Religion general

@TheHappySpaceman
Yeah that is a really dumb argument, if someone is using Religion to be an ass then they should be called out on it

Though aa an atheist myself I do think more people on “my side” should call out the shitty atheists too

Religious crazies should and deservedly need to be call out, but that doesn’t mean asshole atheists should get a free pass if they start acting shitty

(I’ve seen plenty of both sides using their views y9 be horrible)

@icicle wicicle 1517
Well, that’s the issue, isn’t it? People saying atheists are just as bad as Christians.

Christians’ worst sins have been centuries of murder, rape, and the continued oppression of people who are different from them, all while using the justification of their religion. Atheists, meanwhile? “Um, an atheist was mean to me once on Reddit so they’re evil too :(”

Again, yes, I’m sure there are atheists who are assholes. And yet somehow it feels like the Reddit atheist stereotype has done worse damage to atheists than the Westboro Baptist Church or, y’know, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, or all the numerous hateful Christian politicians have done to Christians.

The “shield of faith” defense. Christians and other religious folk get a pass because they’re acting “on faith”. Atheists, meanwhile, are labeled as acting selfish.

@Zincy
Oh yeah. Plus they can respond just as easily with the “Well not all Christians are like that” excuse or the “Those people aren’t real Christians” excuse. An easy way for Christians to avoid criticizing one of their own or undergoing any sort of self-reflection.

I legit think religion is just the filter a person sees and is seen. Take that away and you would still have the person. A person might look better without the filter, but the core is still the same.

These days religious ppl gets a pass for saying “I did it for Islam/Xtianity” because there are still a lot of ppl validating their excuse. You put them in an environment where the usual shield of faith won’t work and they’ll be forced to reflect on the actions.

Btw those are the religious ppl I hate most, these “performative, circle jerking virtue signalling” religious ppl. PERFORMATIVE is the key word here, because I KNOW a lot of muslims overcompensate their bullshit behind the scene stuff with extra public performances, knowing the public will eat them up.

Take that environment away, and he’ll be very vulnerable.

This whole Israel-Palestine kerfuffle got me thinking of a related quibble of mine.

The idea of sacred areas/buildings/sites/etc.

The idea came to me when I joked to a friend that Jews, Muslims, and Christians need to be retaught the King Solomon lesson. That if Jerusalem was so damn important to these idiots, and if they’re willing to kill for it, the whole dang thing should be leveled and then no one can fight over it.

Which made me ponder about the whole notion of such a site. These people and their inane, idiotic need to preserve this one particular place. And to commit atrocities for it. Better that every building on the mountain turned to rubble than one more innocent die for it.

Children fighting over their little baby toy.

I find it so…silly. and childish.

@Zincy
Nothing. Everything. some quote by some character in some movie regarding some holy site.

A holy site serves as a hub for believers to congregate and ponder and pray and perform religious rituals. But it’s never the place itself that holds meaning. The quran mentions that it don’t matter which direction you face, there lies a temple of God.

Fighting over holy sites and control over it is as you say, very stupid, and is actually a game of power, influence and politics than actual religious adherence.

Level headed opinions by imams stating that sacred human lives trump defense / conquest of sacred sites are weak and sellouts while opinions by hotheaded figureheads to “take back Jerussalem, reinstall caliphate over the region, fight everybody who seek to occupy the holy land” is based.

I hate this performative virtue-signalling, circle-jerking, populist acts of religious devotion by these hothead dickheads. It’s a goddamn circus more than anything. This is how you get somebody who don’t know jack shit about anything and never met a single jewish person in their life, sitting in some random corner of the world, to hate jews for no reason.

@Zincy
Jerusalem sucks!

One thing I’ve been curious about for a while…

What’s the difference between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam? Is it anything like the differences we see between the different forms of Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, etc.)?

Perhaps someone familiar with the subject might be able to explain it in a way that’s somewhat easy to understand…

At its core its an issue of succession. I’m sure one of our Muslim members will provide more details but the gist is that one side believes that the succession from Muhammad should have been to his next of kin, and the other believes it should of been his “appointed” heir.

@Background Pony #721F
Like Zincy said.
It all started as succession dispute that muslims would later develop a theology around. After the passing of Muhammad (SAW), Abu Bakr (RA), Muhammad’s father in law, was appointed as the first Caliph. This did not sit well with people who believed Ali (RA), Muhammad’s son in law, should have been next.

Note: Muhammad (SAW) passed without leaving a male heir, NOR did he explicitly appointed anyone to succeed him. Leaving the succession open for debate. Muhammad (SAW) had at this point united the arab tribes under a common cause, namely Islam.

30 years later, the first muslim civil war broke out between the muslims and the two factions ended up creating their own distinct theologies.

Note: Ali DID finally become the Fourth Caliph, after Omar(2nd Caliph) and Usman(3rd Caliph) were assassinated. Ali was also assassinated, in 661 CE, his death marked the end of the Rashidun Caliphate, succeeded by Hasan ibn Ali for about seven months (he later stepped down) and then Muawiyah, the 3rd Caliph’s cousin, took the title as 6th Caliph and the first of the Umayyad’s Caliphate.

Also Note: The Rashidun Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali, were alright with each other’s rise to power. They were, after all, the OG crew of Muhammad(SAW), the ones who was with him from the beginning of his career.

@Background Pony #721F
The CORE practice of both Sunni and Shia are the same. Both Sunni AND Shia also revere Muhammad(SAW) as the prophet of Allah. Both also believe the Quran to be the inerrant words of Allah, and consider it to be the canon sequel and final installment to the Abrahamic franchise.

For example the liturgy for salah or the daily rites is…pretty much same-y across the sunni and shia demographics. So much that there is a valid opinion that a sunni can pray behind a shia imam and vice versa. I’ve personally prayed in shia mosques before in some places because that’s the closest mosque from where I was. Sure, I noted the difference, but in terms of core daily worship, there’s nothing to fight somebody over.

edit: different core practice and belief but nothing major, but I must correct myself after having said they’re the same.

Pack it in, atheists. It would seem that the Christians have won. I mean, how does one even begin to argue with this impeccable logic?

@TheHappySpaceman
What the fuck?!

Let the little sproglet die.

Darwinism in action.

@TheHappySpaceman
open the baby’s parachute without its consent and let it cry about it all the way down.
You’re welcome, miracle baby.

It’s this guy! He has the most batshit insane questions like

“Atheists, imagine you and a Christian baby are being mugged. The criminal is mad at the Christian baby and decides to shoot it. Suddenly, it cuts to slow motion and you’re able to jump in the way of the bullet. Would you save the Christian baby?”

and

“Atheists, imagine you’re a famous baseball player and are about to hit the winning strike. Accidentally, the thrower tosses a Christian baby at you. Would you still hit the baby out of the stadium and win millions, or sacrifice the Christian baby?”

Another reminder of the “crisis in Christianity” America continues to experience these days:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics-pulpit-white-evangelicals-support-143114406.html

@Random-Rambling
According to nature you don’t have to sacrifise yourself for a baby. However prepare to leave town if anyone found out you abandoned a baby to save your own ass. I don’t know what that baby did to piss off the mugger, but it’s not my business. Why do I have a baby again?

No baby is religious though.

The second one is cut and dry. Slaughtering any human for money is not ever acceptable unless you’re a politician.

@TheHappySpaceman
Let it die. It’s obviously a demon if you’re both in danger and it’s trying to emotionally extort you.

@Random-Rambling
LOL that guy must think he smart af.

Silly question. If I’m fast enough to jump in front of the bullet I’m fast enough to grab the baby out of the way, leaving both me and baby unharmed.

and then I would lightskin stare the mugger leaving him thinking “he did not just pull a anime save and tryna rizz me up right after.”

Silly question. I would not swing, because hitting the baby out of the park wouldn’t win me the game since the baby is not a ball.

No offense to anyone who believes in it, but I’m not keen on the idea of reincarnation. Like, I’m afraid that I’ll be reborn as someone who’ll become a huge racist or homophobe. Or even…I don’t even want to type it.

@Random-Rambling
He sounds like a massive troll. That’s good to know at least, I was afraid he was representative of most of modern evangelical Christianity.

According to the latest episode of Family Guy, religion is nothing more than God bullying you unless you worship him.

This is what I believe Inari looks like for my mortal eyes: