I wanted to perform this poll to try to obtain the results from the recent posting about "The Passion", as it seems to be getting pretty religious in it's recent postings.

Postings about particular countries attitudes is interesting, and it may help other continents to appreciate other cultures a little more.

ARE YOU A:

i think it would have been better if you must do this poll to split the type of religion and the frequency of worship into 2 seperate polls as you can only select one option from the above.

Ned.

yeah must agree

also 2 christians but no worshippers... odd I'm abstaining!

what if i'm not at all religous and have some rather strong views abour organised religion?

staple balls - you select 'other'

Ned.

Hi stapel balls, post your views in the forum on the passion.

It should make for some interesting reading

Cheers.

ditto staple balls.
mental equivalent of viruses, in my opinion.

edit: virii. oops

[Edited on 1/4/04 by blueshift]

I am religious in that I believe in a God, but i don,t believe in churches.
My faith is between me and my god and i don,t like to be told how to pray and when by people who set themselves up above us and tell us they know better and there way is the only way.
My ethos is"do un to those as you would have them do un to you"and i don,t think you,ll go far wrong in life.
Also this survey is badly floored.What the survey should ask is were you brough up in a religion or not.Do you now believe in that religion or not.Have you now changed religions.To ask what religion you believe in serves no purpose other than to try to pidgeon hole you in to an ethnic race.Catholics are Christians and to specify all other religions in one group assumes that the majority of people on this forum are white middle/working class people like me.Not very PC.

[Edited on 1/4/04 by ray.h.]

quote:

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Originally posted by blueshift
ditto staple balls.
mental equivalent of viruses, in my opinion.

edit: virii. oops

[Edited on 1/4/04 by blueshift]

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you mean like octopusses vs octopie

Ned.

I'm relucant to tick 'Other' for my strident atheism

As a coworker said recently (paraphrased slightly) "Atheism is no more a religion than bald is a hair colour"

Still, may be interesting to see the results.

Dominic

you forgot one

quote:

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Originally posted by Mark Allanson
Thank Ron that the wheels were not damaged

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Don,t agree ,Even JWs have the right to take that risk but HERE HERE to all the rest.

[Edited on 1/4/04 by ray.h.]

quote:

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Originally posted by Staple balls
what if i'm not at all religous and have some rather strong views abour organised religion?

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IMHO this whole topic is best avoided as you'll always end up upsetting someone (and it's likely to be our US friends!).

How about a pole of your opinions of George Dubya, that'll stir em up too!!!!

In pondering the mysteries of this world, I suppose as joelp has it (paraphrased) "we know what we know, we know what we dont know, but we dont know what we dont know". I suppose we will find out in due course, in the meantime there is a locost to build, which may just bring me to a conclusion on this a lot sooner if I mess up the construction

God Speed you! - In the modern world, speed has come to simply mean a rate of movement (e.g. high speed, miles per hour, meters per second etc.), but the English (derived from the Anglo-Saxon) origin of the word meant not velocity, but to thrive, or to prosper. The term God speed, used by some translations of the Holy Scriptures, is a contraction of the saying, "I wish that God may speed you," or in today's terminology, "I wish that God may bless you with success."

bollox to that, speed is about going fast

Ned.

quote:

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Originally posted by ned
bollox to that, speed is about going fast

Ned.

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quote:

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Originally posted by timf

quote:

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Originally posted by ned
bollox to that, speed is about going fast

Ned.

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Religion of the petrol head ?

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so if you could start a new religion as petrol heads would that mean freedom from persecution(speed scameras)and tax free fuel?

Petrolhead - Amen!

I'll subscribe to that - do you get free insurance?

I love to hate this debate every time it crops up at work.
I fail to understand how we can be decended from 'Adam & Eve' (if that's what you chose to believe).
If the above is true, as the Old Testament says, then how do you explain dinosaurs ?
I don't personally believe in a God, in whatever form, however, each to their own, whichever you chose to worship. But how would this God you follow allow all the attrocities around the world to happen.
If there is a 'hell' or another religions' equivalent then I am going there as my next posting without doubt. Apparently they have sex a lot there, as the saying goes...F***in Hell.

TAXI ! ! !

PS. I am not trying to get a rise from anyone, don't be offended.

why isnt there a

religion is an opiate of the people, and just there to feed em crap

choice?


