What Do You Think? - Comments

@ ptvjaime
You're absolutely right. I think it's incredible that you have so many facts on the subject, that you clearly educated yourself. Nothing irritates me more than arguing with someone who thinks they're right just because they are, and they have no proof to back it up. And I agree that Christianity should be more open and accepting, which I've told my mother (who is more religious than I am), but she doesn't like hearing me criticize her faith, so I always end up dropping it.

Yeah, religion is incredibly sensitive, and it does cause some fiery reactions out of people. But I think you're definitely right, that religion has no place in Congress or the government in general, since it's really not producing anything positive.

I'm a debator. To debate well, you must collect facts. Honestly, I think Christianity would be a great religion if it lost all the pretense and was really about the love and acceptance Jesus talked about. But it's not so I stay away. The thing that gets me is that, as a Christian, a person should know these things. You get taught them. But some people are too busy being right to actually do what's right in the eyes of God. You try to draw publicity, but then other people dispute it or just call you a worshipper of Satan and all hell breaks lose (forgive the pun.) God should stay out of Congress. I don't know about you, but I didn't vote for him. And until these Congessmen and women who are supposedly Christian see the truth, it should stay that way.

@ ptvjaime
Hahahaha. Well, I think it's great that you're so educated on the subjects, and yet everything's been so skewed that no one else realizes about the origins of their own religions. But all this information is really interesting, and I'm surprised that these kinds of facts haven't been more publicized in light of recent movements and such.

Double post but my phone has a limited character space. Bummer, right? Semitic religions are the first to crop up that seem to really care. In ancient Greece, if you were an older man, you were supposed to take a younger man as your beloved and be with him until adulthood. You can look that awesome stuff up. Apollo had a number of male lovers and he was a god. Alexander the Great and his best friend, Hephaestion were known to be in a relationship. No one cared as long as it was consensual.

From what I've been taught, it's not Christian to treat gay people negatively. I'd like to point out it's not fair we don't let them marry so they can avoid that whole premarital sex thing that's so bad apparently. Also, Paul, who actually criticized homosexual activity, only criticized it when it was rape, excessive, and in giant orgies, and this would have been condemned in heterosexual sex too. There's nothing wrong with a loving relationship between two consenting persons. But by judging other people and not spreading God's love, Christians are actually screwing up. Jesus wants you to love everyone. Not tell them they're immoral and going to hell because that isn't your place. At least, that's what my Bible says. You know, because unlike some of these Christians, I've read it.

@ ptvjaime
Right, that makes sense, with the changeover from the Old to New Testament. And hmm, that's definitely an interesting concept. See, I'm learning all these things about the Bible that I didn't even know before! Hahaha. And it just goes to show that we really shouldn't rule society by what the Bible says, truly.

I was in a Christian school for five years. Like I said, it does with Jesus and the fact times changed. The ironic part is that a sin Jesus discussed is judgment. "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone." Technically, we're not supposed to judge other people for their sins. I think God can appreciate the practice of prison though to protect innocent people, but othewise no. We're not supposed to judge people. Or stone them, as it turns out. I'm a little sticky on pedophilia, though, I can't remember if there's anything in the Bible against it, but I don't think so. At least not that I can remember.

@ ptvjaime
Ohhh, okay. That makes sense. Yeah, when I think of those rules, I definitely associate them with the more conservative religions, not the majority of worshipers. But I still didn't know that most people didn't follow these rules because God denounced them. I never really studied the Bible much, since I went to public school most of my life.

Radical Christians and one sect of the Jewish community still follow them. About it. When Jesus came, the new rules were established because everything changed, what with the crucifiction. Well, those old laws say things like you should sacrifica animals on altars, not eat shellfish, not touch the skin of a dead pig, not blend fabrics, not plant more than one crop in the same field, and men shouldn't cut their hair. I'm quoting here. It's ridiculous.

@ ptvjaime
Oh, wow, that's really interesting. I actually didn't know that all those policies were denounced, so that information is new to me. So now it doesn't make a lot of sense to me when people hold those ideals as near and dear to their hearts, especially if the Bible states that God Himself denounced them.

Especially anything that comes from the Old Testament. The most annoying thing in the world is someone cherry picking from the six hundred some laws there. Especially these so-called Christians. I was raised Christian. God pretty much abolished all those rules and set up new ones. Anyone who's a serious Christian should actually know that, so it confuses me when they don't.

@ ptvjaime
No, I totally agree with you. I think that morals come from our environments and how we were raised, and some of those morals just happen to be reflected in the Bible. I'm not very religious at all, but I like to think that I have a solid moral base about me. So I definitely see where you're coming from there.

But I'm glad that, overall, you agree with what I'm trying to say in the article, that our country needs to define the separation of church and state. And I agree that the religious arguments shouldn't be weighed very heavily, if at all, when considering what should and shouldn't be passed through government.

I don't understand why everyone equates morality and religion. We don't need some maybe nonexistent God to realize killing someone is wrong. I think it's ridiculous that religion is where people get their morals. I know plenty of Atheists who are morally correct and they are obviously not religious at all. It comes down to teaching right and wrong. A lot of parents fall back on God when kids are older, but when you're two and you hit someone, doesn't your mom or dad just say that's wrong to hurt someone and punish you? The US goverment is full of it. Like when everyone freaked out because we elected a "Muslim" president. His beliefs don't actually matter because he doesn't do very much but give speeches. God needs to stay out of the government. For that matter, from what I've read in the Bible, God isn't a big fan of government institutions anyway. But other than that, religion is a poor reason for gay people not to get married. And honestly, adoption and foster care for unwanted children is dangerous now.

@ midnight sunshine x
Hmm, that's also a good point! I can't think of anything off the top of my head that wouldn't be legal without the influence of religion (except maybe freedom of religion, since it wouldn't be necessary without the existence of the need), but that's something that I hadn't even considered. But yeah, there are positive and negative sides to any kind of influence, and I think that's pretty constant throughout anything in society. :)

I think, if there was no religion, abortion would be legal. But maybe, a lot of things might be legal that we wouldn't want to be. I think that even if you aren't religious, you know of, or have heard of someone who is and I think these beliefs can really influence a society, be it positive or negative. Just a random, philosophical thought

@ midnight sunshine x
Yeah, my major point was that the only real reason abortion is so controversial is because of religion. The majority of people who are in pro-life groups are believers in that side of the issue because of their religious beliefs.

And oh, yeah! My point was not at all that government should change people's opinions on matters, and they certainly shouldn't interfere with any religion's beliefs. The separation, in my opinion, should go both ways. But I definitely agree that gay marriage should be made legal.

I'm British, so I can't really comment on the US government, but I think religion and government should be separate. I can understand why abortion laws are so heavily debated due to pro-life groups and such, but what is so hard about getting two people married? In my opinion, it's denying them a right. For goodness sake, they're two people in love! However, I also think that if governments force religions to accept homosexual marriage, there may be resentment with some members of the community, which is wrong, but could create problems. So firstly make gay marriage civil partnerships legal, but then deal with religious groups, because then you have to change traditions (Wow, I really do go off on tangents...)