Anonymous Report This Comment Date: April 19, 2008 05:15PM
I have an idea. Lets take the local drunk from the nearest hole in the wall
bar....give him a huge hat, silly robe, and give him all the little boys he
could wish for. You gotta' love religion. As long as I confess my sins to some
old bag in a wooden phone booth I get to go to Heaven...woo hoo!!! Praise
Jesus.....er, uh....Praise ye pope!
shaDEz Report This Comment Date: April 20, 2008 05:17AM
“Christianity did not bring a message of social revolution like that of the
ill-fated Spartacus, whose struggle led to so much bloodshed. Jesus was not
Spartacus, he was not engaged in a fight for political liberation. Jesus. . .
brought something totally different: an encounter with the living God and thus
an encounter with a hope stronger than the sufferings of slavery, a hope which
therefore transformed life from within, even if the external structures remained
unchanged. ” —Pope Benedict XVI, in the Papal Encyclical
Saved by
Hope
“Why is it that the cross associated with Jesus, and the crucifixion of Jesus
which that cross symbolizes, is a central icon and major point of reference (and
reverence) in this society, but the cross on which Spartacus was crucified does
not play that role? In fact, many people don’t know whom I’m referring to
when I talk about Spartacus. Spartacus was a slave who, less than a century
before the time of Jesus, led a rebellion of slaves in the Roman Empire that
threatened that Empire to its foundations before that rebellion was finally
drowned in blood. And, as a result of being finally defeated, Spartacus and
thousands of his followers were crucified on crosses, lining the main road from
Rome out toward the provinces, for miles and miles and miles. Why is that cross
and that crucifixion not a big symbol in our society, and why is it not in other
societies in the world today? The answer is simple and basic: because what is
represented by Spartacus, even in his defeat—that is, the slaves rising
up—is not something the ruling classes in the societies we live in, and the
ruling classes down through the ages, have wanted to promote. Yes, a movie got
made about Spartacus, but that’s nothing compared to the continual barrage of
propaganda about Jesus, the life of Jesus, and the crucifixion and supposed
resurrection of Jesus. Because, again, the people who rule over us don’t want
us to have symbols that call to mind slaves rising up in rebellion. They want us
to believe that such rebellions are pointless and that we are bound to, and have
to, live the way we live because that’s the way God wants it to be, that’s
the way God made the world and all you can do is accept God’s will.”
Away
With All Gods!, pp. 53-54
“Many people, feeling that their hopes have been crushed for a better life in
this world, have fallen back on hoping for a better future in another, future
existence, and seek to organize their lives around preparing for that supposed
‘future life.’ The problem, once again, is that this is an illusion. And
this quest for happiness, or relief from suffering in this way, cannot bring
about the satisfaction that people are seeking. Like a narcotic, the relief or
escape provided by this kind of religious belief is never sufficient. You always
need another ‘fix,’ and this soon turns into yet another chain on
people.
“And, more fundamentally, the point is that we do not want—and, beyond that,
we no longer have any need—to be imprisoned within a heartless world. We need
and can bring into being a world with heart: a world freed of the oppression and
misery that is imposed and enforced by the way human society is structured and
controlled. A world in which people do not think of each other—and do not
treat each other—as mere objects to be used and profited from. Religion, at
least as practiced by more truly compassionate and progressive-minded people
today, may aim at providing consolation—a salve for people in their agony and
torment—but we can bring into being a world in which people no longer need
this kind of consolation, because poverty and oppression, and all the needless
suffering bound up with that, will have been eliminated and uprooted forever,
along with the ideas and culture that reinforce this.
“But in order to do that, we need to confront reality as it actually is. We
need to engage and transform reality, the reality of human society as well as
nature, with a consciously and consistently scientific outlook and method. And
the point is this: For the first time in human history, there is the possibility
to do that. Measured against that, religious doctrine and tradition, and the
religious way of conceiving reality, fall way short—and, in fact, lead away
from what, for the first time, has become possible for humanity.”
