BF2S Forums The Myths of Religion

G3|Genius wrote:

Christianity has a lot of pagan elements to it...it's what made it so adaptable to different cultures.  It's a unique religion, and that's part of the beauty of it.  Christianity is not an ethnicity like Judaism or Islam.  It's a conviction.  It's about a truth that transcends culture, which is why it has been so widely accepted across the Continents, and throughout the centuries.

In this case, I have to say... exactly. The genius of the early Christian Church (I mean Constantinople-early) was to make it flexible for anyone to take (as long as they believed a few certain things). Of course, the Catholic church forgot this somewhat, especially around the 1400's...

(in response to Spark)

The Catholic Church got too political, and to this day this dogs it, no doubt about it.  Just reading these forums, being a Catholic myself, I cannot tell you how many times people have said as a counter-argument when I condemn Islamic Jihad that the "Catholics had the crusades."

Undoubtedly, the Catholic Church has had some dark times.  However, Spark, I disagree.  As far as Christians go, the Catholics are the most open and welcoming.  We believe that one does not have to be Catholic in order to get to heaven; we go as far as to believe that one does not even have to be baptized in order to get to heaven.  Protestants find this to be downright egregious, but the way we see it, Christianity is not a club to which one must belong, with the creed as the secret handshake and John 3:16 as the secret passcode.

We believe that Christianity is a way of life, not limited to words in a 2000-year-old book.  We believe that one can live this life without ever having heard of Christ.  Anyone can follow the commandments Christ gave us without actually having been taught them.  We Christians know the parable of the two sons...where the father asks his first son to go out and work in the field, and the son replies "of course" but then never gets around to it.  And the father asks his second son to go out and work in the field, and the second son replies "no" but then feels badly and goes out and does his father's bidding.

There are many Christians who say "yes" but never do.  And there are many many non-Christians who say "no" but still do.  The obvious example would be Ghandi, but we all know people like this in our day-to-day lives, and there are many of us here on BF2s who are like this.

This begs the question: why does one ever need to become a Christian if they can get there without it?

It comes down to Grace.  The Grace available to us in the sacraments: in Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, etc.  True, it is possible for everyone, but it is easier for those who exercise their conscience and those who are in tune with the spiritual to live a Christian life.

I see our conscience almost as another muscle.  Just like any muscle, if you neglect it, it will atrophy.  However, if you use your conscience, and train your conscience, it will be strong.

But I digress.

The point is, Spark, the Church has adapted different symbols of different cultures to help the people embrace Christianity throughout the centuries.  An Irish Catholic will have very different devotions than a Latino, but in the end, the Mass is the same, the sacraments are the same, and, most importantly, Christ is the same.

religion is peace,love and understanding... I make no apologies for that... God bless all of you.... whether you like it or not... lol

clogar wrote:

Schwarzelungen wrote:

dont forget that thing called communion...came from the celtic ritual called "cakes and ale"

no it came from the passover meal, that Jesus celebrated. This was called The Last Supper. The ideas in communion came from John chapter 6.

Or.. ..people have performed the ritual of eating and drinking for ages in order to stay alive?

I like the concept of caek and a Heineken better.

The beginning (at least) of Zeitgeist is far fetched. It's like a Michael Moore movie, shocking material with little to no source citing. As for many religions being variations of the same base-mythology, it's nothing especially surprising. We've all known that E.g. Christianity/Judaism/Islam all basically have the same God. Greek and Roman mythology are almost identical.

usmarine wrote:

I believe in beer.

Oh, and hockey.

Go Habs Go! hehe

mcgid1 wrote:

clogar wrote:

mcgid1 wrote:

Yes, many of the Christian traditions came from other religions/cultures, but the message and ideology of Christianity is its own.  (Technically is a continuation of the Jewish tradition, with those who believe it believing that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, but that's beside the point)

A few "Christian" traditions that came from elsewhere:

The date of Christmas, actually was a date used by the Romans to celebrate one of their gods (I think it was Isis, but I'm not too sure).  For the Romans it was just convenient to switch what was being celebrated that day than to create a new holiday.  If you follow the descriptions in the Bible, the true date of Christmas should be sometime in the Spring, around March or April.