One sociological reason for religion is as follows.

Imagine there is no god. No divine retribution. You could do what you want - no moral comeback, no fires of hell. That this life is all there is - and you are living a crappy little life scraping a living. So, if now is all there is, why put up with crap - take what you want and now.

The theory goes that religion is there as a promise of more to come in the afterlife. If all you will ever get is now, and you get just 70 years before the void, people would tend to take what they want, and now.

Thats a case for religion - its a form of control imposed by society.

Im not religious, nor am I atheist. If I had to jump now, id bet 51% to 49% that god is an invention of man. Id also like to say, oops, I got it wrong, how about letting me in.

Jesus seems a nice guy.

He could also have been a nutty social revolotionist that the state decided was a pain and took him out. Allowing yourself to be murdered could be considered a mental illness.

Or what he said he was.


Whats a computer? Its a bunch of 0 and 1 's that form into something thats extremely sophisticated.

whats the empire state building - a bunch of bricks made into a complex structure.

whats a human being - a bunch of cells so sophistcated that it thinks its above all other things and will go on forever. Are we just a bunch of 0 and 1's?


atb

steve

ps

to whoever voted JW

I thought there was only room for 250,000 people in JW heaven - must be hard to get a ticket. Thats less people that Indianapolis takes. Any religion that limits sanctuart and salvation is a bit limited....... but didnt that rule get dropped.

PS - im a blood donor

pps - i didnt vote

[Edited on 1/4/04 by stephen_gusterson]

Dont get me going on religion,i'm up poo creek without a paddle after my last effort.

I'll show you lot what a religion should be about. I just need some new batteries for my light sabre and I'll be away.
My next choice is to follow Issek of the Jug, a minor deity from Fritz Leiber's Grey Mouser series. (Books with stories in, not plans)

[Edited on 1/4/04 by Peteff]

jedi IS a religion


enouth people put it on the census forms for it to be classifed as one, apparently.

atb

steve

The world can be a terrible, cruel, disorganised place at times. If there were a god, perhaps it would be a little nicer for more unfortunate people than myself.

quote:

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Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
jedi IS a religion


enouth people put it on the census forms for it to be classifed as one, apparently.

atb

steve

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I groaned a bit when I saw this topic come up, because I'm an accountant and this is tax season in the US, so I'm as busy as a Chinaman. Nonetheless, I feel a little like the apostle Peter when asked, "Do you know him?"

I was an atheist from the time I first became conscious of such things, which was about age 6. I held the opinion that belief in God was irrational, and that Christianity was for losers who were unable to manage their own lives, until I was 27.

The occasion for my conversion was the baptism of a nephew at a small country church. I was very successful in my profession and had no particular complaints about life, but was struck by the utter decency of the people around me, compared to me. I realized that there were forces of good and evil at work in my life, and in the world in general, that goodness emanated from God, and the way into His good graces was through recognizing Jesus Christ. This thought process had nothing to do with what was going on in the service, or what anybody said, nor had I ever read the Bible.

My only knowledge about Jesus had come from children's stories. I thought that his character was wimpy, and didn't understand the point of his crucifixion. My impression was that his followers made up the resurrection story in order to cover up a bad outcome and to keep their scam going.

That day, however, I decided that I would rather be under God's authority than not. Knowledge followed later.

Did this all happen in my mind only? Yes. Do I expect anyone to be convinced? No. Has my life been a bed of roses since? No, but I believe that my faith has helped me to make good decisions in the face of hardship.

This is way too big a topic for a message board. I'm not going to argue with anyone, just relating my experience and personal belief.

For those who are baffled by churches, I think the situation is explained by Jesus' parable of the sower (Matthew 13:24-30). IMO, churches are man-made institutions, and accordingly fallible, while the Church is a supernatural institution that operates in and around the earthly one, and unites believers everywhere even in the midst of opportunists and spiritual abusers.

Also IMO, I think every person gets an opportunity to decide for himself, even if they've never heard the Gospel and this opportunity occurs after their natural lifetime.

For anyone interested in learning more, I recommend a readable Bible such as the New International Version (the King James is probably the best translation, but the Elizabethan English is tough). A good Bible commentary helps to explain the cultural and historical context of difficult passages.

[/soapbox]

Pete