Yea, yea - got it. But my personal association with the word is with active denial, and I think many other people hold that same view.
this is just a cheap shot on atheists. accepting reality as reality has no correlation to being a self-worshipper or whatever it is you are claiming. if you cant accept reality and need to believe that your precious soul will live on in magic heaven, maybe it is you that cant accept your own unimportance. i accept that my life is meaningless and if i committed suicide today it wouldnt effect (dont correct me on the affect/effect thing, it is beyond my understanding) tomorrow. christians are the self-important ones, the ones who god declares to be sacred, the ones embroiled in a battle of good vs evil for the everlasting souls. christians are obsessed with giving their life meaning and importance. i accept that i am nothing. i care about myself, but i am not gonna cast myself as something that matters in the big picture or won't be gone in 60 years.
People use that word to stick any type of spirituality, but it is still incorrect. I've had this argument here before with martin. It doesn't matter what webster says, the latin religio means to tie and to bind back... obligations. He claims that today's definition is the only valid one due to changing word meanings and societal norms, where I disagree.
I could go into a whole history lesson here but this is what separates the Roman Catholic church from the Episcopal church. The Episcopal church's doctrine is from the Bible or Holy Trinity....the church does not make part of church doctrine anything that is not in the Bible, such as a birth control, as the Roman Catholic Church does. There is no Episcopal pope who lays down edicts that will now be part of church doctrine. That doesn't mean you can't believe what you want to believe like an Episcopalian not believing in birth control is fine. It's just the church won't make that part of it's doctrine. Also, we believe that we are the true Catholic or universal church because we allow any Christian to take the Holy Sacrament of Communion. Roman Catholics do not. That's why we say in church that we believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, which is the Episcopalian Church. Catholic does not mean the same thing as Roman Catholic......
you have said numerous times that you are "very selfish" and "dont care about things that don't affect me much". sorry if i use you and all of the atheists i know and paint them with a broad brush. i only believe what God said about me. fair enough though, i guess i'd be much happier if i believed i'd die and then fade into nothing. then i could have dirty crack whore sex, cheat on my wife and contract vd, and all sorts of fun stuff. i could steal all of my baby formula and diapers from walmart too, yunno they sell these really small packs that are easy to fit in pockets. affect is a verb and effect is a noun. pretty simple. I thought you were like a genius and stuff. no, we don't cling to our rights as self-important, we in fact make it our duty to give up our wants and desires in order to follow Christ. The battle is not between us, it's between the HS and Satan anyway. :grin:
You are redefining religion to suit yourself, Deek. Buy a dictionary! religion noun 1. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe. 2. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship. 3. The life or condition of a person in a religious order. 4. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader. 5. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion. Christianity is about what the followers of a man named Jesus do.
Theres an old thread in which we discussed this. Please utilize the search function. Don't throw Webster at me. The latin root word of religion means to hold in bondage. In and through Christ, yes. Apart from that, no. Therefore, it's all about Christ.
Another absolute non-response. If you want to cite something from an old thread, then link to it, don't tell me to go search for your answer. We'll just assume you don't have one. Not exactly. Source: from Latin religio, perhaps from religre, to tie fast.