Celebrating mass on Sunday.  Again it was more convenient for the Romans, and it separated Christianity from it's Jewish origins.

The Christmas Tree.  Drawn from the pagan tradition of the yule(sp?) log.

These are just a few, but there are many, many more.

whats your point?

The point is that yes, they do take things from other religions, but the central message of Christianity is it's own message, not those of another religion.

And here was i confident that you tried to tell us Christanity is just a lie like the rest of em.

I thought Science aka evolution so called owned the bible long time ago.

G3|Genius wrote:

some religion is, some isn't...I the rest of that is fine, God bless you too

I definitely think that Islam is none of the three, honestly..........  it's war, killing for a prophet (not even God), and not understanding but "if you aren't muslim, you will die...and if you are muslim but happen to be in the area when I blow myself up, you'll die too"

I disagree. I believe that you are right in saying that every religion has its good intentions. However, it is all up to interpretation of how it affects the people. Obviously the heads of terrorist organizations are going to interpret it differently to justify what they are doing, and to gain folowers.
It is not the religions themselves that really corrupt people, it's corrupt people who use it for their own good. This goes for all (maybe only almost all, if there is human sacrifice included...) religions.

-konfusion

religion should be something where you can find inner peace rather than bash someone because they beleive differently.

Schwarzelungen wrote:

DoctaStrangelove wrote:

The English language adopted stuff from other languages, does that make it a myth as well?

religion could be looked at differently because of the faith aspect.  it doesnt take faith to know that a language is there

It does if you veer towards believing that nothing really exists.

G3|Genius wrote:

(in response to Spark)

The Catholic Church got too political, and to this day this dogs it, no doubt about it.  Just reading these forums, being a Catholic myself, I cannot tell you how many times people have said as a counter-argument when I condemn Islamic Jihad that the "Catholics had the crusades."

Undoubtedly, the Catholic Church has had some dark times.  However, Spark, I disagree.  As far as Christians go, the Catholics are the most open and welcoming.  We believe that one does not have to be Catholic in order to get to heaven; we go as far as to believe that one does not even have to be baptized in order to get to heaven.  Protestants find this to be downright egregious, but the way we see it, Christianity is not a club to which one must belong, with the creed as the secret handshake and John 3:16 as the secret passcode.

We believe that Christianity is a way of life, not limited to words in a 2000-year-old book.  We believe that one can live this life without ever having heard of Christ.  Anyone can follow the commandments Christ gave us without actually having been taught them.  We Christians know the parable of the two sons...where the father asks his first son to go out and work in the field, and the son replies "of course" but then never gets around to it.  And the father asks his second son to go out and work in the field, and the second son replies "no" but then feels badly and goes out and does his father's bidding.

There are many Christians who say "yes" but never do.  And there are many many non-Christians who say "no" but still do.  The obvious example would be Ghandi, but we all know people like this in our day-to-day lives, and there are many of us here on BF2s who are like this.

This begs the question: why does one ever need to become a Christian if they can get there without it?

It comes down to Grace.  The Grace available to us in the sacraments: in Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, etc.  True, it is possible for everyone, but it is easier for those who exercise their conscience and those who are in tune with the spiritual to live a Christian life.

I see our conscience almost as another muscle.  Just like any muscle, if you neglect it, it will atrophy.  However, if you use your conscience, and train your conscience, it will be strong.

But I digress.

The point is, Spark, the Church has adapted different symbols of different cultures to help the people embrace Christianity throughout the centuries.  An Irish Catholic will have very different devotions than a Latino, but in the end, the Mass is the same, the sacraments are the same, and, most importantly, Christ is the same.

Lol, you don't need to tell me that. My whole family is Catholic.

But good discussion anyway.

Lol