Religious Robots - Comments

You make good points,but you also said alot about christians hating homosexuals,and thats not nessasarily true.It depends on the person,and church.I have no problem with homosexuals.It's their choice,and I have no right to judge them.soo I'm just asking that next time you right a article to consider there are still christians who really try to understand what your saying,because i do.There are alot of people who will disown their children,and I think thats wrong,I actually think that people who do that are hypocrites,because all sin is equal, and disowning someone for homosexual reason is wrong,because homosexuality if they want to play that game then they might have to disown them selves,because lieing is just as bad as that,and everyone lies at some point.so what I'm trying to say is homosexuality and lieing are equal in sin,because the bible says all sins are equal,so yes we need to stop judging them for what they do,and pay attention to ourselves,It's not our job to tell them their wrong.They chose that so leave them alone thats what I believe.

Religions don't start wars. People start wars.

I am not a huge fan of religion myself, but your article is offensive.
It's the extremists that preach intolerance and breed fear and contempt.
Unfortunately, this minority of extremists have become the face of religious groups and people need to realize that this is not okay.

I found much of this article offending.

Yes, some Christians are extreme, but not all of us are that way.

And who's not to say other religions aren't extreme also?

The wild thing is
Your tone is bitter and in the comments you’re mocking and taunting Christians, even more so then in the article. So kudos for coming off as someone who is bitter and has a grudge.

What many people say is right, you need to do more research, on religion as a topic. Attacking Christians or any ethnicity, sex, religion, or race is going to get you no where in life, except with a horrible reputation. As a journalist, a writer is supposed to remain unbiased, no matter how difficult it is. This is nothing but your own input. If you want to be taken seriously, quit mocking others in your article and in your comments.

It doesn’t take long to do research unless you make it that that way. For research go to the library, use the internet, friends, or even use mibba. If you use mibba create a journal or a forum to ask, what specifically do they believe, what other people or religious leaders tell them to practice, what their religious place they go to is like (i.e. synagogues, churches, temples), did they choose their religion on their own and if so why? The thing with anyone that practices religion is their faith or what they believe is different than anyone else who practices that same religion. I don’t just mean Methodist, Sunni, Shi’a, Baptist, or anything of that sort, I mean on a personal level. Faith has a vague definition, and is different to everyone.

You’re saying all Christians are just like Westboro, but many take that to a personal level, which you mock, and seem to like, even though readers may find it annoying. It’s for your own personal gain, and that‘s really all that seems to matter. I really don’t think you know everyone in the world that practices Christianity, so you can’t say and know for sure that everyone is an extremists of what I practice.

Then you should know that they're not an example of any religion, but the one that they have created. They may profess to being Christians, but that doesn't mean they are.

Already said they were a cult

Lol. I capitalize for quick emphasis when I don't want to mess with BBcode. I'm sorry it offended you. However, my comments are usually long, yes, but it's not something to insult. It just means I put a lot of thought into what I say.
If you know so much about them, then you should know they aren't really a Christian group. They are a [i]cult[/i]. Fred Phelps [i]uses[/i] Christian beliefs to fuel his message. They believe a lot of things I think most Christian would either laugh at them for or simply be disgusted. For instance, they have a very long, detailed sermon about how God does not love everyone. One of the main things Christians believe in is God's love for everyone. That contradicting belief alone sets Westboro far apart from other Christians.
Mormons believe a lot of what Christians do, but due to key differences, they are considered a different religion. The same applies with Westboro. Except Mormons aren't a psychotic cult that protests dead soldier's funerals while "defending" their right to free speech when it was soldiers that protect that right.
The fact that you don't have a religion makes your perspective unbiased as well. You are going to automatically side with being against a religion because you yourself do not have one and clearly do not want one.
Yes, things [i]similar[/i] to this happen, but nothing happens [i]to this degree[/i]. They've taken manipulation to a whole new level. Therefore, yes, you could say this happens all the time, but you would still have to mention that this is a worst case example.
Being a Christian does not make you any less observant. You seem to have this idea that you're above people with a religion because you don't have one therefore you're more "informed" or something. I don't know if that's how you feel, but that's how you're coming across.
I know that pastors and the like manipulate bodies of churches. I've been in churches in which that was happening. (I left those church quickly.) Pastors on television are usually the worst ones about it. I do not condone it. I do not like it. I will not attend a church where that is happening. I am very picky about what church I go to. It's taken a long time for me to even find a "home" church. The pastor I have now will encourage you to talk to him if you think he's wrong about something or if you have a disagreement with him. Those are the kinds of pastors I look for.
There are manipulative pastors out there, but there are ones that aren't as well. A lot of them, actually. You have to understand that, too.
As for pastors forcing anything or the concepts being ridiculous, it depends on the situation, and it could simply be a matter of opinion. It just depends.
Also, it wouldn't matter what religion Westboro was claiming to be practicing. They would still be nothing other than a cult.

I love how you CAPITALIZE every other WORD in your comments, which are usually LONGER than the ARTICLE.
And I KNOW a lot about WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH. I researched it because I think it's FUNNY. So don't UNDERMINE my intelligence or COMPETENCE.
And it's not in the most extremes, because it happens a lot. Your perspective isn't unbiased, because you're Christian. I don't have a religion because I wasn't raised with one, so my perspective of things I've encountered is more reliable.
It happens all the time, too. I see ministers/priests/etc. forcing ridiculous things into people's brains all the time, even on televised church sittings. I can just realize it better because I'm really observant.

v I did, actually, multiple times. Thank you for the suggestion, though.

