Sick of hearing the pukes invoke God.

[SunDrop23]

Tired of it.
Sick and tired of it.

In that Bible they love to thump so much, there is a passage that says "thou shalt not lie," yet the leader of the party has built an administration set on war and destruction around bald faced lies.

There is another passage that says "love thy neighbor." Is the way we love our neighbor killing them - civilian women and children included? That's the "price of freedom," is it?

People wonder why I am losing faith in the church.

[gratuitous]

1. If it's any comfort

When some of those assholes invoke God, I'd bet that God is saying, "Who dat?"

[sinkingfeeling]

2. I sick of everybody in the world invoking God (or whoever they call their deity)!

[ms liberty]

3. The RW fundies...

When mr liberty and I got married in 1995, he insisted upon a church wedding, in the church he grew up in, with the pastor from his childhood. I didn't care; I'm a free-thinker and have always been somewhat anti-organized religion, and although I do believe there is a 'something' that could be called God I also believe in reincarnation, which kind of puts me outside most church doctrine. He wasn't a regular churchgoer at the time, because of his work schedule (he worked nights and weekends); but he was committed in his beliefs about God, Jesus, and religion. He wasn't really involved in politics, and wasn't as informed as I was about it and the RR. He's much better informed now than he was - no surprise since I'm kinda obsessed with everything political. He's very much a live-and-let-live kind of guy, although he's also very liberal like me. Since the rise of the RW thru the *BushCo years, he's become more and more disillusioned. A few days ago he told me that he's not even sure he believes in God anymore, he definitely doesn't believe in the God that is worshipped by all these repressive religious freaks, and religion seems like a scam. He said the best description of his beliefs now is that he's an agnostic - he's just not sure. We discussed it a bit, and I surmised that his beliefs are probably more deist than agnostic, but I felt bad for him. I never had the chance to be disillusioned with my religious beliefs, I can remember being in Sunday School at the age of 3 or so thinking that these stories were kind of silly, and not realistic at all; and even at that age I believed in reincarnation, even though I didn't know what the word for it was - I knew I'd been here before, and I can remember learning things (like tying my shoes) and thinking that I remembered this from the last time I was here. Anyway - I feel for him, because he's questioning everything he believed in, and I know it's got to be difficult for him, it turns everything he's believed in on it's head.
There's some great messages in the Bible, and it could be used as a force for good. Too bad the RW only focuses on the messages of revenge, hate, and repression. I think the RR has pushed their beliefs too far, and the American public (in general) just are not that kind of Christian, despite the claims of the RW.

Kind of a rambling response here, but your post triggered this train of thought! :)

[classof56]

4. I completely understand losing faith in the church.

Right now I'm trying hard to keep my faith in God, figuring he may have some huge master plan he's working out. Either that or he gave up on us eons ago and walked away to leave us to our own devices (guess that would make me a Deist).

Keep faith in yourself and your fellow human beings who share your concerns. The truh is out there.

Blessings,

Tired Old Cynic

[jonnyblitz]

5. I am not a huge fan of DEMS invoking GOD either. nt

[Jagger69]

6. I recently stopped attending church

And I am seriously questioning my faith and spirituality. After years of being a "Christian", I am slowing becoming an agnostic. No where in the Bible does Jesus ever say that people need to worship him as an incarnation of God. His teachings were extremely liberal....communistic in fact. If someone asks me, "Do you believe in Jesus?" I answer "Yes. I believe that Jesus existed and that his teachings were wonderful". I don't believe in him as out Lord and Savior. And the Holy Ghost? I can remember that, as a kid, I was scared to death that the Holy Ghost was going to come into my room at night as I slept!!

Karl Marx called religion "the opiate of the masses". That's why the ultra-conservatives hide behind the Bible. It aids them in their attempt to dominate us.

This is good subject matter for my journal. Thanks for bringing it up.

[kineneb]

10. my thoughts

I play services for a very liberal United Methodist church every Sunday, which is a personal source of amusement, being that I am Buddhist. I see Jesus as a Bodhisattva, and that there is nothing in his essential teachings that contradict Buddhist teachings. But we are all sons and daughters of the universe ("god" if you wish), and Jesus is not the only "son of god".

The "deification" of Jesus was done by Paul, to make the teachings of a Jew palatable to a Greek and Roman audience.

[Jagger69]

16. Yes!

I agree that Paul of Tarsus was the cause for the perversion of Jesus' message. Once Rome embraced Christianity, it was used as a tool (especially in the Middle Ages) to subjugate the serfs (with the threat of eternal damnation for misdeeds and the promise of eternal life with compliance). The church still uses these control methods yet today.

