[Otal Nimrodi]

But isn't that a genralization too

No, it isn't.

The vast majority of Muslims are not militant fanatics, most Christians don’t think homosexuality deserves the death penalty, and not all Pagans wear medieval clothing, hate men and worship Celtic deities.

Those bold words make it not a generalization. If you take those words out, then what you get

[quote]The Muslims are not militant fanatics, Christians don’t think homosexuality deserves the death penalty, and no Pagans wear medieval clothing, hate men and worship Celtic deities.[quote]

Is a hell of a lot of generilazations. It's a generalization to say that all people of a certain type are one way or another, but not most are one way or another.

[Slade]

Jordan, your statement concerning Christianity is hilarious and totally earns you a gold star.

But seriously, shouldn't you be choosing a religion due to it's perceived ability to properly explain the world and supply you with acceptable morals to live by, rather than what duties are involved in the upkeep of your faith?

[civilian_number_two]

I don’t belong to an institution, there’s nobody to tell me what and how to believe. I am solely responsible for discerning the proper methods to honor and celebrate the gods, through historical research, logical deduction and meditation. There is no Vatican that decides which prayers are appropriate, no doctors of any church to tell me what days I should refrain from eating certain foods. I am only required to follow my spirit, and my gods will judge my actions accordingly.

Your beliefs are 100% your own. No one else believes anything similar to you, and you formed all of your faith entirely in a vacuum. It just so happens that loads of other people believe the exact same thing that you do, and that there are numerous stores dedicated to the sale of your religious paraphernalia in my city alone. Do you see my point? You mention that you don't belong to any institution, but it also happens that there isn't one available to belong to. Just because something has a central authority doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong. You claim also to be an American, and a Republican. Both groups have a central authority. Note that I'm not saying that's a bad thing. The notions of organization and truth are not connected at all. If druids of the world organized, documented their beliefs, and elected a central authority to keep them in touch with one another, would that automatically invalidate the religion?

PS: Your Gods won't judge anything. They don't exist.

[Otal Nimrodi]

PS: Your Gods won't judge anything. They don't exist.

Now, that's a bit of a low-blow, isn't it?

[civilian_number_two]

Well I hope not. Just a reminder that our morality comes from us, not some invisible guides. I may agree with Abbey that it's worse to follow a religion that not only has the invisible authority but also some temporal authority, especially if it has the power to execute you (it no longer has, and even in the day most executions were done by the state), or to extract taxes and whatnot. Also note that I may not agree. I'm not sure if it makes more sense to believe nonsense that you're told to believe, or to believe it for reasons all your own. Modern non-Catholic Christians don't claim to have any authority but the Bible. Witches and druids have no central authority either. They all make their own personal walk with their own lords and guides. Their source material of course is TSR's Deities and Demigods.

[Sailor Abbey]

Your beliefs are 100% your own. No one else believes anything similar to you, and you formed all of your faith entirely in a vacuum. It just so happens that loads of other people believe the exact same thing that you do, and that there are numerous stores dedicated to the sale of your religious paraphernalia in my city alone.

I guarantee you that nobody else in the world believes exactly as I do. As I said, it is up to me to decide which way to worship my gods is the best and I can tell you that the way I do so, has yet to be written in any book that I have ever read. Try finding a book on Irish Pagan spirituality and ritual. None exist, because nobody knows exactly what the various tribes who honored different gods did.

The beliefs I have came from years of study of various world religions and traditions, and meditation. Few of the books I have ever read even remotely resemble my belief system. No matter what anybody has written, in the end it is up to me to find a way. So no, your right, I didn’t form all of my beliefs in a vacuum, but nobody told me this is what I should believe either. Far from it.

You mention that you don't belong to any institution, but it also happens that there isn't one available to belong to.

There are many Druid “institutions,” the largest being the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. They have a central Archdruid or head of the Order, Philip Carr-Gomm. If I chose to, I could “belong” to any one of these groups. But the Irish Druids were not organized like those of England and Wales, and it wouldnt make sense for me to be initiated in one of these orders.

Just because something has a central authority doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong.

No of course not. You said I belonged to a matriarchal institution, which I do not. I do not belong to any religious institution. Its not necessarily a good or a bad thing, I was just stating a fact.

PS: Your Gods won't judge anything. They don't exist.

I must respectfully disagree.

[barend]

My Stupid Religion? Abbey's the one with the Supid Religion. Everyone's entitled to thier wrong opinion, Gobbler. I just speak the truth, there's no bull shit.

you mean opinion...

here's my opnion. the catholic church is a cult... they just have more money, statues, robes, wine, conections, franchise-outlets, and better press than most.

[Gobbler]

Ex~ac~tac~tly.

[Gobbler]

*sigh* Somebody get that kid a life.

[Otal Nimrodi]

Well... I don't really have one, but if I did, I'd be happy to give it to him.

[Slade]

It's easy to be selfless with things you don't have, eh? I kid!

My props go to whoever flashy-thinged that post before I noted it.

[Otal Nimrodi]

Sadly, my school computer still reads it.

For those who didn't know... This guy just posted a bunch of stuff for no apparent good reason.

[Gobbler]

Yeah, it's not like I was double-posting or something. No, uh~uh.

This post has been edited by Gobbler: 14 June 2006 - 04:28 PM

[Otal Nimrodi]

Edit: I think I said something stupid. But I can't say for sure. Did I?

This post has been edited by Otal Nimrodi: 14 June 2006 - 05:53 PM

[darth_paul]

You'd be a tolerant one.
I'd love to come in here and yell at people for petty insults, but the Spoon did a wonderful job of taking care of it. In regards to modding, I'm working 8-5 for the summer, and I kinda just flop at the end of the day, which makes Internet usage limited, especially being on dialup, but I'll still be around. Just listen to the Spoon. She knows what she's talking about! *brandishes mod stick and glares balefully* Play nice, people. No insults, no returning insults, no petty cheap shots and broad generalizations, regardless of race, creed, height, hair color, etc. Ex: That Muslim comment was a cheap shot, and violence by Muslims is very obviously caused by much more than being of a certain faith. I'm sure that any people of any belief system would get pissed off at being mocked when in social conditions that strongly resist relaxing and not taking everything so seriously. Craziness doesn't follow any one religion.

My God people, I'm surprised that this farce of a debate has gone on for as long as it has! I mean, anything that I or anyone else says in here just gets twisted and ragged on that it's just pointless to say anything anymore. Good Lord, this whole thing basically got started because Abbey felt like voicing her opinion on something that she should've just kept to herself which really was intollerant in itself. I'm Intollerant, You're Intollerant, We're all Intollerant! Some people started with baseless comments and I and others struck back, which in turn begot more strike backs from the other side, and yes I know that this is the debate club and all and strike backs, or rebuttals if you will are the name of the game, but we are just going to keep going around in circles here with nobody winning this arguement. Therefore I suggest that we just forget this whole fiasco and just close this post and move it to the graveyard where it belongs.