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Religion Interfereing With Serious Topics

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Mindfuck
Always Born a Crime
Mindfuck
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July 9th, 2008 at 09:08am
Migamphetamine:

Its really easy to see when you look at the things that are being hotly debated in politics, Stem cell research and cloning and same sex couples to name a few and religious convictions would have a definite impact on those topics.



But do you think that religion 'interfering' with these issues is the best thing? Do you think that is best for the whole nation? (I'm talking about Australia now, because I know you and I are from there).

The one issue I had a real problem with religion interfering with was a few years ago when the abortion pill, RU486, was debated and discussed to be introduced to this country and there was such opposition to it from Tony Abbott, the federal health minister, mainly because of his Catholic faith (although, I think there were some other reasons too). Even though I stated above somewhere that I really don't consider religion when talking about politics, his opposition to it because of his religion really bothered me on this occasion. Why? Not only because he was a male (I'm sorry, but I think this issue would have been more suited to be handled by a woman), but because he was so opposed to a pill that could have really helped women have easier abortions. And I'm not saying 'easier' in the sense of frivolity or carelessness, I mean 'easier' in the sense that it is literally quick and painless and it is not necessarily a drawn out process, unlike surgical abortions.

I will say no more about abortion because this isn't the thread for it, but I just wanted to make a point about how, to me, sometimes religion is best kept out of political decisions.



blow
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blow
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July 9th, 2008 at 09:12am
^There's a time and a place for everything.
Mindfuck
Always Born a Crime
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July 9th, 2008 at 09:24am
Eponine:
^There's a time and a place for everything.



Please elaborate.
blow
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blow
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July 9th, 2008 at 09:34am
Mindfuck:
Eponine:
^There's a time and a place for everything.



Please elaborate.

Well in the example you gave, it's very inconvenient for a religious person to be in charge, but in other issues religion can be a good thing, or just something that doesn't matter because societies morals line up with the person's religious morals. Like when it comes to helping the homeless and poverty stricken, most religions encourage helping those in need.
I'm no explaining myself very well. : /
Mindfuck
Always Born a Crime
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July 9th, 2008 at 09:42am
Eponine:

Well in the example you gave, it's very inconvenient for a religious person to be in charge, but in other issues religion can be a good thing, or just something that doesn't matter because societies morals line up with the person's religious morals. Like when it comes to helping the homeless and poverty stricken, most religions encourage helping those in need.
I'm no explaining myself very well. : /



I agree. I think religion can definitely be involved in some issues, but not in others. I don't think religion should be involved in all political / social / economic issues, even if the leader of the country was a devout Catholic, for example. I think that if the leader of a country is particularly religious, then it is their responsibility to realise which issues religion can influence and which issues it cannot. I think it would be irresponsible for a government to make all it's decisions based on religion. In some yes, but not in all.
blow
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blow
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July 9th, 2008 at 09:46am
Mindfuck:
I agree. I think religion can definitely be involved in some issues, but not in others. I don't think religion should be involved in all political / social / economic issues, even if the leader of the country was a devout Catholic, for example. I think that if the leader of a country is particularly religious, then it is their responsibility to realise which issues religion can influence and which issues it cannot. I think it would be irresponsible for a government to make all it's decisions based on religion. In some yes, but not in all.

Exactly. The most important thing to consider when a leader is making a decision, is weather it is for the good of the country and the people. And they should try to look at it from an objective, unbiased view.
Of course if you are a devoutly religious person, that's hard to do.
Ghostgirl191
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July 12th, 2008 at 11:27pm
I think that religion should be left out alot of things, such as homosexual rights, gays are people too, and whether or not we agree with their choice, it is a free country. stuff like that (i wasnt trying to open the gay rights issue, it was just an example)

and because in a country that is so religously diverse, then it should be left out of almost everything. ^ and i do agree with you about the countries morals and such
questionable content
Always Born a Crime
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July 12th, 2008 at 11:50pm
Morals and religion aren't synonymous, someone who's say, Muslim would have many of the same morals as someone who's Jewish, Christian, or really any other religion, so I agree, espcecially in a religiously diverse country, it should be left out.
geradsredskittle666
Really Not Okay
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July 13th, 2008 at 01:06am
I think religion is not a reliable source of information. The early bibles were written in a language only understood by prests. They could say anything and the poeple couldnt verify it at all. Its inevitable that religion effects seroius decisions..the church is still a power that evewn governments don't fight, most of the world is christain including some world leaders.......its not right but its inevitable.

The bible claims many feats that are impossable. It is contradictory.

The bible claims god loves us all but he says non believers will go to hell...wheres the love there?

The bible claims that he is a compassionate loving god yet in the story of Noahs ark he floods everyone and kills them. yeah real compassionate.

The bible has shaped whats "right" and "wrong".

Laws such as don't murder, don't steal etc is taken from the bible.
geradsredskittle666
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geradsredskittle666
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July 13th, 2008 at 01:16am
postcollapse:
I dont believe in religion.
Im not saying I hate all religious people.
Im saying I havent had good experience with them.

I am a HUGE harry potter fan, and one mother spread rumors around about me that I do drugs and worship Satan because I read Harry Potter.

From what I have learned, religion is just an excuse for people to get into bigger arguments and judge people.


I agree. Christains claim to be kind, honest etc but thy arnt. I've met several christains and they are all nice untill they find out i'm bi. S uddenly i'm the devil incarnate here to curropt them.
Wars are fought in Gods name.

So yeah it is an excuse to treat non christians like trash
blow
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July 13th, 2008 at 01:48am
geradsredskittle666:
I think religion is not a reliable source of information. The early bibles were written in a language only understood by prests. They could say anything and the poeple couldnt verify it at all. Its inevitable that religion effects seroius decisions..the church is still a power that evewn governments don't fight, most of the world is christain including some world leaders.......its not right but its inevitable.

The bible wasn't written in a language that no one understood, most people where illiterate. Priests where one of the few that could read.
Why would governments waist time fighting the church? Most of the major powerful countries allow freedom of religion. To 'fight the church' would not be freedom of religion.
I don't think it's most of the world that is Christian. Christianity is only one of the five major religions.
What is not right about people choosing to believe something?

Quote
The bible claims many feats that are impossable. It is contradictory.

The bible claims god loves us all but he says non believers will go to hell...wheres the love there?

The bible claims that he is a compassionate loving god yet in the story of Noahs ark he floods everyone and kills them. yeah real compassionate.

The bible has shaped whats "right" and "wrong".

Laws such as don't murder, don't steal etc is taken from the bible.

It's not 'non-believers', it's those who don't except god. Those are two different things.
Stories in the bible are mean to be interpreted, they are not meant to be taken literally.
I wouldn't say the bible has shaped right and wrong, human morals and social standards shape right and wrong, but a big part of that is religion.

geradsredskittle666:
I agree. Christains claim to be kind, honest etc but thy arnt. I've met several christains and they are all nice untill they find out i'm bi. S uddenly i'm the devil incarnate here to curropt them.

I do love being judged, it's ever so much fun. Just because you have run afoul of a few unkind Christians does not mean you should condemn all of them. I am generally a very kind, generous, nice person.
Quote
Wars are fought in Gods name.

No they are not. Holy wars are fought in God's name (the Inquisition(?), the Crusades, Jihad, ect.)
The Revolutionary War (any country's revolution) was not fought in God's name.
The War of 1812 was not fought in God's name.
The Civil War was not fought in God's name.
WWI and WWII where not fought in God's name.
The Cold War (I think it counts) was not in God's name
Do I have to go on?

Quote
So yeah it is an excuse to treat non christians like trash

Christianity is not an excuse to treat others 'like trash'. It is a religion simple as that. Any one who does harm in the name of God is sinning. (At least in my opinion.)
Thug Life.
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July 13th, 2008 at 02:07am
geradsredskittle666:
I think religion is not a reliable source of information. The early bibles were written in a language only understood by prests. They could say anything and the poeple couldnt verify it at all. Its inevitable that religion effects seroius decisions..the church is still a power that evewn governments don't fight, most of the world is christain including some world leaders.......its not right but its inevitable.

The bible claims many feats that are impossable. It is contradictory.

The bible claims god loves us all but he says non believers will go to hell...wheres the love there?

The bible claims that he is a compassionate loving god yet in the story of Noahs ark he floods everyone and kills them. yeah real compassionate.

The bible has shaped whats "right" and "wrong".

Laws such as don't murder, don't steal etc is taken from the bible.



The Bible was written in Latin, and its not a language that only priests understand. Alot of people today study Latin and have read the early bible scripts. Further more the only reasons the priests were the only people reading it was because in the early days literacy rates were low.

The Bible says that Hell is reserved for the wicked. Furthermore yes the bible says that he does love us, so much so that he gave us the power of free will to chose so,if he felt nothing for us he would bound us eternally to him with no choice.

The Story of Noah's ark illustrates that God favors the Righteous, and punishes the wicked. It also extends the idea that "The Lord giveth and the lord taketh" shown in the story of Job.

And there is nothing wrong with politicians being able to practice their faith, Its one of their Rights as a Human being and im sure its even chartered in article48 of the international declaration of human rights. (Forgive me if im wrong im a little rusty )
laurenmcfearless
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July 15th, 2008 at 04:07am
religion is a big part of my life. and i think that everyone should believe in something.
we all had to come from something, whether it was god or not. but whatever it was, it was something bigger than all of our problems, something that loves us, and something that put us here for a reason.
because if whatever created us wasn't bigger than our problems, there wouldn't be hope, or optimism.
and if it didn't love us, we wouldn't be here.
and if we weren't here for a reason, then nothing in our lives would have purpose.

personally, i am a follower of god. and i don't have a problem with people that don't believe in him, unless they are jerks about it.

but i think everyone should keep an open mind to religion.
some say it doesn't work but, it's worked a lot for me. all you need is some faith.

i honestly think god put my chem on this earth to spread the word of love, acceptance, and hope. and i know there are christians out there that don't seem accepting at all. but i think that they have forgotten that we are suppose to love everyone. i pity those who can't accept, and i'm so very sorry if you've ever been rejected by a christian for who you are.

please don't disrespect my beliefs.
Mindfuck
Always Born a Crime
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July 15th, 2008 at 04:49am
Migamphetamine:
And there is nothing wrong with politicians being able to practice their faith, Its one of their Rights as a Human being and im sure its even chartered in article48 of the international declaration of human rights. (Forgive me if im wrong im a little rusty )



Of course it's fine for leaders and politicians to practice their faith - anyone has that right. But you are somehow forgetting that these people are also leaders of a country and / or representative of a body of people who all have different faiths and different beliefs.

I can only speak as an Australian citizen when I say that, yes, the Prime Minister should practice his faith, but shouldn't make decisions on behalf of the whole country in relation to his faith.

Leadership of a country can be exercised without all of the decisions being based on the chosen religion of the leader.
Thug Life.
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July 15th, 2008 at 06:47am

Im aware of that as well but i was arguing that there really isnt anything wrong with him or her practicing her faith. She said that its wrong to be christian and a world leader..
which i may have misinterpreted but came off rather offensive.

Exterminatorhydrogen
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July 15th, 2012 at 03:10am
1) I don't think religion is a credible source to place facts on because you simply cannot prove God is real. Nor can you prove that the bible is his word. Unless you have seen him write it or heard him say it, you can't know if any of it is real. So religion is an unreliable source mostly based on opinion
stereo typical.
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July 15th, 2012 at 07:57pm
exterminatorhydrogen:
you can't know if any of it is real.

I disagree... Religion is a matter of faith and it doesnt matter what religion you are... You may say that you can't know if anything is real, but people have faith. they believe.
For a follower of a religion, what they know about it is real to them. and i think it is ok then to place facts on that. People base their morals on their beliefs and if those are religous ones then that is ok.

by the way I'm a proud Christian.
brandleys;
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July 15th, 2012 at 08:49pm
Paper Flowers .:
I disagree... Religion is a matter of faith and it doesnt matter what religion you are... You may say that you can't know if anything is real, but people have faith. they believe.
For a follower of a religion, what they know about it is real to them. and i think it is ok then to place facts on that. People base their morals on their beliefs and if those are religous ones then that is ok.

by the way I'm a proud Christian.


It doesn't matter what different things people believe, it still isn't right at all to base laws on someone's religion.

For example, there was a politician recently who argued over whether or not hospitals should provide abortion if it was in order to save the mother's life, and was introduced based on the Christian doctrine. The state (Michigan) was trying to make it illegal to do so- meaning they would let the mother die before they would even consider giving her a life saving abortion. This politician was Jewish, and part of her argument was that in her doctrine, the mother's life is always considered more important than the growing foetus. So by instilling a law that would make it legal to let a woman die, it would interfere with someone else's religious beliefs, making them unable to practice their own religion.

Since it is impossible to prove with science that an almighty deity exists, it is illogical to implant laws governing people's lives based on superstition. If someone has a problem with, for example, abortion being legal in all circumstances, because their God disapproved of it, it would be wrong to try and outlaw it based solely on that particular belief if other religions believed the opposite.
stereo typical.
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July 15th, 2012 at 11:26pm
.....
I'm not talking laws.
I'm talking what individuals believe and what they base their life and morals around.

You're correct, all laws should be unbiased by religion.
brandleys;
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July 16th, 2012 at 01:39am
Paper Flowers .:
.....
I'm not talking laws.
I'm talking what individuals believe and what they base their life and morals around.

You're correct, all laws should be unbiased by religion.


I see, I misread your post.
My apologies.

-
It just irks me to know that there are some people in the world who do not understand the separation of church and state. There are a lot of ill-informed people who are, obviously, against mostly Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, yet try to instate laws largely based on Christian beliefs. It's hypocritical and wrong either way.