[Norquist Nemesis]

7. Amazing how they never see a conflict between personal responsibility

and give your life over to Jesus.

[believerinchrist]

12. Jesus taught personal responsibility; he turned law-centered religious doctrine into people-centered

love. So many people camp around a few verses that support their doctrine and ignore the rest of the Bible. For instance, the doctrine that if a person doesn't accept Jesus Christ as his/her saviour, he/she will spend eternity in hell IS NOT written in the Bible. What is written is God is love, love never fails, and it is God's will that all humans are saved. (Saved from what--hell? How about saved from the destruction that evil has brought to the world?)

If God is real and Christ did what the Bible says he did, then so many people--from the most conservative Christians to the most liberal atheists--do not understand what has happened and thus cannot experience the hope of being set free from the destruction of evil. This is where personal responsibility leads us in relation to faith: we are personally responsible to have an open mind, to decide if it is worth the effort to find out if God exists, to determine whether we want to believe Him, and to act on that decision.

Now, before anyone challenges me about questioning my own faith, I have. I stepped back, considered what others have said, and have drawn some conclusions. First, I respect knowledge--as an educator, I do not want to limit my own learning or anyone else's. In fact, as I have been considering the vastness of what the human race as a whole knows, I realized there is also a vast unknown knowledge. My question is where did all that knowledge come from? Think about it!

Then, even science, which has done a tremendous job in helping us to look beyond the surface of what we can see with the naked eye, relies on assumptions that may not be factual. As I have read about different scientific thought, I keep seeing the word assumption. Frankly, what is the difference between a scientific assumption and a religious assumption--an assumption is an assumption! We do not really know that anything any of us believe is true.

Now, the personal responsibility that Christ both lived and preached begins and ends in love. Christ said it succinctly--Love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself. The way I look it, even if faith in Christ is not based on reality, then, at the very least, I will have lived a life of love (built on my understanding of God and of what Jesus Christ has accomplished). And that, my friends, is a life worth living.

[Norquist Nemesis]

14. I'd never ask someone to question their faith

That's something that needs to come from within. You are spot on about people who glom onto select versus of the Bible in order to condemn others. They are participating in cult behavior. Very dangerous stuff. Been there, seen that, got out before the fall.

I have much more respect for religious followers who actually study what is written as it's obvious you have. The son of Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker is an excellent example of what I'm talking about. If anyone has ever seem him, he has tattoes and piercings all over. He also has his own ministry and has challenged the primary financier, risking it all, in support of gays. Why? Because he researched it in the Bible. The financial backer was not a happy camper about it (and honestly, I never took to time to get updated on where it all came down).

"My question is where did all that knowledge come from? Think about it!" Well, if you're suggesting or believe it was from God...that's for you to make up your own mind about. But, for myself, I have to also consider things we've learned because somewhere along the way someone figured out things like how to make fire. I just can't accept a belief of some Divine Intervention vs free will sprinkled with some curiosity. (Hope that made sense.)

[Clark2008]

8. Umm.... your candidate does it on a regular basis.

:crazy:

[treestar]

9. I'm with you

There is no need for it. They are in politics and could go straight for that. It's an attempt to make everything as profound as they can make it, and I'm ready for somebody to admit that life can be ordinary sometimes.

We don't live in interesting times, great, so we can be happy. Let's not try so hard to make them interesting. That's what drama queen right wingers do.

[AtomicKitten]

11. it's the hypocrisy

Considering the particularly virulent strain of evangelicals removed from their agenda poverty and environment because they were viewed as "liberal" causes, I must suppress the vomit rising in my throat when I witness their melodramatic display of piety.

[believerinchrist]

13. My humble advice would be to take your eyes from people because they are not God.

If God is true and you desire to know Him, then forget people and seek Him. If you so desire, read Psalm 91 and see if it speaks to you.

If the Bible is true, then politicians and anyone else who attempt to use Christ to bring destruction to their fellow human beings will have to answer to God. Even though there is no way I can physically stop them from acting from their own agendas, I can pray and believe that God's goodness will overcome the evil of deception and destruction.

The price of freedom has already been paid through Christ's death and resurrection. What many religious and nonreligious people desire is not freedom, but power and control. And, unfortunately, their fellow human beings are nothing more than pawns in their quests. Sooner or later, this will stop (through Christ) or we may end up totally destroying this earth.

We are not to have faith in the church--we are given the opportunity to have faith in God. There is a distinct difference.

[Freddie Stubbs]

15. Do you believe that it is effective?

:shrug: