Splak.net

I recently joined the "Atheist Community of Austin" a local organization that shows the positive side of atheism. They have a public access channel here in Austin that the ACA does a show for every Sunday afternoon, and you can watch the recordings on Google video by typing in "The Atheist Experience". they have like 540 episodes so far.

They make a good point on their FAQ page on their website:

http://www.atheist-community.org/faq/

Q: How can anyone possibly be moral without believing in God?

(part of their answer)
With rare exceptions, people (atheists included) don't really have the urge or desire to run out and kill or steal or otherwise harm other people. And honestly, when people say "If it weren't for God holding me back, there would be nothing to stop me from being a criminal", we worry about them. If your grasp of right and wrong is so shaky that you can't stop yourself from doing bad things, and you need someone threatening you with eternal punishment to keep you in line, then we wonder how safe you really are to be near.


Basically, I agree that it would be nice to not have religion, but even better, to just have people grow up with the right to decide for themselves on what to believe in without pressure from peers, parents, family, or teachers. If religion is to be taught, they all should be taught equally to everyone without bias. A class taught in high school that taught equally the lessons and practices of the top 6 religions in the world would be a great idea, except only be taught by atheists of course (jp?)

This way, little Johnny DoGood should be innocently neutral until he can fully understand what religion is and should be.

_________________
| .:Splak|PePTo |
Co-Leader

yea, It could be the end of catholicism. Believe it or not, protesetant Christians dont live or die by his actions( I took classes in a lutheran school, so believe me when i say I know about this, I got it rammed down my throat for years.)

PePTo

You mentioned that as an atheist you think it would be good to have no religion(and that's fine, I'm atheist too technically speaking), but I'd like to state for the record that I was referring to the end of Catholicism/Christianity only. The end of just one major religion.

I agree that it would be nice if all religions were taught equally and children weren't indoctrinated.

_________________
.:Splak|AWOL Soldier
Red tank! Rubber Sled! What the box am I doing? I am a Walrus, thru && thru, gimme my bukket oar I'll eat u.

Was agreeing with him and Mav.

_________________
| .:Splak|PePTo |
Co-Leader

Could I just get an explanation as to why ridding the world of Catholicism/Christianity would be a good thing? Not even an explanation but a couple of reasons why it would be beneficial.

I'm just missing the part of why a religion should be "put to an end".

disclaimer: I am not an extremist and I don't go to church every Sunday. Also, this isn't a personal attack so please don't treat it like one.

_________________
Makeshift Patriot

1) It would allow people to decide for themselves what to believe in whether it be a God, a Goddess, Gods or Goddesses, a cherry pie, a penny, absolutely nothing, or the flying fucking spaghetti monster.

2) Indoctrination is wrong, and since Christianity is the most dominant religion in the US today, it's what is shoved in my face everyday. A 5 year old kid that does not have the ability to understand what church is, what religion is, and what a God is, should not be taken to a Church where they learn they will be Alienated if they chose to stop one day. Christian parents do not give the choice to their children 99% of the time. And if the child chooses against it anyway, it causes tension in the family, leading to emotional if not physical abuse. Yes, I said it. Sometimes, Christian Fathers beat their children, too.

3) Where would war be without religion? It probably wouldn't exist, imho. What I believe would exist is competitive business, which I am 100% for. But I guess that's not just Christianity.

I'm not against any one type of religion, but I am forced to watch Christianity more than any other. I am against tithing. Churches focus more on getting money out of it's congregation and less on actually benefiting their families and teaching good morals. They teach fear and threat of punishment for thinking outside the box. Every person should be allowed to learn about every religion equally. While I'm not a member of the school board, I do have a kid on the way, and I know how I'm going to let them grow up. Open-minded and non-judgmental. It's the only way I could ever agree with.

_________________
| .:Splak|PePTo |
Co-Leader

Those are some good arguments and I don't really disagree with them. However, war would go on even if religion were to be done with.

Fortunately, in the area I live in, Christianity isn't forced onto me, neither by my parents or people in the community. At the same time, I am not denying the fact that in some families in some areas Christianity is forced down your throat, usually in the south. With the advent of globalization new ideas and new views are becoming more abundant. Hopefully, peoples views on life and religion will open up and that will allow some more flexibility. Only God knows (lol).

I think it's important not to generalize and try to answer problems by just saying get rid of it (Christianity).

Plenty of room in NH if you feel like moving, I promise we won't cram it down your throat.

disclaimer: I believe in God but don't heavily follow anything.

_________________
Makeshift Patriot

The guy is just writing down words that could fit any pope. Thats what I'd bet on.

_________________
---.:Splak|Wonderguy---
---.:Splak|Shampoh---



-—————— /´¯/)
-—————--/—-/
-—————-/—-/
———--/´¯/'--'/´¯`·_
———-/'/--/—-/—--/¨\
——-- ('(———- ¯~/'-')
——— \————-'—--/
———-'\'————-_-·´
————\———----(
————-\———--

I was very lucky how I was raised. Most schools on are catholic and teaching religion is on of their goals. I was taught in a private catholic school until I was 11. My parents never EVER made me go to church. They never forced any religion on me and Im very happy about that. I did do my first communion while I was here though, since my parents may not force religion down on me, other members of my family do, so we just give them a show. By not completely being forced one single religion down on me, It gave me time and space to explore and research all religions. I got tired of hearing if I do something wrong im going to hell and that all actions were decided by God and that God was that created beauty. I say man created beauty and we also create ugliness and chaos, so for one lets give credit to humans and not God.
Damn, this paragraph needs to be indented and properly organize.


**EDIT** Im very glad im an Atheist.

_________________
.:Splak|Cornholio / Administrator



"He just kept talking in one long incredibly unbroken sentence moving from topic to topic so that no one had a chance to interrupt, it was really quite hypnotic..."

After I'm gone your Earth will be free to live out its miserable span of existence as one of my satellites, and that's how it's going to be...

_██_
(ಠ_ృ)

1) It would allow people to decide for themselves what to believe in whether it be a God, a Goddess, Gods or Goddesses, a cherry pie, a penny, absolutely nothing, or the flying fucking spaghetti monster.

In a perfect world this would happen, but human nature corrupts it. your right on this.

2) Indoctrination is wrong, and since Christianity is the most dominant religion in the US today, it's what is shoved in my face everyday. A 5 year old kid that does not have the ability to understand what church is, what religion is, and what a God is, should not be taken to a Church where they learn they will be Alienated if they chose to stop one day. Christian parents do not give the choice to their children 99% of the time. And if the child chooses against it anyway, it causes tension in the family, leading to emotional if not physical abuse. Yes, I said it. Sometimes, Christian Fathers beat their children, too.

Again, I agree, and again, if done properly, this wouldnt happen.

3) Where would war be without religion? It probably wouldn't exist, imho. What I believe would exist is competitive business, which I am 100% for. But I guess that's not just Christianity.

This is wrong. Both world wars, The civil war, and even the revolution all happened for othe reasons. If you want I'll list them. Wars are fought over religon, but in no way all of them. It's mosly greed.

I'm not against any one type of religion, but I am forced to watch Christianity more than any other. I am against tithing. Churches focus more on getting money out of it's congregation and less on actually benefiting their families and teaching good morals. They teach fear and threat of punishment for thinking outside the box. Every person should be allowed to learn about every religion equally. While I'm not a member of the school board, I do have a kid on the way, and I know how I'm going to let them grow up. Open-minded and non-judgmental. It's the only way I could ever agree with.

You really are against the church, not the religon. I myself am a more isolated christian. I have my faith, and I'll go to church for communion, but what they say there I take it how I see it. Offerings Need to come from the heart, not because pastor or father so n so said you gotta give so they cacn build a new church wing.

I'll be the first to say many christians have led others down a false path, faith is an easy thing to manipulate. And I have had a huge morale battle over "my churches" tithing policy, and overall money hunger. There are other thigs as well, such as churches now focusing on herding in members rather than helping those who have faith. People arent perfect, I have accepted that, and what I do is between myself and God. If people wish to know, I'll be happy to tell, if not, it's their buisness.

It sounds like most of you are talking about Catholicism, not the entire Christian denominations.

I've been forced to go to Church every Sunday for my whole life, even to this very day and until I move out (this includes religious holidays, Ash Wednesday is this Wednesday, fyi). I've been confirmed in my Church (I am a methodist), so I know the Bible (mainly the New Testament) back to front. I know a LOT about Christianity and the story of Jesus and his 12 Disciplies: Peter (also known as Simon); Andrew (Peter's Brother); James; John (brother of James); Phillip; Bartholomew (who also went by Nathaniel); Thomas; Matthew (the tax collector); Simon; Thaddeus (who also went by Jude); James; and Judas (who was replaced by Matthias after the resurrection of Jesus).

No, I didn't go onto Wikipedia to tell you that - that's off the top of my head. I'm just trying to make the point that I've been raised in Christianity for my entire life, studying and practicing it heavily. But, I'm not religious. I'm not an atheist, just not religious (if anything, I'm somewhat of a Sikh). Even though I was raised in a Christian environment, I believe in what *I* want (but I will be damned if I ever told my mother I am no longer a Christian; I'll tell you why later).

Regardless, I'm glad to have been raised into an environment. Because I have been, I have and am still doing a TON of Community work. Our next project (local community youth group - ironically I'm the team leader) is going to do a major project with our county to promote famine in Africa and raise a ton of money for donations. If I were an atheist I wouldn't do a damn thing as community service.
To say without religion, there would be no war is a RIDICULOUS thing to say. Imo, the LOVE of money is the root of all evil - if you trace the most religious wars, they're mostly fueled by it. But that's not the only reason why, when there have been HUGE beneficial aspects religion has provided us (mostly by people doing astronomical things to further the steps of mankind in the name of God - which is also a really good song by Slayer).

I would also like to point out, that my own mother has been through Hell on Earth in her lifetime, more than most people will EVER go through there lives. I don't want to go into it - but if anyone knows anything about the Colombian Civil Wars - yeah... she grew up in it, and lost a LOT from it. Thus, she tells me everyday to thank God for what we have, and love him because without him she wouldn't be able to go on everyday.
That's deep, if religion can keep one going on in life, then so be it.
But to wish the cease of a religion, episcally the arrogance if one has not heavily practiced it (going to church once doesn't count) is outrageous to me. It's like the son of bitches who are trying to outlaw Marajuana when they've never even smoked the Ganja before.

And I'll say it again - I am not religious. It's more important for me to believe in evidence and proof - considering in the modern age we live today.

_________________

maybe there wont be a pope in the world because there wont be a world in 2012 cause of the "apocalypse" <im not supporting that, im just throwing it out there

_________________
Fun Fact: "Beer Can" pronounced with an English Accent is "bacon" pronounced in Jamaican

^meh if it happens so be it. i dont beleive it will thou.

_________________
.:Splak|ACE

me either, it just seems like the y2k end of the world conspiracy

_________________
Fun Fact: "Beer Can" pronounced with an English Accent is "bacon" pronounced in Jamaican

Even though I have a really religious back ground, since I was born in europe and all my family in europe is Catholic to the max, I believe in god but not in religion. If that makes sense... I mean catholics were the ones who had witch hunts and burned innocent people that were exposed as "witches".



It seems that though these days it's normal to turn the tv on and see another controversy regarding a priest sexually molesting a child. Which was the case of Oliver O'grady. The roman catholic church knew about his case and actually moved him from church to church to protect him.



Both of these quotes you can find on wikipedia. Don't get me wrong but my point of view is that religion is just another excuse to impose,sometimes radical, ideas on anyone who needs someone to tell them what to believe in. I hope this whole thing makes sense as I've been in school for like 10 hours and and I'm friggen tired.

_________________
.:Splak| ]V[av