What are some misconceptions about your religion?

[faceless chick]

I'm a Muslim. And God knows how many misconceptions people hold against us, seriously.

Let's start with the suicide bomber notion. I know that most of the people here aren't morons and therefore understand that most of the Muslim population believes that strapping a bomb to yourself and running into a crowd is extreme and pretty un-Muslim.

Allah tells us to protect human life and take good care of it, including our own. It's a gift from God that I'm alive today. This is why we are not permitted to drink or eat pork, because the Quran dictates that these things are bad for your body. Suicide bombers are effectively destroying this rule by killing themselves in order to 'cleanse' the world of 'heretics'.

Um. Feel free to ask questions? I don't know how these things go.

Not out of disrespect or anything other than pure curiosity, can somebody explain the whole 'Pork is evil and bad for your body' thing?
Because there are loads of people out there with that view (or any other that prevents people from eating delicious, delicious pork), including my spiritual kinsmen (although they'd probably look down on me as the most failed Jew ever), and I've never really got it. I doubt it's a medical thing, because that would be retarded (no ill effects in anyone that eats pork, including myself, except maybe obesity from overindulgence but that's from everything else too anyway, so that's kind of a null point), so what is it?

To be honest, I'm not sure. My mom tells me that pork is just generally considered bad for you because it has some kind of worm in it. I never really looked into it. I've also heard some people justifying the no pork rule by saying that pigs are considered filthy animals because they roll around in their own crap or something like that.

Either way, I don't mind not eating pork because I've never tried it before.

The worm thing is bullshit (or, more topically, pigshit). Agreed, rolling around in your own crap is disgusting, but that's what washing is for. Also, you're missing out. Pork is delicious, and I couldn't live without it

It's called trichinellosis, and it can be deadly if you eat the meat before inspection.
That said, I don't think that's the real cause for not eating pork, but a lot of religions or cults forbid pork.

A question for Jews: my teacher said Jews don't eat pork because their religion says "don't eat a creature that has 2 toes and digs into the earth with its snout". Is that in anyway true?

Naw, it's to do with the hooves, for some reason. The scriptures say that they may eat only of those species that chew their cud and have split hooves.

Huh...weird..

Surely it works both ways though? If religion is not responsible directly for the bad things attributed to it then surely religion cannot be responsible for the good things attributed to it either?

Hmm..interesting idea..I'd like to think it's a continuous circle.Kinda like"if you're too dedicated to religion you'll neglect science and be ignorant, and if you're ignorant you'll become too dedicated to religion" kind of thing.

The good behaviour of humans has existed since forever, of course, the idea of religion is the promise of a reward for it, to get people to do it more often.(like how we get a monthly check for going to school or lower taxes on transportation)

That said, there are a lot of non-religious people who do good deeds all the time without needing "rewards", though there are a lot of people who would need "tempting"

Though, TBH, I frown upon people who do good deeds just because they think it'll get them a 1-way ticket into Heaven (which we'll only see when we're dead if it exists or not. If it does, it'd be awesome,though I'm sure I'll never get in ,if it doesn't, I've lost nothing)

 

[faceless chick]

Hurray! People who say Christianity excepts science!

I fully except all of evolution, just that god designed it as he went on, making whatever he could that branched off of the common life-cell predecessor of all mankind. He got the ball at the top of the hill rolling, for the Big Bang, dust crashes that formed Earth, and evolution.

This.This is pretty much my idea.
Everything that happens by "sheer accident" or in a near impossible circumstance, all that cannot be explained, luck, miracles, magic, etc. that's what "God" is to me.

Things that have 1:1 million chance of happening, yet they did, I'd like to think that's what "God" is.
More of a concept than a person.I don't put science and religion in the same bucket.

The smartest people were the ones who managed to balance science and religion without conflict.

Off-topic:
Also..HELLSING FTW!!!

 

[lwm3398]

Hurray! People who say Christianity excepts science!

I fully except all of evolution, just that god designed it as he went on, making whatever he could that branched off of the common life-cell predecessor of all mankind. He got the ball at the top of the hill rolling, for the Big Bang, dust crashes that formed Earth, and evolution.

This.This is pretty much my idea.
Everything that happens by "sheer accident" or in a near impossible circumstance, all that cannot be explained, luck, miracles, magic, etc. that's what "God" is to me.

Things that have 1:1 million chance of happening, yet they did, I'd like to think that's what "God" is.
More of a concept than a person.I don't put science and religion in the same bucket.

The smartest people were the ones who managed to balance science and religion without conflict.

Off-topic:
Also..HELLSING FTW!!!

Exactly. God is the one who said "Hey. For shits and giggles, why not make some stuff explode and make some animals to worship me. Then they can come live with me in the dimension of essence, where their... um... 'Soul' can live with me."

That's my view on afterlife. Our personalities go in bodies and go about life in this soul universe. I believe God to be a stern but fair father figure, a funny guy with a nice disposition.

But now, I gotta go. Watching that movie Valkyrie, about those guys who try to get Hitler, and it has Tom Cruise.

 

[Enigmers]

I think this was mentioned, but when I say I'm Agnostic people assume that means Atheist.

 

[Cakes]

I think this was mentioned, but when I say I'm Agnostic people assume that means Atheist.

Mostly, nobody has any fucking clue what Agnostic means.
It is a shame.
Also, Atheist = Immoral, maybe some kind of Satan Worshiper.

 

[Berethond]

We're not polygamist.
We don't think black people are of the devil.
Same applies for gays.
We don't have "Secret, mason-like rituals"
We can drink whatever kind of soda we want.
We are Christian. It's in the name of the freaking church.
Black people can join. See item two above.

I think that clears most of them up.

 

[faceless chick]

We're not polygamist.
We don't think black people are of the devil.
Same applies for gays.
We don't have "Secret, mason-like rituals"
We can drink whatever kind of soda we want.
We are Christian. It's in the name of the freaking church.
Black people can join. See item two above.

I think that clears most of them up.

Not all Christians take the bible literally.That's more of fundies territory.
There are more types of Christians other than Catholic or Protestant.
Not all Christian churches are uptight or strict about their rules.
You don't get kicked out of Christianity if you believe in science or don't go to church all the time.
Christians can have premarital sex, not marry or have abortions (though the Church frowns upon it)
A 90% Christian country isn't chaos, it's actually much more peaceful and less demanding of the people (see here, where we're almost all Christian yet religion plays a very small role in society)


Huh..I guess there's more, I'll add them 'll remember them.

 

[Berethond]

We're not polygamist.
We don't think black people are of the devil.
Same applies for gays.
We don't have "Secret, mason-like rituals"
We can drink whatever kind of soda we want.
We are Christian. It's in the name of the freaking church.
Black people can join. See item two above.

I think that clears most of them up.

Not all Christians take the bible literally.That's more of fundies territory.
There are more types of Christians other than Catholic or Protestant.
Not all Christian churches are uptight or strict about their rules.
You don't get kicked out of Christianity if you believe in science or don't go to church all the time.
Christians can have premarital sex, not marry or have abortions (though the Church frowns upon it)
A 90% Christian country isn't chaos, it's actually much more peaceful and less demanding of the people (see here, where we're almost all Christian yet religion plays a very small role in society)


Huh..I guess there's more, I'll add them 'll remember them.

Oh yeah.
I forgot about all those.

 

[r3dc0br4]

im an atheist, and i hate it when people ask me where i get my morals from, and whether i have any at all. of course atheists have morals, we just don't get them from a "higher being". i hate it when people assume atheists either don't have morals, or that we twist morals to our own benefit because we don't think there is something to follow. a person can be good without needing to be told what is good.

 

[cainx10a]

I'm a Muslim. And God knows how many misconceptions people hold against us, seriously.

Let's start with the suicide bomber notion. I know that most of the people here aren't morons and therefore understand that most of the Muslim population believes that strapping a bomb to yourself and running into a crowd is extreme and pretty un-Muslim.

Allah tells us to protect human life and take good care of it, including our own. It's a gift from God that I'm alive today. This is why we are not permitted to drink or eat pork, because the Quran dictates that these things are bad for your body. Suicide bombers are effectively destroying this rule by killing themselves in order to 'cleanse' the world of 'heretics'.

Um. Feel free to ask questions? I don't know how these things go.

Not out of disrespect or anything other than pure curiosity, can somebody explain the whole 'Pork is evil and bad for your body' thing?
Because there are loads of people out there with that view (or any other that prevents people from eating delicious, delicious pork), including my spiritual kinsmen (although they'd probably look down on me as the most failed Jew ever), and I've never really got it. I doubt it's a medical thing, because that would be retarded (no ill effects in anyone that eats pork, including myself, except maybe obesity from overindulgence but that's from everything else too anyway, so that's kind of a null point), so what is it?

It has to do with how Pigs are as animals, filthy, dirty animals. That's all I know about it, but after 20 years of never eating "delicious, delicious" pork, I grew accustomed to well, not caring about it anymore. It's not like we are not allowed to eat chicken (ah, sweet juicy chicken). I'm technically a "failed" Muslim as well, as in I never read the Quran in Arabic, don't know any Sura, don't pray. But I just happen to love my kin as I have huge amount of respect for Islamic values, and hate them more than most of my "enemies" too.(ah, Ken I'm so going to kill you one day).

 

[Mad World]

So, you believe that if someone is a good person--but they only accept and worship God (not Jesus as their Lord and Savior)--they will go to Heaven? Don't Catholics and Christians believe that, in order to get to Heaven, you must accept that Jesus is God? I ask because some of the religions you've mentioned don't accept Jesus as God, and that He died on the cross to save humanity from their sins.

I'm not--in any way--trying to disrespect you. I'm merely curious.

Well, believing in God isn't good enough, to be truthful. Demons believe in God too, as evidenced by Matthew 8:28-34. Acts 16:31 says that you must believe in Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. (Also see John 14:6-Galatians 2:20) That's a whole different ball game. Example, Jews believe in God, but only Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah they were waiting for (as opposed to a prophet of God similar to Moses/Elijah etc).

(I'm just carrying on the topic. ^__^ )

Believing that works will get you to heaven is one of the big things Christians must contend with. Works don't save you. You work because you are saved and want to work, because those works will make God happy, and because you love God (hopefully?), you want to make God happy.

This is the reason why works won't save you. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Yes. Works definitely do not save people. I believe that the only way into Heaven is through Jesus Christ. Without Him, we have nothing.

What about the 200 000 years worth of people who were around before Jesus? They just all go to hell, or what?

I believe the people who were around before Jesus were able to get into Heaven. They accomplished that via things such as sacrifices.

However, after the death of Jesus Christ, the means by which people were/are saved changed.

 

[skywalkerlion]

Number 1. What's with the athiests posting here? Athiesism ISN'T a religion, it's the lack of it.

Number 2, it's that all Christians are blind, zealous followers of everything they hear from their Bible. Most are, yes, but some aren't, and the stereotypes are incredibly stupid on the internet.

 

[Florion]

The whole reason I'm doing this post is because I think if we all knew a little more about each other's religions, we'd be less likely to go crazy at each other. And don't just start going, "Well, here's another flame war waiting to happen..." because all that's going to do is provoke.

So yeah, I just found that people tend to believe a lot of weird shit about each other's religions that isn't necessarily true. As one who has studied the teachings of the Buddha, I personally believe the only way to escape from suffering is through enlightenment. So, enlighten us about your beliefs. What do we think we know that we actually don't? This could actually be fun if people manage to control their tempers.

So, I'm a theistic Buddhist, which basically means I combined Christianity and Buddhism into something custom-tailored for me. So I'll do both.

I'm an atheist, so I guess I'm transgressing your rules a little by talking about the Bible. But I promise I'll be good about it, so here goes:

I'm taking English Literature at my school, and the first thing we have to study is the Bible. Not the whole thing, just Genesis and eventually we're supposed to get to John and Matthew. This is actually my second time trying to read Genesis.

The first time I read it, when I was in Grade 9, I had to stop reading because I was so outraged about the treatment of women (specifically, that Lot would offer his two daughters in exchange for the angels' safety). I couldn't believe that anyone could believe in a book that would defend that logic.

The second time I read it, starting just a few weeks ago, we were told to consider the historical context; that the Bible was written over about... 500 years, was it? (Unless you believe that it literally came down to Moses all at once =X) and the status of women at the time, etc. Again, at first, I couldn't get past the factual impossibilities, but as we went through it, I gained a better understanding of it from a metaphorical standpoint, and I actually learned a lot about love and faith. I still stand by "everything happens because of a reason" over "everything happens for a reason," but I can sort of understand now how people can put their faith in a deity with no proof of that deity.

 

[skywalkerlion]

I personally hate it when atheists out there feel its their duty to destroy other people's religions.

The funny thing is, those people aren't really atheists at all: they're anti-theists.

Guh, I could go on for days about the misconceptions about Catholicism, but what's the point? The anti-theists on this site will just jump on me, quoting Old Testament with no regards for cultural or societal relevance. It's gotten to the point where I've considered abandoning the Off-Topic section completely, because I'm fed up with the asshattery and ignorance perpetuating there.

On another note, I've only recently noticed a lot of people saying Benedict is a Nazi. This is hilarious, because once I looked up the information that people were quoting, I found that he had only confessed to being in Hitler Youth: it was no big secret, and he had left the organization as soon as he was out of the seminary (which would seem to MILDLY INDICATE that he did not follow their ideals.)

I relate COMPLETELY. Half the athiests (99.99999999% of them are the asshat KEEL ALL JOU BASTERD CHRISTIANZ!) don't even know what the Old Testament is.

 

[skywalkerlion]

You know what bugs me? Those who claim to be Christian, Muslim, Jewish etc that don't even follow the rules of their own horrible god. I'm sorry but if you truly believe in god you have to hate gays. Otherwise you are against the will of your own god. There are several other examples of where we have shopping list theists. "ooo that sounds nice I'll believe that, or take that literally, ooooo but not this part no, that must be a metaphor, god couldn't really have meant that".

Yes. I'm an atheist. Proud of it. Proud because it shows I am more logical than much of the planet. Hate me all you want for my logic, confidence (read: NOT arrogance, no one can be 100% sure there is no god(s), though I'm sure none of Earth's religions are true) and reasoning.

Sorry for posting like 7 times but alls I have to say of this is..

lul. I doubt you ever read the bible.

 

[skywalkerlion]

Christianity-

We do not take a large chunk of the Bible literally. Unless we're fundamentalist, which most of us aren't, we accept a lot of it, especially the stuff in Genesis and Revelations, as being figurative: a metaphor. So, Creation, Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel... most of us admit that things didn't exactly happen this way.

We do not reject evolution... Let me say that again... WE DO NOT REJECT EVOLUTION!!! Except for, again, the fundamentalists. What we reject is the idea that Humans evolved out of monkies. Because, this implies that humans are not spiritual beings created in the image of God, but that we're a random accident like all the other animals.

Okay...I don't even know how to word a response because I'm so taken aback...

This man is wrong. That's all that needs to be said.

Nope, I'm a Christian, and I approve this message.

 

[effilctar]

I'm a Muslim. And God knows how many misconceptions people hold against us, seriously.

Let's start with the suicide bomber notion. I know that most of the people here aren't morons and therefore understand that most of the Muslim population believes that strapping a bomb to yourself and running into a crowd is extreme and pretty un-Muslim.

Allah tells us to protect human life and take good care of it, including our own. It's a gift from God that I'm alive today. This is why we are not permitted to drink or eat pork, because the Quran dictates that these things are bad for your body. Suicide bombers are effectively destroying this rule by killing themselves in order to 'cleanse' the world of 'heretics'.

Um. Feel free to ask questions? I don't know how these things go.

Not out of disrespect or anything other than pure curiosity, can somebody explain the whole 'Pork is evil and bad for your body' thing?
Because there are loads of people out there with that view (or any other that prevents people from eating delicious, delicious pork), including my spiritual kinsmen (although they'd probably look down on me as the most failed Jew ever), and I've never really got it. I doubt it's a medical thing, because that would be retarded (no ill effects in anyone that eats pork, including myself, except maybe obesity from overindulgence but that's from everything else too anyway, so that's kind of a null point), so what is it?

To be honest, I'm not sure. My mom tells me that pork is just generally considered bad for you because it has some kind of worm in it. I never really looked into it. I've also heard some people justifying the no pork rule by saying that pigs are considered filthy animals because they roll around in their own crap or something like that.

Either way, I don't mind not eating pork because I've never tried it before.

The worm thing is bullshit (or, more topically, pigshit). Agreed, rolling around in your own crap is disgusting, but that's what washing is for. Also, you're missing out. Pork is delicious, and I couldn't live without it

It's called trichinellosis, and it can be deadly if you eat the meat before inspection.
That said, I don't think that's the real cause for not eating pork, but a lot of religions or cults forbid pork.

A question for Jews: my teacher said Jews don't eat pork because their religion says "don't eat a creature that has 2 toes and digs into the earth with its snout". Is that in anyway true?

the animal must have a cloven (split) hoof and eat from the earth or some crap. It's in the Bible and the Jewish holy book

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

Everything you read about us in one of Dan Brown's novels is not true.