, and hold the threat of fire over their heads to get them to love "Him." [DR. EVIL VOICE] Riiiiiiiiiight! [/DR. EVIL VOICE] So what are we waiting for? Let's unleash the ... ATHEIST INQUISITION!!! Deacon Doubtmonger

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

08-05-2003, 01:09 PM	#13
HerFlamingLiberal Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Hogwarts Posts: 25	Of course Yoga is founded in Eastern religions! What did they think, that Jesus and the disciples sat around doing tantra yoga with one another? Good grief. :banghead: It still doesn't make it bad. It's good for body and soul alike, and I know many Christians that do Yoga. (I just don't tell them exactly what a Sun Salute is.)

08-06-2003, 01:04 PM	#14
Deacon Doubtmonger Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Level 6, Inside a Burning Tomb Posts: 1,494	From the site: Shame-based relationships are relationships based on messages of shame: You are so weak and defective that you are nothing without this relationship. Shame becomes the glue that holds things together. It is the force that motivates people to refrain from certain behaviors and to do others. If families, churches, or groups are shame-based, they are more than likely sending messages to their members that they are: "not loved and accepted; not even lovable or acceptable; only loved and accepted if, when, or because they perform well; not capable, valuable, or worthwhile; very alone, not really belonging anywhere, to anything, or with anyone." ........ Ultimately, a person can lose a correct perception of reality because the only reality that can be identified with is within a shame-based system. So the site condemns shame-based systems, eh? Yea, verily, let us gaze unto certain bits of the Bad Book, that it may shew unto us the Xian take on shame. It starts right in the first book ... Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. ... and goes on: Ezra 9:6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Job 8:22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought. And Psalms is loaded with shame: Psalm 31:17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. Psalm 40 14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. 15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha. Psalm 44 7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. 8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah. [Doth this not contradict "Pride goeth before a fall?" ] 9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies. Psalm 69 7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. Psalm 83 16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. 17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish. Psalm 86 17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me. And even inanimate celestial bodies are to be mortified! Isaiah 24 23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. Apparently god wants guys to get new hairdos: 1 Corinthians 11 14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? Finally, we must of course write off women's potential contributions to spirituality as abominable: 1 Corinthians 14 35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. NOTE: The online bible concordance I rooted these "truffles" out of has a total of 217 entries for "shame," including generic ones; I have here included only the choicest of the ones in which god and/or his followers wish shame upon "transgressors." Deacon Doubtmonger

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.