Westboro, again, is an example of an extremem case. And, if you knew anything about them, you'd know that it's actually pretty much just his family that goes there, besides a couple people. Fred Phelps is a psycho who is in need of much help. He abused his children when they were young, and besides the couple that left, most of them were molded by his abusive ways and after being forced to believe it for so long, it's become ingrained in them. It doesn't have much to do with what religion they're practicing. It has to do with how they were taught. They would probably parrot any belief they were taught by him and so would their children, because they're all taught in a forcible, ingraining way that's too difficult for them to break from.
However, this isn't something that happens on such a vast, noticeable scale, where someone has so much of their family manipulated. It's an extreme situation and therefore not the best example for anything EXCEPT an extreme situation. If you're writing about the extremes, then yes, USE WESTBORO; they'll be perfect for your article. However, using in anything else, you would need to acknowledge that it's the most severe situation, or one of the most extreme cases, because, well, it is.

using westboro as an example of a priest manipulating what people believe.
read the article.

[b]schizo[/b]
I didn't think you were "clumping Christianity." It seemed like you were using WESTBORO as an EXAMPLE of Christian families, and they're NOT. They're an extremist cult, who calls themselves Christian. You can't compare them to any religion, really. They're really not even a good example for this article, because a) they're a cult, and b) it's the most extreme example, and therefore not a very good way to make your point.
If you want to talk about something like this, DO SOME IN DEPTH RESEARCH. No, it doesn't take "years." Unless you make it. You CAN center it around one religion, but you are going to offend people, unless you acknowledge that it doesn't happen all the time.
I am a Christian, and I AGREE that some families drill the family religion into their child's head, and that it creates a lot of discrimination, BUT not in the way you went about writing it.
Religion is beautiful and wonderful and fulfilling, but its the PEOPLE that ruin it. It isn't the religion itself. I LOVE homosexuals, and all sinners. Because thats how its SUPPOSED to be. That's how JESUS taught us to live, with love and kindness. The second greatest commandment is love your neighbor as yourself, according to JESUS. But PEOPLE take whats in the Bible, what Jesus said, and RUIN its meaning, giving a bad name to Christians everywhere.
You have to acknowledge those types of things, that is not all Christians, but that it HAPPENS, and here is what happens as a result of THOSE PEOPLE, not the religion itself.
And no, that would not take years to research and in my opinion, would make for a very effective article.

The article was okay. Written well, and I didn't see any grammar errors, but I didn't like how the little description hoodis says, "The aspects of religion no body thinks about" when you are specifically talking about one religion's downfalls. At first, when I saw that, I thought maybe, just maybe, you'd bring up the different aspects of all religions besides one. So then, when I saw the line, "this article with mostly be about Christianity" or something along the lines of that, I was a little disappointed. I kind of said to myself, "Oh no...another one of those."

Yet, I read it anyway. :3

It would take years and years to do enough research on every single religion.

Even by acknowledging that your article is heavily centered around Christianity, it doesn't change the result. To be fair, by focusing so heavily on one single religion, especially when using 'religion' broadly in the title, summary, and throughout the article.... it's easy to see how it'll come off as an article directed at a certain group's beliefs. Easy to see how someone would be offended.

And, like someone else said - research. It does us well.


Ignoring comments because you assume they'll tell you you're wrong is a bit silly, especially when you write an article. Constructive criticism can happen at length... tl'dr = bad excuse.

"I say that the article would be more so about Christianity because that's the religion I know best. Whereas I don't know the ins and outs of Buddhism, etc."

Well, hate to say this, but DUH -- it's called research. If you're going to write an article titled "Religious Robots," then it should be about religion as a whole and not a specific religion. Wanna make it about Christian Robots? Then call it that. Wanna step outside your comfort zone and write a specific article? Do some research. Standard journalism procedure.

Anyway, what I was going to say...

This article was a good beginning, a good survey of different negative aspects of some sects of Christianity and individual communities. However, it could have been more effective if it went into more detail about one or two of the bits mentioned and cut out the rest. It needs to be more focused to be effective. Example: Christianity can create anti-homosexual bias in children. ---> do some research, go into depth.

On a personal note, also: I suggest you (collectively) watch the documentary "For the Bible Tells Me So." It follows several Christian families through finding out they have a homosexual child and their struggles to make a decision on how to deal with that. Very compelling.

And I don't really read the really long comments..
Because I can basically predict what they're going to say.
I get it. I'm too opinionated and I offended a lot of people.
Tis what I do best!

[b]Insanity's Artist[/b] I say that the article would be more so about Christianity because that's the religion I know best. Whereas I don't know the ins and outs of Buddhism, etc. It would be ridiculous to state opinions about a religion that I don't understand, wouldn't it? I didn't mean that I was clumping Christianity, and if you thought that I did then...oh well.

ierotic; killjoy. :
Okay, I was being nice before but since you flat out stated I am neither warm nor happy and never will be until I find faith I'm going to let you have it. So this article was the most offensive thing you read, I'm sorry that you got offended! That does not give you any reason to insult atheist beliefs! If your point was that you did not like this article and it seemed rude to your religion then just say that, why would throwing in that atheist's are cold and cynical help prove that point? I am deeply offended by that, but do you see me even coming close to insulting religion? I RESPECT religion! And you obviously don't respect an atheist's point of view and THAT is why you are a hypocrite. If the article was insulting to you, then explain why don't just flat out insult the Atheist's because one wrote this article. An for your information I am happy, warm, at peace and I don't believe in a God! Fortunately I don't go around telling Christians that there is always going to be a hole in there life.

Asteria
If you ever see anything about them, you'll see what I mean. Their disgusting protests have gotten themselves on the news several times.