Away With
All Gods!, pp. 224-25
jgoins Report This Comment Date: April 21, 2008 12:55PM
Move away from churches and organized religion. Worship in your own heart
anyway you see fit and never try to convert anyone to what you believe. It is
organized religion which has brought about much of the suffering in the world
today. It is organized religion, in the form or radical Islam, which is trying
to bring about even more suffering today. So belive as you will but keep it to
yourself, spreading the word of God is not a requirement for getting into
heaven, only your belief is a requirement. Slam me for my belief if you wish
but at least acknowledge the fact that I do not try to bring anyone to organized
religion.
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: April 21, 2008 03:05PM
What the Fuck is a Natzi ???
(from google)
"I weesh I wuz a NATZI cuz i cant fuhckinnn speel"
And btw nobody has said the Pope is Christ...or God,...or the Holy Spirit,
only
the head honcho of the Church....
And fyi I'm an atheist....but I do respect other peoples religions and their
right to worship, except when they kill and murder in the name of Allah the
asshole....
shaDEz Report This Comment Date: April 21, 2008 07:34PM
Although we must respect other cultures, but also we must
revolutionize
said cultures and do away with all of the oppressive social relations that exist
or may re-emerge in this process(including communists). The simple fact is that
these stories in the Bible and in the Qur'an are reflections of ancient
societies, and also reflect those same productive and social relations, ideas,
and class distinctions, which are a stigma on humanity and development. Taking
the Bible, or the Qur'an, literally is a horror, and it keeps people from
engaging with reality with a scientific approach, a truthful understanding.
In a revolutionary society(Maoist), people will continue to have the right to
worship, but they will have to come to grips with the fact that all gods are a
myth(and thank god that is the case! lol). People's religiosity will wither away
as the need for an escape to their suffering will wither away. But right now,
all atheists, whether or not communist, should be confronting and openly
engaging with people that are religious, but in a polite way, and not put people
down or "slam" them for their religiosity. But in a way that may make
people uncomfortable, may even offend people. That is the dialectic we are faced
with.
btw, Islam is
not the only religion that has caused great human
suffering, let's look at what the Christians have done, and are doing--and
trying to do now. All religions, in the fundamentalists, have committed horrific
crimes.
pro_junior Report This Comment Date: April 21, 2008 08:49PM
only sheep need a shepherd...
woberto Report This Comment Date: April 22, 2008 01:51AM
When the Ratzinburger became Pope, his understudy had to take over official
duties at his church.
The first time he did confession was a bit of a shock to the rookie priest. Lots
of impure thoughts, blasphemy & masturbation. But he managed to keep it
together and dose out the hail Mary's etc etc.
But there was one girl that cought him off guard, she had been giving blow jobs
in the church carpark. The young priest didn't know what penance would be
appropriate for such an extreme act and was a bit flummoxed so he left the
confessional and asked one of the altar boys about what penance to dish out;
"What did father Ratzinburger give for headjobs in the church
carpark?"
Reply;
"A Mars bar & a can of coke".
jgoins Report This Comment Date: April 22, 2008 12:40PM
God is not just in the churches, he is all around us in everything we see and
feel. Most of the time I don't think he is even in the churches at all. People
are giving the churches and the pope way too much power when it is us who have
the power of God within ourselves. We do not need any person to tell us what
God wants or what we need to do to make our way into heaven, we have it within
ourselves to do it on our on.
Christianity has done it's share of dastardly deeds in the past but it is Islam
which is doing it now at the hands ot the radical Islamists. These are a
dangerous group of people and they are growing in numbers right now. When they
finish with Isreal they will continue whith the rest of the world and that is
where the rest of us live. I predict that is will happen in our lifetime and it
will be a devastating time for the whole world. Scoff at me all you want but
just keep watching the news and you will see it coming.