Christians

[bignairy]

Are all christians sanctimoneous, arrogant hypocrites? Thats certainly been my experience of them from direct contact in churches! Religion is the root of most of the problems in this world.

[WendyW]

Of course all Christians are sanctimoneous, arrogant hypocrites just in the same way that everyone who uses computers is a nerd and all people with red hair have warts on their noses. PS .. if your only contact with Christians is "DIRECT CONTACT IN CHURCHES" doesn't that mean that you are a Christian? Well then that must prove your case!

[whocares]

I've got news for you WendyW - not all people who attend church are christians - look at the Archbishop of Canterbury for example....

[bignairy]

Actually, I know quite a few red headed people, and they ALL have warts on their noses.... I take it you are a God-botherer then Wendy? Not much "turning the other cheek" here then....

[whocares]

If it wasn't for religion, there would be no Northern Ireland Conflict, no 9/11 plane hijackings, no Palestine/Israel conflict, no riots over Miss World etc etc - the list goes on! And yet the Christians still stand up and talk as if they have a monopoly on peace making...

[morpheus]

To condemn any religion out of hand is, inmy own opinion, just as dangerous as indoctrination. We must remember that ALL religions are interperated by humans and as such are open to all of humankinds faillings and weakness.

[lisaj]

There does seem to be a trend across all socioeconomic backgrounds and social diversities, including remote jungle tribes, to assign a greater being or beings for the purposes of simplicity. To suppose a god created humankind out of 'thin air' was certainly easier than to derive evolutionary theory. To suppose there was a god of thunder prior to understanding what thunder really was, gave a scary, unexplained phenomenon an acceptable explanation and therefore reduced fear in it - This fear was instead transferred to the god, with whom humanity could presumably interact, and therefore control to some extent. Throughout history, community leadership has used God as a tool for population control, with the modern catholic church as good an example as that of the elders of the old testament. What you can and can't eat, sleep with, do, etc. etc. have apaprently always been dictated by god who ironically gave us choices to do what we want, but would cast us into hell for not doing his wishes. Finally, and linked to all of this is that it gives a human the right (in their mind anyway) to do whatever they want, because it happens to tie in with their god's wishes, or even worse, their interpretation of their god's wishes. What is sad is that all humans have a underlying instinctive moral code, and we break this left, right and center under the guise that it is a divine wish. Osama Bin Laden's 'islamic' cause has been refuted by other islamic bodies, and even the most basic of islamic laws states that you don't kill other any of god's creatures other than to eat. That didn't stop him from (allegedly) masterminding the deaths of thousand of innocent people who despite not being the american 'army', in many cases weren't even american. Anyway, I've ranted for long enough now. And if I've made any errors I apologise, but the important part is the gist of what I've been trying to say rather than the intimate details.

[Cetti]

I think bignairy and whocares are people who really do care and are searching for some kind of answer - and to say that religion is the root of most of the problems in the world is spot on. Well meaning Christians who spout the bible at every given opportunity do more damage than good and should be avoided - always start at the top if you want to get anywhere - Try Jesus! He's the one I follow, not a religion, a person! If you say He's not talking to you whocares, perhaps you're doing too much yapping and not letting Him get a word in!! He's doing things for you all the time - just stop and look around you.

[Waterwolf]

In my experience, it's only the most zealous of Chrostians who are arrogrant. But you could say the same about almost anyone with a strong belief (whether religious, political, or whatever). I'd argue that it's not religion which is the problem but ideas. Human beings are very good at coming up with excuses to commit acts of mass destruction, and if you took away religion they would still find other excuses.

[wildwood]

An atheist here... with one of our best friends being a stand-in minister for the anglican church. Says it all really.
Lisaj - I am impressed by your thoughts, but the Koran does state "death to all infidels" (non-believers). But then, I suppose one could take certain passages out of the Bible and interpret them in different ways to suit oneself too. I am impressed and bewildered by how true christians can find solice in their believes when, for instance, they lose a loved one.

[xyzzyplugh]

so called 'normal' people with christian beliefs are Exactly this; The unenlightened who got sucked in to a CONTROL trap. Pray that one day they see the light of Pagan simplicity and Buddhist peacefulness.

[DavidUK]

The big advantage of all of these religious cults is that you don't need to think. You can just believe whatever gobbledygook you're told and then you and your clique are right and every other religion in the world is wrong and all their adherents will go to Hell. Of course, I am generalising slightly ...!

[Obo]

WHAT?!!!!!!!!!...........Since when was the Archbishop of Canterbury not a Christian?

I have in effect given my answer to this question under Tartanwizard's question above, but in all honesty believe in what you like... gods, no gods, large lizard like reptiles in purple shell suits.... just don't ask me to follow you beliefs and don't persecute me for not agreeing with them.

[docklands77]

No. Always remember that God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten Son to die in our place.

[lisaj]

To follow on from Tartanwizard: I think humanity forgets itself sometimes; we are after all just another biological creature despite our collective arrogance. My educated guess is that things that are pleasurable are this way because they aid our existence.
Take fatty, sugary foods which help give us more energy, and sex, which fairly obviously helps us reproduce. The religious dogma of what-feels-good-is-precisely-what-you-should-not-do is, to me anyway, a little illogical.

[lisaj]

To follow on from Tartanwizard: I think humanity forgets itself sometimes; we are after all just another biological creature despite our collective arrogance. My educated guess is that things that are pleasurable are this way because they aid our existence.
Take fatty, sugary foods which help give us more energy, and sex, which fairly obviously helps us reproduce. The religious dogma of what-feels-good-is-precisely-what-you-should-not-do is, to me anyway, a little illogical.

[Obo]

I'm not sure that you'll find any Christians who think that sex is a bad thing, for the very reasons you state (they wouldn't be here either if it wasn't for sex), I think you'll find they object to promiscuity (or more classically Lust), which may be a fair point, because it can lead to the transmission of disease, though of course so can many things that I'm sure Christians believe in such as giving blood, and I'm certain I have never been criticised by a Christian for eating fatty foods, perhapsyeah mean gluttony and sloth, but there again there are fairly obvious health implications for both of these and I'm pretty certain there are plenty of good upstanding Christians who enjoy a pizza while plonked down infront of the Simpsons!